Dr Mike Israetel

Sports scientist, coach, fitness expert.

In the 2020s, few figures have such a grip of influence on the world of fitness as Dr Mike Israetel. A former bodybuilder, his no-bullshit, myth-busting style has earned him millions of fans the world over, as he exposes the pseudoscience rife in the field.
He holds a PhD in Sports Physiology and, today, works as head science consultant at Renaissance Periodization.

Why did we invite him on?

Paradoxically, the more we know about our own health, the more confused we become. As more and more people wake up to the importance of good nutrition and healthy living, an infestation of grifters has sprung into action. Each with a distinct claim to the cure-to-all-our-ills, it’s easier to list the foods and behaviours that aren’t associated with poor health according to these characters. We wanted to have that conversation, but more importantly, we needed someone who could cut through the noise. We knew Mike would be the perfect guest to do just that.

What did we learn?

For the first time in human history, more people are dying of over-eating than starvation. It’s hard to quantify what a paradigm shift that is - the life expectancy rose with increasing abundance, but now we have such abundance that the effect is reversing.

With all this new information, it’s easy to wonder: why are we so unhealthy? In a time where we have more knowledge about the food we’re putting into our bodies - as well as the food we ought to be putting into our bodies - it’s puzzling that we, as a species, seem to make such terrible decisions. If we know that McDonalds and pizza and soda and ice cream have such detrimental effects on the body, why can’t we stop eating?

From the off, Mike flips the script. We shouldn’t be asking “Why can’t we stop eating it?”, but “How do people resist?”

"Food has become way cheaper for the average person to buy, and way cheaper, and way more convenient. How is everyone not obese?”

By reframing the question, all the typical questions are thrown to the wind. It sets out the stall for a brilliant conversation, as Mike guides us through his way of thinking.

”There is no precedent for this in history … Think about Uber Eats and Grubhub; [it’s] magic. Try to describe that to someone from 1900, show them a regular person ordering food on Grubhub and how it shows up to their door. They would presume that this person was one of the country’s leaders. Nobody can tell who is rich or poor anymore. The whole world is upside down.”

So, to Mike, it’s almost all down to convenience and taste; modern food is delicious, cheap and everywhere. But Konstantin raises another point - so much of it is also unhealthy, containing chemicals and preservatives the body doesn’t even recognise as food. How much of a role does that play?

”It’s massively exaggerated. The evidence shows that that’s really not the case…”