381: Why You’re Stuck: Hunger, Hormones + Metabolic Fixes | Dr. Andrew Koutnik

Be Well by Kelly Leveque

Kelly Leveque

Nutrition, Education, Health & Fitness, Alternative Health, Self-improvement

4.8 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 15 April 2026

⏱️ 84 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode I sat down with metabolic researcher Andrew Koutnik to break down the science of metabolic health, insulin resistance, and ketogenic diets. We explore why most people struggle with energy crashes, cravings, and weight loss resistance, and how blood sugar regulation plays a central role in long term health. Andrew shares insights from decades of research and personal experience living with type 1 diabetes, including how the body adapts to carbohydrate reduction, what metabolic flexibility actually means, and why keto is often misunderstood.→ Leave Us A Voice Message! Topics Discussed: → What is metabolic flexibility and why does it matter? → How long does it take to adapt to a ketogenic diet? → Does keto improve insulin resistance and energy levels? → Why do people feel tired when starting low carb diets? → What is the best way to balance blood sugar naturally? Sponsored By: → LMNT | Get a free 8-count Sample Pack of LMNT’s most popular drink mix flavors with any purchase at https://drinklmnt.com/Kelly. Find your favorite LMNT flavor, or share with a friend. → Be Well By Kelly Protein Powder & Essentials | Get $10 off your order with PODCAST10 at https://bewellbykelly.com. Timestamps: → 00:00:00 - Introduction → 00:01:37 - Diabetes + Nutrition → 00:06:41 - Obesity + Insulin → 00:10:32 - Glucose Spikes → 00:14:51- CGMs → 00:15:28 - Blood Sugar Red Flags → 00:19:30 - Reducing Carb Intake → 00:28:52 - Defining Metabolic Health → 00:34:00 - Meal Timing → 00:38:22 - Intermittent Fasting → 00:41:20 - Ketosis + Metabolic Flexibility → 00:46:50 - Nutrition Experimentation → 00:50:59 - Nutrition Fundamentals → 00:55:50 - Food Swaps → 01:01:51 - Performance Changes → 01:06:27 - Sodium + Children’s Snack → 01:13:24 - Children’s Sugar Intake → 01:16:25 - Children’s Nutrition Further Listening: → Why You’re Always Hungry + How to Fix It | Dr. Jason Fung Check Out Andrew: → Website → Instagram → YouTube Check Out Kelly: → Instagram → Youtube → Facebook

Transcript

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0:00.0	Generally speaking, if you're eating food and you feel absolutely terrible afterwards, you
0:03.9	need to take a nap.
0:04.9	That's probably an illustration that maybe you struggle with some form of metabolic
0:08.2	inflexibility.
0:09.2	You see people say like sodium causes high blood pressure when in reality it's elevated
0:13.4	blood sugar, elevated insulin and elevated sodium together may increase our blood pressure.
0:18.3	Nutrition is one of the most powerful ways to improve your energy levels,
0:21.2	to also regulate how your glucose and insulin response, your body weight. It starts with
0:26.0	nutrition. How do you remove these uncertainties within your diet or your lifestyle
0:30.2	and your environment? You can remove calories in liquid form. Generally, removing calories
0:34.6	in liquid form is a powerful way to reduce overall
0:37.8	caloric intake because typically sugary drinks often increase calories, blood sugar, and
0:42.5	insulin, but actually don't give you very much in return.
0:48.8	You're listening to Be Well by Kelly Leveck.
0:54.9	Dr. Andrew Kootenik, I am so excited to have you on the podcast.
0:59.3	You are a leading researcher in ketogenic nutrition and metabolic therapies.
1:03.7	You kind of are at the intersection of, you know, regular people and high-performance athletes.
1:10.7	And I just cannot wait to share all of your
1:13.7	metabolic research and your knowledge with my audience thank you so much for being here
1:17.8	it's an honor Kelly thank you for having me oh I mean you're an absolute pleasure to follow
1:22.3	along with on Instagram if anyone is tuning in I'm gonna throw your handle in the caption but why don't you give it to him? Andrew Kootenik PhD. So A-N-D-R-E-W, K-O-U-T-N-I-K-A Ph.D. Okay, go give them a follow and let's jump right in. So you are a type 1 diabetic, but you are also, like I said, a leading researcher in ketogenic nutrition and metabolic therapies, can we talk about how your own personal journey influenced your career choice? Yes, it had a huge impact because
1:50.1	I was also obese as a kid. So many of the major health issues we're seeing in the developed
	...

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