Benjamin Bikman, PhD

Bikman's central argument is that insulin is not just a blood sugar hormone. In his argument it is a primary signal for whether the body holds on to fat or releases it. When insulin stays elevated for years, from frequent eating and high glycemic meals, fat cells, he argues, are more likely to hold on to fat than release it, even when total calories are lower. That is the chronic hyperinsulinemia Bikman describes in Why We Get Sick, and it reframes obesity as a hormonal condition rather than a willpower problem.

RealFoods cites Bikman's published research on insulin and body fat as background for why a food or meal can call in a lot of insulin even when it is low in calories. The Weight Impact Score itself is a RealFoods model and a modelled estimate. Bikman did not build it, has not reviewed it, and does not endorse it.

Readers who want the full clinical case should start with Why We Get Sick, which lays out the evidence for insulin resistance as a root cause across obesity, type 2 diabetes, and related chronic disease. For shorter RealFoods explainers on the same topics, the pages below cover insulin, insulin resistance, and how the Weight Impact Score works.

Bikman's academic home at BYU keeps this argument grounded in cell biology rather than trend-chasing. His research on obesity science and type 2 diabetes frames insulin resistance not as one risk factor among many, but as the mechanism that connects them. Ketone metabolism enters the picture too: when insulin falls low enough, the body can shift toward burning fat and producing ketones for fuel, which is part of why he emphasises lowering insulin, not just calorie intake. Hormonal health, in Bikman's framing, is not a separate wellness category from weight management, it is the same system viewed from a different angle.