Dr. Andrew Koutnik

Andrew Koutnik (Type 1 diabetic and metabolic researcher at AdventHealth) frames metabolic dysfunction as a multi-year progression where early intervention is critical because cellular damage compounds over time. He treats therapeutic carbohydrate reduction (with ketogenic eating as one tool, not a requirement) as a reliable lever for stabilizing glucose and lowering insulin. Emphasizes lifestyle pillars (sleep, exercise, weight management) and uses biomarkers (fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, CGM data) to confirm whether interventions are working. Companion to his earlier interview already in the system; consistent framing.

Andrew Koutnik is a metabolic researcher at AdventHealth and a Type 1 diabetic. His credibility on this topic comes from a rare combination: he studies the biology and lives the protocols. In this interview he reframes the carb debate around metabolic flexibility — the body's ability to switch between burning glucose and burning fat. Most modern adults, he argues, are stuck in glucose-only mode because they eat refined carbs every few hours and never get long enough between meals for the fat-oxidation machinery to wake up. Refined carbohydrates drive the problem more than total carb intake. Whole-food carbs (potatoes, rice, fruit, legumes) behave very differently from packaged refined-carb products. Koutnik manages his own T1D on a low-carb template using continuous glucose monitor data, and he's careful to distinguish 'this works for me with T1D' from 'everyone should do this.' The episode is unusual in being both rigorous and practical — he avoids the dogmatic carb-elimination framing common in the keto community.