Kiltz Blogs Archive

Egg Yolk vs Egg White? Putting the Debate to Rest

January 2, 2024/in Eggs Cholesterol, eggs, Heart Disease /by Liam McAuliffe

Eggs are one of the most convenient and nutrient-dense foods on earth. Yet, in recent decades, a supposedly “health-conscious” trend has taken hold that demonizes egg yolk and valorizes egg whites. Does this whites-over-yolks trend have merit, or is it bogus? In this article, we’ll consult the current nutritional science to tell the true story of egg yolk vs egg white.

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Cholesterol in Egg Yolk vs Egg White?

The egg yolk vs egg white debate can be traced to the 1970s when nutritionists hypothesized that the cholesterol in egg yolks increased blood cholesterol levels and, in turn, increased the risk of heart disease.

The yolk of 2 eggs provides 185mg of cholesterol. Meanwhile, egg whites have 0mg of cholesterol.

But modern science tells us that for most people, dietary cholesterol does not significantly increase the cholesterol in our blood. The cholesterol-raising effects of eggs are confined to a minority of people with specific genetic traits that cause cholesterol hyperabsorption through the intestines.

A large-scale 2020 meta-analysis of numerous studies found that consuming one egg per day was not associated with the risk of cardiovascular disease. And that consuming eggs may decrease the risk of heart disease in Asian populations.3

These findings are in line with numerous individual studies that show that for healthy people, consuming 1-2 eggs per day does not negatively impact cholesterol levels or increase the risk of heart disease.

Studies on populations with metabolic disorders have found that consuming whole eggs typically increases levels of (good) HDL cholesterol while leaving (bad) LDL cholesterol the same or only slightly raised.

Choline in Egg Yolk vs Egg White

Another aspect of the egg yolk vs. egg white debate is how the choline in egg yolk affects heart health.

Two egg yolks provide 278.9mg of choline or 51% RDV, making them an exceptionally high choline food. Egg white has essentially no

Though choline is an important nutrient, some of it is metabolized into an oxide called TMAO. High concentrations of TMAO are a risk factor for heart disease.

However, consuming eggs has only been shown to increase TMAO levels within hours after eating eggs.

High-quality controlled feeding studies have found that consuming 2-3 eggs per day was not shown to increase TMAO concentrations.

In contrast, consuming fish has been shown to have a consistent and significant impact on circulating TMAO.

With regards to egg yolk, researchers believe that the impact of choline is highly individual and depends on many variables, including kidney function and gut microbiota.

Calories in Egg Yolk vs Egg White

Egg yolk is a calorically dense food with 109 calories per 34 grams.

In contrast, egg white is a low-calorie food, contributing only 17 calories per 34 grams.

This disparity makes egg whites popular among people on calorie-restricted diets

It’s worth highlighting that if you’re restricting calories to reduce weight, research shows that low-carb diets without restricting calories are more effective for reducing and keeping weight off. Whole eggs are an excellent low-carb high-fat diet food.

Egg Yolk vs Egg White Nutrition

Whole eggs provide all the nutrients needed for an entire animal to form, and most of these nutrients are concentrated in the yolk.

When considering egg yolk vs egg white, for most people, it just doesn’t make sense to sacrifice the nutrients in the yolk.

Egg Yolk vs. Egg Whites Nutrition	Egg Yolk Per 34 grams	%RDV	Egg Whites Per 34 grams	%RDV
Calories	109		17
Fat	9g		.06g
Saturated Fat	3.2g		0g
Protein	5.4g		3.6g
Cholesterol	184.5mg		0mg
VITAMINS
Vitamin A	129.5mcg	14%	0	0
Thiamin (B1)	0.06mg	5%	0	0
Riboflavin (B2)	0.18mg	14%	.14mg	11%
Vitamin B5 (PA)	1mg	20%	.06mg	1%
Vitamin B6	0.12mg	7%	0
Folate (B9)	49.6mcg	12%	1.3mcg	0
Choline	278.9mg	51%	.36mg	0
Vitamin B12	0.66mcg	28%	.03mg	1%
Lutein & Zeaxanthin	372mcg		0
Vitamin E	0.88mg	6%	0
Vitamin D	Conventional: 1.8mcg Enriched feed: 50mcg	9%-250%	0
MINERALS
Calcium	43.9	3%	2.3mg	0
Iron, Fe	.93mg	5%	.03mg	0
Phosphorus, P	132.6mg	11%	5mg	0
Zinc, Zn	0.78mg	7%	0.01mg	0
Copper, Cu	0.03mg	3%	.01	1%
Selenium, Se	19mcg	35%	6.6mcg	12%
Potassium, K	37.1mg	1%	53.8mg	1%

The abundance of nutrients in egg yolk directly contributes to powerful health benefits. Egg whites simply can’t compete. Here’s a rundown of the benefits you get from egg yolk that you’ll miss out on if you opt for egg whites alone:

Intestinal health: specific proteins in egg yolk protect intestines from oxidative stress
Brain health: Choline in egg yolk promotes dopamine and serotonin production, improves memory and cognitive function, and supports fetal brain development when consumed during pregnancy.
Selenium in egg yolk supports thyroid health and immune function, provides antioxidant protection, and supports lung health.
Lutein and zeaxanthin: These compounds act as powerful antioxidants that protect eyes from degradation, cataracts, and ultraviolet rays. They also protect protein, fat, and DNA from oxidation.

Protein in Egg Yolk vs Egg White

People often think of egg white as the part of the egg with protein and egg yolk as the part that contains cholesterol, fat, and other nutrients. But egg yolk has ⅔ the amount of protein as the equivalent size serving as egg whites.

For example, there is 7.2g of protein per 68 grams of egg whites (2 eggs).

Compared to 10.8g of protein per 68 grams of egg yolk. Granted, you’d need four eggs to get 68 grams of yolk.

If we’re measuring per single egg, the white of 1 egg provides 3.6 grams, while the yolk of one egg provides 2.7 grams of protein.

Interestingly, the protein in egg yolk is comprised of higher concentrations of essential and “conditionally essential” amino acids than the protein in egg white.

Take tyrosine for example. Egg yolk provides 20% more of this important amino acid per weight. Your body uses tyrosine to create critical neurotransmitters such as dopamine and adrenaline.

Another important amino acid found in both egg yolk and egg white is tryptophan. This amino acid is integral to the production of melatonin and serotonin.

So, when comparing egg yolk vs egg white, with regards to protein quality, egg yolk comes out slightly ahead :

Amino Acid	Per 68 grams of Egg Yolk	%RDV	Per 68 grams of Egg White	%RDV
Histidine	283mg	40%	191mg	27%
Isoleucine	589mg	42%	436mg	31%
Leucine	951mg	35%	671mg	25%
Lysine	828mg	39%	532mg	25%
Methionine	257mg	35%	263mg	36%
Phenylalanine	463mg	53%	453mg	52%
Threonine	467mg	44%	296mg	28%
Tryptophan	120mg	43%	83mg	29%
Valine	645mg	35%	534mg	29%
Tyrosine	461mg	53%	302mg	34%

Groups that May Be Better Off Consuming Only Egg Whites

People with a genetic condition known as hypercholesterolemia should avoid egg yolk and other high-cholesterol foods. These people are colloquially known as “cholesterol hyperresponders.”

Hypercholesterolemia features chronically high blood cholesterol levels and an increased risk for heart disease.

Egg Yolk vs Egg White: The Bottom Line

Eggs are a nutrient-dense whole food that provides an array of vital nutrients. Yet, concerns have been raised about the effects of the cholesterol in egg yolks on heart health. These concerns have led some nutritionists to recommend consuming only egg white, which has essentially no cholesterol.

However, modern research tells us that the cholesterol in eggs does not adversely affect heart health in most people. Only a small subset of people who are genetically predisposed to rapidly absorb dietary cholesterol into their blood may be negatively affected by egg yolk.

Additionally, egg yolk provides the vast majority of nutrients found in eggs, along with a substantial amount of quality protein.

The only marginally science-supported reason to choose egg white over egg yolk is if you are looking to restrict your caloric intake. But even then, research shows that low-carb, high-fat diets that don’t restrict calories are superior to calorie-restricted diets for weight loss.

Egg yolk vs egg white? The verdict is clear–eat whole eggs, yolk and whites!

Meat diet plan web banner template. Weight loss meal, healthy eating. Animal products dishes on plates. Carnivore restaurant menu. Human hands cutting roasted beef steak. Fried fish and chicken

Carnivore Diet Weight Loss: How it Works

November 29, 2023/in Keto, Carnivore, Nutrition Carnivore Diet, Keto Carnivore, Obesity, Weight loss /by Liam McAuliffe

In a world where weight loss is an obsession, the carnivore diet can be a saving grace.

Indeed, thousands of testimonials and success stories highlight the dramatic physical transformations that occur when you get rid of junk food and consume only quality animal-based foods.

But weight loss on the carnivore diet is most accurately understood as a benevolent symptom of a total metabolic transformation.

In this article, we’ll explore the carnivore diet principles that contribute to significant and sustained weight loss, while improving numerous other underlying health factors.

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What is the Carnivore Diet?

The carnivore diet entails eliminating all processed and plant-based foods and consuming only whole animal products such as red meat, seafood, and full-fat dairy.

The carnivore diet philosophy is based on historical evidence that humans evolved on a hyper-carnivorous diet for nearly two million years until the dawn of the agricultural revolution 10,000 years ago.

Source: Dr Miki Ben Dor

During this most recent fraction of human dietary history, our reliance on grains, and more recently, on highly processed foods loaded with sugars and toxic vegetable oils, has sent our collective health into a tailspin.

Modern inflammatory “diseases of civilization,” such as heart disease, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, gastrointestinal disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and various cancers, are increasing at alarming rates. Many of these ailments are strongly associated with obesity.

Returning to a meat-based ancestral way of eating can be understood as a way of realigning our diet with our physiology in a way that reverses the effects of a Western diet, including shedding excess weight.

How Much Weight do People Lose on the Carnivore Diet?

If you’ve been exploring the carnivore diet online, you’ve certainly come across hundreds of personal carnivore diet success stories and accompanying before and after photos. The #meatheals🥓🍗🍖🥩✌🏻hashtag on Instagram is a good place to look if you haven’t already.

