Sleep Medicine and Metabolic Health | Dr. Alan Schaffer - E434

Low Carb MD Podcast

Drs. Brian Lenzkes & Tro Kalayjian

Medicine, Mental Health, Health & Fitness

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 March 2026

⏱️ 71 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Dr. Alan Schaffer is a board-certified physician specializing in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. With decades of clinical experience, he focuses on the intersection of respiratory health, sleep disorders, and metabolic health, including the role of nutrition and carbohydrate restriction in improving chronic disease. Dr. Schaffer practices with St. Peter's Health Partners in New York and is a frequent educator and media guest discussing conditions such as sleep apnea, insomnia, and the broader drivers of cardiometabolic health.

In this episode, Drs. Tro and Alan talk about…

(00:00) Intro
(09:59) Sleep Medicine and metabolic health
(13:37) Pulmonary Medicine and environmental factors
(18:57) How Dr. Alan helps his patients improve their sleep quality and metabolic health
(26:43) Helping late bloomer patients
(32:30) How to help patients trust you as a doctor
(37:07) Sleep apnea and CPAP
(42:52) Sleep apnea tools and tips
(46:08) Sleep tape
(52:05) Didjeridoo
(55:16) Weight loss and sleep apnea
(01:01:52) The Cholesterol Code documentary (See links below)

For more information, please see the links below. Thank you for listening!

Links:

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.lowcarbmd.com/

Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

The Cholesterol Code Screening (Wed, Apr 22, 2026 at 6:00 PM CDT): https://gathr.com/events/0ed2437d/the-cholesterol-code-at-amc-crystal-run-16
Cholesterol Code Movie: https://cholesterolcodemovie.com

Dr. Alan Schaffer:

https://www.sphp.com/provider/alan-edward-schaffer-md-sleep-medicine-0

Dr. Brian Lenzkes:

Website: https://arizonametabolichealth.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrianLenzkes?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author

Dr. Tro Kalayjian:

Website: https://toward.health
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DoctorTro
IG: https://www.instagram.com/doctortro/

Toward Health App

Join a growing community of individuals who are improving their metabolic health; together.

Get started at your own pace with a self-guided curriculum developed by Dr. Tro and his care team, community chat, weekly meetings, courses, challenges, message boards and more.

Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/doctor-tro/id1588693888

Google: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.disciplemedia.doctortro&hl=en_US&gl=US

Learn more: https://toward.health/community/

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to the Low Carb MD podcast. No one is beyond help. No one is beyond hope.
0:07.2	Nothing said on the low carb MD podcast is medical advice. Please consult your own doctor before making any
0:13.7	lifestyle changes. Welcome to the low carb MD podcast.
0:23.7	We have a super exciting guest.
0:26.1	Somebody I've had the chance of sharing a couple meals with,
0:29.7	seeing at really amazing conferences with,
0:33.0	and we're going to be both involved in a local screening of the cholesterol code documentary.
0:42.3	This is somebody who I've turned to for advice and somebody I've turned to really as a mentor to me,
0:50.3	giving me some sort of guidance on medicine in general. His name is Dr. Alan Schaefer,
0:58.0	and he went to Duke undergrad, went to Tulane for medical school. He did his residency at Memorial
1:07.6	Hospital. He did his fellowship at Albany Medical, another fellowship at Montefiore.
1:13.6	He is obesity medicine certified, one of the first obesity medicine certified areas in the Hudson Valley area.
1:20.6	He is sleep medicine certified, one of the early adopters of sleep medicine, also in the Hudson Valley area.
1:29.5	He is also a pulmonary and critical care doctor on top of being an internist.
1:33.9	I don't think, and he's a Society of Metabolic Health Practitioners,
1:38.3	metabolic practitioner.
1:41.4	I probably missed a number of his accomplishments, but he's actually in the New York area,
1:48.0	not too far from me. We've shared stakes. We've shared stories. And he's just a really amazing guy.
1:57.6	And I'm so grateful for him to come on the podcast, talk about his story, and also talk
2:04.2	about his impact on obesity medicine, sleep medicine, and metabolic health, but also discussing
2:11.6	the fact that we're both trying to get this cholesterol code screening done up in the Hudson Valley here and in New
2:23.2	York where we're both doctors.
	...

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