112: Reasons to Use an Animal-Based Therapeutic Diet
When we look at therapeutic diet options like Paleo, Keto, Carnivore, The GAPS Diet, Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), FODMAPS, Low Oxalate Diet, Low Nightshade Diet, the Autoimmune Protocol Diet (AIP), the Low Salicylate Diet, the Candida Diet - what they all have in common is an elimination of plant foods.
Plants can be healing, but they can also be harmful. For some people, the fiber, sugar or defense compounds in plant foods can be the trigger that wrecks the gut or inflames the immune system.
Adjusting the balance of food to more animal-based and less plant-based for a period of time can be just what the body needs for healing. This flies in the face of modern plant-centric nutrition, but we can’t dismiss the fact that eliminating certain plant foods helps a lot of people.
Listen to this week’s podcast to hear more about why more animal foods and less plant foods is often the adjustment that starts people on their path to healing.
EPISODE 112: Reasons to Use an Animal-Based Therapeutic Diet
SHOW NOTES
(0:00) Intro
Hello my friend! Welcome back to the club. How are you today?
Today we’re going to talk about the reasons someone may choose to use an animal-based therapeutic diet.
Listening to signs from God
(5:02) Carnivor-ish Approach:
True carnivore is only meat, salt and water, I know sounds horrible right? And very extreme.
Nutritional Therapy— Addressing the foundations
Genesis Prescription
When to use therapeutic dietary approaches
I am working on building this base of Christian Nutritionist Practitioners for people who need more 1:1 help and want to work with a Christian. So be looking out for that under the Recommendations tab on my website. I’ve already got a couple of wonderful practitioners there that you can contact for individual help.
(7:29) Looking at therapeutic dietary options:
Many of them have in common is a manipulation of carbohydrates that goes beyond simple adjustment of macronutrient ratios or cutting processed carbs.
When we look at the top 5 common food allergens or triggers we’re looking at gluten, dairy, corn, soy and eggs. And we can add shellfish in there too.
When we look at a lot of these Therapeutic Diets like Paleo, Keto, Carnivore, The GAPS Diet, Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), FODMAPS, Low Oxalate Diet, Low Nightshade Diet, the Autoimmune Protocol Diet, the Low Salicylate Diet, the Candida Diet - what they’re all doing in some shape or form is cutting out plant foods.
There are a lot of ways that plant foods can be problematic for the body. And sometimes it’s very subtle and you don't realize it until you take them out of the diet.
(10:42) Compounds in plant foods:
There are certain compounds in plants that can block nutrient absorption, trigger the immune system, irritate the gut, or impede organ function.
For instance, one compound in plants called oxalates can impede thyroid function.
Where do we find high oxalates? In foods like raw spinach, almonds and chia seeds.
So why is this? Who is talking about it?
Dave Asprey, the Bulletproof guy, has been railing on kale for a long time.
Maybe you’ve heard of the book Plant Paradox written by Dr. Steven Gundry who takes a deep dive into one of these problematic plant compounds called lectins.
Dr. Axe has an article on his website outlining the most common edible plant toxins.
Dr. Paul Saladino talks in depth about these plant toxins in his book The Carnivore Code. It wasn’t until he cut out plants that his eczema went away.
(12:03) How could plants be bad for you?
We have to understand that plants aren’t these little innocent harmless things hanging around in nature just waiting to serve us - waiting for us to eat them.
In fact, they, like every other living thing on the earth, want to live, want to proliferate, want to promulgate their species.
Unlike animals, though, they don’t have legs to run away, claws to tear apart, horns to charge with, teeth to bite or stingers to launch. But they have a very intricate, effective, brilliant defense system that is more subtle but damaging to its predator nonetheless.
They have compounds inside of them - mostly concentrated in their roots, stems, leaves and seed - that when eaten can cause internal damage. Unless it’s an acute reaction, it can be very hard to realize and identify that it’s the plant compounds that are creating the problem.
It can take years of accumulation of these plant toxins working against you before issues manifest.