All of this carnivore diet social media attention caught the eye of Harvard University. In 2020, Harvard researchers surveyed 2,029 carnivore dieters

78% of partiticipants cited weight loss as a prime reason
93% of participants reported improved or resolved overweight/obesity
BMI decreased on average from 27.2 to 24.3.

A similar large-scale study by Revero, a carnivore diet coaching company founded by Dr. Shawn Baker, surveyed 12,000 people, 91% of whom reported losing weight and reducing body fat.

There are a few key mechanisms by which the carnivore diet supports weight loss. Let’s take a look.

Cutting Carbs

The carnivore diet is essentially a zero-carb diet.

When consuming exclusively fatty animal products, including ruminant meats, fish, pork, eggs, and full-fat dairy, the body enters a metabolic state called ketosis.

When in ketosis, your body efficiently breaks down body fat into energy molecules called ketones.

Ketogenic diets have been routinely shown to promote significant and sustained weight loss when compared to other dietary interventions.

For example, one study found that ketogenic diets that don’t require calorie restriction help people lose an average of 5 pounds more than low-fat calorie-restricted diets after one year.

Cutting carbs also decreases the hormones insulin and ghrelin, both of which stimulate appetite, even when you’ve eaten enough calories.

Furthermore, when you’re in ketosis, your body burns calories in the process of converting fat and protein to glucose.7

Eliminating Food That Causes Obesity

Processed foods are loaded with nutrient-hollow grains, toxic vegetable oils, and added sugars.

High intake of sugars and vegetable oils have routinely been found to contribute to obesity and numerous other modern diseases.

Not surprisingly, processed foods have been found to be the leading cause of obesity in the Western world.

By eliminating all plant and processed foods, the carnivore diet removes the leading cause of obesity. Furthermore, on carnivore, you replace those hollow calories with Fatty animal-based foods that decrease food cravings, helping curb overeating.

Reversal of Leptin Resistance

Leptin is a hormone that controls appetite and the rate at which your body uses energy. Think of it as your “stop eating” hormone.

But when you consume a high-carb diet, your brain is constantly flooded with leptin. After chronic exposure, receptors lose their sensitivity–this is called leptin resistance.

When your body is resistant to leptin, it thinks it’s starving and triggers energy-saving and fat-storing protocols, including :

eating more
craving fattening high-carb foods
moving less (in order to conserve body fat)

This is why it’s so hard for overweight people to muster the will to cut calories and exercise more.

In light of these effects, leptin resistance is viewed as a central feature of obesity.

As of 2019, there have been no effective medications to reverse leptin resistance, making dietary interventions, like the carnivore diet the only effective remedy.

More Nutrients = More Energy

When your body is starved of energizing nutrients, you feel mentally and physically lethargic.

The carnivore diet is centered on the most nutrient-dense foods on earth. Red meat, seafood, organ meats, and full-fat dairy are loaded with nourishing fats, complete proteins, and nearly every essential micronutrient.

In particular, animal foods are a fantastic source of B vitamins, zinc, and iron, all of which play key roles in energy metabolism.

Carnivore Diet Weight Loss: The Takeaway

The carnivore diet is a remarkably effective tool for losing excess body fat while maintaining lean muscle.

The carnivore diet supports weight loss by eliminating carbs, triggering ketosis, increasing metabolic rate, rebalancing hormones, and resensitizing hormone receptors associated with hunger and satiation signals, and by providing your body and brain with highly nourishing and energizing nutrients.

On the carnivore diet, you will naturally move, metabolize body fat, and eat less without having to focus on restricting calories.

Vegetable peeler versus meat cleaver. Vegan and omnivore battle concept. With copy text space. Isolated on black background. Studio Shot.

Vegan to Carnivore: Reasons and Testimonials

November 26, 2023/in Carnivore Animal based, Carnivore Diet, Red Meat, Vegan, Vegetarian /by Liam McAuliffe

The journey from vegan to a carnivore may seem like an unlikely transition. Yet, as people seek to optimize health and well-being through their diets, many find themselves navigating a spectrum of choices in search of the diet that is most aligned with their values and health goals.

While many vegans are motivated by ethical and environmental considerations, it turns out that certain approaches to the carnivore diet may actually harm far fewer animals. When considering the nutritional differences, new research reveals the evolutionary underpinnings of a carnivorous diet while shining a light on the nutritional necessity of animal-based foods.

In this article, we’ll explore the motivations for transitioning from a vegan lifestyle to a carnivorous one, considering ethical considerations and the evolving understanding of nutritional science. We’ll also offer a roundup of testimonials from people who have successfully made the transition.

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Vegan vs Carnivore?

The vegan and carnivore diets seem like they couldn’t be further from one another.

The vegan diet eliminates all animal products.

The carnivore diet eliminates all plant foods, including veggies, legumes, nuts, grains, and fruit, and only allows the consumption of (unprocessed) animal products.

Yet the reasons why people choose either a vegan or carnivore diet can be strikingly similar.

For example, most vegans and carnivore dieters are seeking the most nutritionally beneficial way of eating. And while nearly all vegans are overtly focused on animal welfare, many carnivore dieters actively advance animal and environmental welfare by choosing to consume animal products grown with ethical and environmentally regenerative practices.

Why do People Transition from Vegan to Carnivore?

People transition from vegan to carnivore for numerous reasons, including

nutritional deficits of a vegan diet
the unmatched nutritional density of animal products
detoxing from plant toxins and antinutrients
healing digestive issues and intestinal permeability caused by plant toxins and excess fiber
the recognition that growing plant foods harms and/or kills millions of animals, billions of insects
growing plant foods requires the use of either toxic chemical fertilizers or fertilizers produced in conventional “factory” dairy farms

Let’s dive deeper into some of these key issues

Do Less Harm to Animals and the Environment

The Vegan Society describes veganism as “a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose.”

Unfortunately for vegans, the way most plant foods are grown and harvested harms and kills billions of animals each year.

The Toll of Plant-Based Agriculture on Animals

Birds, rodents, fish, reptiles, and insects are killed both intentionally through “pest control” measures and unintentionally by tilling and harvesting machinery, pesticides, and environmental degradation. Fertilizer and pesticide runoff are major threats to fish and marine life.

In the 2019 book On Eating Meat, former chef turned pig, beef, and dairy farmer points out that in Australia alone, 40,000 ducks are killed each year in the course of rice production, and one billion mice are killed to protect Australian wheat production.

Commenting on this phenomenon, Evans told ABC News, “So a duck dying to protect a rice paddy for me is not much different for a cow dying to produce a steak. They are both animal deaths that happen in the name of us being able to eat. So there is nothing that we can do that doesn’t have an impact on animals.”

A study published in 2018 attempting to estimate current animal deaths in plant food agriculture based on older studies found that potentially 7.3 billion animals are killed annually in the United States.

When it comes to insects, the numbers are even more alarming. In America alone, pesticides kill or harm an estimated 3.5 quadrillion insects, including beneficial pollinators.

Is Carnivorism more Vegan than Veganism?

The toll that plant-based agriculture takes on animals and insects has led many vegans to a carnivore diet based on meat from large pasture-raised herbivorous animals like beef, bison, elk, and lamb.

In terms of doing less harm, the math is pretty simple. On a carnivore diet, people consume around two pounds of fatty meat per day. This provides over 200 grams of fat and protein and around 3000 calories.

A single pasture-raised cow yields around 430 pounds of meat, or about 1.18 pounds per day, per year. So you’d need less than two cows to provide nearly all of your nutritional needs for an entire year. Add in some local pasture-raised eggs, and ripened cheese, and you’re still at only 2 deaths per year.

This view of eating large herbivores in order to “do less harm” was first espoused by Steven L. Davis in a 2003 paper published in the Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics.

Davis found that if half of the useable land in the US was assigned to plant production, and the other half to raise pasture-raised cattle, far fewer animals would die to produce meat.

Hectares under food production	Animal deaths per hectare	Total Animal Deaths
60 million: Plant foods	15 animals per hectare	.9 billion
60 million: Pasture-raised cattle	7.5 animals per hectare	.45 billion

Not only would pastured animal production cost the lives of half as many animals and plant production, but the quantity and density of both macro and micronutrients provided by large herbivores are far superior to plant foods.

Beyond doing less harm, Davis’s pasture/ruminant model offers other advantages, including

Providing and regenerating grassland habitat for numerous species of land animals, birds, and insects
Ruminant animals thrive on forages–plants that humans cannot consume
Pasture forage can take place (and even grown by cows through defecation) on rough land that cannot be used to produce crops for humans

Of course, this way of comparing vegan to carnivore requires carnivores to consume pastured animals and animal products. But there are other reasons beyond harm to animals that many people transition from vegan to carnivore, which we’ll turn to next.

Nutrient Density and Necissity

Animal-based foods provide nearly every macro and micronutrient you need to thrive, in near-perfect proportions, and in the most bioavailable (useable) formats.

In fact, there are numerous essential nutrients that are found only in meat, including

D3
B12
Vitamin A (Retinol)
Creatine
Choline
Carnitine
Carnosine
Heme iron
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)
Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA)
Conjugated linoleic acid
Vitamin K2
Taurine
Selenium
Various amino acids such as tyrosine and tryptophan

	APPLE (100 g)	CARROTS (100 g)	RED MEAT (100 g)	BEEF LIVER (100 g)
Calcium	3.0 mg	3.3 mg	11.0 mg	11.0 mg
Phosphorus	6.0 mg	31.0 mg	140.0 mg	476.0 mg
Magnesium	4.8 mg	6.2 mg	15.0 mg	18.0 mg
Potassium	139.0 mg	222.0 mg	370.0 mg	380.0 mg
Iron	.1 mg	.6 mg	3.3 mg	8.8 mg
Zinc	.05 mg	.3 mg	4.4 mg	4.0 mg
Copper	.04 mg	.08 mg	.18 mg	12.0 mg
Vitamin A	None	None	40 IU	53,400 IU
Vitamin D	None	None	Trace	19 IU
Vitamin E	.37 mg	.11 mg	1.7 mg	.63 mg
Vitamin C	7.0 mg	6.0 mg	16 mg	27.0 mg
Thiamin	.03 mg	.05 mg	.05 mg	.26 mg
Riboflavin	.02 mg	.05 mg	.20 mg	4.19 mg
Niacin	.10 mg	.60 mg	4.0 mg	16.5 mg
Pantothenic Acid	.11 mg	.19 mg	.42 mg	8.8 mg
Vitamin B6	.03 mg	.10 mg	.07 mg	.73 mg
Folate	8.0 mcg	24.0 mcg	4.0 mcg	145.0 mcg
Biotin	None	.42 mcg	2.08 mcg	96.0 mcg
Vitamin B12	None	None	1.84 mcg	111.3 mcg

Plant Toxins

Nearly all plant foods contain natural pesticides and chemical compounds that help the plant survive while harming pests and predators, including us humans.

