Symposium for Metabolic Health in San Diego at
Loew's Hotel on Coronado Island

Peter Ballerstedt (aka The Sodfather) received his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture in 1981 and Master of Science in 1983, both from the University of Georgia. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky in 1986, specializing in forage management and utilization, minoring in ruminant nutrition. He was the forage extension specialist at Oregon State University from 1986 to 1992. He worked in the forage seed industry from 2011 until 2023. He is a member of several national and international scientific societies, participates in related global initiatives, and is the current President of the American Forage and Grassland Council.

His study of human nutrition is fueled by his personal experience. He is an advocate for ruminant animal agriculture and its products, speaking to audiences in several countries about the role of ruminants in humanity’s past, present and future. He strives to build bridges between his agricultural tribe and his low-carb/keto/carnivore tribes. Peter blogs and posts to Facebook at “Grass Based Health” and on Twitter and Instagram at @GrassBased. Peter and Nancy live in western Oregon with their three dogs Conor Noni and Iris.

Dr. Ben has been at the forefront of health and wellness for nearly 50 years. As a clinician in the fields of fitness and health he has initiated and promoted behavioral interventions that have proven to be effective in the treatment and management of the degenerative diseases that plague our public health.

Dr. Ben’s philosophy states that on the continuum of illness to wellness, our collective health plans should attempt to drive the needle towards wellness and away from illness through scientifically sound and safe applications of behavioural endeavors.

Dr. Ben has applied his extensive, recognized background and experience in diet and exercise as the basis of his intervention protocol. Initially (1974), he introduced slow resistance training to the exercise world in a successful attempt to provide safe, high intensity exercise to all populations.

He was the first practitioner to include resistance training to phase II cardiac rehabilitation in 1982. It is now accepted, standard protocol. He pioneered high intensity exercise for high endurance athletes in the mid 1980’s. Lastly, he introduced high intensity exercise for weight loss and management programs including the Opti Fast protocol used by the first popular bariatric physicians (Opti Fit).

Furthermore, Dr. Ben has exposed the paucity of legitimate science supporting conventional medical and governmental practices in treating and managing the aforementioned health dilemmas. He contends that a singularly pharmaceutical oriented solution as currently applied has failed individually and on an international basis.

Dr. Ben provides a simple history of the escalation of degenerative diseases (diabetes, obesity, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, cancer etc.) that correlates, at an inordinate level, with behavioral changes in physical activity and dietary preferences.

Lastly, Dr. Ben offers a simple, sound and scientifically based plan that incorporates a universally applicable system that directly addresses the alarming, current state of public health. Topics included are: Diet, exercise, disease treatment and management options and cost analyses of these.

Dr. Ben Bocchicchio has published more than 200 articles and study reports in the fields of Fitness, Health and Exercise. His work includes his acclaimed book “15 Minutes to Fitness” and the sale of more than 300,000 SMaRT DVD’s in 31 countries. He is continuing work as an investigator and consultant to Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, ASU and a number of academic and corporate health institutions.

Gary Taubes (born April 30, 1956) is an American science writer. He is the author of Nobel Dreams (1987), Bad Science: The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion (1993), and Good Calories, Bad Calories (2007), which is titled The Diet Delusion in the UK. He has won the Science in Society Award of the National Association of Science Writers three times and was awarded an MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellowship for 1996-97.

Born in Rochester, New York, Taubes studied applied physics at Harvard and aerospace engineering at Stanford (MS, 1978). After receiving a master’s degree in journalism at Columbia University in 1981, Taubes joined Discover magazine as a staff reporter in 1982. Since then he has written numerous articles for Discover, Science and other magazines. Originally focusing on physics issues, his interests have more recently turned to medicine and nutrition.

Taubes’ books have all dealt with scientific controversies. Nobel Dreams takes a critical look at the politics and experimental techniques behind the Nobel Prize-winning work of physicist Carlo Rubbia. Bad Science is a chronicle of the short-lived media frenzy surrounding the Pons-Fleischmann cold fusion experiments of 1989.

Dr. Cywes is Dual Board Certified in General Surgery and in Pediatric Surgery. He specializes in Pediatric and Adult obesity, diabetes and metabolic management including bariatric surgery.  His focus is on helping people understand and treat the true cause of obesity and diabetes.  He has been doing bariatric surgery for 19 years and has performed around 7000 surgeries.  Despite this, Dr Cywes firmly believes that obesity and diabetes are not treated by surgery, however, surgery may be a invaluable tool along the journey of becoming carbohydrate-free.

