Diet thoughts from a Freedomain listener - what do you think?

Dear Stefan,

For some months now I wanted to send you some information regarding nutrition and your latest live show which I just completed this morning gave me the final push.
Let’s start with my credential on the topic. I am a mathematician/statistician; consequently I can cut through the bullshit of many studies and understand when methods are being used inappropriately or conclusions made without the support of the actual data. Additionally, I have spent 15-20 hours per week for over a year to fully grasp the science behind it. Lastly, using the following method, I did move my body fat percentage from 24.5% to 15.1% in 15 months, translating to 15 kilos of predominantly fat loss. My wife also lost 12 kilos at the same period of time dropping down to 57 kilos and being 174 cm tall.

Now to the actual method. Proper nutrition is a multifactorial discipline, thus a combination of strategies must be used to achieve the desired outcomes. The 4 most important are:

1) Ketogenic diet*

2) Elimination of seed oils (all vegetable oils except from those which are made from the flesh of a fruit. So olive oil, coconut oil and avocado oil are fine, all other oil like cotton seed oil, canola oil sunflower oil grapeseed oil etc must be avoided like the devil. Side tip, the olive oil and avocado oil must be consumed ‘raw’ namely without being heated)

3) Elimination of processed carbohydrates (chips, pasta, bread, rice, candy, any type of sugar etc.)

4) Intermittent fasting (with the goal of 1 meal per day or 2 hours feeding window. For advice on how to achieve it, watch Dr berg, the first link below.

I also highly suggest you buy the electrolyte powder from this guy)
The above must be used in combination as if you miss just one of them there is high probability it will not work.

Secondary interventions which will assist

5) Sleep (generally speaking the more the merrier)

6) Sun exposure (without sunscreen, especially at the morning hours. If sun is not available then supplementation with Vitamin D3 at least 2000 International Units per day will do half the job of the sun, but still better than nothing)

7) Stress management (cortisol by itself can make you fatter)

8) Coffee (1-2 cups per day not more; as more will have an adverse effect)

*Ketogenic diet is defined as a diet consisted by 75% fat, 20% protein and 5% carbs. Although these are useful bulk park figures, I am personally finding them meaningless. This is an example of what I am eating assuming 1 meal per day: 0.8 – 1.2 kilo of beef or pork or lamb (precooked weight) grilled and then seared in lard or tallow or butter, some leafy greens with 1 tone of olive oil and maybe some cheese and some egg yolks.

As you noticed I am avoiding chicken both because it is not as nutrient dense as proper meat and because it is heavily pumped with antibiotics and hormones and even if you are able to source a pasture raised one it will be super expensive, maybe twice the price of beef.

Regarding food quantity, for as long as you are eating real food, just listen to your body, it had millions of years to optimize food intake. The human body has negative feedback loops when it comes to animal fat, protein, salt and water. It is impossible to over-eat real food so just listen to your taste butts. When it comes to sugar though, there is a positive feedback loop and this mechanism is there to make us eat as much fruit as possible to get fattened up for the winter. Bear in mind that a few thousand years ago the sweetest fruit was as sweet as a modern carrot.

Regarding your sugar cravings are totally natural. Since you are not “fat adapted”, namely your body doesn’t know how to burn fat efficiently, as you go lower and lower in sugar storage your cravings become stronger. I was a sugar junky too and believe me I know. The first 10 days I had withdrawal symptoms with severe headaches fatigue fogginess moodiness it was a hell.

If you decide to follow this diet, make sure you commit it for at least 5 weeks. The first 1-2 weeks are difficult and then you wake up one morning and it is easy, that was at least our experience. A few remedies that will help you with the switch are

1) Salt (eat as much as tasty)

2) Proper electrolytes (Dr berg has the best product in the market)

3) Beef Bone Broth (homemade or powder is fine)

Last tip, PLEASE DO NOT CHEAT! Just push through the first 2 weeks and enjoy the rest of the ride. Cheating puts you back to week 1 when you not feel at your best. This diet is forcing your body to rediscover the ketogenesis and the burning of fatty acids and since most of us are in a high sugar diet since childhood the mechanism needs to build up and that is why it takes a few weeks.

Interesting and unrelated fact, I have noticed that people in this community tend to be red pilled and skeptical of the government.

I hope you find that useful. I am happy to further assist you if you wish!

Useful resources / Keto channels:

Dr Berg (easy to understand, covers everything, YouTuber since the early days)

https://www.youtube.com/user/drericberg123
Ivor Cummings / fat emperor (Becoming one of the biggest voice in the space.)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPn4FsiQP15nud...
Dave Feldman (researcher)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UComIr_SYmKrR6P...