A vegan diet requires chronic exposure to high levels of potentially harmful plant toxins and antinutrients, including

These compounds can cause numerous allergies, autoimmune diseases, leaky gut, and chronic inflammation.

Examples of People Who Went From Vegan to Carnivore

Let’s move this discussion from quantitative and conceptual reasons for going from vegan to carnivore to personal experience.

Below, we’ve collected the stories of real people telling their stories of going vegan to carnivore.

Vegan to Carnivore: The Takeaway

People practice vegan and carnivore diets for various reasons ranging from animal welfare and environmental issues to improving mental health, reducing inflammation, and overcoming metabolic disorders.

By nearly every measure, the carnivore diet comes out on top. Yes, even regarding animal welfare, if you’re centering your carnivore diet around pasture-raised beef and ethically produced animal products.

Vegan diets require the eradication of billions of animals and quadrillions of insects annually to produce plant foods with far less nutritional value than animal products.

Animals have always been a staple in the human diet, and supporting pasture-raised regenerative meat production does significantly less harm than a mainstream vegan diet.

Huge oil tanks of an oil mill in the harbor of Hamburg. Storage tanks with Soybean oil in the Port of Hamburg. The company is one of the biggest for vegetable oil in Germany

Is Soybean Oil Bad for You? What the Science Says

November 20, 2023/in Foods, Seed (vegetable) Oils Inflammation, Polyunsaturated Fats, PUFA, Seed Oil, Vegetable Oil /by Liam McAuliffe

Soybean oil is one of the most common ingredients in the standard Western diet, accounting for around 7% of all calories consumed by Americans. Yet, this “vegetable” oil is a highly processed industrial product comprised of a kind of polyunsaturated fat (linoleic acid) that a natural human diet contains very little of, leading many health experts to question if soybean oil is bad for you.

In this article, we’ll shed light on the various and alarming adverse effects of soybean oil consumption on your health. Join us on a journey through the science exploring the influence of soybean oil on inflammation, the delicate balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and the potential link between increasing soybean oil consumption and the rise of chronic diseases.

Is Soybean Oil Bad for You? Fast Facts

Soybean oil is a highly processed industrial food product
Soybean oil is high in linoleic Omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)
In the modern Western diet, the ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acids is 15:1. In traditional human diets the ratio is closer to 1:1. The modern imbalance can promote widespread and chronic inflammation
From 1959 to 2008, the amount of linoleic fatty acid in human body fat increased from 9.1% to 21.5%
High consumption of soybean oil (and linoleic acid in general) has been linked to obesity, diabetes, autism, Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, depression, ulcerative colitis, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

Why Are People Concerned About Soybean Oil?

In recent years, numerous studies have refuted the popular belief among nutritionists that reducing saturated fat from animal products and increasing polyunsaturated fatty acids from “vegetable” oils improves heart health.

In fact, consuming more vegetable oil has been associated with alarmingly high rates of cancer, heart disease, neurological disorders, and all-cause mortality.

For example, the major 2013 Sydney Diet-Heart Study, separated participants into two groups. The total fat intake of both groups was the same. For one group, the primary type of fat was linoleic acid from vegetable oil and margarine. The other group got most of their fat from butter, oil, and fatty meat. Nothing else about the diets and lifestyles of the two groups was changed.

Over seven years of monitoring, the vegetable oil group had a 62% greater all-cause mortality rate.

Because soybean oil accounts for the majority of the vegetable oil that Americans consume, it has come under more scrutiny as the public and nutrition experts alike are asking, “Is soybean oil bad for you?

Soybean Oil is High in Linoleic Acid

Soybean oil is comprised of 60% polyunsaturated fatty acids and 54% of one type of PUFA called linoleic acid.

In the body, linoleic acid acts as a precursor to a molecule called arachidonic acid that causes inflammation. Arachidonic acid acts as a precursor for the creation of over twenty pro-inflammatory molecules called eicosanoids.

In traditional diets, which are comprised mainly of animal products high in omega-3 fatty acids, there is a 1:1 balance of omega-3s to omega-6s. Since omega-3s are anti-inflammatory, they counteract the effects of omega-6s.

However, in a modern “plant-based” diet loaded with processed soybean oil, the overabundance of omega-6s can promote chronic inflammatory disorders and diseases.

In 2018, researchers found that high LDL (bad) cholesterol is only associated with an increased risk of heart disease in the context of a diet high in omega-6 fatty acids.

Heart attack patients were found to have significantly more linoleic acid in their arteries than healthy patients. Furthermore, the more severe the heart attack, the greater arterial plaque buildup from omega-6 fatty acids.

The authors of the study concluded, “In summary, numerous lines of evidence show that the omega-6 polyunsaturated fat linoleic acid promotes oxidative stress, oxidized LDL, chronic low-grade inflammation and atherosclerosis, and is likely a major dietary culprit for causing CHD [congenital heart disease], especially when consumed in the form of industrial seed oils commonly referred to as ‘vegetable oils’.”

Is Soybean Oil Bad for Gut Health?

Soybean oil has been directly implicated in bowel diseases, including ulcerative colitis (UC), and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), characterized by chronic inflammation of the large intestine.

A 2023 study found that a diet high in soybean oil encourages the growth of harmful E. coli in the gut and levels of beneficial endocannabinoids to decrease.

E. coli bacterium was found to feed off the carbon in linoleic acid. At the same time, various other beneficial bacteria were killed off by linoleic acid.

These effects on gut bacteria were found to cause the intestinal epithelial barrier to become porous, a condition known as intestinal permeability or “leaky gut.”

When the gut barrier is compromised by soybean oil, toxins can enter the bloodstream, increasing the risk of chronic inflammatory diseases like colitis.

The authors of the study highlighted a parallel between the dramatic increase in soybean oil consumption and IBS rates.

Commenting on the study, Poonamjot Deol, stated, “Our work challenges the decades-old thinking that many chronic diseases stem from the consumption of excess saturated fats from animal products, and that, conversely, unsaturated fats from plants are necessarily more healthful…While our bodies need 1-2% of linoleic acid daily, based on the paleo diet, Americans today are getting 8-10% of their energy from linoleic acid daily, most of it from soybean oil.”

Soybean Oil and Cancer

The effects of soybean oil on cancer are limited to animal studies, but the results deserve attention.

In a 2009 study, mice with implanted tumors (poor mice!) were divided into groups that were fed with different fatty acids.

The group of mice fed linoleic fatty acids suffered a 400% more aggressive spread of cancer than the rodent groups fed monounsaturated fatty acids like you find in olive oil and saturated fatty acids from red meat.

A 2010 study found that mice fed soybean oil that had been heated in a deep fryer suffered 400% greater cancer metastasis than mice fed unheated oil.

The takeaway is that soybean oil feeds cancer cells, and when it’s heated, it’s even worse.

Another study found that tumors in rats began to form once they consumed 20% of their fat in the form of linoleic acid.

Keep in mind that vegetable oils account for around 20% of fat intake on the American diet, while 37% of Americans regularly eat food cooked in vegetable oil.

To underscore the potential cancer risks of soybean oil, let’s take a look at the classic Los Angeles Veterans Administration Study.

The study split participants into two groups. One group increased the percentage of total fat intake from vegetable oil. The other (control) group didn’t change the type of fat they consumed.

Both groups consumed the same total amount of fat.

The vegetable oil group was found to be 82% more likely to die from cancer.

Interestingly, though the groups were randomly selected, the control group had twice as many heavy smokers. Yet, even with more smokers, this group had significantly fewer deaths from cancer.

Is Soybean Oil Bad for Brain and Mental Health?

A 2020 study in mice found that consuming soybean oil leads to weight gain and triggers a gene dysregulation associated with increased rates of neurological disorders, including autism, Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, and depression.

Consuming soybean oil was also found to reduce levels of oxytocin, the hormone responsible for loving bonds.

In recent years, there has been a national focus on the need for more mental health resources. Yet, it may be the case that Americans would not be experiencing such a dramatic mental health crisis if soy and other vegetable oils were eliminated from our diets.

Interestingly, consuming meat and animal products has been routinely associated with improved mental health.

The study authors conclude, “If there’s one message I want people to take away, it’s this: reduce consumption of soybean oil”.

In another study from 2013, soybean oil in infant formula dysregulated genes in ways that were associated with inflammation and neuroendocrine, neurochemical, and insulin signaling. These factors are associated with specific autistic behaviors.

Soybean Oil is Unstable and Easily Oxidized

Because soybean oil is composed of mainly unsaturated fatty acids, it is susceptible to oxidation when stored at room temperature and when heated for cooking.

In both human and animal studies, oxidized vegetable oils have been found to damage brain and liver cells, cause widespread inflammation, and increase the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Alternatives to Soybean Oil

The best alternatives to soybean oil are saturated (molecularly stable) animal fats like butter, ghee, and tallow.

For example, butter is composed of approximately 67% saturated fats, 29% monounsaturated fats, and 4% polyunsaturated fats.

It’s worth keeping in mind that vegetable oils like olive and avocado, which have lower PUFA content, are often adulterated with cheaper soybean oil.

One study 2022 study out of the University of California Davis, found that out of 22 domestic and internationally produced samples of avocado oil, 82% were rancid and/or mixed with other soybean and other oils. Two brands were almost 100% soybean oil!

Is Soybean Oil Bad for You? The Bottom Line

Soybean oil is the most common vegetable oil in America, and its consumption is expected to grow over the coming decades.

