028: Richard Morris – The Influencer Dude

Richard Morris

 Richard is a 55 year old software developer and biochemist who once built financial systems to expose risk on Wall Street and has worked on systems from industrial robots to payroll.  At 38, he was the public-facing chief executive of a major US software component company when he discovered he had type 2 diabetes. At 40 he retired and returned to Australia to devote his time to learn about type 2 diabetes.  He reversed his type 2 diabetes with the ketogenic diet six years ago.

With Carl Franklin, he founded the 2 Keto Dudes podcast (over 250,000 monthly downloads), and the international Ketofest event to help popularize the intervention as a treatment for type 2 diabetes.

At 52 Richard went back to school to study Biochemistry.  He graduated in 2020 and is now working as a student researcher in a computational Chemistry lab working towards a PhD.

2KetoDude Richard Morris set out on a journey to reverse his Type 2 diabetes which included co-hosting a podcast, holding international festivals, conferences and research.  We explore his journey as one-half of the 2KetoDudes, to turning an entire town ketogenic and his plans for computational chemisty research.  

Richard's Top TipsYou can keto anywhereTeach your boys (and girls) how to cookEnjoy 16-year-old scotch Lagavulin (in moderation!)
Resources Mentioned

Stephen Phinney 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYXYfxmQV2A

Quotes by Richard Morris

“I was diagnosed with diabetes and at least with pre-diabetes. I had one bad result. So, I decided, well, let's have a look at this, Atkins. I went on Atkins induction for three months. And at the end of that, I had a non-diabetic blood glucose diagnosis.  So essentially, the doctor said, ‘Well, it was a blip. We're not sure why but you know, it looks like you're fine. So whatever you're doing, keep doing it.’  Now, that sort of didn't make any sense to me, why would I have a blip? Why would I suddenly become diabetic and then change my diet and then all of a sudden not become diabetic?”

“I semi-retired at age 40, in 2006, and came back to Australia. I was intending just to live cheaply on the beach in Australia, learn to cook, get myself fit, do some exercise, and work on myself. I had no other big plans other than that. I'd been burning the candle at both ends for 20 years in my career. And so I thought, you know, let's have time to focus on myself a little bit.”

“So gradually over time, I stopped eating Atkins induction. I was adding more carbs to my diet but I was eating healthy vegetables and fruit, you know, eating, quote-unquote ‘healthy’.”

“I went to the doctor in the emergency room with an ingrown toenail that had gotten quite nasty. The doctor said, ‘Well, that's really awful. It's going septic and you know, if you can't control your blood glucose, and I don't think you can, then that toe may have to come off’.  That was like that’s the kind of moment that will set you back on the bottom. I thought, what a minute,  I thought I'd cured myself of diabetes by eating Atkins?  Well, I wasn't eating Atkins at that point.”

“Everyone starts out just on Metformin, and we slowly increase the drugs that we're going to give you and try and hold off diabetes for as long as we can.”