Long Term Low Carb/Carnivores Get MRI (What to make of positive results?)

[animalcule]

The man behind the YouTube channel High Intensity Health, and his wife, follow OMAD and high fat/high protein/low carb diets. They've been on them for years (not sure of the specifics of each, but the wife apparently has been doing OMAD carnivore for 7 months). The both got MRI scans. Here are the results:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXrdP06tfdw&t=192s

The wife has very low body fat, and the doctor compared her scan to that of a 16 year old. The husband also had a clean scan with low body fat. The wife also had a youthful level of red bone marrow showing up on the scan. All in all, very positive results.

What to make of this? My foray into keto/carnivore was disastrous. Yes, I lost body fat, but it brought with it many other issues. Both of these people have been at least low carb (one now carnivore) for years, along with intermittent fasting. They claim that they feel amazing. Their scans show them to be healthy and even physically youthful for their age.

Why do some people seem to be so healthy on keto/carnivore, and others find it harmful?

 

[Elie]

I am mystified by this as well.
Anyone else was successful with this approach?
While I am in good health, no version of Peat's approach has helped me lose weight (just gaining steadily for years).

 

[pineywoodrooter]

I would imagine this is a result of eliminating inflammatory foods and autophagy.

 

[joaquin]

Mike also had a test done that showed his cells are also older than his chronological age.

But I'm not saying that has anything to do with low carb. Mike, aka Metabolic Mike is also on record as pro-vaccine. Just saying.
His wife looks like she needs to eat a sandwich, or five. Can we say, anorexic?

 

[Elie]

Mi

Mike also had a test done that showed his cells are also older than his chronological age.

But I'm not saying that has anything to do with low carb. Mike, aka Metabolic Mike is also on record as pro-vaccine. Just saying.
His wife looks like she needs to eat a sandwich, or five. Can we say, anorexic?

You don't happen to know which of his many videos is the one about his old cells?

 

[joaquin]

Mi

You don't happen to know which of his many videos is the one about his old cells?

Not right off. It was a couple of years ago that he posted that. He was somewhat deflated by the results though.

 

[joaquin]

Found it:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_qr13oU8dg&t=251s

 

[Peatness]

7 months and she has depleted most of her body fat - what was she doing before this? I wonder how her brain will respond to another 7 months of this. The scans are impressive.

 

[Elie]

Found it:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_qr13oU8dg&t=251s

thank you!

 

[animalcule]

Mike also had a test done that showed his cells are also older than his chronological age.

But I'm not saying that has anything to do with low carb. Mike, aka Metabolic Mike is also on record as pro-vaccine. Just saying.
His wife looks like she needs to eat a sandwich, or five. Can we say, anorexic?

She’s very defensive about being called anorexic… and now she has a doctor on record saying she has the scan of a sixteen year old (bc she has low body fat and lots of red marrow). But low body fat can’t be the best metric of overall health.

She does look gaunt. She takes pride in her low body fat. I think she said she eats 1600 calories for her main meal, which normally wouldn’t put someone in the anorexia category, I don’t think, but… clearly an extremely low body fat level for a woman.

Interesting about Mikes older cellular age.

 

[TheSir]

What to make of this? My foray into keto/carnivore was disastrous.

How was it disastrous? Adrenaline crash? This would be something the looming risk of which an MRI would not reveal, and it can take even decades to fully manifest. Many diets can sustain one for a long time. What matters is whether the diet will carry one through their life or result in a quick, gigantic and unexpected crash down the road.

 

[animalcule]

How was it disastrous? Adrenaline crash? This would be something the looming risk of which an MRI would not reveal, and it can take even decades to fully manifest. Many diets can sustain one for a long time. What matters is whether the diet will carry one through their life or result in a quick, gigantic and unexpected crash down the road.

Unrelenting nausea and compromised digestion - I couldn't digest fat, and protein was difficult as well. Adrenal crash? Probably. High cortisol? Probably. I was extremely irritable and highly sensitive. Fatigued. Problems with low blood pressure.

