(Breather) This podcast was inspired by an email exchange with my friend and former podcast guest Martin Brauns, who asked me what my diet is like these days.

Reflecting on my current diet, it’s clear to me that while some things have changed, many other elements of my diet have remained the same. I still stay away from The Big Three (refined sugars, grains, and industrial seed oils), but one thing that I used to absolutely love making, salads, are gone. I can barely remember the last time I had one, and I haven’t had any cravings for one. Still, my philosophy has always been to aim for balance and enjoy myself, while staying committed to my health and fitness goals, and the foods that best support those goals. The main idea is I’ve drifted to carnivore-ish pattern, and then I still have this and that when it comes to plant foods leaking in, particularly to get extra carbs.

It seems like the consensus these days is to ditch processed junk food, and then you are way down the road to health, disease prevention, and longevity. Industrial seed oils are the #1 priority, followed by grains and sugars. And hyper-palatable foods (combining sugar, fat and salt – think of my popcorn – and any dessert, processed snack, or all-American meal like pasta and meatballs, sandwiches, pancakes with butter and maple syrup, etc.). Anyone can say what they want about a vegan/plant-based diet, but it is a high risk to eliminate the most nutritious foods on earth. But, if they are ditching processed crap and instead eating hummus, lentils, and smoothies, they are much better off.

Personally, I have been on the ancestral eating style for 13 years now – no grains, no bad oils, and almost no processed sugar. The carnivore idea has captivated me since I was first exposed in March 2019, so I have made a permanent shift to animal-emphasis and superfood-emphasis. I have not had a salad in 2 years and no longer go looking for plants to add to my diet in the name of health.

It’s also the consensus that if we want to look for the cleanest animal products and try to eliminate the feedlot animals, conventional dairy, eggs, processed meat, etc., are not the way to go. Even 80% of Atlantic salmon on the market is farmed. Unfortunately, there is a huge difference between the quality and nutrition in farmed vs wild-caught fish. It’s pretty simple. 

Look through the Carnivore Scores Chart and put it on your fridge. We worked hard on this thing and it’s really powerful to imagine how you are eating on the ranking system. It’s funny to think that when you order your delicious chicken and avocado salad, you are actually eating below the steak line! Same for making a super duper smoothie with celery and kale and almond milk and protein powder: you are getting calories for energy, some concentrated plant poisons, and then not much in the way of dense nutrition. 

These wild and crazy guys I hang with like Saladino and my main man Brian “Liver King” Johnson of Ancestral Supplements are quite inspiring. I will make a big yellow sardine omelet made with 9 pastured egg yolks and sardines in the middle. And accompanied by thin slices of frozen, raw, grass-fed liver, heavily salted. Now that’s a superfood meal.

I’m also not worried about avoiding carbs in the name of “carnivore” and I don’t have any autoimmune issues or inflammatory conditions. And at my age, and with my athletic goals, I can benefit from carbs, in order to help speed recovery, as well as minimize the overall stress score of doing things like fasting, high-intensity workouts, and being in the 55+ category. Robb Wolf always advises to “lift more weights and eat more protein” for a reason.

Hence, besides the animal food staples, you will find these plants making their way:

• Tons of 80%+ dark chocolate (I mean tons – some days I’ll notice an entire bar is gone!)
• Lots of avocados
• Frequent sweet potatoes in oxtail stew, sweet potato fries to add to meals
• Frequent squashes during the winter season (acorn, butternut, kabocha, etc)
• Canned sundried tomatoes very often in eggs or with meat meals
• Very small amounts of nuts and Brad’s Macadamia Masterpiece
• Corn tortillas fried in olive oil/butter to accompany an egg meal or a steak meal (very often!)
• I’ve started to try spoonfuls of raw honeycomb per Paul’s enthusiasm
• Occasional popcorn with heavy butter and olive oil (supposed to be a treat, not a habit)
• Occasional treats, like cheesecake on my birthday, which was excellent, but I very rarely have other desserts, and when I do, they’re in small portions
• I have made a Paleo Pumpkin pie a few times recently (very bland but a nice “dessert” using crushed nuts for the crust, canned pumpkin, eggs, and maybe 1-2 tsp of honey total)
• Excellent St. Benoit vanilla yogurt (I love to add cacao nibs too)
• Occasional protein smoothie with coconut milk and frozen banana, if I want to recover (I also add powder creatine, collagen, glutamine, and electrolytes)
• Occasional sesame blue chips or red hot blue chips with guacamole 
• Often cooking steak with onions in the pan 
• Zero fruit in winter. Frequent berries in summer, and occasional mango and papaya in non-winter