Unfortunately, soybean oil is also one of the most toxic substances that people unwittingly consume on a regular basis.

High in inflammatory linoleic acid, soybean oil is bad for our health in various and significant ways, including increased risk of

obesity
diabetes
Autism
Alzheimer’s disease
Depression
Ulcerative colitis
IBD and intestinal permeability
Chronic inflammation

To avoid the negative health consequences of soybean oil (and all toxic vegetable oils), we strongly recommend completely eliminating it from your diet and replacing it with the nourishing animal fats that humans have thrived on since the dawn of our species nearly two million years ago.

Selection of assorted raw meat food for zero carb carnivore diet: uncooked beef steak, ground meat patty, heart, liver and chicken legs on black stone background from above

7 Carnivore Diet Myths: Debunked

November 19, 2023/in Carnivore Animal based, Animal fats, Carnivore Diet, Red Meat /by Liam McAuliffe

The carnivore diet has emerged as both a beneficial diet and lifestyle intervention and a focus of contention. Enthusiasts praise its simplicity and power to overcome seemingly intractable ailments, while skeptics worry about the effects of cutting out the plant foods we’ve been told are healthy, and increasing the animal products we’ve been told are bad for us. With such a radical departure from the mainstream nutritional narrative, myths, and misconceptions can cloud the true essence of the carnivore diet.

In this article, we’ll separate fact from fiction as we debunk common carnivore diet myths and shed light on the science behind this ancestral eating regimen.

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Myth 1:The carnivore diet is nutritionally deficient

The myth that cutting out plant foods and consuming only animal products causes nutrient deficiencies is alarmingly prevalent and disturbingly wrong.

You can only believe it if you’ve been grossly misled about both the unsurpassed abundance of nutrients in meat and the paltry nutrients in most plant foods.

Animal products, including red meat, seafood, organ meats, and full-fat dairy, are the most nutrient-dense food on earth!

Animal products provide essentially every macro and micronutrient you need to thrive in near-perfect proportions and in their most bioavailable (useable) forms. In fact, there are numerous essential nutrients that are found only in meat.

The same cannot be said for plant foods. Despite the “balanced diet” dogma, from a nutritional perspective, plants are completely non-essential. Animal-based foods provide so much more than the fat and protein that most people think of.

	APPLE (100 g)	CARROTS (100 g)	RED MEAT (100 g)	BEEF LIVER (100 g)
Calcium	3.0 mg	3.3 mg	11.0 mg	11.0 mg
Phosphorus	6.0 mg	31.0 mg	140.0 mg	476.0 mg
Magnesium	4.8 mg	6.2 mg	15.0 mg	18.0 mg
Potassium	139.0 mg	222.0 mg	370.0 mg	380.0 mg
Iron	.1 mg	.6 mg	3.3 mg	8.8 mg
Zinc	.05 mg	.3 mg	4.4 mg	4.0 mg
Copper	.04 mg	.08 mg	.18 mg	12.0 mg
Vitamin A	None	None	40 IU	53,400 IU
Vitamin D	None	None	Trace	19 IU
Vitamin E	.37 mg	.11 mg	1.7 mg	.63 mg
Vitamin C	7.0 mg	6.0 mg	16 mg	27.0 mg
Thiamin	.03 mg	.05 mg	.05 mg	.26 mg
Riboflavin	.02 mg	.05 mg	.20 mg	4.19 mg
Niacin	.10 mg	.60 mg	4.0 mg	16.5 mg
Pantothenic Acid	.11 mg	.19 mg	.42 mg	8.8 mg
Vitamin B6	.03 mg	.10 mg	.07 mg	.73 mg
Folate	8.0 mcg	24.0 mcg	4.0 mcg	145.0 mcg
Biotin	None	.42 mcg	2.08 mcg	96.0 mcg
Vitamin B12	None	None	1.84 mcg	111.3 mcg

Myth 2: Eating meat is bad for your heart

As a source of saturated fat, animal products have been victimized by a false association between saturated fat and heart disease.

To undo this myth, we need not look any further than the most recent and highest-quality mainstream studies.

Let’s begin with the fact that there are no, as in zero, randomized control trials linking the consumption of fresh meat with heart disease.

A bellwether 2020 systemic review (the gold standard of nutritional research) published in the prestigious Journal of the American College of Cardiology concluded, “Although intake of processed meat has been associated with increased risk of CHD (coronary heart disease), intake of unprocessed red meat is not, which indicates that the saturated fat content of meat is unlikely to be responsible for this association.”

The researchers affirm that animal products, including, “Whole-fat dairy, unprocessed meat…are SFA-rich foods with a complex matrix (of nutrients) that are not associated with increased risk of CVD. The totality of available evidence does not support further limiting the intake of such foods.”

Another systematic review from 2015 analyzed data from 15 randomized controlled trials that included over 59,000 participants. Researchers found that reducing saturated fat had no impact on heart attacks, strokes, and all-cause mortality.

A 2010 meta-analysis of twenty-one studies with nearly 350,000 participants and a follow-up period of 5-23 years yielded similar results. The study authors stated, “There is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD or CVD. More data are needed to elucidate whether CVD risks are likely to be influenced by the specific nutrients used to replace saturated fat.”

By “specific nutrients,” the authors are referring to sugar and partially unsaturated (PUFA) seed “vegetable” oils. Numerous studies implicate these plant foods as key factors in heart disease.

Myth 3: Eating red meat causes cancer

One of the most pernicious myths about the carnivore diet is that eating so much red meat will cause cancer. But as with heart disease, the link between fresh meat and cancer is bologna. Let’s follow the science.

A 2015 analysis found that red meat had no relationship with colon cancer, even when including consideration of cooking methods and other mitigating factors. This is significant because some forms of cooking, such as grilling, can produce compounds thought to be carcinogenic. But in this study, even grilled meat didn’t affect cancer risk.

A 2011 meta-analysis of 25 studies found insufficient evidence to support an association between red meat and colon cancer–the most common cancer attributed to eating red meat.

A major 2019 review of 73 other studies concluded, “The possible absolute effects of red and processed meat consumption on cancer mortality and incidence are very small, and the certainty of the evidence is low to very low.”

An interesting 2018 study found that there was no difference in the rates of colorectal cancer between vegetarians and people who consumed red meat. This comparison is significant because if red meat did cause cancer, you’d expect people who didn’t eat meat to experience a positive effect. But that’s not the case.

A large-scale review of 8 Asian studies with over 300,000 participants and follow-up periods ranging from 6 to 15 years found that “Red meat intake was inversely associated with CVD mortality in men and with cancer mortality in women in Asian countries.” In other words, red meat intake was found to reduce deaths by cancer in women.

A word of warning: though red meat itself is not linked to cancer, the foods that you consume alongside red meat can activate elements of red meat as carcinogens. For example, in a 2004 study, consuming meats that were high in heme iron (beef and blood sausage) was found to increase cancer risk when consumed with high PUFA corn and soybean oil.

Vegetable oils are strictly prohibited on the carnivore diet so you won’t have this issue.

Myth 4: The carnivore diet is bad for the environment

Perhaps the most strident myth about the carnivore diet is that eating lots of meat is bad for the environment. But the reality is that the impacts of animal livestock on the environment are, in many cases, remarkably misrepresented.

Let’s take, for example, the purported greenhouse effects of methane produced by cattle. U.C. Davis researcher Frank Mitloehner explains that methane from cows ought to be analyzed differently than the greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere through burning fuels that have been unlocked from the earth.

Methane from cows is part of a natural carbon cycle: Cows eat grass (a form of carbon). Bacteria in the cows’ stomach ferments the grass. Methane is expelled as a byproduct of cow digestion.

After 10 years in the atmosphere, the methane produced by cows breaks back down into water and carbon dioxide. These elements are returned to the earth through photosynthesis. Then cows eat the grass, and the “closed” system cycles on.

Source: University of California-Davis CLEAR Center

Even though methane from fossil fuels and living organisms like cows are chemically identical, they have a different warming impact.

Carnivore dieters who are concerned about their impact on the environment can select meat raised with “regenerative agricultural practices” and “carbon farming.” These ranching methods actually pull carbon out of the atmosphere and sequester it in soils, improving soil health.

But even conventional animal agriculture is not the menace to the environment that it’s made out to be. An International Atomic Energy Agency report revealed that until 2003 it incorrectly believed increasing livestock numbers were associated with increasing atmospheric methane levels. When, in fact, there was no relationship between increasing populations of ruminant animals and changes in atmospheric methane.

Likewise, A 2018 NASA report found that atmospheric methane has risen sharply since 2006. However, this increase was attributable to emissions from oil and gas production and microbial production in rice paddies and marshes, but not from livestock.

You can learn more about the real impacts of meat on the environment here.

Myth 5: The carnivore diet doesn’t have enough fiber

Fiber is a type of indigestible carbohydrate found in plant foods. Meat doesn’t have fiber, making the carnivore diet an essentially no-fiber diet.

This scared people who think of fiber as a kind of pipe cleaner, without which they won’t poop. But this is a misconception.

Ironically, many people report using the carnivore diet to successfully overcome digestive issues like IBS, in large part due to the elimination of fiber.

Not surprisingly, research shows that the more fiber people eat, the greater the risk of developing diverticular diseases.

A study published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology analyzed data from all the studies over the previous 35 years investigating the link between fiber and colon health. The authors concluded, “A strong case cannot be made for a protective effect of dietary fiber against colorectal polyp or cancer. Neither has fiber been found to be useful in chronic constipation and irritable bowel syndrome. It is also not useful in the treatment of perianal conditions. The fiber deficit-diverticulosis theory should also be challenged…we often choose to believe a lie, as a lie repeated often enough by enough people becomes accepted as the truth. We urge clinicians to keep an open mind. Myths about fiber must be debunked and truth installed.”

Though fiber has been shown to reduce cholesterol and control blood sugar, neither of these effects is necessary for most people practicing a carnivore diet. For one, cholesterol is not a good measure of heart disease risk. And two, blood sugar control is not an issue on a very low-carb diet.

