Office Hours: How to Choose the Best Diet for Your Body

January 12, 2026

34 min episode · 2 min read

Office Hours

Episode

34 min

Read time

2 min

AI-Generated Summary

Published Jan 12, 2026

Key Takeaways

✓Keto diet mechanics: Restricting carbs to 20-50 grams daily shifts metabolism from burning sugar to fat, producing ketones that stabilize blood sugar and reduce insulin. Effective for diabetes reversal, PCOS, cognitive issues, and mental health conditions like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia when monitored properly.
✓Vegan nutrient deficiencies: Plant-based diets require supplementation of B12, iron, omega-3 fats, zinc, iodine, vitamin A, and choline to prevent deficiency. Function Health lab testing reveals these gaps are common. Plant proteins contain less leucine, making muscle building harder compared to animal protein sources.
✓Mediterranean diet evidence: Most researched diet globally shows benefits for heart health and longevity, but emphasizes vegetables, olive oil, fish, nuts, beans, and herbs—not pasta and pizza. Refined flours and excessive carbs undermine benefits. Wine consumption correlates with but does not cause positive outcomes.
✓Ultra-processed food impact: Comprises 60% of American adult diets and 70% of children's diets. These engineered products contain deconstructed ingredients reassembled to trigger addiction. They fail the definition of food as substances supporting organism health and development, driving chronic disease across all systems.

What It Covers

Dr. Mark Hyman explains how to choose the right diet based on individual biology rather than ideology, covering keto, paleo, vegan, and Mediterranean approaches with specific guidance on who benefits from each.

Key Questions Answered

•Keto diet mechanics: Restricting carbs to 20-50 grams daily shifts metabolism from burning sugar to fat, producing ketones that stabilize blood sugar and reduce insulin. Effective for diabetes reversal, PCOS, cognitive issues, and mental health conditions like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia when monitored properly.
•Vegan nutrient deficiencies: Plant-based diets require supplementation of B12, iron, omega-3 fats, zinc, iodine, vitamin A, and choline to prevent deficiency. Function Health lab testing reveals these gaps are common. Plant proteins contain less leucine, making muscle building harder compared to animal protein sources.
•Mediterranean diet evidence: Most researched diet globally shows benefits for heart health and longevity, but emphasizes vegetables, olive oil, fish, nuts, beans, and herbs—not pasta and pizza. Refined flours and excessive carbs undermine benefits. Wine consumption correlates with but does not cause positive outcomes.
•Ultra-processed food impact: Comprises 60% of American adult diets and 70% of children's diets. These engineered products contain deconstructed ingredients reassembled to trigger addiction. They fail the definition of food as substances supporting organism health and development, driving chronic disease across all systems.

Notable Moment

Hyman reveals that growing vegetables industrially kills approximately 7 billion animals annually through tilling, machinery, and harvesting processes, challenging the ethical foundation many people use to justify strict vegan diets focused solely on avoiding direct animal consumption.

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