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Stay Off My Operating Table
I was a morbidly obese heart surgeon.
All through high school, college, med school and surgical training, I followed the U.S. dietary guidelines for both diet and exercise. Yet nothing I did kept the weight off.
I just kept getting fatter and fatter.
Each day in surgery, I would split open the chests of people just like me. I knew I was heading for the operating table myself if I didn't find solutions that worked.
In 2016, I finally found a way to lose 100 pounds and keep it off.
Now - in addition to doing heart surgery - I work to help people just like me get healthy, lose the weight and keep it off.
I'm Dr. Philip Ovadia, the rebel M.D. and cardiac surgeon who is working to keep people off my operating table.
http://ovadiahearthealth.com/whitepaper/
Any use of this intellectual property for text and data mining or computational analysis including as training material for artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without express written consent from Dr. Philip Ovadia.
Stay Off My Operating Table
234: Looking Back - Our 10 Most Popular Podcast, (up to now), plus Some Other Favorites
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
This is a special episode. We had a bunch of unforeseeable and unpreventable occurrences in the month prior to today, and as a result, none of our scheduled interviews happened.
So, we took the opportunity to look back and highlight the 10 most popular episodes, so far. They're listed here for quick and easy access.
Notable:
Like what you hear? Head over to IFixHearts.com/book to grab a copy of my book, Stay Off My Operating Table.
Ready to go deeper? Talk to someone from my team at IFixHearts.com/talk.
Ready to take control of your health? Grab Dr. Ovadia’s brand new book Stay Off My Kitchen Table now!
This isn’t just another diet book; it reveals why it’s not just what you eat, but what your body actually absorbs that determines your health.
If you’re struggling with low energy, stubborn weight, or feeling like “healthy eating” isn’t working… this book shows you exactly how to fix it.
- Learn how to reset your gut
- Eliminate hidden foods sabotaging your progress
- Unlock real energy, metabolism, and longevity
Don’t wait until it’s too late. Take action today. Get your copy of Stay Off My Kitchen Table now.
Learn More:
- Take Dr. Ovadia's metabolic health quiz: iFixHearts
- Dr. Ovadia's website: Ovadia Heart Health
Theme Song : Rage Against
Written & Performed by Logan Gritton & Colin Gailey
(c) 2016 Mercury Retro Recordings
Any use of this intellectual property for text and data mining or computational analysis including as training material for artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without express written consent from Dr. Philip Ovadia.
Top 10 Most Popular Episodes (Up to Now)
[00:00:00] Welcome to a special episode of Stay Off My Operating Table with Dr. Philip Ovadia..
I'm Jack Heald. I'm the producer of Stay Off My Operating Table. I've given Phil the week off.
Due to a weird combination of unpreventable and unforeseeable circumstances, all of our guests who we would've interviewed weren't able to sit for our interviews.
So for today's episode, I've decided to do something I've been meaning to do for quite some time. Count down the top 10 most popular episodes of the Stay Off My Operating Table podcast.
First off, coming in at number 10, podcast episode number two.
That episode was released on September 14th, [00:01:00] 2021. Now this episode argues that when we are unhealthy, our hormones specifically insulin hijack our metabolic system, forcing the body to prioritize the storage of fat over activity and repair. And that's what leads to the 88% metabolically unhealthy rate that we talk about later in the conversation.
Episode number two, "What is Metabolic Health?"
Coming in at number nine, episode number one. The title of it was How a Lifelong Obese Cardiac Surgeon became a Rebel MD. Dr. Ovadia practiced medicine as an obese heart surgeon for over a decade before he realized that the standard advice of low fat eating and calorie counting was ineffective for losing the weight -for not [00:02:00] being obese.
The turning point came when he shifted his focus to hormones, specifically insulin and metabolic health, rather than just the "old calories and calories out."
That's number nine, episode number one.
Coming in at number eight was episode number 99. Navigating Health Threats Hidden in Our Modern Diets with Dr. Chris Knobbe. Dr. Knobbe was a conventionally trained ophthalmologist and he discovered through his own research that processed foods, specifically vegetable and seed oils are the primary drivers of age related macular degeneration.
