#67 - Rapid Fire Friday: Seed Oils, Saturated Fat, and Berberine

If you’ve been scrolling nutrition content and walking away more confused than confident, we made this Rapid Fire Friday for you.

Today we're tackling three questions that get people fired up online: 

-Are seed oils causing diabetes? 

-Does saturated fat block insulin receptors? 

-And should everyone be taking berberine?

Spoiler: these debates usually miss the forest for the trees. Blood sugar problems are rarely caused, or solved, by one ingredient.

Ready to take control of your health and stop settling for “managed” diabetes?
     Grab your earbuds and listen in.

Brian & Cory
    Diabetes Remission Partners

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Transcript

Why Diabetes Can Be Rebuilt

SPEAKER_00 0:02

If you have type 2 diabetes and you're tired of being told it's chronic and something you'll just have to manage forever, if your illness needs control but your medication that keeps growing or stays the same, then you know deep down you're capable of more than that, you're in the right place. This is the Diabetes Remission Roadmap Podcast for Brian Bitcher and Corey Jenks, two pharmacists who spent over two decades inside healthcare. And we started this show because we got tired of watching capable people stuck getting managed instead of rebuilt. Here's what most people aren't told. Type 2 diabetes isn't just a blood sugar problem, it's a muscle and energy storage problem. When your body loses strength and metabolic flexibility, blood sugar arises. And you can rebuild that. On this show, we break the script to say more meds are inevitable, you're destined to just manage, remission is impossible, and instead we teach you how to build muscle, eat in a way that keeps you full, and regain control of your health again. No extremes, no shame, just practical strategy to help you move toward remission and lead your health again. Let's get to work.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

Welcome to another edition of the Diabetes Orientation Roadmap Podcast. Brian, you're here. You're here. No, we are live together in Ohio. It was nice enough for Brian to come out earlier in 2026 as we record this to my house. So I said, I'm coming back, but I'm bringing my kids. So they are entertaining each other right now. Probably okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:17

But we got to get to it because it is time for Rapid

Rapid Fire Friday And Listener Qs

SPEAKER_01 1:19

Fire Friday. Brian, are you ready?

SPEAKER_00 1:20

I'm ready.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Okay, we have collected questions from our listeners, our audience, our Instagram followers, our YouTube followers. If you are not subscribed on YouTube and you want to see us live in person, coordinate our shirts, go to YouTube and subscribe. If you're not following us on Instagram, you're missing the daily doses of advice to help you put your diabetes in remission. And if you're listening to this podcast, you're probably already subscribed. So, Brian, let's hop into it real quick.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

And if you have not left a rating or review yet, please do that. That would really help people get to the show and find it. And we've just gotten so many good stories coming from listeners, you all sharing your stories that it's just gonna help other people have that same experience. So please do that.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

Even if it's just clicking it on Spotify, like if you listen on Spotify wherever you are, leave us the five stars, unless you feel you've not been given a five-star experience. But yeah, I tell you what, I have had a five-star experience in Ohio so far. The humidity here alone, my face feels 10 years younger instead of in dry Arizona. Yeah, nothing to do with the service that he's received. No, it's just the weather, and my wife is jealous. All right, hopping in.

Seed Oils Without The Panic

SPEAKER_01 2:18

First question should I avoid seed oils? Ooh, hot topic. This is a very hot topic around the internet and the world. This actually came, I was giving a talk on diabetes and metabolic health locally in Tucson. And this is one of the questions that I got. Seed oils. Should I avoid seed oils? Brian, should I avoid seed oils?

SPEAKER_00 2:35

I wouldn't avoid them like they're like gonna be the death of you, but I would say, what food are they in? And then maybe just look at replacing some of that food with other options. But if you're like reading ingredients, you're like, oh no, it's got canola oil. I have to I can't eat this, it's gonna make me just super sick. I would say, don't flip out, just take it easy. Understand that it's part of the energy toxicity you're getting. And so if it's in the food that's just processed, limit the amount of processed food you're having. That's why you would not want to have it, right?