Myth 6: The carnivore diet is boring

For many carnivore dieters, a juicy ribeye steak is simply never boring. You can always experiment with toppings like smothering it in blue cheese or topping it with pan-fried duck liver.

For people who need variety to stave off borden, there are dozens of delicious meats to explore, including nutrient-dense organ meats.

Boring is in the eye of the beholder–and most people consuming a standard American diet get their calories from a few toxic ingredients mixed and matched into various junk foods like pizza, pasta, and baked goods.

The truth is the carnivore diet motivates people to get creative by selecting and preparing various animal products.

And the payoff in terms of health benefits like increased libido, better mood, mental clarity, resolution of various autoimmune disorders, and greater stamina and energy, is anything but boring.

Even breakfast on the carnivore diet can be an opportunity to try a bevy of interesting recipe ideas.

Myth 7: The carnivore diet is expensive

Meat isn’t cheap, but neither is junk food. In fact, the real myth is that people eat processed food because it’s cheap.

The reality is that people eat processed food because it is engineered to be addictive and it’s prepackaged, making it dangerously convenient. On the other hand, animal-based carnivore diet foods are extremely satiating.

If you’re on a budget, you might be surprised at how many nourishing nutrient-dense animal meals you can get out of less than $100.

Here’s a chart comparing the costs between processed foods and carnivore diet foods as of 2023


Processed Junk	Cost	Whole Carnivore Food	Cost
14.5 oz package of Oreos	$9.99	16 oz. 73/27 Ground Beef	$3.96
12 pack of coca cola	$13.50	32 oz heavy whipping cream	$4.98
18 oz Honey Nut Cheerios Cereal	$6.80	24 Kirkland Signature Eggs Eggs	$5.79
14.5 oz Doritos	$5.50	16 oz. Great Value Thick Cut Bacon	$4.24
2 x 22 oz Digriorno Stuffed Crust Pizza	$21.00	32 oz. USDA Choice Top Sirloin Steak	$26.99
27 oz. Pop Tarts	$5.00	16 oz Murry’s Dansk Blue Cheese	$6.00
89 oz. Tropicana Orange Juice	$7.00	24 oz pork belly	$6.80
1 Gallon skim milk	$3.25	1 lb Sweet cream butter	$3.98
18 oz. club crackers	$4.98	Kerry Gold Cheese	$5.28
48 oz. Bryers Ice Cream	$4.97	2 Cans of Sardines in water	$2.24
Bagle Bites Party Size	$13.00	1 lb Fresh Atlantic Salmon	$10.68
TOTAL	$94.99	TOTAL	$80.94

In this next chart, you’ll get a breakdown of what 2700 calories per day for less than $12 looks like on a carnivore diet.

Food	Calorie content	Price
Ground Beef	5738	$37.98
Pork Belly (2lb)	4640	$9.99
Cream cheese	2600	$4.97
Eggs	2598	$11.68
Tallow (½ lb)	1840	$3.12
Beef liver	863	$1.79
Sardines	510	$6.90
Mackerel	478	$2.78
	19267 total calories	$79.21 total cost
	2,752 calories/day	$11.28/day

Carnivore Diet Myths Debunked: The Bottom Line

The carnivore diet is an extreme departure from mainstream recommendations for consuming a “varied” and “plant-based” diet. For this reason, it is shrouded in myths that have much more to do with the fears of mainstream dieters than nutritional science.

The reality is that humans have thrived on meat-based diets since the dawn of our species over two million years ago. So it’s no surprise that thousands of carnivore dieters report remarkably beneficial outcomes, including improved metabolic, digestive, endocrine, heart, and mental health.

white plate with spoon and fork, Intermittent fasting concept, ketogenic diet, weight loss, diet

Protein-Sparing Modified Fast: Review and Alternatives

November 17, 2023/in Intermittent Feasting & Fasting, Methods & Schedules fasting, intermittent fasting, protein sparing modified fast /by Liam McAuliffe

The Protein-Sparing Modified Fast, or PSMF, is touted as a way to quickly lose significant weight without depleting muscle mass. But like other crash diets that require extremely low caloric intake i.e. starving yourself, there may be various unwanted side effects, and most people don’t keep weight off once the diet is over.

In this article, we’ll explore what the protein-sparing modified fast is, how to do it, along with its potential benefits and drawbacks.

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What is a Protein Sparing Modified Fast

The Protein-Sparing Modified Fast (PSMF) is a dietary approach designed for rapid weight loss while preserving lean muscle mass.

“Protein-sparing” refers to the intention of sparing muscle mass by maintaining a high protein intake relative to fat and carbohydrates.

Unlike prolonged fasting and intermittent fasting, PSMF requires strict and extreme caloric restriction. In fact, this PSMF is so extreme that it usually requires medical supervision and is practiced only by people who are dangerously overweight.

That said, many people choose to practice PSMF on their own, while some athletes have incorporated principles of PSMF into higher calorie approaches like the apex predator diet

How to do a protein-sparing modified fast

The protein-sparing modified fasting protocol entails two phases that we’ll detail below.

Phase 1: Intensive Calorie Restriction

During the intensive phase, you restrict caloric intake to fewer than 800 daily calories, most of which come from lean, high-protein foods.

In fact, the protocol requires consuming 1.6 grams of protein per kg of body weight, or .7 grams of protein per pound.

For a 170-pound person, this works out to around 120 grams of protein.

Foods most commonly consumed on the PSMF include lean meats, tofu, poultry, fish, eggs, and low-fat dairy. Added fats like oils and butter are eliminated. Carbohydrates are capped at approximately 20 grams per day. This means essentially no grains, legumes, fruits, or added sugars.

To protect against nutrient deficiencies, people supplement with potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, and multivitamins.

This phase can last up to six months to achieve weight loss goals.

Phase 2: Refeeding

The refeeding phase lasts 6-8 weeks, in which dieters slowly reintroduce fats and carbohydrates in a graduated process.

In the first month, up to 45 grams of carbohydrates are permitted per day. In the second month of refeeding, this goes up to 90 grams of carbs per day.

At the same time, protein intake is reduced by 1-14 grams per month.

Ketosis on the PSMF

PSMF dramatically restricts carbs. This causes the body to enter a metabolic state called ketosis, in which body fat is broken down into powerful energy molecules called ketones.

Therefore the PSMF is technically a type of ketogenic diet. But all other ketogenic diets are high in fat with moderate protein intake. The high-fat component is to fulfill a strict metabolic need for fat, which we will get into later.

Foods to Eat on a PSMF

PSMF is centered around lean foods that are high in protein. These include

Skinless poultry
Lean cuts of beef and pork
Lean fish like cod, halibut, and tuna
Low-carb vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and leafy greens
Low-fat dairy such as cottage cheese, yogurt, and skim milk
Eggs and/or egg whites
Tofu

Foods to Avoid on the PSMF

All high-carb and high-fat foods are avoided on the PSMF. These include

Processed and packaged foods such as chips, baked goods, candy, and fast food
Fruits such as melons, apples, berries
Fats and oils such as butter, olive oil, margarine, coconut oil, vegetable oils, and dressings
High-carb vegetables such as potatoes and essentially all tubers
Grains and pseudo-grains including wheat, oats, quinoa
Legumes such as peanuts, navy beans, peas
Sugary beverages such as soda, juice, energy drinks, sweetened tea and coffee
Sweeteners including table sugar, honey, maple syrup
Full-fat dairy

Is the PSMF effective for Weight Loss?

Dramatically restricting calories, as is the case on the PSMF diet, generally leads to rapid weight loss. But decades of studies tell us that keeping weight off after extreme dieting is rare.

A 2022 study with 25 men and 25 women who were obese and type-2 diabetic used a revised version of the PSMF that updated macronutrient intake. Researchers found significant reductions in weight and various measures of body mass after 21 days. See chart below.

Source: Cincione RI, Losavio F, Cibelli G, et al. Revised Protein Sparing Diet in Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Nutrients. 2022

A small 2016 study with 12 obese adolescent participants found that over a six-month PSMF period, participants lost an average of 25 pounds (11kg), equivalent to 10% of average total body weight.

Similar results were found in a 1985 study of 15 adults. Over only six weeks, participants lost an average of 32 pounds (14 kg) without losing significant muscle mass.

A 2020 study tracked weight loss outcomes of over 1400 people, 800 of whom were on the PSMF diet. The roughly 600 other participants were on various other diets.

Researchers found that the PSMF diet resulted in rapid weight loss over six months. However, a very small percentage of PSMF dieters maintained significant weight loss 3-5 years after completing it. Ultimately, PSMF was found to be no better than any other diet–most of which are far less difficult to follow.

Other studies have found that most dieters regain more than 50% of their weight within 2–3 of ending their PSMF.

Other Studies on the Benefits of PSMF

Dramatic dietary changes are going to affect more than weight loss. Studies on the PSMF have tracked various physiological outcomes. Let’s take a look.

Cholesterol

One study found that short-term PSMF decreased LDL (bad) cholesterol levels by 20% while also decreasing HDL (good) cholesterol. However, the total HDL-C/LDL-C ratio increased–creating an overall improved lipid profile.

A 2022 study found that after just 21 days, a PSMF diet reduced total cholesterol by 19.74%, LDL cholesterol by 22.48%, and total triglycerides by −20.05% for obese people with type 2 diabetes.

Blood Pressure and Blood Sugar

In the large-scale study comparing PSMF dieters vs. all other diets, researchers found that at year 1, PSMF dieters had a greater decrease in blood pressure (− 6.6 mmHg versus − 5.0 mmHG, p = 0.02), but there was no statistically significant difference between groups in years 2–5.

This same study found a 23.1% decrease in blood glucose levels after 21 days. This makes sense when considering that on this “revised” version of PSMF, carbs were reduced to near zero.

Source: Cincione RI, Losavio F, Cibelli G, et al. Revised Protein Sparing Diet in Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Nutrients. 2022

Downsides to PSMF

Though practicing a PSMF may provide significant short-term weight loss and improved metabolic health markers, this diet requires the supervision of a healthcare professional.

Such a restrictive dietary approach is only recommended for people who are dangerously obese–or with a body mass index greater than 27. It’s also not suitable for older people, women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, and people with a history of eating disorders.

