Dr. Andrew Knick’s newly published research is challenging everything we’ve been told about carbohydrates, insulin, and metabolic health.
In a recent interview, the Type 1 diabetic researcher shared groundbreaking findings from a review of over 160 studies spanning more than a century.
His conclusions aren’t just relevant for elite athletes—they could transform how every person thinks about food, fat loss, and disease prevention.
And the implications are staggering: even foods considered “healthy” might be sabotaging your metabolism.
Jump to:
- Living With Type 1 Diabetes Taught Him Everything About Insulin
- Even “Superfoods” Spike Glucose Dramatically
- One Email Changed His Career Forever
- The Carbohydrate Myth That’s Lasted 60 Years
- Athletes Were Told to Eat 1,000+ Grams of Carbs Daily
- The Revolutionary Study That Upended Everything
- 30% of Fit Athletes Developed Pre-Diabetes
- It’s Your Brain, Not Your Muscles, That Needs Glucose
- How Insulin Actually Works in Your Body
- Insulin Resistance Starts Long Before You See It
- Fatty Liver Disease Comes From Carbs, Not Fat
- Diseases Can Be Reversed, Not Just Managed
- What Happens in the First 24 Hours
- The Four-Week Adaptation Period
- What Should You Actually Eat?
- Why Weight Loss Sometimes Stalls
- The Longest High-Fat Study Ever Published
- Just Take the First Step
Living With Type 1 Diabetes Taught Him Everything About Insulin
Dr. Knick brings a unique perspective to nutrition research—he’s lived with Type 1 diabetes most of his life, making him acutely aware of how food affects glucose and insulin.
Having type 1 diabetes means that at every meal you have to calculate the amount of calories, the amount of carbs particularly but also proteins and fats because they all have different impacts on glucose in the body.
This daily reality forced him to become an expert on insulin sensitivity, insulin resistance, and metabolic function. He learned firsthand which foods spike blood sugar most dramatically.
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The answer? Carbohydrates—hands down.
Even “Superfoods” Spike Glucose Dramatically
When asked about the worst foods for blood sugar control, Dr. Knick didn’t hold back.
Carbohydrates have the most potent impact on glucose levels at every meal of every day and actually are the most potent lifestyle factor we know of in affecting glucose levels. But not just glucose levels, also affecting insulin.
Orange juice, bagels, pasta, oatmeal—these are obvious culprits. But fruits like oranges, bananas, and apples also have powerful effects on glucose.
Even foods like oranges, bananas, things that are considered superfoods by organizations like the American Diabetes Association have very potent impacts on glucose.
In fact, these foods are recommended to diabetics experiencing dangerously low blood sugar precisely because they spike glucose so rapidly.
One Email Changed His Career Forever
After delivering a TED talk about ketogenic diets and diabetes management, Dr. Knick received a life-changing message.
Someone who attended his talk had implemented his advice, lost over 100 pounds, and completely reversed their Type 2 diabetes.
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I read that message and you know, Reena, at that time I was a graduate student. I never realized how powerful those messages could be to help people with these chronic diseases who they think they can’t reverse.
That moment crystallized his mission: showing people that diseases like obesity and diabetes aren’t just manageable—they’re reversible.
The Carbohydrate Myth That’s Lasted 60 Years
For decades, dietary guidelines have insisted humans need at least 130 grams of carbohydrates daily, supposedly to fuel brain function and physical performance.
Dr. Knick’s research proves otherwise.
We’ve actually known since the 1960s that the brain can function just fine on zero grams of carbohydrates for periods of time. In fact and frankly forever.
His team synthesized over 100 years of data and conducted multiple randomized controlled trials examining whether people actually need high carbohydrate intake.
The verdict? Much of this guidance has been misleading.
Athletes Were Told to Eat 1,000+ Grams of Carbs Daily
Perhaps the most extreme carbohydrate recommendations target athletes, with some guidelines suggesting upwards of 1,000 grams per day for high-volume athletes.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
Dr. Knick found this particularly troubling because historical records show Olympic athletes in the 1800s thrived on protein and fat-focused diets.
Everything changed in the 1960s when physician Jonas Bergstrom discovered glycogen—stored glucose chains in muscle tissue.
Researchers observed correlations between higher carbohydrate intake, increased muscle glycogen, and longer performance duration. But correlation isn’t causation.
The Revolutionary Study That Upended Everything
Dr. Knick’s team conducted rigorous randomized controlled trials with athletes on ketogenic diets for four weeks, controlling for body weight, activity levels, and total calories.
Athletes performed grueling tests: six 800-meter sprints and one-mile time trials at over 85% of maximal aerobic capacity.
The results? No deterioration in performance whatsoever.
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- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
They repeated the experiment with Ironman competitors riding for two to four hours until complete exhaustion. Again, no drop-off in performance on very low carbohydrate diets.
But there was a shocking discovery.
30% of Fit Athletes Developed Pre-Diabetes
In studies involving middle-aged competitive runners—lean, fit individuals with high fitness levels—researchers found something alarming.
We were seeing that up to 30% on the high carbohydrate diet were developing pre-diabetes. Now this was the major shocker for us because here we were seeing that athletes were actually developing health issues related to the type of diet they’re consuming.
These were people supposedly immune to metabolic problems. Yet the high-carbohydrate diet was causing metabolic dysfunction anyway.
It’s Your Brain, Not Your Muscles, That Needs Glucose
After reviewing 160+ studies, Dr. Knick’s team discovered the real reason carbohydrates seemed to improve athletic performance.
