Dr. Richard J. Johnson received his medical degree from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and then underwent his residency in internal medicine and fellowships in nephrology and infectious diseases at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington.

He is currently a professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension at the University of Colorado, Denver, and an adjunct professor of medicine at the University of Florida. In addition, he is a board member of the Gout Education Society.

Dr. Johnson is an expert on uric acid as it may relate to hypertension, obesity and cardiovascular disease. He also is an expert on the role of sugar and fructose in gout and uric acid related diseases and is author of the 'The Sugar Fix' (2009), 'The Fat Switch' (2014) and 'Nature Wants Us To Be Fat' (2022).

Dr. Johnson has received numerous honours in his career including the American Society of Nephrology/American Heart Association Young Investigator Award and membership in the American Society of Clinical Investigation. He has lectured in more than 30 countries and received several distinguished lectureships, including the Inaugural Priscilla Kincaid-Smith Visiting Professor in Australia and the Tokyo Forum speaker. He has been a member of numerous editorial boards for publications such as Kidney International, Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, American Journal of Kidney Disease, Hypertension, American Journal of Physiology and American Journal of Nephrology.

He is coeditor of Comprehensive Clinical Nephrology with Dr. John Feehally, which is highly regarded as one of the better clinical textbooks in nephrology. He also has published more than 400 articles, for which more than 50 have received more than 100 citations.

We’ve been set up for failure when it comes to our metabolic health. 

Eighty-eight percent of people are metabolically unhealthy, and since the 1920s we’ve shamed them into believing it’s their fault—that they should just eat fewer calories and exercise more. 

But the real culprit is sugar and the processed foods that contain it. The majority of foods on our market shelves contain insane amounts of added sugar and high-fructose corn syrup—ingredients that literally slow down our metabolism and turn on our internal fat storage switch. That means we have the power to turn that switch off by choosing to use food as medicine. Today, I’m excited to talk to Dr. Richard Johnson about how our biological fat storage process works and what we can do to positively affect it. 

Dr. Richard Johnson is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado in Denver and has been a practicing physician and clinical scientist for over 25 years. He is internationally recognized for his seminal work on the role of sugar and its component fructose, in obesity and diabetes. His work has also suggested a fundamental role for uric acid (which is generated during fructose metabolism) in metabolic syndrome. He previously authored The Sugar Fix with Timothy Gower in 2008, and The Fat Switch in 2012. His new book, Nature Wants Us to Be Fat was just released.

Richard J. Johnson, M.D. is a practicing physician and has been a medical scientist for over 25 years. He is internationally recognized for his seminal work on the role of sugar and its component fructose, in obesity and diabetes. He has published over 700 papers.

Find out more about Dr. Richard Johnson: https://www.lowcarbhealthmd.com/resources/experts/johnson

Rick Johnson, Professor of Nephrology at the University of Colorado and a previous guest on The Drive, returns for a follow-up about unique features of fructose metabolism, and how this system that aided the survival of human ancestors has become potentially hazardous based on our culture’s dietary norms. In this episode, Rick explains how the body can generate fructose from glucose and how circulating glucose and salt levels can activate this conversion. He discusses the decline in metabolic flexibility associated with aging, as well as how factors such as sugar intake or menopause-associated hormone changes can alter responses to sugar across a lifetime. In addition, Rick lays out strategies for combating the development of metabolic illness using dietary changes and pharmaceutical therapies, and he discusses the impact of fructose metabolism and uric acid on kidney function and blood pressure. He concludes with a discussion of vasopressin, a hormone that facilitates fructose’s effects on weight gain and insulin resistance.

It’s no secret, sugar has been labeled the bad guy in the standard American diet for years now. As new diet fads circulate around the internet and the latest trends and research seems to change every other day, finally some pieces of the “what’s making me fat” puzzle are starting to fit together. Even more so, with today’s health concerns, obesity is no longer the only indicator for poor health and metabolic disease. Dr. Richard Johnson is board certified in internal medicine, infectious diseases, and kidney disease and is known as the Fructose Expert. In this episode he’s breaking down the orchestrated events taking place in our bodies between sugar, salt, and how your foods are triggering you to gain weight.

Fructose and Uric Acid – What Once Helped Us Survive Now Poses an Existential Threat

The interest in uric acid, well beyond its role in gout, focusing on its pivotal role in metabolic issues, is expanding rapidly, and globally. Without question, one important reason for this new understanding is the work of Dr. Richard Johnson, professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Dr. Johnson has an exciting new book entitled, Nature Wants Us to be Fat. We will be discussing his new book today on the podcast. As many of you will note, this is Dr. Johnson’s second appearance on the program and we will consider this to be an important “part two,” picking up where we left off last time in his brilliant elucidation of this newly discovered, central player in metabolic diseases, uric acid.

On a personal note, over the past year I’ve gotten to know Rick very well, and I absolutely cherish our newfound friendship.

I also explore uric acid it in my new book, Drop Acid, but to be clear, the incredible body of research belongs to Dr. Johnson. And this is the reason that readers of my new book will note that it is dedicated to Dr. Johnson as my way of honoring him for his incredible body of research that clearly is helping, and will continue to help so many people moving forward.

Fructose and Uric Acid – What Once Helped Us Survive Now Poses an Existential Threat

The interest in uric acid, well beyond its role in gout, focusing on its pivotal role in metabolic issues, is expanding rapidly, and globally. Without question, one important reason for this new understanding is the work of Dr. Richard Johnson, professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Dr. Johnson has an exciting new book entitled, Nature Wants Us to be Fat. We will be discussing his new book today on the podcast. As many of you will note, this is Dr. Johnson’s second appearance on the program and we will consider this to be an important “part two,” picking up where we left off last time in his brilliant elucidation of this newly discovered, central player in metabolic diseases, uric acid.

On a personal note, over the past year I’ve gotten to know Rick very well, and I absolutely cherish our newfound friendship.

I also explore uric acid it in my new book, Drop Acid, but to be clear, the incredible body of research belongs to Dr. Johnson. And this is the reason that readers of my new book will note that it is dedicated to Dr. Johnson as my way of honoring him for his incredible body of research that clearly is helping, and will continue to help so many people moving forward.

Fructose and its byproduct uric acid may play a role in the development of Alzheimer’s, thanks to an evolutionary adaptation hijacked by the modern diet. Fructose can be directly consumed, or the body can convert high-glycemic carbohydrates and other foods to fructose. Fructose suppresses some cognitive functions. Dr. Richard Johnson and Dr. Rob Lustig discuss a new study, of which Johnson was an author, on how fructose may be a potential driver in Alzheimer’s, and they hypothesize about fructose’s potential connection to the development of other conditions.

Dr. Johnson presents compelling evidence that fructose, a seemingly innocuous sugar, is in fact a key trigger for activating a powerful biological survival switch. This switch, evolved in nature to help animals prepare for times of scarcity, is now being inadvertently activated in humans by our modern high-carbohydrate, high-sugar diets.

Through detailed scientific explanation and insightful case studies, Dr. Johnson illuminates how fructose's unique metabolic effects - including its ability to lower ATP levels, induce leptin resistance, and promote fat storage - are the driving forces behind the rise of metabolic syndrome and its associated conditions.

Equally important, Dr. Johnson offers practical dietary recommendations and strategies to help individuals navigate this complex landscape, emphasizing the importance of reducing sugar, refined carbs, and processed foods, while embracing a low-carb, nutrient-dense approach.

This eye-opening episode is a must-listen for anyone seeking to understand the root causes of the metabolic health crisis and learn evidence-based solutions to reclaim their wellbeing.