HoldsUp

Rangan Chatterjee

Rangan Chatterjee is a physician certified in internal medicine and family medicine with nearly 20 years of clinical experience. He is also the author of the book How to Make Disease Disappear. His published scientific research includes laboratory studies investigating the immunomodulatory effects and colonic butyrate production of probiotics.

11 claims checked on air: 2 context 1 overstated 8 supported

What they said on air

0:05:52supportedhighHow to Make Disease Disappear- with Dr. Rangan Chatterjee |

Severe vitamin D deficiency in infants can cause profound hypocalcemia resulting in afebrile convulsions.

"his serum calcium was 0.97. The normal range is 2.2 to 2.6 in that hospital, so alarmingly low. And then a few hours further to that, they came back and said, "And we now know the reason why: he was extremely deficient in vitamin D."" (said at 0:05:52)

Severe vitamin D deficiency is a well-established cause of profound symptomatic hypocalcemia in neonates and infants, commonly presenting as afebrile or metabolic seizures. In pediatric surveillance cohorts and clinical studies, infants with severe hypovitaminosis D frequently present with severe hypocalcemia and associated neuromuscular irritability, tetany, or seizures, which resolve upon treatment with calcium and vitamin D supplementation.

0:10:55needs contextmoderateHow to Make Disease Disappear- with Dr. Rangan Chatterjee |

Type 2 diabetes can be reversed or put into remission within 30 days using lifestyle interventions.

"I managed to showcase to five million people in the UK each week that, you know, a condition like type 2 diabetes, for example—this is back in 2015—could be reversed, and I showed in 30 days that that reversal, or, you know, the technical term now here is to put it in remission, we could talk about that later." (said at 0:10:55)

Intensive dietary interventions (such as very-low-calorie diets or total diet replacement) can rapidly normalize fasting plasma glucose, liver fat, and beta-cell function within 1 to 4 weeks (30 days), allowing discontinuation of glucose-lowering medications in many individuals with early type 2 diabetes. However, according to international consensus definitions (including from the American Diabetes Association and Diabetes UK), formal clinical 'remission' requires maintaining non-diabetic glycemic levels (HbA1c < 6.5% / 48 mmol/mol) for at least 3 months in the absence of glucose-lowering medications. Thus, while acute glycemic normalization and reversal of underlying pathophysiologic defects occur within 30 days, establishing true clinical remission requires demonstration of sustained glycemic control over time.

0:16:28supportedhighHow to Make Disease Disappear- with Dr. Rangan Chatterjee |

The acute stress response raises cortisol and adrenaline levels, which suppresses digestion and increases blood glucose levels.

"We need our cortisol levels to go up. We need our adrenaline levels to go up. And in that moment, we can run faster, you know, our brain thinks sharper, we switch off digestion, we pour sugar into our bloodstream to help us do all these things." (said at 0:16:28)

Published human physiological studies confirm that acute stress activates the sympathetic nervous system and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, leading to rapid surges in adrenaline (epinephrine) and cortisol. These hormonal elevations stimulate hepatic glucose production (via glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis) and decrease peripheral glucose disposal, resulting in acute hyperglycemia to mobilize energy.

0:19:19needs contextmoderateHow to Make Disease Disappear- with Dr. Rangan Chatterjee |

Chronic psychological stress causes increased intestinal permeability (leaky gut) and alters the gut microbiome composition.

"I explained to her how stress can alter the gut, it can, you know, having too much stress can absolutely cause holes to appear in our gut wall, you know, what we call leaky gut. We know that too much stress can alter the balance of gut bugs in our intestine, in our large intestine." (said at 0:19:19)

Preclinical and human experimental studies demonstrate that psychological stress activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and sympathetic nervous system, prompting mast cell degranulation, modulation of epithelial tight junction proteins (such as claudins and occludin), and alterations in gut microbiota composition. However, stress does not cause physical or macroscopic "holes" in the intestinal wall; rather, it induces a microscopic increase in paracellular permeability across the epithelial barrier (often colloquially termed "leaky gut"). While animal models robustly show stress-induced intestinal hyperpermeability and dysbiosis, human evidence demonstrates more nuanced, modest, and transient increases in paracellular permeability.

0:22:54supportedhighHow to Make Disease Disappear- with Dr. Rangan Chatterjee |

Localized intestinal inflammation triggers the release of systemic cytokines that transmit inflammatory signals to other organ systems throughout the body.

"when there's inflammation in the gut, lots of immune messengers that we call cytokines get triggered off and they take that message of inflammation and they send it to different organ systems." (said at 0:22:54)

The claim is supported by extensive biomedical research on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and intestinal barrier dysfunction. Intestinal inflammation leads to mucosal barrier disruption, microbial translocation, and local immune cell activation, which triggers the systemic release of inflammatory cytokines (such as IL-6, TNF-alpha, and IL-1beta) into the bloodstream. These circulating cytokines act as immune messengers to propagate inflammatory signals to extraintestinal organ systems, including the lungs, liver, kidneys, joints, skin, eyes, and central nervous system.

0:24:05supportedmoderateHow to Make Disease Disappear- with Dr. Rangan Chatterjee |

Gut bacteria ferment dietary fiber to produce short-chain fatty acids, which signal to the brain through the vagus nerve and the bloodstream.

