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The Proof with Simon Hill

The Surgeon Defending Statins, GLP-1s, and Ancel Keys | Dr Terry Simpson

The Proof with Simon Hill

Simon Hill

Nutrition, Education, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness

4.9 • 3.1K Ratings

🗓️ 1 June 2026

⏱️ 103 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, I sit down with bariatric surgeon and science communicator Dr Terry Simpson for a wide-ranging conversation about health misinformation, GLP-1 medications, statins, ApoB, the Mediterranean diet, and the loud contrarians who dominate social media. Terry has familial hypercholesterolemia, a family history of premature cardiovascular disease, and lost 50 pounds on tirzepatide, all of which give him unusual personal stakes in these debates. What we cover: How to think about uncertainty in science, and Terry's heuristic for spotting misinformation The Gila monster origin story of GLP-1 medications, and the difference between native and pharmacological GLP-1 What food noise actually is, and Terry's own experience on tirzepatide His personal case for statins, an LDL of 190 brought into the 40s, and an ApoB in the 40s A defence of Ancel Keys and the Mediterranean diet Where the carnivore, anti-statin, seed oil, and nattokinase narratives fall apart Compounded GLP-1s, peptide deregulation, and why the FDA still matters If you find this episode useful, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share it with someone who might benefit. To connect with Dr Terry Simpson, visit terrysimpson.com, find him on TikTok at @drterrysimpson, Instagram at @drterrysimpsonmd, X at @drterrysimpson, and Substack at @drsimpson. His podcast is The Unfiltered MD. Intro (00:00) Why Carnivore and Anti-Vax Are Today's Biggest Health Lies (01:02) Doctors, COVID and the Cost of Speaking Up Online (03:58) How to Spot a Health Huckster (13:25) Will GLP-1 Drugs Make Bariatric Surgery Obsolete (19:12) A Bariatric Surgeon's Personal Decision to Take a GLP-1 Drug (22:54) Willpower Is Not the Problem: What Food Noise Actually Feels Like (26:23) Why Ancel Keys Was Right and Low Carb Got It Wrong (32:51) Mediterranean Diet Results That Stopped a Trial Early (39:50) Are GLP-1 Drugs the Greatest Medical Breakthrough This Century (47:38) The Real Danger of Buying Compounded GLP-1 Drugs Online (51:27) BPC-157 and Peptides: Why FDA Guardrails Actually Matter (59:42) Familial Hypercholesterolemia, Statins and a Personal Wake Up Call (01:04:69) Inflammation vs. ApoB: What Actually Causes a Heart Attack (01:13:04) CT Angiogram Results and Keto CTA Data Explained (01:16:33) Fish Oil vs. Eating Fish: Why the Supplement Doesn't Replicate the Food (01:24:35) Simon's Plant Based Diet, Seed Oils and Cooking with Olive Oil (01:28:07) The Seed Oil Debate: Are People Just Afraid of Modern Chemistry (01:33:17) Want to support the show? The best way to support the show is to use the products and services offered by our sponsors. To check them out and enjoy great savings, visit theproof.com/friends. You can also support the show by leaving a review on the Apple Podcast app and sharing your favourite episodes with friends and family. This episode is brought to you by: 38TERA Consider 38TERA's DMN prebiotic supplement a daily multivitamin for your gut. Formulated by yours truly and gastroenterologist Dr Will Bulsiewicz. Use code THEPROOF for a discount at checkout. 38TERA ships to the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. IM8 With 92 nutrients, including Vitamin B12, Iodine, Selenium and Vitamin D, in highly absorbable forms, IM8 Daily Essentials is the perfect all-in-one daily multi-vitamin to ensure you meet your daily micronutrient needs. IM8 is offering an exclusive 10% off your first order with a free welcome kit when you enter the promo code SIMON at checkout on im8health.com. IM8 ships to 27 countries including the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, and many regions across Europe, Asia, and South America. Function Health Take charge of your health with advanced blood testing and personalised insights. Function Health offers a practical way to track key health markers such as cholesterol, blood sugar, and more. Learn more and join at functionhealth.com/simonhill for a $25 credit toward your membership. Only available to those living in the United States. Function Health ships to 48 U.S. states, excluding Rhode Island, Hawai‘i, and Puerto Rico. Truemed Truemed helps qualified customers use pre-tax HSA or FSA dollars on health-related products like fitness, recovery, and sleep tools, often saving around 30% on average. Visit truemed.com/THEPROOF to see what qualifies. This is hands down the best way to make the most of your health dollars. LMNT Stay hydrated with LMNT. Get a free Sample Pack of LMNT’s most popular drink mix flavours with any purchase at DrinkLMNT.com/SIMON Find your favourite LMNT flavour, or share with a friend. And if you don’t like it? Full refund, no questions asked. LMNT ships to the U.S. and Canada, with sparkling flavors available only in the contiguous U.S. WHOOP WHOOP, the most advanced fitness and health wearable available. Your personalised fitness and health coach to recover faster, sleep better, and train smarter. Claim your first month free on join.whoop.com/simon. WHOOP ships to 56+ international markets, including the US, Canada, most of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, UAE, Singapore, and parts of Asia. Simon Hill, MSc, BSc (Hons) Creator of theproof.com Host of The Proof with Simon Hill Author of The Proof is in the Plants Subscribe & Connect: YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram: @simonhill Twitter: @theproof Facebook: The Proof with Simon Hill Nourish your gut with my Plant-Based Ferments Guide and download my Two-Week Meal Plan.

Transcript

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0:00.0

My guest today is Dr. Terry Simpson, a bariatric surgeon, culinary medicine expert, and one of the loudest

0:07.2

voices pushing back against health misinformation on the internet today. He calls himself the

0:12.8

unfiltered MD, and as you'll hear in this conversation, that's not just a marketing line.

0:18.7

Terry is a weight loss surgeon who, despite eating and promoting the Mediterranean diet, made

0:24.2

the decision to start taking a GLP1 medication himself.

0:28.8

We get into what that's been like personally, what these drugs are actually doing in the

0:32.8

body, the chronic diseases they appear to be reversing, the side effects, and so forth.

0:39.0

We also spend real time on cholesterol, APOB, the criticisms of statins, the keto CTA follow-up data,

0:46.4

and Terry's thoughts on my own recent CT angiogram and the approach to medication I'm currently

0:53.2

considering. With that, please enjoy my conversation with Dr. Terry Simpson.

1:02.3

Big picture to start here.

1:04.3

You spend a lot of your time addressing, fighting back,

1:09.6

pushing back against misinformation and claims online that are frustrating.

1:16.5

What would you say right now is the most frustrating claim that you're spending your time

1:20.9

pushing back against?

1:22.8

Well, a couple, probably right now anti-vaccination group would be one.

1:27.1

And the other is the carnivore group

1:29.0

Which I think are probably in a few years going to go the way of the waterbed and how would you explain

1:36.2

Your style in in kind of pushing back against this information? I know your

1:41.3

Your title on your podcast is the unfiltered MD.

1:47.5

It is.

1:48.5

Well, you know, I mean, having a surgeon's personality means that I'm fairly straightforward.

...

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