This is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in people over 50. In this episode, he talks about the history of blindness, the four pillars of hazard, the problem with linoleic, a linoleic acid, the mechanism of [00:03:00] harm, and how the half-life of these fats, which is somewhere in the neighborhood of
two and a half to three years means that it takes about three years to turn the ship around if you're dealing with the problem. His advice, in order to stay off the operating table or stay outta the ophthalmologist's office patient should eliminate the big four processed ingredients, refined flour, refined sugars, vegetable seeds, and oil vegetable oils,
and trans fats. He re, he recommends returning to ancestral fats like butter, lard, and beef tallow once again. Number eight on our top 10 list is Dr. Chris Knobbe, Navigating Health Threats Hidden in Our Modern Diets. Episode number 99.
Coming in at number seven on our top 10 list was episode number 1 30. Fix Your Mind by Fixing Your Diet Featuring Dr. Georgia Ede. Dr. [00:04:00] Ede's personal journey was a transition from conventional psychiatry, which was based on medication and psychotherapy to nutritional psychiatry. She did this after using a ketogenic diet
to resolve her own chronic issues, including fibromyalgia, migraines and IBS. Dr. Ede highlights that conventional psychiatry often practices, as she says it "in the dark," because there are no definitive tests for neurotransmitter levels.
Medications often provide only partial relief while causing significant metabolic side effects such as weight gain, high blood sugar, and insulin resistance, Dr. Ede critiques the 80 to 90% of nutrition headlines, which are based on food frequency questionnaires.
She argues that these are unscientific as they rely on the human memory rather than measurable data. She also views certain conditions like [00:05:00] bipolar disorder as a form of emotional epilepsy, sudden shifts in brain activity. Since ketogenic diets have treated epilepsy for well over a hundred years, they serve as a powerful tool for stabilizing brain chemistry in psychiatric patients.
Dr. E clarifies that oxidative stress is often caused by flooding the system with refined carbohydrates. She explains that plant antioxidants are often poorly absorbed or even act as promoters of stress, which trigger our own internal systems rather than working directly as scavengers, as antioxidants are alleged to do.
She emphasizes that animal-based foods contain essential molecules for brain development that are completely absent in plants, making vegan diets particularly risky for the first thousand days of a child's life.[00:06:00]
Number seven in our top 10 list. Episode number one 30 featuring Dr. Georgia Ede. Fix Your Mind by Fixing Your Diet.
Number six on the top 10 list. Episode number 98, released July 4th, 2023. Sean Baker Challenges the Norm With His Carnivore Journey. In this particular episode, Dr. Ovadia introduced us to Dr. Sean Baker. He's a foundational figure in the resurgence of the carnivore diet and is the author of what many consider to be the definitive book on the subject of the Carnivore diet.
Dr. Baker shares that in his forties, his health began to deteriorate significantly, and he initially dismissed these changes as normal signs of aging, but during this period, he experienced several warning signs of metabolic disease, including [00:07:00] gaining weight and sloughing from. Poor, sweet, poor sleep quality.
A lot of us can relate to that. Recognizing that he was developing metabolic syndrome, Dr. Baker decided he didn't like the direction his health was going and that led him to explore and eventually become a champion for the carnivore diet.
Number six on our top 10, episode number 98 with Dr. Sean Baker.
All right, we're halfway through our top 10. Coming in at number five, our fifth most popular podcast of all time, episode number 1 0 7 with Dr. Jay Wrigley, a Journey through Hormonal Health and Metabolic Optimization. Dr. Jay Wrigley is a functional medicine practitioner based in Charlotte, North Carolina. In this interview the discussion focused on solving [00:08:00] complex issues through a shared approach between
Dr. Wrigley and his patients.
This episode provides a deep dive into what Dr. Wrigley calls the hormone metabolic matrix. His clinical focus is on how chemical messengers, not just calories, dictate weight loss, energy, and longevity. Dr.
Wrigley highlights a common clinical hurdle, which he calls estrogen dominance. This occurs when estrogen levels are disproportionately high compared to progesterone. He explains that metabolic health is a harmony between four main endocrine glands the adrenals, the thyroid, the pancreas, and the gonads. Then he talks about adrenal fatigue and metabolic resistance. He argues that many weight loss plateaus are actually adrenal issues.