"the fiber that we eat, those gut bugs will eat, they'll make short-chain fatty acids. And those short-chain fatty acids can almost switch a light on in your brain by sort of connecting with the vagus nerve, or they can go around in the bloodstream and get to the brain." (said at 0:24:05)

Gut bacteria ferment non-digestible dietary fiber into short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), primarily acetate, propionate, and butyrate. These metabolites communicate with the central nervous system through multiple established pathways, including direct activation of receptors (such as FFAR3) on vagal sensory neurons innervating the gastrointestinal tract, as well as entering the systemic circulation and crossing the blood-brain barrier to modulate neurophysiology and behavior.

0:25:28supportedhighHow to Make Disease Disappear- with Dr. Rangan Chatterjee |

According to US diagnostic thresholds, an HbA1c between 5.7% and 6.4% indicates prediabetes, and an HbA1c above 6.5% indicates type 2 diabetes.

"in the US, 5.7, I think to 6.4, is pre-diabetic, and above 6.5 is type 2 diabetes." (said at 0:25:28)

According to established US clinical diagnostic guidelines from the American Diabetes Association (ADA), an HbA1c level between 5.7% and 6.4% is classified as prediabetes (increased risk for diabetes), and an HbA1c of 6.5% or higher (≥6.5%) meets the diagnostic criterion for diabetes.

0:31:32supportedmoderateHow to Make Disease Disappear- with Dr. Rangan Chatterjee |

The February 2017 SMILES randomized controlled trial in Australia showed that patients with moderate to severe depression who followed a modified Mediterranean diet for 12 weeks achieved a statistically significant improvement in remission compared to those in a social support group.

"including that SMILES trial—did you see that from February 2017 in Australia?—that randomized controlled trial showing that patients with moderate to severe depression, the group who went on a modified Mediterranean diet versus the group who went on, I think, a social support structure for 12 weeks, had a statistically significant improvement in their remission." (said at 0:31:32)

The SMILES trial (Jacka et al., published in BMC Medicine in early 2017) was a 12-week, single-blind, randomized controlled trial conducted in Australia evaluating an adjunctive modified Mediterranean dietary intervention versus a social support control in 67 adults with moderate to severe depression. At 12 weeks, participants in the dietary intervention group achieved a statistically significant higher rate of remission (MADRS score <10) compared to the social support control group (32.3% vs. 8.0%, p = 0.028, NNT = 4.1).

0:33:58supportedmoderateHow to Make Disease Disappear- with Dr. Rangan Chatterjee |

Mechanistic research demonstrates that LPS may be a primary trigger in the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

"And even something like type 2 diabetes, there's some really good mechanistic work that shows that LPS might be triggering—one of the root triggers in the development of insulin resistance, which then leads to type 2 diabetes." (said at 0:33:58)

The speaker accurately characterizes published mechanistic and preclinical research. Seminal animal studies (such as Cani et al., 2007) demonstrated that chronic subcutaneous infusion of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)—a state termed 'metabolic endotoxemia'—triggers low-grade systemic inflammation, hepatic insulin resistance, fasting hyperglycemia, and weight gain, mirroring diet-induced metabolic dysfunction. In human observational and clinical studies, elevated circulating LPS levels (metabolic endotoxemia) are consistently associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

0:40:22overstatedmoderateHow to Make Disease Disappear- with Dr. Rangan Chatterjee |

Social isolation presents a health risk that exceeds the health consequences of smoking.

"about how social isolation is, you know, it's a health risk superior to smoking, you know, in fact in terms of its health consequence." (said at 0:40:22)

The claim overstates the scientific evidence. Landmark meta-analyses by Holt-Lunstad and colleagues demonstrated that social relationships and social isolation carry mortality risks comparable to established risk factors such as smoking (often benchmarked as comparable to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day) and exceeding factors like physical inactivity and obesity. However, the literature does not establish that social isolation's health risk exceeds or is superior to the overall health consequences of cigarette smoking.

0:43:23supportedlowHow to Make Disease Disappear- with Dr. Rangan Chatterjee |

Traditional Okinawan communities consumed an 80% carbohydrate diet while having low rates of type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, and Alzheimer's disease.

"and we look at those Okinawan communities where they're having, you know, an 80% high-carbohydrate diet, and it's sort of kind of trying to figure out, "Well, how can that be, that they could have such a high-carb diet, certainly from the research I've read, yet not get type 2 diabetes, not have insulin resistance, not to have Alzheimer's?"" (said at 0:43:23)

Historical nutritional surveys of traditional Okinawan cohorts (such as the 1949 post-war nutritional data documented in the Okinawa Centenarian Study) show that the traditional Okinawan diet derived approximately 80% to 85% of total caloric energy from unrefined carbohydrates, predominantly orange-yellow sweet potatoes, with very low fat (~6%) and moderate-to-low protein intake. Despite this high-carbohydrate intake, these populations maintained a low overall glycemic load, caloric restriction, and exceptionally low rates of age-associated metabolic and neurodegenerative conditions, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and dementia, along with remarkable longevity. Certainty is graded as low due to reliance on observational, historical survey, and ecological cohort data.

Fact-checked episodes

Publications