SPEAKER_01 3:05

All right, I'm gonna take a step back. Okay, take a step back and understand maybe someone listening doesn't know what a seed oil is. Okay, all right. So seed oils are essentially industrialized oil products. You think of canola oil, soybean oil, corn oil, all of these sorts of oils that are in our processed foods that when you think of the food it comes from, they're not oily. Corn is not oily, but because of these very complex processing processes, food companies can take these very inexpensive, honestly, off waste products and turn them into a fair quote food product that they put into a lot of processed food. They like them because they're cheap, they're shelf stable, and so they can charge a lot of money and not put a lot of money into the food. Why would someone think that they're bad anyway? Can you explain that? There is some people who believe that seed oils are uniquely dangerous, that they promote certain kinds of inflammation, that they have that they're toxic in certain ways. And this goes down to the balance of omega-6s, which seed oils have a lot of versus omega-3s. And I don't really want to dive into the nerdy science of that. Well, fair enough. Because there are some people who, and honestly, this is a deeper discussion in the world of nutrition that make one type of food the boogeyman. Whether it's meat is terrible, whether it's literally plants are bad, whether it's seed oils, carbs, fats, saturated fats, hold on to that thought. We're gonna get to that in a moment. On our next question, foreshadowing. And I think that multiple things can be true at once. Personally, do we consume a lot of seed oils? We do not. Personally, when I consume seed oils, like specifically, I notice that my skin breaks out. So I notice an effect from it. Now, there are some people who will say that the inflammation that underlies from seed oils can contribute to underlying issues with your metabolism and type 2 diabetes. Some people say that when they stop eating seed oils, they don't burn as much in the sun. We're not here to debate that. But I think what we like to find is the middle ground that makes sense on a day-to-day basis in the trenches. And if you're trying to reverse energy toxicity to improve your blood sugar, oils are fat and they can contain a lot of energy. And seed oils are essentially in, as Brian was saying, processed food products, which we are trying to improve our blood sugar, we're trying to avoid those anyway. So naturally, if you're eating a more whole food diet, you're gonna eat less seed oils. So is it the seed oils that are making your blood sugar better, or is it the entire food picture you're missing, Brian? I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 5:19

We don't know. Does it matter? I don't know. Make take the evidence and just take the take this and just apply it to yourself. Try crowding out, find other alternatives. But if you are handed something and you're in a pinch and it's got seed oils in it, I wouldn't flip out, I wouldn't be on that spectrum. At least I don't personally.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

No, I would say aim for things like olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, a butter. If you're cooking, like cooking with a fat, yeah, those are what I try to consume more. I was a little bit more seed oil phobic, and now when I go to a restaurant, I don't even ask if it's in the salad dressing. Just eat it, and then I get a couple zits and it's fine. So I used to bring his own chips to restaurants. Hey, I I still don't know. Because I don't want, I don't like I don't feel great when I eat that. But it doesn't mean that they're like terrible and toxic. So big picture, try to avoid them as much as possible. The reason why is that you're going to be getting less of the less total energy and from the garbage process foods that we probably should be avoiding anyway. Boom, next question. All right, boom. Boom roasted. Next question. All

Saturated Fat And Insulin Resistance

SPEAKER_01 6:21

right. Next question Is saturated fat bad because it blocks insulin receptors? This was another interesting question that we heard people getting these ideas from about like okay. I think I know where the origin of this question is. And so this goes back to the previous question talking about being food phobic. So the idea of saturated fat blocking insulin receptors kind of comes from the plant-based world, is what I've seen. Is that there's a lot of saturated fat in animal products, and so the argument is that they are uniquely bad for blood sugar because they saturated fat alone blocks insulin receptors. And I think our answer, much like the seed oil question, is probably gonna go back to the overall energy picture.

SPEAKER_00 7:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

Because we have seen people who do a carnivorous diet, which is all animal products, improve their blood sugar.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

And we've seen people who do a plant-based diet improve their blood sugar and see a better overall body composition. So, how are these two things possible, Brian? If saturated fat is uniquely bad, yet maybe it's because it's extra energy coming in, regardless of the place. So I think this is where you might see some issues when people go, look, I I'll be honest. Brian and I, sometimes we have a little different opinion, right? Yeah. Quick pause for a second.

Instagram Bonus Tips Invite

SPEAKER_01 7:38

If you're finding the podcast helpful and you want more practical ideas to help move your blood sugar in the right direction, come follow us on Instagram at Diabetes RemissionPartners. We share quick tips, food and exercise insights, and blood sugar mistakes people don't even realize they're making. It's also where we can answer your questions directly in the DMs. So if you want more help between episodes, Instagram at diabetes remission partners is the best place to find us. And when you follow us, make sure to say hi. All right, back to the show.

Diet Tribes And The Energy Picture

SPEAKER_01 8:13

I like I'm a little bit more leaning towards a low-carb world. That's where I was my gateway to diabetes remission. Is it the only way? No. But it works really well. But one of the pitfalls of people who go low carb or keto is it's low carb, high fat. So they say I have to consume all this extra fat. And oftentimes it's butter, cheese, cream, and then they're sugar stalls and their weight loss stalls, and they don't know what I need to do. So, much like the failed paradigm of eat less, move more, they try to paradigm harder into low carb and high fat, and they're like, I just obviously have to cut my carbs more and eat more fat. No, because you're getting too much energy coming in. So I think this idea that and we have we are like I just admitted a bias in mine. But if you are doing this and you're eating plant-based and doing great, we don't care. Honestly, if you could eat, if you could eat all the donuts and have great blood sugar, then you are a freak, a genetic freak. But understanding that a lot of people who are giving information have biases. And what Brian and I try to have is when it comes to food, which is a very charged, it's cultural, it's spiritual. We really want you to eat what you like, what fits your values. And for people who are plant-based and feel great and do it for their reasons, amazing. But also sometimes people become very almost religiously attached to the way that they eat and have to attack other ways of eating. And if you've gone on Instagram at all, you'll see that. And quite honestly, we don't play that game.