 

[jomamma007]

The man behind the YouTube channel High Intensity Health, and his wife, follow OMAD and high fat/high protein/low carb diets. They've been on them for years (not sure of the specifics of each, but the wife apparently has been doing OMAD carnivore for 7 months). The both got MRI scans. Here are the results:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXrdP06tfdw&t=192s

The wife has very low body fat, and the doctor compared her scan to that of a 16 year old. The husband also had a clean scan with low body fat. The wife also had a youthful level of red bone marrow showing up on the scan. All in all, very positive results.

What to make of this? My foray into keto/carnivore was disastrous. Yes, I lost body fat, but it brought with it many other issues. Both of these people have been at least low carb (one now carnivore) for years, along with intermittent fasting. They claim that they feel amazing. Their scans show them to be healthy and even physically youthful for their age.

Why do some people seem to be so healthy on keto/carnivore, and others find it harmful?

One thing I’ve noticed about Mike, and I actually looked into this the other day, was that he has aged tremendously in the last 3-4 years. His hair on his head and face have half greyed in such a short time and his face looks worn. Not trying to be rude, just observations comparing his videos from 2019. Sure, he might have a better camera nowadays, but still. It’s a common thing I notice with white low carb YouTubers. Check out flav city or even Shawn Baker three years ago.

 

[animalcule]

One thing I’ve noticed about Mike, and I actually looked into this the other day, was that he has aged tremendously in the last 3-4 years. His hair on his head and face have half greyed in such a short time and his face looks worn. Not trying to be rude, just observations comparing his videos from 2019. Sure, he might have a better camera nowadays, but still. It’s a common thing I notice with white low carb YouTubers. Check out flav city or even Shawn Baker three years ago.

I notice that Shawn Baker is never seen on video without a baseball cap on. Carnivore doesn’t seem to have helped his balding problem.

 

[DeadCatBounce]

I am mystified by this as well.
Anyone else was successful with this approach?
While I am in good health, no version of Peat's approach has helped me lose weight (just gaining steadily for years).

A positive report from me:

I have been keto/carnivore since 19-20yo, LOTS of saturated animal fat. Super strict OCD like , cheated like a dozen of times for all those years and when I cheat it is still on the healthy side.

Now I am 34. Perfect health, looking and feeling like I haven't aged at all. People non stop comment I look young 25 yo and act surprised. Not a single wrinkle. All my pictures show I look exactly the same as 12-13 years ago. Kind of creepy. My thyroid is in perfect health even after so many years on strict high fat almost zero carb diet. TSH below 1, t3 in good healthy range. Energy is up.

Been peating for the last 8-9 months. Gained 7 kg of fat weight. I am now switching away from carbs again because of the fat gain, I was consuming mainly fruit and OJ for carbs. No starch. Decided to try coffee with sugar and b1. Feel amazing BUT seeing some issues after a few months. Its like my health was starting to go downhill and looked a bit "aged" due to the sugar and salt and coffee I believe. Most probably a bit of puffiness in the face combined with dehydrated skin from the salt intake ? Also my hair started shedding for the first time in my life which was the main reason besides the fat gain that made me give up this high carb type of nutrition. Could have been caused by some progesterone and DHEA for a few days ? Cant say for sure. I think the b1(not a big dose around 100mg) also played a role. Synthetics seem really bad for me. Both hormones and vitamins are a big no no for me. Except niacinamide which makes me feel good. 30mg 2-3 times a day and not every day. I will keep doing this.

Decided to give Peat a try in order to get more energy combined with the coffee to get more productive. It works - makes me feel amazing and full of energy BUT I think this is unsustainable. Very much like drugs. They make you feel good but wreck your health. My personal observations about coffee and sugar/carbs. Some say they feel OK on long term high carb diet. Maybe we are all a bit different ?

Several weeks on super high animal fat (raw milk) and butter and some young beef meat - I am back to almost perfect looks, some of the fat is still lingering as I kept the OJ and small amount of fruit in the diet. Feel almost as good and "high" as when Peating with a bit of fructose coming in the system so I am not in keto.

 

[animalcule]

A positive report from me:

I have been keto/carnivore since 19-20yo, LOTS of saturated animal fat. Super strict OCD like , cheated like a dozen of times for all those years and when I cheat it is still on the healthy side.

Now I am 34. Perfect health, looking and feeling like I haven't aged at all. People non stop comment I look young 25 yo and act surprised. Not a single wrinkle. All my pictures show I look exactly the same as 12-13 years ago. Kind of creepy. My thyroid is in perfect health even after so many years on strict high fat almost zero carb diet. TSH below 1, t3 in good healthy range. Energy is up.