This big change inspired by carnivore has included no salad, no stir fry, no raw veggies, smoothies, leafy greens, and almost no cruciferous veggies since March 2019. Prior to that, I actually ate tons of plants. However, now when I come to think of it, if someone serves me a plate with broccoli spears, I will eat it just to be polite. But truthfully, it has tasted like cardboard since March ‘19. Seriously, the messaging brainwashed me, and it’s a true experience. I look at broccoli now and have no appetite for it, and it has no taste. I used to love eating and making huge, beautiful salads, and yet, I have not had the slightest interest for two years…

Finally, get a load out of Brian’s crazy message – one of the best messages I’ve ever read on the Internet about healthy living. 

TIMESTAMPS:

We first ditch processed modern foods as our first objective to improving the diet. This starts with the seed oils. [01:39]

Make a sincere commitment to eliminate or cut back on refined grains and sugars. [04:54]

Brad changed his diet 13 years ago after he learned about primal living. [07:32]

Now let’s talk about the carnivore diet movement. [08:54]

Some plant toxins have immediate adverse effects.[10:16]

Just because you’re eating meat or fish, doesn’t necessarily make it healthy. [12:25]

There is a big difference between properly healthily sustainably raised animals and the feedlot animals.  [15:54]

A five-day fast has worked for Brian Johnson. Hear what that’s about. [17:22]

Brad’s midday break fast meal is a huge omelet. [19:32]

You may want to tone down your effort to avoid carbs.  It depends on your age and activity. [22:05]

Eighty percent or greater dark chocolate is a must!! Dark chocolate has many health benefits. [24:20]

Avocados and sweet potatoes in ox-tail soup hold an important place in Brad’s diet. [25:10]

There’s research that the occasional dosing of something toxic will be considered a hormetic stressor and actually serve to fine tune your body’s antioxidant response. [26:39] 

Is it okay to eat fruit? [28:51]

It is an individual experience to try your own body’s response to different foods. If it is truly healthy and nutritious, it shouldn’t cause stomach distress. [29:28]

Snacking is an extra indulgence to enjoy. When Brad is adhering to the two meals a day, he isn’t hungry for snacks. [32:50]

Full-fat yogurt can be a good addition to your diet. It can be a source of extra protein if you need it. [37:44]

Just because Brad is focusing on carnivore rationale, he’s not against sauteed onions or other vegetables when he makes a steak. [39:39]

The main message is to learn how different foods affect your body, educate yourself, focus on the healthy foods, and don’t worry about deviating from your planned diet on occasion. [42:07]

LINKS:

• Brad’s Shopping page
• Wired to Eat
• The Hungry Brain
• Fatty Popcorn Boy B.Rad episode
• Carnivore Scores Chart
• Kate-Ouellette-Cretsinger Podcast
• Robb Wolf B.Rad episode
• Ancestral Supplements
• The Keto Reset Diet
• Ageless Body, Timeless Mind
• HIIT vs HIRT B.Rad episode
• Askonosie Chocolate
• Lillie Belle Chocolate
• Brad’s Macadamia Masterpiece
• LISTEN:
  

