Ben Bikman Interview: Mitochondrial Health

Brown fat, insulin resistance, cold plunge during pregnancy, & the mitochondrial origins of erectile dysfunction

Summary

• Ben Bikman, author of Why We Get Sick (Bikman 2020), says that every leading cause of death from chronic illness in the United States originates in insulin resistance. In this interview, he expands on his best-selling book and explains several aspects of metabolic health that relate to cold plunge therapy and might be critical for optimum health.

Metabolic dysfunction is "Why We Get Sick"

Without regular exposure to cold the human body will lose all detectable brown fat. Metabolic dysfunction, and diseases typically associated with old age can result, including:

• heart disease,

• stroke,

• Type 2 diabetes,

• Alzheimer's

• obesity,

• erectile dysfunction,

• polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), and

• cancer.

Each of these disease states is associated with defective mitochondria and characterized by insulin resistance. However, cold plunge therapy can stimulate the production of new mitochondria that restore brown fat in human adults. Resolution or reversal of these diseases can result. For example, and ice bath reduces blood glucose and can help reverse Type 2 diabetes.

How can we care for our mitochondria?

Seager describes three routes to mitochondrial injury:

1. excess and incessant carbohydrate consumption,

2. poor light hygiene, which may interfere with melatonin production in the mitochondria and leave mitochondrial DNA vulnerable to damage from reactive oxygen species (ROS),

3. seed oils, which get incorporated into cell and organelle membranes and disrupt charge transport for ATP production.

Bikman adds a fourth route: mitochondrial toxins. Specifically, he describes research showing that metformin (one of the most profitable and widely prescribed medicines for high blood sugars) will reverse the mitochondrial benefits of exercise.

What's even more interesting is that following this interview, Seager called a Morozko customer who was taking metformin and having trouble getting his blood glucose readings down. His medical doctor recommended increasing his metformin dose. Seager asked if he'd every considered discontinuing his metformin altogether.

Based on the study Bikman cited, the customer decided to try quitting metformin.

It worked, and I wrote about the results in Quit Metformin to Better Manage Blood Glucose.

Phototherapy and forest bathing

Although Bikman is not an expert on phototherapy, he recognizes that red light exposure can stimulate mitochondria and improve insulin sensitivity. Perhaps a deficit of red/near-infrared (NIR) light exposure is part of why poor light hygiene results in mitochondrial dysfunction. Nevertheless, I took the opportunity to tell Bikman a little bit about using green light for headache pain relief.

Longevity gurus lack scientific standing

Bikman has very little respect for longevity "gurus," and for good reason. According to Bikman, the studies in animal models that show longevity benefits from supplements or other therapies cannot be reliably extrapolated to human beings.

This is a topic that has come up in conversations that I've had with other scientists. Most notably, Matt Kaberlien PhD, host of the Optispan podcast, says that epigenetic biomarkers of biological age are "wrong." I wrote about that in my article What Is Aging? Chronological vs Biological.

Cold plunge during pregnancy

Bikman explained that insulin resistance is a normal, healthy state during pregnancy, because the growth hormone from the placenta interferes with the normal action of insulin. However, just because a woman is insulin resistant during pregnancy does not mean it's normal for her blood glucose levels to be high. It only means that more insulin is needed to maintain stable blood glucose levels during pregnancy.

The danger during pregnancy is that physiological (healthy and normal) insulin resistance can go too far, and turn into a pathological insulin resistance that manifests as pre-eclampsia or gestational diabetes. I wrote about the metabolic benefits of cold plunge therapy for pregnant women in Cold Plunge During Pregnancy and Ice Bath Eases Pregnancy.

Overdiagnosis

Although insulin resistance is the origin of every leading cause of death from chronic illness, there are other leading causes of death that are not from chronic illness, including suicide, drug overdose, and medical errors. In fact, the medical errors might now be the number one cause of premature death in the United States, greater than all others.

How can this possibly be?

Dr. Gilbert Welch wrote a brilliant book called Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health (Welch et al. 2011) that explains how technologies and diagnostic standards for early detection increase iatrogenic errors, cause unnecessary medical interventions, and can ultimately kill people.

Viagra vs ice bath (for erectile dysfunction)

We also got to talk a little bit about male sexual health. Because we know from Ice Bath for Better Sex that mitochondria are responsible for the vasodilation that allows blood to flow to the penis to support an erection, it makes sense that cold plunge therapy would help maintain stronger, longer-lasting erections.

But how does Viagra work?

It may be that Viagra works by overcoming insulin resistance at the expense of the mitochondria, whereas cold plunge works by strengthening the mitochondria. I don't know for sure, but Bikman and I agree that if you can stimulate your body to do what it's supposed to do for itself, that's better than taking a drug to do it for you.

References

• Bikman B. Why We Get Sick: The Hidden Epidemic at the Root of Most Chronic Disease--and how to Fight it. BenBella Books; 2020 Jul 21.

• Welch HG, Schwartz L, Woloshin S. Overdiagnosed: making people sick in the pursuit of health. beacon press; 2012 Jan 3.

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About the Author

Thomas P Seager, PhD is an Associate Professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering at Arizona State University. Seager co-founded the Morozko Forge ice bath company and is an expert in the use of ice baths for building metabolic and psychological resilience. Ben Bikman, PhD, is a Professor of Cell Biology and Physiology at Brigham Young University and one of the world's leading experts on the action of insulin in the human body.

Uncommon Cold: The Science & Experience of Cold Plunge Therapy

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