It wasn’t about muscle glycogen or total carbohydrate burning.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
88% of the studies that actually showed an improvement in carbohydrates with performance, we were actually seeing that in the placebo group, the group that didn’t have carbohydrates was developing hypoglycemia or low blood sugar levels.
When blood glucose drops too low, brain function suffers, triggering a stress response that reliably impairs performance.
The amount needed to prevent this? As little as 10 grams per hour—not the 60-90 grams currently recommended.
How Insulin Actually Works in Your Body
Understanding insulin’s pathway reveals why excess carbohydrates cause so much damage.
When you eat carbohydrates, they break down into sugar molecules that enter your bloodstream. Your pancreas detects this spike and releases insulin proportionally.
Here’s the critical sequence:
- First priority: the liver receives 66-75% of insulin to store glucose as glycogen, protecting brain function during fasting
- Second priority: fat tissue where insulin blocks fat breakdown and promotes storage
- Last priority: muscle tissue receives only the overflow after liver and fat are addressed
The muscle is the last place that the body prioritizes to then store these nutrients. And it teaches you something. It teaches you that it is not the top priority in body’s function.
Insulin Resistance Starts Long Before You See It
Perhaps most alarming: insulin levels can rise six-fold before glucose levels change enough to show pre-diabetes on standard tests.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
Even before people develop diabetes or pre-diabetes that these levels can go up to six-fold higher, six-fold higher before you see any signal of glucose change and that is six-fold more anabolic hormone, meaning six-fold higher levels of fat storage hormone.
This means your insulin could be dangerously elevated—driving fat storage, blocking fat breakdown, and damaging tissues—while your doctor tells you your blood sugar is “fine.”
Fatty Liver Disease Comes From Carbs, Not Fat
For years, people assumed eating fat caused fatty liver disease. Research proves otherwise.
Dr. Elizabeth Parks discovered that carbohydrates, specifically the insulin response they trigger, drive fat accumulation in the liver.
In studies of obese patients about to begin 12-month diet trials, researchers found stunning results: 86% had fatty liver disease, all had pre-diabetes, and all had obesity.
Insulin was the common thread connecting all three conditions.
Diseases Can Be Reversed, Not Just Managed
Dr. Knick emphasizes that low-carbohydrate diets have over 200 years of evidence for preventing and reversing metabolic disease.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
We know that diseases like obesity and diabetes can be not just prevented but reversed by these conditions. It’s actually arguably the most evidence-based diet that has the most historical evidence.
Even the American Diabetes Association acknowledges in their 2019 consensus report that very low-carbohydrate diets are the most evidence-based approach for managing glucose control, body weight, and blood pressure.
What Happens in the First 24 Hours
Changes from lowering carbohydrates begin immediately—not weeks or months later.
There is clear evidence that at the very first meal when you choose a low carbohydrate meal, glucose levels immediately change. Insulin levels immediately change.
Within 18 hours, ketone bodies—byproducts of elevated fat metabolism—begin appearing in the blood. Within seven days, lowered insulin allows fat stores to be liberated and burned for energy.
Weight loss happens almost immediately, primarily from water loss since every gram of stored glucose holds three grams of water.
The Four-Week Adaptation Period
Major metabolic shifts stabilize around the four-week mark.
Blood glucose drops then stabilizes. Ketone production peaks then normalizes. Physical performance in athletes returns to baseline—without any carbohydrates.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
Appetite changes. Blood pressure decreases. Fat becomes the predominant fuel source instead of glucose.
Everything really hits this pivotal moment and normalization around the 4-week mark where you start to see blood glucose levels start to initially drop and then they stabilize.
What Should You Actually Eat?
Dr. Knick recommends thinking of this as a protein-centric diet rather than obsessing over fat percentages.
Picture your plate:
- Protein source: meat, chicken, salmon, eggs—about fist-sized portion
- Non-starchy vegetables: green leafy salads, cauliflower, broccoli (if desired)
- Fat: naturally occurring in protein sources, plus olive oil or dressing for vegetables
Don’t force-feed yourself fat. Let fat come along naturally with quality protein sources.
If you focus on protein, which is essential for the body, but also supports your muscle, but also is the one of the few nutrients that actually has the highest level of satiation, meaning that it reduces your hunger after you consume it. That’s an amazing nutrient.
Why Weight Loss Sometimes Stalls
Many people lose weight initially then hit frustrating plateaus.
Dr. Knick explains this happens because bodies adapt to new caloric set points. Your metabolism adjusts to the reduced intake, slowing further weight loss.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
The solution? Stepwise approaches—moving from reduced carbohydrates to very low carbohydrates to potentially carnivore diets help push through plateaus.
Slow, steady weight loss appears more sustainable than rapid drops, though seeing quick initial progress helps maintain motivation.
The Longest High-Fat Study Ever Published
Skeptics often claim ketogenic diets aren’t sustainable long-term.
Dr. Knick’s team published the longest study ever on cardiovascular effects of ketogenic diets—over 10 years in duration.
We know that there are tons and tons and tons of people who maintain these approaches if they have the right resources and they dedicate to a lifelong lifestyle change with these interventions and it’s a totally achievable lifestyle strategy.
Just Take the First Step
For anyone feeling overwhelmed or hopeless about their health, Dr. Knick offers simple advice:
Most people never take the first step. And if you can take just one step in that direction, before you know it, you have now run a marathon. Before you know it, now you’re at your new weight loss goal.
You don’t need to overhaul everything overnight. One meal. One choice. One step forward.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
The research is clear: carbohydrates aren’t essential for survival, performance, or health. Insulin drives metabolic disease. And lowering carbohydrates can prevent and reverse conditions doctors claim are only “manageable.”
The question isn’t whether this works—it’s whether you’re ready to take that first step.