A Lot of this has to do with gut health and detoxification
For some people, certain compounds in plants may just not jive in their system.
Sometimes it may be the sugars or the fiber in the plant.
For instance, the specific carbohydrate diet removes foods with multi-sugar molecules like potatoes and sweet potatoes
A low-FODMAPS diet removes highly fermentable carbs like apples, garlic, onions and asparagus.
More fiber is not better for everyone.
A lot of fiber can actually make constipated people worse. In fact, some studies show that decrease or removal of fiber can relieve constipation.
If the body can’t break down food well or it doesn’t have the right bacterial balance to handle fiber - it’s going to clog you up more than it’s going to help you go.
Plant fiber can overfeed certain bacteria in your gut which can cause bloating, gas and constipation.
(16:05) Plant defense compounds:
Phytic Acid/Phytates:
It’s considered an anti-nutrient because it can block your body from being able to use nutrients found in food.
Phytates are mostly found in grains, legumes and nuts or seeds and they interfere with the absorption of vitamins and minerals.
Even though the food like pumpkin seeds, or beans or oatmeal or chickpeas come with things like zinc, magnesium, calcium and iron, the phytic acid also within the food blocks your body from being able to use those. That can lead to nutrient deficiency.
Phytic acid can also inhibit your body’s digestive enzymes - which we need to be able to break down our food to utilize the nutrients.
There are cooking techniques you can use to help reduce the phytates:
Soaking your grains and legumes or pressure cooking them, soaking and sprouting your nuts, fermenting foods.
I talked about this in the podcast called Insider Secrets to Eating Grains and Legumes
Another anti-nutrient is Trypsin Inhibitor which, again, is mostly found in grains, legumes, soybeans...and is very similar to phytates.
(20:04) Lectins:
This is the big bad boogey man that Dr. Gundry talks about in his book The Plant Paradox.
Mikhaila Peterson - 'Don't Eat That'
Lectins are large proteins that are naturally concentrated in the leaves and seeds of plants that help protect the plant as they grow. Lectins are one of the weapons they use to deter you from eating them.
Dr. Gundry states that lectins are the cause of sinus issues, brain fog, joint issue and autoimmune conditions in general and he has a lot of testimonials of people improving and overcoming some debilitating health conditions by lowering or removing high lectin foods from the diet. They not only contribute to leaky gut, meaning they compromise the lining of the small intestine, when lectins get through that gut wall, they can activate the immune system. That’s what with an autoimmune condition, does not want to happen. You don’t want to unnecessarily stress out and overwork your immune system.
Gluten has lectins but so do potatoes, eggplant, tomatoes, lentils, peanuts, beans, bell peppers, cucumbers, green beans, seeds… there’s a whole list which you can find on Dr. Gundry’s website or in his book.
(25:51) Nightshades:
You may have heard of nightshades in relation to joint pain and arthritis.
Nightshades are certain fruits and vegetables that contain an alkaloid called solanine which is toxic in high concentrations but even low concentrations can affect people which is what we’re talking about here.
Nightshade foods include eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, red spices like chili powder and paprika, goji berries
Also, ashwaganda is a nightshade and a lot of people take that as an adrenal supplement which is wonderful but not wonderful if you are sensitive to nightshades.
Nightshades are some of the highest lectin containing fruits and vegetables.
These are one of the groups of foods recommended to be avoided for people with autoimmune conditions.
How do you know if you’re sensitive to nightshades?
It’s hard to know for sure - but for some people it is obvious once they eliminate them for a while and then reintroduce into the diet and bam, you can feel it.
For others, it could be just subtly, slightly fanning the flame of inflammation. So that’s hard to know.
(28:03) Oxalates:
Oxalates are another big one to pay attention to and is on the rise in research as a problematic plant compound.
Oxalates are acids that bind to minerals like calcium The plant uses these acids to build tiny, sharp crystals to defend themselves.
These oxalates crystals can get in the body and get stuck in tissues membranes and create a lot of problems - damage and inflammation.