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B.rad Podcast

Brad (1m 39s): So Brad, what about you? What is your diet like these days end quote? Yes, that was an innocent single line from an email exchange from my good friend, former podcast guest Martin Brauns, just checking in talking about some of his dietary and exercise habits. And he pinged me back with a request and I started writing and it came out pretty lengthy. So at the end of the email, reply back to Martin, I said, thank you so much for this exercise. I think this is going to turn into a great breather show. So here we go. Yes. What is my diet like these days? Well, first off it seems like the consensus these days in the health scene is that we have to ditch these processed modern foods as our main and overwhelmingly most important objective. Brad (2m 32s): And that’s where we can finally come to a consensus agreement with all experts, realizing that the consumption of the refined industrial seed oils, processed carbohydrates, sugars, and grains is the number one most destructive aspect of the modern diet and the modern human experience. And if you can ditch the, what we call the big three toxic modern foods, refined sugars, grains, and industrial seed oils. You will be well on your way down the road to health disease protection against disease and longevity. The number one priority would be to eliminate these industrial seed oils because they are immediately toxic upon ingestion and they render your fat metabolism dysfunctional. Brad (3m 16s): There’s no sacrifice to give these up because they have no taste. And there’s just a matter of increased awareness to switch, to cooking with more stable temperature, stable saturated fats, like butter, lard, recycled bacon grease. You can use avocado oil, olive oil for lower temperature cooking. And these things will be a huge improvement in your health to eliminate those ruthlessly eliminate those industrial seed oils, especially the bottled oils, canola, corn, soybean, sunflower, safflower, and then also looking at those labels of all the packaged, frozen and processed foods. So much about containing the seed oils. I think the most difficult aspect of ditching these seed oils is the fact that most restaurants all the way from the fast food restaurant on the corner to fine dining, cook their meals in these cheap oils to save money. Brad (4m 9s): And they have no concern, no health concern that they’re cooking these expensive steaks or whatever the entree is in this nasty stuff. So you have to go out of your way to inquire at the restaurant and beg them to cook your meal and butter or something besides the vegetable oil, the industrial seed oil. And that’s going to be a challenge because a lot of places I’ve, you know, gone into this, especially at nice restaurants where I politely ask what kind of oil they use. And they have a few times come back and said, we use an olive oil blend. And I’m like, what the heck is that? That’s a watered down, crappy, giant jug that costs however many dollars per gallon instead of using a cleaner and less health offensive oil. Brad (4m 54s): So try to find the restaurants that have some sort of commitment to health, or I guess you’re going to have to limit your dining out. Yeah, that’s a tough one. That’s where we get most of our seed oil doses is from the restaurants of all kinds, all the way up to top top stuff. And then of course at the same time making a sincere commitment to eliminate or greatly cut back on their refined grains and sugars.And of course that also is going to encompass the elimination or the goal to eliminate these hyper palatable foods, which some great recent research and books like Robb Wolf’s Wired to Eat. And Stephan Guyanese, The Hungry Brain are identifying just how destructive these are to our fat reduction goals and how our brain is hijacked by these hyper palatable foods that do not exist in nature, but kind of hijack the dopamine pathways in our brain and give us this intense sense of pleasure and develop an addictive relationship to things that combine sugar, fat, and salt. Brad (5m 58s): And so what’s on that list just about every treat, dessert, processed snack, all American meal. You can think of, I’m thinking of my fondness for popcorn. You can go back and listen to the fatty popcorn boy saga podcast and how I had to kind of recalibrate that, that thing that would turn in from a, a treat to a habit. So all these things that go in the category where you’re combining sugar and fat and salt together, pasta and meatballs, a sandwich pancakes with butter on top. So that’s a big challenge because most of the, the commercial food out there, most of the processed foods are designed to be hyper palatable. Brad (6m 39s): So you will shop for them and buy more your ice creams, your potato chips, and the list goes on and on. So that’s the big goal. And the thing that even I’m mindful of, because once in a while, I’ll enjoy indulging in these hyper palatable foods, such as the popcorn, such as the cheesecake I had on my