Been peating for the last 8-9 months. Gained 7 kg of fat weight. I am now switching away from carbs again because of the fat gain, I was consuming mainly fruit and OJ for carbs. No starch. Decided to try coffee with sugar and b1. Feel amazing BUT seeing some issues after a few months. Its like my health was starting to go downhill and looked a bit "aged" due to the sugar and salt and coffee I believe. Most probably a bit of puffiness in the face combined with dehydrated skin from the salt intake ? Also my hair started shedding for the first time in my life which was the main reason besides the fat gain that made me give up this high carb type of nutrition. Could have been caused by some progesterone and DHEA for a few days ? Cant say for sure. I think the b1(not a big dose around 100mg) also played a role. Synthetics seem really bad for me. Both hormones and vitamins are a big no no for me. Except niacinamide which makes me feel good. 30mg 2-3 times a day and not every day. I will keep doing this.

Decided to give Peat a try in order to get more energy combined with the coffee to get more productive. It works - makes me feel amazing and full of energy BUT I think this is unsustainable. Very much like drugs. They make you feel good but wreck your health. My personal observations about coffee and sugar/carbs. Some say they feel OK on long term high carb diet. Maybe we are all a bit different ?

Several weeks on super high animal fat (raw milk) and butter and some young beef meat - I am back to almost perfect looks, some of the fat is still lingering as I kept the OJ and small amount of fruit in the diet. Feel almost as good and "high" as when Peating with a bit of fructose coming in the system so I am not in keto.

Fascinating. I think stories like yours are why so many people (myself included) are/were drawn to carnivore.
1) Did you have any health problems when you were 19/20 that led you to do keto/carnivore? Or did you just think it was an ideal diet?

2) You say you started Peating to try to boost energy/productivity -- was it flagging on carnivore? Or was this an attempt to further optimize it?

3) Did you notice a change in dental health when you were Peating?

4) As a carnivore, what were your main food sources? Eggs? Dairy? Beef? Fish?

If your story is legit, it's a fascinating n=1. I'd be so curious to get an update from you in ten years time. My experience was that carnivore was great until it wasn't - and then I crashed. But you've maintained it since you were a teenager with (apparently) no serious negative side effects.

 

[DeadCatBounce]

Fascinating. I think stories like yours are why so many people (myself included) are/were drawn to carnivore.
1) Did you have any health problems when you were 19/20 that led you to do keto/carnivore? Or did you just think it was an ideal diet?

2) You say you started Peating to try to boost energy/productivity -- was it flagging on carnivore? Or was this an attempt to further optimize it?

3) Did you notice a change in dental health when you were Peating?

4) As a carnivore, what were your main food sources? Eggs? Dairy? Beef? Fish?

If your story is legit, it's a fascinating n=1. I'd be so curious to get an update from you in ten years time. My experience was that carnivore was great until it wasn't - and then I crashed. But you've maintained it since you were a teenager with (apparently) no serious negative side effects.

1) No serious health issues. I was having a bit of mental issues at the time though - depression mainly at around 18-19yo. I got interested in health from a very young age for no reason other than stay young and healthy for as long as I can. Saw many relatives die of terrible diseases and didn't want to end up like them. Tried vegetarianism prior to going high sat fat for about a year and my depression got terrible. Got skinny fat and saw it does no work. Was ashamed to get naked with a girl...

I try to stay unbiased and just look at results, really don't care what the truth is as long as I know it. A friend of mine showed me a local guy who was promoting a very high fat sat fat diet who looked really nice(slim but ripped) and was quite convincing with his research. I had a very limited knowledge at that time so the only way to know was to try. Until finding Peat I didnt hear anything that made some sense to convince me to experiment.

2) Sometimes I felt a bit tired but wired. Also spacey at times with my mind all over the place. Peating made me cool as a cucumber and very playful. Unless I haven't eaten sugar/carbs for long or had too much coffee. Peating makes me feel great. No doubt about that. Slight euphoria in the background due to the sugar/carb intake. I don't feel bad now going to lower carb. A bit more stable now.