Adverse reactions to PSMF include

unstable mood, anxiety, and depression
nausea
lethargy
dehydration

Safer and More Sustainable Alternatives to PSMF

If you’re looking to lose excess weight and improve overall metabolic health, there are less challenging, more enjoyable, far more nutritious, and ultimately more sustainable dietary interventions available.

Ketogenic Diets

For example, a study of 22 obese men with metabolic syndrome practicing the non-calorie-restricted Mediterranean Keto Diet found that all 22 participants no longer had any markers of metabolic syndrome after only six weeks.

Participants in this study lost an average of 30 pounds while consuming delicious, nourishing, fatty whole foods.

Animal Based Diets

Another non-calorie-restricted low-carb, high-fat approach gaining popularity is the carnivore diet. This diet calls for eating only animal products, especially fatty cuts of red meat.

A 2021 study out of Harvard gathered self-reported data from 2,029 people who had been eating nothing but meat for at least six months.

Significant outcomes included:

93% improved or resolved obesity and excess weight
93% improved hypertension
98% improved conditions related to diabetes
97% improved gastrointestinal symptoms
96% improved psychiatric symptoms
98% of participants reported being very satisfied or satisfied

The authors of the study concluded, “Contrary to common expectations, adults consuming a carnivore diet experienced few adverse effects and instead reported health benefits and high satisfaction.”

Dr. Robert Kiltz has created his own version of the carnivore diet known as the B.E.B.B.I.I.S plan (pronounced babies).

BEBBIIS stands for Bacon, Eggs, Butter, Beef, Ice cream (Kiltz’s homemade keto ice cream), Intermittent feasting, and Salt.

This way of eating is specially formulated to help his fertility patients conceive. This diet reduces inflammation, boosts vital nutrients, and provides healthy fats and cholesterol that the body needs to synthesize key hormones that support fertility.

The bottom line

A protein-sparing modified fast is an extremely restrictive approach to achieving rapid weight loss without suffering significant muscle loss.

PSMF entails dramatically restricting total calories, carbs, and fats while increasing protein. It is so extreme that it is only recommended to obese individuals and conducted under close medical supervision.

Some studies have found that in the short term, PSMF produces weight loss and improves blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels. But long term studies have found that these improvements generally do not last, with participants gaining back significant weight within two years of completing the six-month fast.

If your goal is to take control of your metabolic health through diet, you are better served by non-calorie restrictive and far more nourishing approaches like ketogenic and carnivore eating plans.

Portrait of a strong male lion in a gym. Bodybuilding

What is the Apex Predator Diet?

November 14, 2023/in Keto, Carnivore, Nutrition Ancestral Diet, Animal based, Carnivore Diet, Keto Carnivore, Ketogenic diet, Red Meat /by Liam McAuliffe

Diet is perhaps more essential to powerlifters and bodybuilders than it is to any other class of athlete. Bulking up to extreme examples of muscle mass, while finely sculpting these muscles into rippling definition requires a chemist’s sensitivity to how nutrients affect energy, stamina, and body. Enter Jamie “Chaos” Lewis, former all-time, all federation world powerlifting champion turned fitness blogger. Lewis developed the Apex predator diet over years of scrupulous personal experimentation with different low-carb, high-fat, and fasting protocols.

Source: Carvedouttastone.com

The apex predator diet can be viewed as part of a lineage of carnivorous bodybuilding eating plans stretching back to the 1950s when bodybuilding guru Vince Gironda originated the “steak and eggs diet.”

Lewis’s diet adds a few twists and specific details, but like Gironda’s approach, it is essentially a meat-centered cyclical ketogenic diet.

In this article, we’ll explore the apex predator diet to help you determine if it’s a good fit for your diet and lifestyle goals.

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The Apex Predator Diet at a Glance

The apex predator diet is a type of cyclical ketogenic diet. This means it requires cutting most carbs, getting most of your calories from fat, and the remainder from protein. However, Lewis adds in low-carb, high-protein shakes to support muscle mass.

Here’s a rundown:

Cut carbs to less than 30 grams per day for 5-6 days each week
Consume one to two meals a day of exclusively fresh, fatty, bone-in red meat such as ribeye steak
Consume 5-6 low-carb (>10g), high-protein (50g) shakes per day.
Allow 1-2 “rampage” days where you can replenish glycogen stores by eating high-carb foods of your choice.
Optionally, you can do 1 full day of only protein shakes
Optionally, once a week, you can substitute a protein shake for 6-10 chicken wings

Different Approaches for Different Body Types

Applying these guidelines can be adjusted to support more muscle definition depending on your level of body fat.

If you have over 18% body fat, Lewis recommends an introductory approach that suspends “rampage days” until your body becomes accustomed to burning fat.

Lewis explains that how our bodies respond to food in terms of hunger, satiety, and fat burning has to do with rebalancing and resensitizing specific hormones: leptin, ghrelin, and insulin.

Leptin sends signals that you are full (satiated). However, overweight people are susceptible to leptin resistance, where their brains do not respond to the leptin’s satiation signals. Ghrelin, the hormone driving hunger, doesn’t turn off. The result is feeling constantly hungry and physically demotivated, even though you have more than enough calories.

To break out of this cycle, it may be important to avoid carbs for an extended period of time, allowing your hunger/satiation hormones to rebalance and re-sensitize.

Here’s the apex predator diet launch scenario for people with 18% or more body fat:

10-14 day days on strict keto
Consume only protein shakes for at least one day a week. (This is essentially a one-day Protein Sparing Modified Fast).
Practice OMAD (One Meal a Day) intermittent fasting for 5 days a week. For one of these days, choose low-calorie (lean) meat.
Allow moderate carbs for 3 hours, one day a week. This is not a binge. For example, tallow fried french fries or homemade low-sugar keto ice cream.

The Reasoning Behind Apex Predator Diet

Lewis explains that he developed this way of eating after trying protein-sparing modified fasts, only to find himself feeling awful and lacking the energy he needed to sustain his intense powerlifting workouts.

This led Lewis to combine the protein-sparing approach with a variety of whole foods. He eventually landed on bone in cuts like beef ribs, which he found to be extremely restorative and nourishing.

Lewis makes clear that this diet is intended for people who practice intense weight training four or more days per week. And he finds this the best approach for athletes like himself for the following reasons:

When people go keto and consume extremely satiating high-fat, nutrient-dense whole foods, they automatically consume fewer calories than usual (1400-2100 per day). This is not enough to support the energy required for hard training weight lifters. Nor does it provide enough protein to support muscle building.
Protein shakes make up the protein deficit in both calories and protein. The apex predator diet provides over 3000 calories per day. Only 50-60% of this comes from fat. With around 40%-50% from protein.
Consuming only 1-2 meals a day means that your calories are cycled, not just your carbs. Intermittent fasting helps maintain periods of intense fat-burning
Regularly consuming protein shakes keeps you in an anabolic state (muscle building) and protects against catabolism (breaking down muscle) even when you operating at a caloric deficit (due to hard training and intermittent fasting).
Refueling at the end of the day with fatty meats provides saturated fat and cholesterol your body needs to synthesize testosterone.
You are not hungry, and therefore your body is not in an energy-conserving (de-motivating) mode. In other words, you have plenty of energy for hard training.
Cheat meals allow you to replenish glycogen stores that hard training athletes need to perform while enjoying carbs once in a while, thereby reducing feelings of deprivation and making it easier to plan and participate in social gatherings.

Apex Predator Diet Tips

The apex predator diet gets its name from the food choices at its center– the foods that apex predators (including prehistoric humans) prize in nature.

Focus on Fatty Red Meat

This means one thing: fatty meats from large ruminant animals. For us modern humans, these are beef and bison, with some lamb and elk options. Aim for 1500-2000 calories per meal from meat alone. Fatty cuts will help you achieve these caloric goals.

Add butter, ghee, or tallow to boost calories in leaner meats like fish and poultry.

Choose Bone-In Cuts

Lewis makes a big deal out of choosing bone-in meat, clutching that “built-in” handle as you use your incisors to achieve the primal flesh-tearing glee that they were intended for. Aside from the visceral appeal, bone-in meat does often stay more moist and have better flavor, so it’s worth heeding his call.

Boost Nutrients With Organ Meats

Lewis also recommends various supplements, along with the ultimate natural supplements–nutrient-dense organ meats.

Rampage with Care

For the “rampage day,” be moderate, consume whole foods, not junk–avoid seed oils and highly processed foods. Homemade ice cream, tallow-fried french fries, and low-toxin fruits are wholesome carb-heavy foods, along with other homemade or non-processed treats and lean meats.

When consuming protein shakes, choose low-carb options, mix with water (not milk, which is high in sugar), and avoid high-carb shakes like Muscle Milk, Syntha 6, and any shakes/mixes that advertise themselves as “weight gainers.”

Is the Apex Predator Diet Right for You?

The apex predator diet is specifically intended for competitive and extremely hard-training athletes, specifically powerlifters and bodybuilders. We’re talking hours a day for at least four days a week.

Most people need nowhere near as much protein as the 400-plus grams per day that Lewis recommends.

Most athletes can be served well by a standard cyclical carnivore or ketogenic approach.

Most normal people with low to normal activity levels will benefit from a standard carnivore or other low-carb, high-fat animal-based diets.

The Apex Predator Diet: The Bottom Line

The Apex predator diet earns its name from the abundance of fatty meat at its center.

For millennia, humans and other apex predators have prized fatty meat from large animals for its unsurpassed nutrient density.

This particular take on the Apex Predator Diet was developed and popularized by competitive powerlifter Jamie “Chaos” Lewis.

Lewis’s apex predator diet combines principles of meat-based carnivore eating with carb-cycling and protein-sparing modified fasts.

The idea behind this way of eating is to dramatically increase fat burning while simultaneously boosting energy and bulking muscle. However, due to the tremendous protein and caloric intake that this diet entails, it is likely only suitable for extremely hard training athletes.

The heart made of cubes of sugar on a blue background

The Science Linking Sugar and Heart Disease

November 11, 2023/in Sugar Added Sugar, Heart Disease, sugar /by Liam McAuliffe

The link between sugar and heart disease has been scientifically established since the 1960s, but only recently has it gained the attention it deserves.