birthday, it was delicious. It was absolutely outstanding, but we have to make that commitment to distinguish between kind of habitual leaking into that category of automatic versus a true treat and a celebratory event. And I think the food tastes better when it’s a special treat rather than an expectation. And boy, it’s so funny how the dessert has been come immersed into culture, to the extent that we associate it with the meal, and then we’re dining out at almost every restaurant and the waiter or waitress comes by and says, can I tempt you for some dessert after you’ve finished stuffing your face with a delicious meal? Brad (7m 33s): And it’s like, why are you even asking? Well, it’s because we expect it. So I think stepping out of that and being really mindful that your number one priority is to eliminate or greatly cut back on the processed modern foods and the hyper palatable foods. So back to trying to answer the question for Martin and everyone listening, I’ve been on this ancestral style eating plan, this primal eating plan for 13 years now, starting back in June of 2008, when I first got together with Sisson and we started working on the Primal Blueprint project book and digital course and lifestyle movement. And so I cold turkey put grains out of my diet after our first discussion. Brad (8m 14s): And previous to that, I was eating giant bowls of cereal every morning in my life. Of course I wasn’t eating the junky stuff. I was eating the clean granolas and oatmeals and things like that, but I ditched grains completely. And haven’t turned back varying little overall in the last 13 years, same with the refined industrial seed oils. My consumption of those have been almost entirely incidental and doing a good job there. And same with processed sugar. I definitely am not sitting down and consuming things made with processed sugar as a habit such as a, a Starbucks drink or whatever you might put as an example of sweetened beverage. Brad (8m 55s): Now the recent transition that’s been fascinating and I’ve been emphasized a lot in the listeners know, is this carnivore idea? That’s captivated me since I was first exposed to it in early 2019. And it has compelled me to make what I’m going to consider to be a permanent shift in the direction of an animal based nose to tail style, superfood emphasis type of diet, rather than my previous disposition, which was to emphasize plants, vegetables, and so forth as the centerpiece of my diet, not the most calorie source, but let’s say the biggest portion of the plate. Brad (9m 37s): And so I was famous for making these huge stir fry meals and putting a big pile of assorted green veggies and chopped veggies onto the plate. And then right next to it is your salmon or your steak or whatever. So that has been really a huge turning point. And I like to consider it a amazing exercise in remaining open-minded and thinking critically, when being presented with new information that runs counter to your fixed and rigid beliefs. I thought I considered myself to be, well-informed a health expert, written many books on the subjects. And now here’s leaders like Dr. Brad (10m 16s): Paul Saladino, Dr. Sean Baker and others suggesting that you don’t really need to eat these plants in the name of health that the animal foods have vastly superior, nutritional profiles and more bioavailable nutritional profile. In other words, easy to digest and assimilate the food that you’re getting from a fish or a steak versus converting the beta carotene in a carrot, in a chemical process. That’s 21 times more difficult to obtain the vitamin A you need rather than consuming a dose of grassfed liver, which gives you the fully formed source of vitamin A called retinol, and which is so great for vision and many other health benefits. So that’s been really interesting to respect this new approach. Brad (10m 58s): And I think I’m amazed at the many people who have healed from nagging auto-immune and inflammatory conditions by restricting plant foods from their diet in this test of the sensitivity level, because we all know it’s undisputed that virtually all plants have these anti-nutrients or antigens natural plant toxins in them as part of their design. They’re trying to ward off predators since they can’t move. So they manufactured these agents that deter people, deter creatures from consuming the plan. And our level of sensitivity is anywhere from a mild, almost imperceptible to extreme in the example of gluten intolerance, celiac disease. Brad (11m 43s): It’s very, well-established how these plant toxins can have immediate adverse effects, same with people with a peanut allergy who will blow up right away and go into anaphylactic shock. So everything’s on a spectrum. I’m not gonna say that I’m a highly plant sensitive person, but the rationale to emphasize the foods that have the most nutrient density is extremely compelling. And so boy, that’s been a huge change. And so now the emphasis on my diet is I’m looking for the cleanest possible animal products, of course, in agreement