3) No. I haven't gone to a dentist for many years. Zero issues from Peating when it comes to teeth. Maybe not enough time to experience them.

4) Milk , Eggs, young beef meat, PORK(which I stopped due to Peat) sometimes fish, liver , brain and LOTS of butter/ghee(home made). The diet was literally a big fat meal with animal protein. I imagine the calorie intake was huge, never counted but people usually raise eyebrows when I add a huge chunk of butter to the meal. Probably the reason I did not wreck my metabolism. But that is just a guess.

I got into conspiracies since 15-16yo and avoided fluoride and other poisons like the plague from a very young age preaching to others to cut them , ofc most thought I am crazy/stupid/delusional. I think this might have played a major role.

 

[animalcule]

1) No serious health issues. I was having a bit of mental issues at the time though - depression mainly at around 18-19yo. I got interested in health from a very young age for no reason other than stay young and healthy for as long as I can. Saw many relatives die of terrible diseases and didn't want to end up like them. Tried vegetarianism prior to going high sat fat for about a year and my depression got terrible. Got skinny fat and saw it does no work. Was ashamed to get naked with a girl...

I try to stay unbiased and just look at results, really don't care what the truth is as long as I know it. A friend of mine showed me a local guy who was promoting a very high fat sat fat diet who looked really nice(slim but ripped) and was quite convincing with his research. I had a very limited knowledge at that time so the only way to know was to try. Until finding Peat I didnt hear anything that made some sense to convince me to experiment.

2) Sometimes I felt a bit tired but wired. Also spacey at times with my mind all over the place. Peating made me cool as a cucumber and very playful. Unless I haven't eaten sugar/carbs for long or had too much coffee. Peating makes me feel great. No doubt about that. Slight euphoria in the background due to the sugar/carb intake. I don't feel bad now going to lower carb. A bit more stable now.

3) No. I haven't gone to a dentist for many years. Zero issues from Peating when it comes to teeth. Maybe not enough time to experience them.

4) Milk , Eggs, young beef meat, PORK(which I stopped due to Peat) sometimes fish, liver , brain and LOTS of butter/ghee(home made). The diet was literally a big fat meal with animal protein. I imagine the calorie intake was huge, never counted but people usually raise eyebrows when I add a huge chunk of butter to the meal. Probably the reason I did not wreck my metabolism. But that is just a guess.

I got into conspiracies since 15-16yo and avoided fluoride and other poisons like the plague from a very young age preaching to others to cut them , ofc most thought I am crazy/stupid/delusional. I think this might have played a major role.

Thank you! By "young beef" do you mean veal?

 

[incrp]

I had been low carb for six years until a few month ago. I was interested in learning more about Ray Peat's work when I saw Ray (well heard him) in an interview about PUFAs with people that I have been following for some time, I have to say I had never heard of him before but since reading just about all of the articles on his site was intrigued and thought I would give it a try. I was happy on low carb/keto/carnivore, stable weight, eat freely,never hungry, single digit body fat, good BP, and FBG. The only slight niggle that developed was ocasional night leg cramps and the odd heart rhythm artifact (not AT) which I suspected was due to electrolyte imbalance. Paul Saladino just happened to mention on one of his blogs he had the same and had used fruit and honey to resolve the issue and I found the same.I don't really feel any better/different on Peat, I did put on 10lbs quickly which I was expecting but am now back to my original weight. I also tried Peat because I thought I may be hypothyroid because of my low resting HR (37 last night) I bought Broda Barnes's book but my temperatures are normal. It has been an interesting experiment but I think I will probably go back to low carb eventually, I will give bioenergetic's a few more months.

 

[Blossom]

She’s very defensive about being called anorexic… and now she has a doctor on record saying she has the scan of a sixteen year old (bc she has low body fat and lots of red marrow). But low body fat can’t be the best metric of overall health.

She does look gaunt. She takes pride in her low body fat. I think she said she eats 1600 calories for her main meal, which normally wouldn’t put someone in the anorexia category, I don’t think, but… clearly an extremely low body fat level for a woman.

I had the same experience on low carb and carnivore. I personally thought I looked a lot like a teenage boy. I’m 12 years older than her though so I’ve stopped caring what people think of my looks except for my husband. The biggest regret I have is listening to people and forcing myself to gain weight.