His medical training began in Cape Town, South Africa where he received his medical degree from The University of Cape Town training with Prof Tim Noakes amongst others. In 1989, Dr. Cywes moved to North America and completed a year-long residency in pediatric surgery at Ohio State University’s Columbus Children’s Hospital before moving to Canada where he completed his general surgery residency and specialized in minimally invasive surgery at the University of Toronto.  Dr. Cywes also earned a PhD in liver transplant immunology and the effect of glucose metabolism on vascular endothelium injury, working with Dr David Jenkins, the father of the Glycemic Index.

After completing his paediatric surgery fellowship at the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, Dr. Cywes was appointed as an Assistant Professor of Paediatric and Fetal Surgery at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee where he did hepatic stem cell research.  During this time, Dr. Cywes became increasingly interested in adolescent obesity and the impact of carbohydrates on the liver and metabolic syndrome in young patients. Dr. Cywes’ research led to a comprehensive understanding of the toxicity of chronic excessive carbohydrate consumption as the primary cause of obesity and so-called obesity-related co-morbidities. In the late 1990s Dr Cywes understood that the prevailing treatment of obesity using a Calories in, Calories out (CICO) model was erroneous, and he developed the Carbohydrate Insulin Model of Obesity and Diabetes (CIMOD). Using this model in combination with his understanding of the psychology of addiction, he developed a clinical program to treat obese adolescents using this approach. Dr. Cywes relocated to Jacksonville, Florida where he joined the Department of Pediatric Surgery at the Nemours Children’s Clinic and Wolfson Children’s Hospital. This led to a national meeting in Jacksonville where guidelines for adolescent obesity surgery were established.

In 2004, Dr. Cywes established Jacksonville Surgical Associates to continue his work in both adolescent and adult obesity treatment and surgery, and in 2013 opened a practice in West Palm Beach, Florida.  He now works with a highly experienced team of professionals from a variety of medical sub-specialties to better care for obese patients.  He has developed the practice into a nationally recognized Center of Excellence for obesity surgery. The practice uses a cognitive behavioral therapy approach that addresses carbohydrate addiction, along with bariatric surgery, to help patients manage the cause of their obesity long term. Based on his extensive clinical research and observations, Dr. Cywes lectures internationally regarding the physiological impact of carbohydrate consumption as the primary cause of the current Chronic Non-Communicable Disease (CNCDs) epidemic.  He also lectures on the behavioral aspects of carbohydrate addiction as the cause of obesity and obesity-related co-morbidities and the use of substance abuse methodology, rather than a diet and exercise approach, to the effective long term treatment of obesity.

Dr. Cywes is a member of ASMBS (American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery) and is a member of the ASMBS Childhood Obesity Committee. He is also a member of APSA (American Pediatric Surgery Association). He has earned a Centers of Excellence designation by the Surgical Review Corporation. Dr. Cywes trains other surgeons to perform bariatric surgery as well as developing an aftercare model to help patients maintain weight loss.

Dr. Cywes and his team are active in obesity research, including an ongoing Adolescent Bariatric Surgery trial. He has become one of the foremost authorities in the treatment and management of obesity in adolescents. He recently co-authored a book, Diabetes Unpacked outlining an effective approach to understanding and treating diabetes into remission. Dr. Cywes’ vast experience in pediatric and general surgery serves him well in using bariatric surgery to treat obesity in both adults and children.

Dr Cywes maintains an active clinical practice in Palm Beach Gardens and in Jacksonville as well as being active on conveying the CIMOD message on social media and through his websites – Obesityunderstood.com and diabetesunderstood.com.

Dr. Georgia Ede is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist whose areas of expertise include ketogenic and pre-agricultural diets, food sensitivity syndromes, and college mental health. She explores food’s powerful effects on brain chemistry, hormonal balance and metabolism for Psychology Today and on her website DiagnosisDiet.com.

After receiving her Biology degree from Carleton College, she worked for seven years as a laboratory research technician in the fields of biochemistry, immunology, diabetes and wound healing. She earned her M.D. from the University of Vermont College of Medicine and completed her psychiatry residency at Harvard’s Cambridge Hospital. Dr. Ede was the first and only psychiatrist at Harvard University Health Services to offer nutrition consultation as an alternative to medication management to students, faculty and staff. After seven years at Harvard, she chose to relocate to beautiful Northampton, Massachusetts, where she is a psychiatrist and nutrition consultant at Smith College.