with the anti animal scene, shouting out how, how bad the feedlot animals are and the conventional dairy products and the processed meat products, all that stuff. Brad (12m 26s): We’re in wide agreement that just because you’re eating meat or fish or whatever, it doesn’t necessarily make it healthy. When we have the presentations that are available that are really, really objectionable. Unfortunately farmed salmon is one of them. That’s, you know, 80 to 90% of all the salmon on the market that you see in the restaurant or in the store is the variety of farmed Atlantic salmon. And if you dig deeper into the, the data, these are highly over farmed. And a lot of times coming from a polluted waters and polluted environment, to the extent that you might not even want to eat what we all consider to be a super healthy food of salmon, unless you can find the wild caught variety. Brad (13m 7s): So back to the thread and trying to answer the question, I’m looking for the highest quality animal products with extreme emphasis on the most nutritious characters in the animal kingdom. And that’s why I created this carnivore scores, food ranking chart with my pal, Kate Cretsinger the health coach in new England who’s had such amazing success with their clients, putting them on experimental carnivores style diets, and then determining their level of sensitivity to things. And then embarking on a long-term plan where they’re eating a more nutritious diet and avoiding those things that are causing chronic digestion, elimination, conditions, gas, bloating, digestive pain, anything that ends with itis. Brad (13m 52s): These conditions are often aggravated by the plant toxins, things like psoriasis and arthritis and colitis cast riotous people have had amazing healing experiences consuming animal foods that are vastly less, or are absent of allergens and sensitivities. So I’m going to encourage you to go over to Brad kearns.com and download that carnivore scores chart, put it on your fridge and reflect on the tiered ranking system that we presented for the various animal foods, and also gave you a nice rundown of the least offensive and most nutritious plant foods that you’re welcome to introduce into the diet and see how you do. Brad (14m 32s): I don’t think there’s a lot of people that are warranted to be a long-term extreme restriction pattern of the traditional full-on carnivore. But for many of us, we can extremely benefit from cutting out things that we’ve long considered to be super-duper extremely healthy, like the leafy and the, the raw vegetables and the super nutrition smoothies, where we’re pouring a bunch of it into a concentrated dose. And that’s been a great awakening for me to think that my salad, the, the, the badge of honor, that made me a healthy guy, that I made these big salads most every day could quite possibly be detrimental to my overall health. Brad (15m 13s): And I wasn’t a much of a sacrifice to eliminate all the ingredients in there in favor of, let’s say, making up a bunch of eggs or sardines or things on the, the carnivores scores, this superfood list. Okay. And it’s a trip because if you go out to lunch and you’re looking at the menu and you want to be healthy, and so you order that chicken avocado salad, you realize that you’re eating below what Kate coined the steak line. So there’s a line halfway across the ranking chart where there’s all the good foods that the highest ranking foods are above. And then below the steak line are things like chicken, turkey, and pork, because commonly they’re raised with corn and soy feed, and they have inferior nutritional profile to red meat. Brad (15m 55s): Yeah, you can look at all the headlines, red meat causes cancer, but if you source the highest quality red meat, at least getting certified organic, or ideally finding 100% grass fed or locally grown red meat, or choosing the alternative red meats that are less processed and less mechanized things like buffalo, bison, elk, lamb, venison, you are rocking a superior nutrient profile to the widely popular chicken, turkey, and pork that is widely considered to be superior to red meat. So we got to kind of keep that open mind again, and look into the experts and people that are saying this with great certainty and tremendous research behind them. Brad (16m 35s): I just did a great podcast with Robb Wolf. So go listen to him as he talks about the incredible research he did into red meat and sustainability of farming, so that the vegan argument that it’s cleaner for the planet to only consume plants and not consume the most nutrient dense foods on the planet is very effectively negated by the people that are really in deep to this system. Again, does distinguish between the properly healthily, sustainably raised animals and the feedlot animals, which are widely agreed to be pretty nasty for the environment and for our personal health. Okay. So yeah, I had some other notes here in the email that I’m really inspired by the guys out on the extreme cutting edge of this health movement. Brad (17m 22s): Guys