SPEAKER_00 9:35

Yeah, that's a deeper, much that's deeper, much more personal issue for those people out there who tie their identity and work to whatever diet culture they're in. And we're both very good in our our worth. I don't know how what am I trying to say? We don't put ourselves working right eating.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

We don't our eating is not either should you. I agree. Our eating is not how we identify as a tribe. Our approach is a higher protein, higher nutrition, lower energy way of doing it. And you can do it in a number of different ways. It can be low fat, it can be low carb, it can be kind of low fat and low carb. It can be plant-based, it can be meat-based. But what it can't be is the standard American diet, which has got us into this giant mess. So there is one way that we are working against, and that's the way that most people eat, which is why half of us have pre- or type 2 diabetes.

SPEAKER_00 10:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

So sure. There's your answer. We don't think saturated fat's uniquely bad. Should you go chugging butter? No. Should you be afraid of it? No. Fair enough? Fair

Berberine As Bridge Or Crutch

SPEAKER_01 10:29

enough. All right. Last question. Berberine. Is it a good idea, Brian? Or pharmacists should have an answer to this.

SPEAKER_00 10:36

I've seen people pushing it. It's probably one of those more famous supplements, more popular supplements for the type 2 world where they're like, it's gonna help you get your blood sugar under better control. And we got into this whole thing because people were tired of relying on outside substances, whether it be a medication that's funded and produced by a pharmaceutical company or a supplement company. People don't want to be dependent on something. So why are you looking for berberine or another supplement? Does it work? Sure. It's got some evidence to serve that it lowers your liver's output of blood sugar.

SPEAKER_01 11:11

Yeah. Yeah. So I think that it's a personal, okay. This is listen to the disclaimer at the end. We're not giving medical advice. All the supplements that people take for type 2 diabetes, and we have seen almost everything come across art discs of people trying stuff. It's got some evidence, it's reasonable. If your goal is to not take anything for blood sugar, I still think the answer is nutrition and muscle building. But if for some reason, like you've tried pharmaceuticals and you have had terrible reactions, but berberine is tolerated, like that's where I've seen it work as an adjunct or a replacement. But if your goal is remission and not taking anything, then supplements count as taking something, but it's not a pharmaceutical. But you're gonna and be careful if the influencers on again going to Instagram, TikTok, whatever, that if they have an affiliate link for their barberine supplement, they have a conflict of interest, even though they are not big pharma. They're not big pharma, they're a little influencer and they still have a conflict of interest.

SPEAKER_00 12:03

And a previous episode, you gotta put the uh incentives behind something.

SPEAKER_01 12:07

So our incentive is to provide I'm almost supposed to say boring information, but like we're talking about this earlier in bombastic figures online, and we're just not super bombastic. We want to stop the scaring because if you're scared, you're gonna spike your cars on your shirt's gonna go. No, I'm fast.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

We want it, we want honest, non-biased, as non-biased as we can be.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

And so if you found this helpful, share it with someone who needs to hear it. Brian, do you have any more last words of this episode before we wrap up and go acknowledge our children for the first time in three hours?

SPEAKER_00 12:39

I did have a thought, but then I think I lost it when you made me laugh. I think it just comes down to thinking about what are you using it as a bridge or a crutch and supplements, medications, can we bridges? But it's not the big rock, the big boulders of nutrition, reversing energy toxicity with eating and doing strength training, those are the big needle movers. Supplements are gonna be the minor degree moving things.

SPEAKER_01 13:07

Yeah. Great, great way to wrap this

August Cholesterol Qs And Closing

SPEAKER_01 13:10

up. We have a baseball game to go to tonight. So we are gonna get out of here. As always, submit your questions for Rapid Fire Friday. August, we're gonna have a special edition focusing on cholesterol. So if you have cholesterol questions, statin questions, anything in the world of cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, LDL, this is the month to get them in. So email us or DM us on Instagram. We will get your questions answered in our August Rapid Fire Friday. But until then, keep it simple and do what works.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

If this episode gave you clarity or hope, share it with one friend who's been stuck in a diabetes trap. That's how this mission grows. One person, one family, one story at a time. If you haven't yet, leaving a quick review helps more people find the show and realize they're not stuck, but that's forever. Takes less than a minute and the world war. Thanks for being here, and thanks for being part of this movement for free. Thanks for listening to the Diabetes Remission Roadmap. The ideas discussed here are for general informational purposes only, and do not constitute medical or nutritional advice. We are pharmacists, but we're not your personal health care providers. Always consult your own physician or qualified clinician before changing medications, exercise routines, or nutrition plans. Results vary, and what works for one person may not work for another.