Dr. Dominic D’Agostino is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology at the University of South Florida (USF) Morsani College of Medicine and also a Senior Research Scientist at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC). The primary focus of his laboratory is directed towards understanding the physiological effects of hyperbaric oxygen and developing and testing metabolic-based therapies, including ketogenic diets, ketone supplements and drugs that target specific metabolic pathways.

His research explores the use of these therapies for a broad range of disorders linked pathophysiologically to metabolic dysregulation, including seizures, neurodegenerative diseases, genetic diseases and cancer. D’Agostino’s laboratory uses in vivo and in vitro techniques to understand the physiological, cellular and molecular mechanism of metabolic therapies. His research is supported by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Department of Defense (DoD), private organizations and foundations.

Matt is a clinical and research neurologist at Waikato Hospital, Hamilton, New Zealand. His foremost passion is to explore the potential feasibility, safety, and efficacy of metabolic strategies, particularly fasting and ketogenic diets, in creating alternate metabolic states that may benefit people with a variety of neurological disorders. His team conducted the world’s first randomized studies in people with Parkinson’s and people with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. He is currently conducting a clinical trial that combines intensive fasting with a ketogenic diet alongside standard treatments in patients with glioblastoma multiforme.

I obtained my MD in Mexico and specialized as an internist at Mexico’s National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition.  Afterward, I trained as a Data scientist at Harvard and obtained my Ph.D. in Physiology at Oxford.  My research has focused on the clinical applications and prescription of ketogenic interventions.  However, most of my collaborations have involved advanced Statistical Analysis and Clinical Prediction Tools.  Currently, I am a tax-funded clinical researcher and Internal Medicine consultant at Mexico’s National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition.

Dr. Eric Berg, age 58, with a monumental following of over 28M+ subscribers across all of his YouTube channels worldwide, discusses everything keto and fasting. Dr. Berg promotes the healthy version of the keto diet as a routine normal lifestyle, not as a special diet. Being the CEO of Dr. Berg’s Nutritionals, and a best-selling author, it’s his mission to disseminate natural alternatives to health conditions and clean eating.

His book, The Healthy Keto Plan describes specific strategies on doing the healthy version of the ketogenic diet and provides all the details, barriers and solutions to one getting started. Dr. Berg has practiced for 30 years educating people on alternative health, breaking down confusing complex health topics into easy to understand, usable knowledge. 

Dr Mason is a Sports and Exercise Medicine Physician who also holds degrees in Physiotherapy and Occupational Health. Dr Mason is a believer of the scientific process and is happy to challenge medical orthodoxy when it conflicts with the available evidence. He holds views on many topics including saturated fat and cholesterol, dietary fibre and sun exposure which contrast with those of conventional medical wisdom.

Dave is a senior software engineer and entrepreneur.   He began working with programming and system engineering at a very young age and has always enjoyed learning new mechanistic patterns and concepts.

After starting a low carb diet, Dave found his cholesterol numbers increased considerably.  He then began reverse engineering the lipid system through self-experimentation and testing, finding it was very dynamic and fluid.  He has now demonstrated this phenomenon multiple times by moving his cholesterol up and down substantially in a matter of days.

I am a USC trained, board certified Internal Medicine doctor and have been in practice for 16 years but did not understand the implications of metabolic syndrome until only 2 years ago. I have had a personal struggle with obesity since childhood and became officially pre-diabetic in February of 2017 despite my medical knowledge.

Although I was voted one of the “Top Doctors” in San Diego for 11 of those years, I still felt a void as many of my patients with chronic conditions continued to decline and require more medication. After attending LowCarbUSA^® in San Diego, my practice of medicine changed and I have taken control of my health. 

I have been honored to be a guest on multiple podcasts and I have been a speaker on the Nutrition Network educational series for medical professionals.  I am currently co-hosting the Low Carb MD podcast with Dr. Jason Fung, Dr. Tro Kalayjian, and Megan Ramos.  I am also on the panel of advisers for the LowCarbUSA^® Clinical Guidelines for Medical Professionals and just finished recording an interview for the upcoming documentary “Big Fat Lie” with Wide Eye Productions.  I am the Medical Director for TriSystem Nutrition.   Together we can do our part to reverse the healthcare crisis that is facing the world one life at a time. I am excited about the journey ahead.