like Paul Saladino and my main man, Brian, the liver King Johnson, founder, president of Ancestral Supplements. And boy, their diets are pretty extreme if you were an outside observer coming in and looking what’s going on, but they are on the cutting edge and doing some amazing things. And Brian, on his, About Us page at Ancestral Supplements.com, we’ll give you an amazing education into the world of ancestral living probably at a level that I’ve never seen with anybody else. So this is a guy who routinely engages in five day water, only fast every quarter. He and his wife, Barbara, I think Barbara is a willing participant. She was smiling when I saw her, but they go on these five day fasts, but get this before the beginning of the fast or at the beginning of the fast, rather than a meal fit for a kid, they do what Brian describes as a failed hunt workout, which is an extremely difficult full glycogen depletion workout and then they commence their five day fast. Brad (18m 26s): And that is believed to be prompting, incredible benefits with autophagy. That’s the natural cellular internal cellular detoxification process. The research from Valter Longo at USC shows that in that length of time of fasting the organs throughout the body actually shrink because they are shedding this inflammatory damaged cellular material and regenerating to become coming back more and better and prompting this STEM cell function to actually renew and regenerate bigger or healthier and better heart lungs, kidneys, everything across the body. One of my favorite books of all time, Dr. Brad (19m 5s): Deepak Chopra’s Ageless Body, Timeless Mind sites scientific research from the quantum physical chemical level that you actually manufacture an entirely new stomach lining every three weeks. And you make a new liver every six weeks and you make a new pair of lungs every six months. I’m not getting the numbers exactly right. But from this quantum biology level, we are capable of renewal to an amazing degree. And this fasting practice that Brian has taken to the extreme and Barbara is the a great example, a shining example of a great attempt to stay healthy. And then when it’s time to eat, this guy can put together some pretty incredible meals. Brad (19m 47s): He likes to make smoothies with, for example, dropping in nine pastured egg yolks. So imagine buying a dozen eggs at the store. Yeah. I shop at the store once a week. I buy a dozen eggs. It’s great. I’m eating these pastured eggs. How about downing nine of them at once in a drink? And so I’m taking inspiration from these guys. Saladino came over to my mom’s house in LA and we visited and he stayed the night. And in the morning he was slicing up raw frozen liver and salting the heck out of it and offering all those and interests to indulge in his wonderful breakfast meal. But this is what superfood eating is all about. So I’m having fun, doing things like my midday break fast meal will be a big giant yellow omelet with nine pastured, egg yolks and nicest slices of sun dried tomatoes and sardines inside. Brad (20m 37s): So you’ve got your sardines, you’ve got your pastured egg yolks. These are high ranking on the superfood list and it tastes great. Same with the, the raw frozen liver. Doesn’t that unpleasant taste that the Jell-O like a medium rare liver does. So I’m getting my liver game up by indulging in the food in a raw form. Speaking of carbs and their place in a carnivore ish approach. I’m not worried about avoiding them in the name of being strict carnivore, especially because I don’t have these nagging autoimmune or inflammatory conditions. If I did, I would be more restrictive. Paul Saladino advocates consuming, honey, if you are looking for carbs and you’re concerned about your exposure to plant toxins. Brad (21m 22s): He kind of qualifies honey as a carnival food, right? Cause the bees are making it, that might be disputed. Cause I know the plant is needed to be participating in there too. But anyway, honey is one of the easy suggestions for a less offensive plant food. But I also feel like in my personal example, I have these assortment of variables. One of them is my age and the 55 plus division. And I also have these passionate athletic goals where I’m pushing my body pretty hard and I’m trying to complete these pretty challenging workouts. And so these, you could be considering these stress factors, right? Anytime we fast and skip a meal, it’s still a form of stress to the body. And I don’t want to stack too many stress factors on top of themselves in the name of health. Brad (22m 5s): I don’t want to be too bad-ass with my carb restriction, my high-intensity workouts and my fasting periods, because I do feel like I’ve gotten in trouble in the past, going too far out of bounds with my enthusiasm for let’s say the ketogenic diet. When I was doing research for our book, The Keto Reset Diet, I would do these high intensity workouts. I’d continue to fast for a few hours after that. And then I’d have a ketogenic meal and then the hours would go by and 