The fact that most people are unaware of the links between sugar and heart disease is not a coincidence. This lacuna in dietary awareness is the result of a concerted effort on the part of the sugar and vegetable oil industries to unfairly–and unscientifically–deflect the blame from sugar to saturated fat.

In this article, we will explore the compelling evidence and scientific insights that reveal the links between consuming sugar and the development of heart disease. We’ll also touch on the ways the sugar industry attempted to hide these findings from the public eye.

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Blame Sugar, Not Fat

Since the 1960s, the blame for heart disease has been incorrectly assigned to saturated fat. The targeting of saturated fat can be attributed to powerful private interest groups representing the sugar and vegetable oil industries.

In 2016, this ploy by the Sugar Association–a communications wing of the U.S. sugar industry–was uncovered by a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, and published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

The article examines documents showing how the Sugar Association paid Harvard scientists to publish a review of research that was handpicked by the sugar industry and published in the widely respected New England Journal of Medicine. This research hid the link between sugar and heart disease and shifted the focus to saturated fat.

Though the sugar executives and researchers are no longer alive, their fraudulent science has had a lasting impact on global dietary guidelines that remain hard to escape to this day.

The outsize influence of these early studies is due in large part to the professional stature of the scientists who took part in the deception: Dr. Fredrick J. Stare, was the chairman of Harvard’s nutrition department. And fellow researcher D. Mark Hegsted would become the head of nutrition at the United States Department of Agriculture, where In 1977, he would be instrumental in drafting what would become the U.S. federal dietary guidelines.

The effects of these guidelines contributed to the low-fat craze of the 1980s and 90s. Following recommendations to cut fat while consuming three meals a day of naturally high-carb “plant-based” foods like grains and fruits, subjects the human body to chronically high amounts of sugar.

On average, Americans consume three pounds of sugar each week! The majority of which is hidden in plant-based products and processed foods. Low-fat food options such as tomato sauce, yogurt, and instant oatmeal can have as much sugar as candy and soda.

In a similar plot, pioneering science journalist Nina Tiecholz found that Proctor & Gamble, the company that owns the vegetable shortening brand, Crisco, funded the American Heart Association in a scheme to influence their recommendations to replace animal fat consumption with vegetable oils.

We now have numerous studies showing that vegetable oil actually increases the risk of heart disease. You can learn more about the deleterious role of vegetable oil for heart health here

This 2017 study titled “Saturated Fat does not Clog Arteries: coronary heart disease is a chronic inflammatory condition the risk of which can be effectively reduced from healthy lifestyle interventions” and published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, thoroughly summarizes the current state of nutritional science with regards to the true causes of heart disease.

The authors of the study write:

Coronary artery disease pathogenesis and treatment urgently require a paradigm shift. Despite popular belief among doctors and the public, the conceptual model of dietary saturated fat clogging a pipe is just plain wrong.
A landmark systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies showed no association between saturated fat consumption and (1) all-cause mortality, (2) coronary heart disease (CHD), (3) CHD mortality, (4) ischaemic stroke or (5) type 2 diabetes in healthy adults.
Similarly, in the secondary prevention of CHD there is no benefit from reduced fat, including saturated fat, on myocardial infarction, cardiovascular or all-cause mortality.
In an angiographic study of postmenopausal women with CHD, greater intake of saturated fat was associated with less progression of atherosclerosis, whereas carbohydrate and polyunsaturated fat intake were associated with greater progression.

The Science on Sugar and Heart Disease

Now that we’ve put the saturated fat heart disease link in the rearview mirror, let’s look at what the science on sugar and heart disease has to tell us.

Numerous studies have linked both added sugar and overall high-carb (total sugars from all sources, including grains, fruits, and vegetables) diets to an increased risk of developing heart disease.

It’s likely that the link between sugar and heart disease is the result of a cluster of factors, including increased inflammation, hormone imbalances, higher triglycerides, and higher blood pressure.

A large 2023 study published in the journal BMC Medicine found that diets higher in free sugars such as sugar added to processed foods and sodas, and found in fruit, fruit juice, and syrups increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Researchers examined data from over 110,000 people ages 37 to 73 in the United Kingdom, tracking their health outcomes over nine years.

The results suggested that every 5% increase in the share of a person’s total energy intake that comes from free sugars correlated with a 6% higher risk of heart disease and a 10% higher risk of stroke.

A 2014 study of over 30,000 participants found that people who consumed roughly twice as much sugar as those who got less than 10% of their daily calories from added sugar had a 38% greater chance of dying from heart disease.

A 2020 meta-analysis (the gold standard of nutritional research) comparing high-carb and low-carb diets with regard to their effects on heart disease risk found that “diets with high levels of carbohydrates, especially refined or high glycemic index carbohydrates…appear to be associated with hypertension, coronary heart disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and increased risk of mortality.

A 2008 systematic review of randomized control trials comparing low-carb vs. low-fat diets found significantly better cardiovascular health outcomes in addition to improved weight loss and blood sugar regulation on the low-carb diet.

This 2006 study found that consuming more than 60% of calories in the form of carbohydrates decreases “good” HDL cholesterol and increases triglycerides. Together these factors can increase the risk of heart disease.

Sugar Fuels Inflammation that Drives Heart Disease

In light of recent studies that link inflammation with heart disease, it is fair to look at how sugar drives inflammation as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

A study comparing the effects of high-carb vs low-carb diets on obese and overweight women found that consuming the high-carb diet was associated with increased markers of inflammation.

Another study comparing the effects of a low-carb vs. low-fat diet on participants with type 2 diabetes found that even though weight loss was similar for both groups, the low-carb diet produced significant reductions in inflammation.

A study looking specifically at the effects of low to moderately-sweetened beverages on healthy young men found that consuming only one 375 ML soda (40 grams of sugar) per day significantly increased inflammatory markers, insulin resistance, LDL “bad” cholesterol, and caused weight gain.

These are just a few of numerous studies linking the consumption of added sugars and high-carb foods to increased inflammation.

Sugar and Heart Disease: The Bottom Line

For decades, corrupted research downplaying the links between sugar and heart disease has influenced national dietary toward low-fat recommendations with disastrous effects.

Recent research has revealed that consuming a diet high in carbohydrates and added sugars increases inflammation and insulin resistance, decreases good cholesterol, increases bad cholesterol, and increases triglycerides. All of these effects of sugar can contribute to a significantly increased risk of heart disease.

To reclaim your heart health we recommend eliminating all processed foods, added sugars, grains, and vegetable oils. Then, focus your diet around whole, nutrient-dense, ancestrally aligned foods.

Spoon with pink himalayan salt on pink background

The Benefits of Pink Himalayan Salt

November 8, 2023/in Salt /by Liam McAuliffe

Himalayan salt has seen a sharp rise in popularity since the early 2000s, though its benefits have been prized by different cultures for centuries.

Mined from ancient sea beds at the base of the Himalayan mountains, this pink-hued rock salt is more than just an eye-catching flavor enhancer. It contains essential nutrients that balance and maintain our fluids, and cellular functions and support vital physiological functions such as conducting nerve impulses and muscle contraction. And because of its trace mineral composition, Himalayan salt has been associated with more potential health benefits than processed table salts.

In this article, we’ll take a closer at the benefits of Himalayan salt and how its unique mineral composition may add to our overall health and well-being.

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What is Himalayan Salt?

Himalayan salt is a type of unrefined rock salt that comes from the northern Punjab region of Pakistan. It is mined from ancient seabeds that were submerged by lava eruptions over 200 million years ago.

The pink hue of Himalayan salt is linked to its composition of trace minerals, specifically iron and magnesium.

While salt mining has taken place in this region since the era of Alexander the Great in 320 BC, production really ramped up during British rule in the late 1800’s. For hundreds of years, Pakistan exported its salt to India, the hub of an international market for this special salt. Today, Pakistan has full control of its salt production.

How is Himalayan Salt Produced?

Hailing from the Salt Range mountains in Pakistan, Himalayan salt is still extracted by hand to this day.

Most of the Himalayan salt you see available at your local market is sourced from the Khewra Salt Mine, one of the oldest and largest mines of its kind.

There are 17 levels to this mine, and it employs hundreds of people to extract the salt rocks using rudimentary tools like pickaxes, hand drills, and gunpowder. The mine produces around 1000 tons of salt per day, leaving a large portion underground and intact for structural support. This particular region is said to contain over 6.7 billion tons of salt.

Once the salt rocks have been extracted, they are minimally processed as opposed to standard table salt, which can be treated with bleach and anti-caking agents before reaching consumers.

However, some of these salt mines in the region are not suitable for food use without a purification process.

In addition to food flavoring, Himalayan salt is sold in the form of popular salt lamps, serving dishes, baking stones, and decorative statues.

Health Benefits of Himalayan Salt

The minerals in salt, specifically sodium and chloride, are “essential.” In nutritional jargon, “essential” has a very specific meaning–we need to get it in our diet in order to survive.

Himalayan salt is composed of around 98% sodium and chloride.

Proper salt intake in our daily diets is essential to

Maintaining a balance of fluids within and around cells
Maintaining a healthy blood pressure
Supporting muscle contraction
Supporting nerve impulses and signaling

Mineral Composition of Himalayan Salt

One of the main differences between Himalayan salt and other salts on the market is its higher composition of trace minerals such as iron, zinc, magnesium, and potassium. By some estimates, Himalayan salt contains as many as 84 trace minerals.

While Himalayan salt contains more trace minerals than table salt, some argue that it would require an intake of approximately >30 mg/day or 6 teaspoons/day to make any significant contribution to nutrition. This amount exceeds typical nutrition guidelines of 1-2 teaspoons of salt per day.

But if you’re on a low-carb diet regimen like keto or carnivore, you’ll likely need to be consuming far more salt than usual. In this case, the trace minerals in Himalayan salt can make a positive impact.

In the chart below, you can find a quantitative breakdown of the minerals typically found in Himalayan salt:

Compounds	Quantity
Sodium	38.26%
Chloride	59.09%
Potassium	.35%
Calcium	0.405%
Magnesium	0.016%
Iron	38.9 ppm
Zinc	2.38 ppm
Copper	0.56 ppm

Why Trace Minerals in Himalayan Salt Matter

Salt is essential to the human body and is classified as an electrolyte. When ingested, the minerals in Himalayan salt dissolve in the body’s fluids and create electrically charged ions.