Andrew Koutnik is a Research Scientist at Sansum Diabetes Research Institute. Dr. Koutnik received a degree in Exercise Physiology from Florida State University, as well as the Atlantic Coast Conference Meeting of Minds Award, Bess Ward Thesis Award, and Honors in the Major Medallion while investigating how neurological disease and mental health status influence the cardiovascular and nervous systems. Dr. Koutnik went on to receive the Presidential Fellowshipto join the Metabolic Medicine Laboratory at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine where he examined the role of endogenous and exogenous ketosis in animal models of disease and extreme physiologic stress. During this time, Dr. Koutnik also led two investigations on NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) 22 & 23 exploring the multiday adaptive response to living underwater for 10 days.

During his time at USF, Dr. Koutnik received three USF Research Awards, the NASA NEEMO 22 Topside Support Crew and Research Team Award and was inducted into the University of South Florida Academy of Inventors. From 2019-2022, Dr. Koutnik served as a Research Scientist at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition where he was the Task 4, 5, 6 and 7 Principal Investigator/Project Leads for United States Special Operation Command (USSOCOM) Phase 2 Ketone Esters for Optimization of Operator Performance in Hypoxia and also assist on multiple other research projects with a focus on military healthspan and resilience, including Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Measuring Biological Aptitude (MBA), Office of Naval Research, and other Department of Defense programs investigating key cardiometabolic phenotypes and biological pathways to help elite operators improve resilience and career longevity. Dr. Koutnik currently is a Visiting Research Scientist at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition.

Dr. Koutnik is actively investigating the role of therapeutic culturally tailoredlifestyle interventions and carbohydrate restriction in both diabetes management and prevention, as well as exploring therapeutic options that regulate the multisystem impacts of glycemia and hyperinsulinemia. Together this work (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2BzUjqkAAAAJ&hl=en) has resulted in >70 publications/abstracts, >1000 citations, >45 presentations/webinars, and 18 mentees.

Personally, Andrew Koutnik has lived with Type 1 Diabetes for over 14 years. Type 1 Diabetes has and continues to give an incredible in-depth personal journey into the world of our metabolism, how it works, how day-to-day life (sometimes moment-by-moment choices) influences it, and how these changes on metabolism can have far-reaching effects over other aspects of our physiology. This combination of researching nutrition, exercise, and medicinal intervention, but also dealing with its benefits and consequences daily as a person living with Type 1 Diabetes, created a strong appreciation for the cardiometabolic role each can play into disease prevention and management. Dr. Koutnik lives in Santa Barbara, California with his wife and two boys.

Dr. Michael Eades was born in Springfield, Missouri and educated in Missouri, Michigan, and California. He received his undergraduate degree in engineering from California State Polytechnic University, and received his medical degree from the University of Arkansas. After completing his medical and post-graduate training, he and his wife, Mary Dan, founded Medi-Stat Medical Clinics, a chain of ambulatory out-patient family care clinics in central Arkansas. Since 1986 Dr. Eades has been in the full time practice of bariatric, nutritional, and metabolic medicine.

Dr. Dimitris Tsoukalas is a medical doctor and scientific director of the Metabolomic Medicine® medical group, with clinics in Athens, Greece, and Milan, Italy. He is a pioneer in preventing and treating autoimmune and chronic conditions using Metabolomic Analysis®. He graduated in 1991 from the Medical School of ” Università degli Studi di Napoli, Federico II” in Italy. In 2000, he completed his specialization in General & Family Medicine at the Hippocrates Hospital of Athens. He has received the Honorable Mention from the Greek Ministry of Health for his contribution to Primary Health Care. He is the author of the best-selling book “How to Live 150 Years in Health,” published in Greek, English, and Italian. He is an Associate Member of the World Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Tsoukalas has a significant scientific and research activity. He has published over 50 scientific studies and is a keynote speaker at international medical conferences for detecting metabolic disorders and micronutrient deficiencies related to preventing and treating autoimmune and chronic diseases. In collaboration with national and international university institutions, he researches autoimmune and chronic diseases, as well as aging, to address the prevention and treatment of diseases linked to the modern lifestyle. 