He talks about the hunger hormones, leptin and ghrelin, and maps out how [00:09:00] these hormones interact with our dietary choices. He talks about carnivore as a clinical tool. Dr. Wrigley views the carnivore diet not just as a trend, but as a clinical elimination diet. From Dr. Jay Wrigley's standpoint, it's not just about the scale, metabolic health is about hormone signaling.
That's why he says, check the unseen labs, look beyond TSH, check free T three, check reverse T three, check the progesterone to estrogen ratios. And finally, he talks about the stress insulin loop. You can't out- diet, a high cortisol lifestyle. Our fifth most popular episode, Dr. Jay Wrigley, a Journey through Hormonal Health and Metabolic Optimization.
Our fourth most popular podcast was episode number 1 24, released on January 2nd, 2024. Can You Reverse [00:10:00] Heart Disease with our guest Daniel Trevor.
Daniel Trevor is the author of a book called The Unholy Trinity. His motivation for writing the book stemmed from his own health discovery, which was despite appearing fit and having low cholesterol, he discovered that he had significant heart disease. And he found that out through a calcium score test.
His book, The Unholy Trinity, addresses the interconnected roles of high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and abdominal fat in driving chronic illness. Trevor's core strategy is to eliminate industrially refined, boy, that's a hard word, industrially. Industrially, refined carbohydrates, sugar and vegetable seed oils, and then to prioritize animal proteins and fats ,consume healthful natural other [00:11:00] fats. Replace, for example, the seed oils with avocado oils, coconut oils, and butter.
To adopt low carb protocols, eliminate refined grains, and make sure that you supplement essential nutrients. He talks about lifestyle and testing strategies such as intermittent fasting, regular exercise, and then finally he says, don't guess,
Test. Trevor urges using specific accessible medical tests to monitor your true internal health beyond just the standard markers. In particular he recommends the coronary artery calcium score. That's cac, CAC, insulin and glucose testing and advanced lipoprotein testing.
Our fourth most popular podcast, Daniel Trevor, Can You Reverse Heart Disease? Episode number 1 24.
Our third most popular podcast was episode number 87, Dave Feldman, the Citizen Scientist Who Exposes [00:12:00] LDL Cholesterol Myths. Dave Feldman was an engineer on the verge of developing diabetes. In an effort to better his health, he made the decision to try a low carb, high fat diet.
His sister and father followed suit. Dave's LDL cholesterol levels increased, but his family's didn't. These different results fueled his curiosity to explore the reasons behind this inconsistency. What he came away with was something he calls the Lean Mass Hyper Responder Phenomenon. It's a specific profile of people on low carb or ketogenic diets who exhibit very high LDL cholesterol, high HDL cholesterol and low triglycerides.
He views LDL not just as bad cholesterol, but as an energy transport. It's part of a sophisticated energy delivery system that becomes highly active in otherwise fat adapted individuals. Here's a quote that I thought was [00:13:00] really good.
"Metabolism is this counterbalance between anabolism, which is the building up of stuff, and catabolism, which is the breaking down of stuff and metabolism is how good you are at building up and breaking down stuff. In a good balance. That's really what metabolism, and nowhere is that more important than fuel."
Our third most popular podcast, number 87, released on April 18th, 2023. Dave Feldman, The Citizen Scientist Who Exposed the LDL Cholesterol Myths.
Okay, our second most popular podcast of all time, episode number 92, released on May 23rd, 2023. Our guest was Nina Teicholz. The title of the episode was, Wanna Avoid Heart Disease? Eat More Fat. This was episode number 92. Nina Teicholz is the author [00:14:00] of the seminal book called The Big Fat Surprise, Teicholz explains that her decade long research revealed that the demonization of saturated fats was based on weak, biased science rather than rigorous clinical evidence.
