Nick Norwitz
Metabolic researcher, Harvard Medical School
Nick Norwitz is a metabolic health researcher with a PhD in metabolism from the University of Oxford and an MD from Harvard Medical School. He studies cholesterol on low-carbohydrate diets, including lean mass hyper-responders, and is known for a self-experiment in which eating Oreo cookies lowered his LDL more than a statin. He explains research on YouTube.
Updated November 1, 2026 · 2 experiments · cited in 2 guides
What Nick Norwitz has tried
2 experiments we can source: 1 kept, 1 stopped. Trying something is not recommending it; each entry says which.
Kept
Ketogenic dietDiets and fasting
Started 2019 · Does not recommend it to others
Adopted a ketogenic diet in 2019 to treat ulcerative colitis, which went into remission; his LDL rose sharply on it, and he studies himself as a lean mass hyper-responder.
“the KD was effective at inducing symptomatic and histologically confirmed colitis remission” Source of quote
Norwitz and Cromwell, Oreo cookie treatment lowers LDL cholesterol more than high-intensity statin therapy (Metabolites, January 2024) · Status checked January 22, 2024 · Suggest a correction
Stopped
Oreos to lower LDLDiets and fasting
Started 2023, stopped 2023 · Does not recommend it to others
Ate 12 Oreos a day for 16 days as a planned self-experiment while staying in ketosis, to test why lean people's LDL rises on keto; it ended by design, and he warned it should not be read as health advice.
“This dramatic metabolic demonstration, consistent with the lipid energy model, should provoke further research and not be seen as health advice.”
Norwitz and Cromwell, Oreo cookie treatment lowers LDL cholesterol more than high-intensity statin therapy (Metabolites, January 2024) · Status checked January 22, 2024 · Suggest a correction
Where our guides cite Nick Norwitz
Their public positions, summarized in our words. Follow each link for the full context.
Carnivore dietSupport it
Co-authored a case series of 10 people with ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease who improved on mostly carnivore ketogenic diets and argues these diets hold promise for IBD.
Carnivore-ketogenic diet for IBD: a case series (Frontiers in Nutrition, 2024)
Ketogenic dietSupport it
Argues that the LDL surge in lean people on keto is driven by carbohydrate restriction and fat trafficking rather than saturated fat, and points to carbohydrate reintroduction lowering LDL.
Lean Mass Hyper-Responder: Is it the saturated fat? (Cholesterol Code, 2022)