He is the associate editor for Metabolomics in the scientific journal Frontiers Molecular Biosciences and editor of the research topic “Autoimmune diseases, metabolites, diagnostic and therapeutic targets” in the same journal. He is a guest editor in the scientific journals of MDPI: Antioxidants, Nutrients, Pathophysiology, and BMC. He is an editor in the medical journal “Pathophysiology”, in the special edition concerning the clinical applications of Metabolomics in chronic diseases. “Recent Advances in Metabolomics and Applications in Chronic Diseases”. He is a reviewer in eBioMedicine of The Lancet, as well as in the scientific journals Antioxidants, Nutrients, Journal of Clinical Medicine and Frontiers in Mol Biosciences. He is a lecturer at the Medical School of the University of Crete in the course of metabolomics and at the Open People’s University for issues related to preventive medicine, metabolomic medicine and autoimmune diseases.

In collaboration with the European Institute of Molecular Medicine, he created the first online continuing medical education (CME) course for the clinical application of metabolomics and nutritional medicine, recognized by the Italian Ministry of Health, providing 30 CME credits. He is a co-author of the Clinical Application of Metabolomics on Autoimmune and Chronic Diseases course at the University School of Athens.

Drew Decker is a dedicated graduate research assistant with a diverse background in both military service and academia. Decker will graduate with his Master of Science in Kinesiology with a focus on Health Exercise Sciences in Summer 2024, with the plans to continue his Ph.D on the Volek Lab Research Team. His contributions include leading a collaborative study investigating the effects of a ketogenic diet on individuals with Major Depressive Disorder.

With experience gained from his service in the U.S. Army, Decker brings a unique perspective to his academic endeavors, emphasizing teamwork and practical application. Decker aims to bridge the gap between mental health, ketosis, and exercise- a mission cultivated by his experiences, professional expertise, and academic excellence.

I hope to be the most unique cardiologist you have ever encountered. Sure, I am a card-carrying, board certified cardiologist. And I spent years learning the invasive procedures and the medications used to treat heart disease. Now I want to do everything in my power to make sure those multibillion dollar tools and drugs go unused.

My goal is to inspire individuals just like you to dictate your own health by adopting healthy lifestyle habits. Lifestyle habits that allow you to achieve your best health ever. Health free of prescription drugs. Health that leaves you feeling great, feeling energetic, and living the life you have always dreamed.

Having competed in triathlons ever since I was a teenager, fitness and health were always obsessions of mine. In college at Stanford University, I was able to maintain my daily training and focus on healthy nutrition. Then, real-life happened. I entered Ohio State University’s medical school, followed by my internal medicine residency at Mercy Hospital in San Diego, and a fellowship in preventative cardiology at Scripps Clinic

Suddenly those gym visits, long runs and bike rides became a struggle to maintain. Finding time to eat well, stay active, get enough sleep, and handle the stress of a high-stakes job became a constant presence in my life. Fortunately, I knew the importance of these habits and I did my best to maintain them, even if on a smaller scale.

As I entered my cardiology practice in San Diego, I encountered thousands of people who struggled far more than I did to maintain healthy habits. Some had never exercised or paid any attention to their nutrition. It just wasn’t how they were raised and they hadn’t considered it important. Others knew what they “should” be doing but lacked the tools and support structure to implement them.

As a result, our healthcare system is full of people suffering from diseases that are completely preventable.

Suddenly, I had a clear mission: to empower all my patients to help themselves. To empower them to make the best-informed choices possible about everything from food to activity to sleep to stress management, every single day. After all, the best way to “treat” someone is to prevent the need for treatment in the first place.

I’ve since studied extensively in the areas of functional medicine, personal fitness training, and nutrition and added the following certifications to my credentials as a physician

• Functional medicine from Functional Medicine University
• Personal training from NASM
• Fitness nutrition from NASM
• Behavioral modification from NASM
• Medical and fitness provider from Titleist Performance Institute

This extra training has broadened my perspective, allowing me to be a doctor, a health coach, a nutritionist, a personal trainer, and a cheerleader all wrapped into one. It is with this mindset that I can give my clients all the tools they need to lead healthy, natural lives.

So, am I the most unique cardiologist you have ever met? In the end, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I can help you take control of your health. I can help you experience natural health that comes from daily healthy lifestyle habits. I can help you safely get off your medicines or ensure that you never need them in the first place. Let’s start this journey together, and you will see how great you can feel!