Oxalates can also deplete the body of iron stores, rob the body of calcium leading to bone degeneration; they can trap heavy metals in the tissues making elimination of them very difficult and generally lead to vitamin and mineral deficiency.
These Oxalic acids are found in many plants, like raw cruciferous vegetables — kale, radishes, cauliflower, broccoli, chard, spinach, parsley, beets, black pepper, chocolate, nuts - like almonds, berries and beans.
People who eat large quantities of raw vegetables are going to be particularly susceptible.
You can reduce the oxalate load by cooking your vegetables - so if you might want to steam your spinach or kale before you put it in a smoothie.
(31:43) Salicylates:
Salicylates are natural chemicals made by plants. They are found in fruits and vegetables and help protect plants against disease and insects.
Salicylate extracts have been used medicinally for thousands of years to relieve pain and inflammation, it’s the main ingredient aspirin. So for some people, these plant compounds can be helpful, but for those who are sensitive or don’t detoxify them well, they can be an underlying trigger.
Julie Matthews of Nourishing Hope says that she’s found that salicylates are by far one of the biggest instigators of aggressive behaviors in kids and can increase hyperactivity.
Removing salycilates is a big part of the Feingold diet, which is a therapeutic diet which has been used, particularly with children, to help ADHD, autism, and behavioral issues. It was created by Dr. Benjamin Feingold in the 1970’s, who was a Californian pediatrician and allergist
The diet eliminates artificial colors, sweeteners, salicylates, and three preservatives — butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and tert-Butrylhdryquinone (TBHQ).
He found that the diet improved allergies and asthma AND focus and behavior. It’s also been used to improve skin conditions like skin rashes, hives and eczema.
(35:30) Back to the Carnnivor-ish conversation— Let’s talk fruit:
We can’t ignore the fact that a lot of these nutritional therapeutic diets ARE a manipulation of plant foods. And that’s why for me it just felt logical to focus on animal foods for a while - except for eggs and dairy. Those can be highly inflammatory as well.
A mostly animal based diet seems to cut to the chase. You look at all of those therapeutic diets and what they all have in common is to eat meat.
I’m doing on a Carnivorish diet is eating meat and fruits. Mostly non-sweet fruits like olives, avocado, and cucumber but a few sweeter fruits too to keep me sane and have some variety. Why? Why fruit but not vegetables?
Fruit is actually the part they want you to eat. It is the finished product so to speak.
They want animals and humans to eat the flesh of the fruit and disperse the seed. They package their seeds up in these beautiful, colorful tasty casings - meant to attract your eye and your appetite, and in exchange for some nutrition and deliciousness you help them spread their seed - historically we would have likely eaten the fruit and dropped the seeds on the ground. So we have this symbiotic relationship - - it’s very much looking at our bodies in relation to creation.
Problematic compounds are likely to be concentrated in the leaves, stems, roots and seeds.
Because the fruit is the final product and the part they want you to eat, it’s likely the less toxic.
The idea of eating the fruit just resonates with me so much on a Biblical level. You think of the garden of Eden, of how we are called to bear fruit - the final product.
We see over and over as far as foods that are higher on this spectrum of plant toxicity are grains and legumes, nuts and seeds and nightshade vegetables. That’s the next level of cutting out once you’ve removed the Top 5 allergens and sensitivities: gluten, corn, soy, dairy and eggs.
(41:01) Closing thoughts:
I think the best diet is a balanced one. I am in NO WAY planning on doing this long term.
Animal-based foods offer a lot of nutrition, and some would argue, in most cases, the best bioavailable nutrition - meaning the body can assimilate and utilize it more efficiently.
Plus most people don’t eat enough protein, so it supplies all those building blocks of the body as well.
I see this as a Therapeutic reset. I can tell you my gut feels awesome. I don’t know how my antibodies are doing but I have to imagine that if my gut feels improved then that is wonderful for my digestive system and also calming down my immune system since they are so intertwined.
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(49:02) Outro & Disclaimer
Thanks for listening! Have a healthy and blessed week!