Health and Carnivore

When to question the advice

Most clinicians want to help. These are signs it's worth asking more questions.

1. The answer is only another pill, and no one asks about root causes. The Lown Institute's Medication Overload report warns of an epidemic of harm from excessive prescribing in older Americans (adults 65+). Source: Lown Institute: Medication overload and older Americans
2. You're told food can't change a chronic condition. In the DiRECT trial, almost half of participants following a diet-based weight management program were in remission from type 2 diabetes and off diabetes drugs at 12 months. Source: Lean ME et al. (2018), The Lancet (DiRECT)
3. Nutrition advice is vague or one-size-fits-all. A national survey found US medical students got an average of 19.6 hours of nutrition instruction, and only 27% of schools met the 25-hour minimum. Source: Adams KM et al. (2010), Academic Medicine
4. The guidelines behind the advice have industry ties. In a survey of clinical guideline authors, 87% had some form of interaction with the pharmaceutical industry. Source: Choudhry NK et al. (2002), JAMA
5. The diet science itself was shaped by industry money. Internal documents show the sugar industry funded a 1960s review that played down sugar's role in heart disease and singled out fat, without disclosing that funding. Source: Kearns CE et al. (2016), JAMA Internal Medicine
6. You're cut off before you've explained your concern, or your own logs and results are brushed aside. In recorded clinic visits, clinicians asked for the patient's agenda in only 36% of encounters, and when they did, most interrupted after a median of 11 seconds. Source: Singh Ospina N et al. (2019), Journal of General Internal Medicine
7. The visit is too short for lifestyle questions. Videotaped primary care visits had a median length of 15.7 minutes covering six topics, with about 1.1 minutes for most topics. Source: Tai-Seale M et al. (2007), Health Services Research

Healthy skepticism means asking questions and getting a second opinion, not walking away from care.

Default to primal

Our thesis: the modern world is an uncontrolled experiment. When in doubt, we lean toward the conditions our bodies evolved in.

• Whole animal foods: Build meals around meat, fish, eggs and organs instead of ultra-processed food.
• Sun: Get outside in daylight.
• Sleep: Keep regular, dark, sufficient sleep.
• Movement: Walk, lift and move through the day rather than sitting all day.
• Fasting windows: Leave real gaps between meals instead of grazing.

These are our defaults, not proven prescriptions. How much each one matters, especially in combination and in a primal (meat-based) context, is understudied. Fasting and big diet changes need a doctor's check if you take medication; see each condition's Safety check.