Education, Titles and Certifications:

Graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. in biology 1994

Graduated from The Ohio State University Medical School with a M.D. 1998

Internal medicine internship and residency at Mercy Hospital San Diego, CA completed 2001

Chief Resident for the Mercy Hospital Internal Medicine Residency Program 2002

General and Preventative Cardiology fellowship at Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, CA completed 2005

Cardiology partner at Sharp Rees Stealy, San Diego 2005-present

Founder and lead physician Boundless Health 2015-present

Board certified in:

Adult cardiovascular diseases

Adult echocardiography

Nuclear cardiology

Cardiac computed tomography

Certified practitioner:

Functional Medicine

Personal Trainer

Fitness nutrition’

Behavior modification

Level 2 fitness and medical provider by Titleist Performance Institute

Professor of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego
Director of Psychiatry, Medical Behavior Unit, Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego
Professor Adjoint, Psychiatry-Child-CHC, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Adverse childhood experiences, low self-esteem, and salient stimulus response in eating disorders
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/erv.3064

Trait anxiety is associated with amygdala expectation and caloric taste receipt response across eating disorders
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-022-01440-z

Association of Brain Reward Response With Body Mass Index and Ventral Striatal-Hypothalamic Circuitry Among Young Women With Eating Disorders
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2781384

ONGOING RESEARCH:

Therapeutic Ketogenic Diet in Anorexia Nervosa
https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT06000774?term=guido+frank&draw=2&rank=3

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) in the Treatment of Anorexia Nervosa
https://clinicaltrials.ucsd.edu/trial/NCT05368844

CBD in Regulating Meal Time Anxiety in Anorexia Nervosa
https://clinicaltrials.ucsd.edu/trial/NCT04878627

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Tamzyn is a registered dietitian with a Master’s Degree in Physiology (Dist.) in which she investigated Low Carbohydrate High Fat Diets and Type 2 Diabetes. Tamzyn’s special interest and experience in LCHF / Keto diets make her a key member of the Nutrition Network team. Tamzyn is also co-founder of Real Food Dietitians, a private dietetics practice focusing on Keto diets, where she consults with patients and runs Low Carbohydrate Challenges. Tamzyn has work experience in the community, supplement industry, nutrition writing, and editing for the media, as well as in low carbohydrate research. 

Dr Anthony Chaffee is an American medical doctor and Neurosurgical resident who, over a span of 20+ years, has researched the optimal nutrition for human performance and health. It is his assertion that most of the so-called chronic diseases we treat as doctors are caused by the food we eat, or don’t eat, and can be reversed with dietary changes to a species specific diet. 

He began University at the age of 16 studying Molecular & Cellular Biology with a Minor in Chemistry at the U of Washington in Seattle, which culminated in an MD from the Royal College of Surgeons. 

He is an All-American rugby player, former professional player in England and America, and also has trained in MMA fighting.

More recently, he volunteered as a doctor in the refugee camps in Bangladesh, helping the survivors of the 2017 genocide in Burma of the Rohingyan people.

Currently in Australia, he works as a Neurosurgical registrar and does private consultations in metabolic health and functional medicine. He is still full Carnivore.

Dr Anthony Chaffee is an American medical doctor and Neurosurgical resident who, over a span of 20+ years, has researched the optimal nutrition for human performance and health. It is his assertion that most of the so-called chronic diseases we treat as doctors are caused by the food we eat, or don’t eat, and can be reversed with dietary changes to a species specific diet. 

He began University at the age of 16 studying Molecular & Cellular Biology with a Minor in Chemistry at the U of Washington in Seattle, which culminated in an MD from the Royal College of Surgeons. 

He is an All-American rugby player, former professional player in England and America, and also has trained in MMA fighting.

More recently, he volunteered as a doctor in the refugee camps in Bangladesh, helping the survivors of the 2017 genocide in Burma of the Rohingyan people.

Currently in Australia, he works as a Neurosurgical registrar and does private consultations in metabolic health and functional medicine. He is still full Carnivore.

Dr. Wortman has worked in family medicine, public health, medical administration and research. He has held senior management positions in Health Canada in Ottawa and Vancouver. For the past 17 years he has worked with low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet in both the research and practice settings. For many years, his work was focused in First Nations and Inuit communities. One of his studies trialed a low carb traditional diet in a First Nations community and was the subject of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation documentary film, “My Big Fat Diet”. Dr. Wortman is a frequent presenter on the benefits of a low carbohydrate high fat diet at scientific meetings and continuing medical education events. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Simply Good Foods Co. Dr. Wortman currently practices in West Vancouver where he uses a low carb high fat diet for the treatment of metabolic, CNS and inflammatory conditions.