Electrolytes work together to accomplish a variety of different physiological tasks.

Sodium and Potassium :

Maintain normal cellular homeostasis
Maintain the correct balance of fluids in the body
Conduct the electricity critical for nerve impulses and muscle contractions–including in the heart muscle.

Calcium :

Lowers blood pressure and cholesterol
Maintains bone health and prevents osteoporosis
Involved in intracellular signaling and hormonal secretion

Iron :

Supports gene regulation
Maintains binding and transportation of oxygen
Regulates cell growth and differentiation

Copper :

Builds red blood cells, collagen, connective tissues, and neurotransmitters
Aids in iron absorption
Protects against free-radical damage to proteins and membrane lipids

Zinc :

Antioxidant that reduces inflammation in the body
Supports growth and repair of body tissues
Supports mobilization of vitamin A and healthy eye function

Health Benefits of Himalayan Salt: The Bottom Line

Himalayan salt is a type of rock salt with vibrant pink hues that set it apart from other common salts. Mined from the depths of Pakistan’s Salt Range mountains, Himalayan pink salt comes from the dried remains of an ancient seabed dating back more than 200 million years.

Unlike table salt, Himalayan salt contains a wide range of trace minerals that are kept intact during its hand extraction and minimal processing.

These trace minerals and nutrients play essential roles in several vital physiological functions, such as maintaining normal cellular homeostasis, balance of bodily fluids, and the conduction of nerve impulses and muscle contractions.

Not only does Himalayan salt add flavor to our favorite rib-eye steak, but Himalayan salt can help our nutrient absorption and maintain our overall sense of balance and wellness.

Sea salt and pink salt in the linen sacks on the wooden background

Himalayan Salt vs. Sea Salt: Based on Mineral Content and Purity

November 6, 2023/in Foods Himalayan Salt, Minerals, Pink Salt, Salt, Sea Salt /by Liam McAuliffe

In the modern world, salt is seemingly abundant, with many novel types of salt to choose between, including pink Himalayan salt vs. sea salt.

Yet salt is more than a trendy flavor enhancer. Salt keeps us healthy. Your body needs the essential minerals in salt to maintain critical physiological functions such as nerve impulses, fluid balance, and muscle contractions. In fact, most people cannot survive without consuming salt for more than a few days!

It’s no surprise then that salt has been a coveted and often scarce commodity for millennia, with salt extraction being one of the oldest “chemical” industries. The Roman Empire even paid their soldiers with salt.

So, while Himalayan and sea salt may seem like mere seasonings, they have distinct nutritional profiles that set them apart.

In this article, we’ll embark on a comparative journey, pitting Himalayan salt against Celtic sea salt, examining their origins, mineral content, and potential health benefits. We’ll also explore emerging research into the potential for the microplastics accumulating in our environment to find their way into our salts, and how plastic contamination may affect our health.

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What is Pink Himalayan Salt?

Khewra Salt Mine. North of Pind Dadan Khan, Jhelum District, Pakistan. It is the second largest in the world, famous for its production of pink salt and is a major tourist attraction.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Khewra_Himalayan_Pink_Salt_Mine_interior_view.jpg

Himalayan salt is a type of unrefined rock salt that comes from the foothills of the Himalayas. The salt, which can be pink or black in color, is mostly mined at the Khewra Salt Mine in the northern Punjab region of Pakistan.

Himalayan salt was formed over 200 million years ago when dried ancient sea beds were submerged by lava eruptions.

This ancient sea was pre-human, and these ancient salt vaults have been covered by snow, ice, and rock. This would lead you to believe that they have been protected from essentially all natural and industrial pollutants and impurities. But as we’ll discuss below, unfortunately, this isn’t necessarily the case.

The first records of mining in this area in Pakistan began around 1200 AD. However, local legend traces the discovery to the army of Alexander the Great in 320 BC.

Himalayan salt is minimally processed and extracted by hand, making it a more natural product than table salt, which requires huge industrial processes, including pumping brine into evaporation vats.

The distinct pink coloration of Himalayan salt is derived from the abundance of trace minerals, specifically iron.

In northern India, Himalayan salt has been used in folk medicine traditions as an emergency gastrointestinal curative.

What is Sea Salt?

Sea salt is derived from evaporated seawater and can vary greatly in flavor, color, and nutrient content. Modern sea salt production comes mainly from the Mediterranean Sea but can also be harvested from the Dead Sea and Atlantic Ocean.

In the case of popular Celtic sea salt, it is harvested off the coast of Brittany in northwest France. There it is processed using methods that are hundreds of years old, including air and sun drying in clay ponds. Then, it is gathered by hand with wooden tools to preserve its living enzyme content.

Celtic sea salt beds

Source: Lovesalt.com

Similar to Himalayan salt, there is minimal processing involved in sea salt, allowing it to retain its trace mineral composition. However, the mineral content of sea salt is less predictable and may vary dramatically depending on the location of origin and processing methods.

Unlike sea salt, table salt is by far the most processed derivative and contains no trace minerals. Table salt is bleached and mixed with an aluminum anticaking agent.

Why We Need Salt

Salt is an essential nutrient for human physiological function. We need it to produce hydrochloric acid in our stomach, which is needed to digest protein, kill harmful pathogens, and assimilate minerals.

Additionally, our bodies use the sodium and chloride in salt to support adrenal and immune functions and to regulate the sodium-potassium balance in the body, which powers our muscles and allows us to mobilize energy.

Many health organizations recommend about 1-2 tsp of salt per day, depending on the individual, to maintain these functions.

While carnivore dieters, keto dieters, and people practicing intermittent fasting generally need to consume 2-5 times as much salt.

So, when considering Himalayan salt vs. sea salt, which should we choose to power these vital functions?

Both pink Himalayan salt and sea salt are mostly composed of sodium chloride and contain trace minerals such as potassium, calcium, and magnesium. However, much has been made about the presence of microplastics as key difference setting these salts apart.

While Himalayan salt is supposedly protected from environmental contaminants like plastic pollution due to the process of land mining, sea salt is exposed to the rise of ocean pollutants, including the ubiquity of plastic.

One study found that 90% of all sea salt tested contained microplastics.

But does this make them more contaminated than Himalayan salt? Let’s explore

Toxins and Microplastics in Himalayan Salt vs. Sea Salt

According to research, about 3 billion tons of plastics are manufactured every year. And about 8 million tons of plastic will eventually make their way into a marine environment.

Microplastics, or plastic particles that are smaller than 5 mm in diameter, make up about 92% of the 5.25 trillion plastic particles on the ocean surface. Microplastics take about 500 years to degrade and break down.

When microplastics get into our bodies, they can act as endocrine disruptors, affecting the hypothalamus, pituitary, thyroid, adrenal, and reproductive organs and creating an overarching threat to human health.

While smaller microplastics can harm secondary organs and tissues, larger microplastics harm the gut microbiome.

Our bodies respond to microplastics as harmful toxins, triggering a natural inflammatory response.

But with consistent exposure to microplastics, our inflammatory response doesn’t turn off, leading to chronic inflammatory conditions like cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disorders, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer’s.

Ingestion of these microplastics affects all levels of the food chain and can bioaccumulate as we consume other animals–especially seafood, causing microplastics to build up in our bodies over time.

Sea salts from nearly every region of the world contain some microplastics.

Country of Origin	Number of Brands Tested	Particle Per Kilogram
Croatia, Mediterranean (Fine sea salt)	5	13500–19800
Chinese, Taipei	4	0-1300
China	5	550-681
Thailand	2	80-600
USA	1	300
Spain (fine)	7	80-280
Spain (coarse)	2	60-65
Mediterranean	2	266
Sicilian Sea	1	220
Brazil	1	200
Mexico	1	173
Italy (fine)	6	22-594
India	8	56-103
Turkey	5	18-84
Australia	3	0-80
Portugal	3	0-10
France	6	0-2
Japan	1	0-1
Malaysia	1	0-1

Microplastics in Himalayan Salt?

Though it’s not surprising to find microplastics in sea salt, we were surprised to find that pink and black Himalayan salt are contaminated with microplastics, and at higher levels than many sea salts.

Origin	Number of Brands Tested	Particles per kilogram
Himalayan Rock Salt (unspecified color)	1	367
Himalayan Pink Salt	1	174
Himalayan Black Salt	1	157

Himalayan Salt vs. Sea Salt Mineral Composition

Though microplastics are a concern, they aren’t the only parameter to consider when assessing Himalayan salt vs. sea salt.

Research suggests that Himalayan salt may contain substantially higher nutrient levels than sea salt, including iron, copper, and zinc, while containing over 80 trace minerals compared to sea salt’s 34 trace minerals.

Below, we’ve included a side-by-side comparison of the minerals in one kilogram of each type of salt.

Compounds	Himalayan Salt	Celtic Sea Salt
Sodium	38.26%	33.1%
Chloride	59.09%	54.4%
Potassium	.35%	0.215%
Calcium	0.405%	0.161%
Magnesium	0.016%	0.481%
Iron	38.9 ppm	< 9.86 ppm
Zinc	2.38 ppm	< 1.97 ppm
Copper	0.56 ppm	< 2.47 ppm

Himalayan Salt vs Sea Salt: The Bottom Line

Humans depend on the electrolytes in salt to maintain numerous critical physiological functions in the body. Salt is an essential nutrient that helps balance bodily fluids, supports our adrenal glands, and facilitates our muscular function and nerve impulses.

While pink Himalayan salt and sea salt are both popular choices, there are a few critical differences to consider.

While sea salt comes from evaporated seawater and can vary in terms of mineral composition, Himalayan salt is derived from a single ancient sea bed. For this reason, its mineral content is more uniform, and it is generally higher in various trace minerals when compared to sea salt.

However, emerging research revealing the prevalence of microplastics in various sea and terrestrial salts suggests that it may be wise to ignore the pink Himalayan salt hype and choose low-toxin sea salts, especially Celtic sea salt from France and sea salts from Japan and Portugal.

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