In this episode, I sit down with bariatric surgeon and science communicator Dr Terry Simpson. Terry is a surgeon by training and a virologist by background. He spent his career operating on bariatric patients, became certified in Culinary Medicine, and now spends much of his time pushing back against the steady stream of health misinformation aimed at the public. He is loud, he is blunt, and he is unusually transparent about his own health: familial hypercholesterolemia, a father and brother who both died young of heart disease, and a 50 pound weight loss on a GLP-1.
We cover an unusually wide territory: how to think about uncertainty in science, the actual history and mechanism of GLP-1 medications, what food noise really is, the case for and against statins, why he defends Ancel Keys and the Mediterranean diet, where the carnivore and seed oil narratives fall apart, and how to read the loud anti-statin and anti-GLP-1 voices on social media. The thread that ties it all together is a simple test for whoever is in front of you: how comfortable are they with uncertainty, and how much skin do they actually have in the game.
What we cover:
- A useful heuristic for sorting science communicators from salespeople, and why “con men and religious figures both speak in absolutes”
- The Gila monster origin story of GLP-1 medications, and why the difference between native and pharmacological GLP-1 matters
- What food noise actually is, how it differs from satiety, and why fibre and probiotics cannot replicate the brain effects of a weekly injection
- Terry’s own 50 pounds on tirzepatide: testosterone, sleep apnea resolution, alcohol intake, and what he saw on his WHOOP
- His personal case for statins, a starting LDL of 190, an ApoB in the 40s, and the family history that drives him
- A defence of Ancel Keys and the Mediterranean diet, and why the cherry-picking accusation does not hold up
- Where the carnivore, anti-statin, seed oil, and nattokinase narratives fall apart
- A clear-eyed look at compounded GLP-1s, peptide deregulation, and why the FDA still matters
This is a conversation about how to think, as much as it is about what to eat or which medications to take. Terry’s transparency about his own health is, in my view, the most useful part of the episode.
To connect with Dr Terry Simpson, visit terrysimpson.com for his bio, recipes, and blog, find him on TikTok at @drterrysimpson, on Instagram at @drterrysimpsonmd, on X at @drterrysimpson, and on 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)
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More about Dr Terry Simpson
Dr Terry Simpson is a surgeon with a background that spans molecular biology, critical care, and nutrition. He began his career as a research scientist working in molecular biology, manipulating viral DNA, before pursuing medicine. He trained at the University of Chicago and completed his residency at Virginia Mason in Seattle, where he developed a strong interest in surgery. His surgical career has included trauma and vascular work in the ICU, before transitioning into weight loss surgery.
While working with bariatric patients, Terry became increasingly interested in the role of nutrition, particularly the lack of a standardised dietary approach following surgery. This led him to become certified in Culinary Medicine at Tulane, and to focus more deeply on dietary patterns such as the Mediterranean and DASH diets. During the COVID-19 pandemic, his early background in virology became relevant again as he returned to ICU work and began speaking publicly about virology on social media. He is also a GLP-1 patient himself, having lost 50 pounds and maintained that weight loss while continuing to follow a Mediterranean-style diet. Today, much of his work involves debunking myths, educating people about nutrition, and sharing practical cooking content through his podcast The Unfiltered MD, his Substack, and his social channels.
Outside of his professional life, he is a father to a 15-year-old.