We explore how the food industry and organizations like the American Heart Association shifted public recommendations towards industrial seed and vegetable oils, despite a complete lack of evidence that they actually prevented heart disease. We talked about how the official dietary guidelines have contributed to the modern epidemics of obesity and diabetes by encouraging the replacement of natural fats
with carbohydrates and processed oils. Teicholz details how trans fats were once promoted as healthy alternatives to butter and lard before their harmful cardiovascular effects were fully recognized. The key [00:15:00] takeaway is that saturated fats, those fats that are found in meat, eggs, and dairy are stable essential nutrients,
and that they've been unfairly maligned as drivers of heart disease. Episode number 92, our second most popular podcast with guest Nina Teicholz. Wanna Avoid Heart Disease?
Eat More Fat.
And now here it is our number one most popular podcast out of all our podcasts, episode number 1 0 2, released on August 1st, 2023 with Kelly Hogan, The Impact of a Zero Carb Lifestyle. Kelly Hogan is described as. I love this, a true OG carnivore who helped revive interest in the zero carb movement.
In this particular conversation, [00:16:00] we talked about the potential for long-term health maintenance and metabolic improvement through a strictly animal-based zero carbohydrate diet. Hogan challenges the conventional nutritional wisdom regarding the necessity of plant-based carbohydrates.
She shares her extensive experience living a zero carb lifestyle, having practiced it long before it gained any kind of mainstream acceptance. She talks about how she transitioned to a zero carb lifestyle and the subsequent physical and metabolic impacts she experienced. Yes, they were positive and I thought this was cool because Dr.
Ovadia noted that Kelly is one who has played a significant role in educating others about this particular kind of lifestyle. Our number one most popular podcast of all time, Kelly Hogan. The Impact of a Zero Carb [00:17:00] Lifestyle.
There you have it, folks. Our 10 most popular podcasts of all time. Now, those of you who are paying attention may notice that all of our most popular podcasts also tend to be our oldest podcasts. There's a reason for that. Obviously, they've been around a longer time, and so people have had a longer opportunity to download them.
So I'm gonna take just a moment and mention some of the episodes that I particularly found really fascinating. They just hadn't been around long enough to have generated as many downloads as the older episodes. Here's one that I just thought was astonishing. Episode number two 18. Three Days to Mental Freedom. The Shocking Story of How a Carnivore Diet Saved a Suicidal Man's Life with Mark Innis. That was episode number two 18, released on October 7th, 2025. Just a couple episode episodes later. Episode number two 20. Research Scientist Exposes [00:18:00] the Shocking Origins of the Low Fat Diet Guidelines, Dr.
Zoe Harcombe. This was a great one released on October 21st, 2025.
Episode number two 12 with Dr. Nasha Winters. Cancer as a Metabolic Disease. Dr. Winters Challenges Medical Dogma. This one was released on August 26th, 2025. I had the opportunity to have dinner with Dr. Winters after we had this conversation, and frankly, I was blown away, not just at the quality of her intellect and her research,
but just as a human being, Dr. Nasha Winters Challenges Medical Dogma, Cancer as a Metabolic Disease. Episode two 12.
Couple other notable ones which were meaningful to me personally.
Episode number 2 0 3, the Insulin Connection, Rethinking Female Health Beyond Just Hormones [00:19:00] with Dr. Andrea Salcedo. This was one of those episodes when I saw who we had on and what her specialty was. I just rolled my eyes, oh God, female stuff.
This is gonna be at the best, boring and at the worst, embarrassing. I could not have been more wrong. I loved this conversation, episode number 2 0 3 with Dr. Andrea Salcedo.
And then right after that, the week after that, on July 1st, 2025, episode 2 0 4, the Muscle Brain Connection, How High Intensity Training Transforms your Metabolism in Just 15 Minutes with Dr.
Ben Bocchicchio. I'll tell you how much I loved this episode. After I interviewed Ben, I hired him to train me. And I have been blown away with the results. It's literally a [00:20:00] when you get it down, it's a 15 minute workout. For me, it's still about 20 twice a week, and I've gotten extraordinary results. I don't think there's anybody on the planet who knows more about how high intensity training actually works and how to do it right than Ben Bocchicchio.
All right folks, that's just a few. Thanks for joining us on this special episode of Stay Off My Operating Table. Appreciate you being patient with us, trying to recover from some weird and un preventable things. For Dr. Philip Ovadia. I'm Jack Heald. Thanks for joining us.
We'll talk to you next time.
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