36 to 48 hours later, I’d have these crash and burn experiences where I needed to lay down on the ground and take a nap. And I believe that the stacking of older athlete pretty difficult workout, which you can listen to my shows about adapting my workouts to make them less stressful, especially the hit versus hurt breather show. Brad (22m 52s): So my age, the workout that was pretty darn tough, probably too tough. And then the fasting and then the carb restriction put me into a negative state. And so I’m opening my mind, especially in my personal example, not for everybody, but in my personal example, to tone down my efforts to avoid carbs in the name of health and also to engage in tremendous fasting efforts in the name of health. I love the soundbite from my podcast with Robb Wolf, where he said, if you want to live longer, lift more weights and eat more protein, very nice. Brad (23m 32s): So meeting that active lifestyle, you’re doing great. And if you’re a person like me, who’s not terribly concerned with body composition unless I get into fatty popcorn boy mode, but generally speaking, right? So I have good blood work, athletic goals, good body composition. I don’t have an extreme calling to restrict carbs and try to get into that ketogenic state and, and facilitate rapid body fat loss or get into that strict carnivore state to facilitate rapid body fat loss. So what you’re going to find leaking into my diet or an assortment of these plants and carbohydrate foods. And I wrote them in bulleted lists for Martin to give him the full disclosure. So here you go for the first time ever on the show, this is the, the leaking and the presence of non carnivore stuff in Brad’s diet. Brad (24m 21s): Number one on the bulleted list, tons. And I do mean tons people, tons of 80% or greater dark chocolate. My favorite brands right now are Askonosie.com and Lillie Belle Farms.com. There are numerous other ones that I love. But oh my gosh, I will and enjoy a square or two or three. And sometimes on days where I’m not eating a giant meals, maybe I’m too busy running around or something. I will notice. I will admit that an entire bar can be killed in a single day. Ah, but guess what? Oh my gosh, the health benefits of dark chocolate are tremendous. And there’s a whole section in the book, probably too long of a section due to my extra enthusiasm and how I’ve indoctrinated Sisson cause I ship him bars and I say, you got to try this stuff. Brad (25m 10s): But dark chocolate has so many health benefits. L.Phenylalanine, they call it the, the love drug. We make it ourselves in our, in our bodies, but it gives that sense of wellbeing. And it’s, what’s released when you’re in that state of feeling love when you’re really excited and floating around. And that’s why dark chocolate has been so popular throughout the ages. So dark chocolate up there on the list. I also consume a lot of avocados, which are one of the least toxic fruits, right? It is a fruit. And so also that wonderful source of mono unsaturated fats. So those have a staple presence in the diet. I also enjoy my sweet potatoes somewhat regularly, frequently. Brad (25m 51s): I like to slice them and make this oxtail stew in the Crock-Pot for eight hours. So you go get the oxtails at the butcher. One of the nice organ meats, it’s actually the tail of the cow. I sear them on all sides, which is kind of tough. You gotta keep turning, turning, and then you dump those in the crock pot, slice up some sweet potatoes. You can put carrots, you can put onions and eight hours later, you have the most delicious, thick, rich stew for the great winter months. Can’t recommend it enough. And one of the easiest recipes you can imagine. So the sweet potatoes are consumed in that manner. Maybe we’ll consume them straight. Nice preparation in the toaster oven with the crispy skin or little did I know when I moved here in Lake Tahoe that a walking distance away, the local pub has these incredible sweet potato fries. Brad (26m 39s): So when I’m really hungry and ready to indulge, I will order up take-out. I can’t believe they’re only charging like $5 and 55 cents or something out the door, but they are fantastic. Here’s the thing, like I said, at the outset :restaurant meals, most likely I’m still, haven’t got up the guts to ask, but they were probably fried in the objectionable oils. But guess what? How about this for a cop-out? There’s research that the occasional dosing of something toxic will be considered a hormetic stressor and actually serve to fine tune your body’s antioxidant response. I think the researcher was with smoking a cigarette every two months or something. Brad (27m 22s): It didn’t have that much of an adverse health effect because it kind of keeps your, your immune system on alert your antioxidant defense system on alert. So I might put my occasional dosing of bad oils from the sweet potato fries as allowable. Cause I’m giving myself a little bitty challenge, a hormetic stressor. I don’t know, I don’t like cop outs, but Hey, it’s worth mentioning, right? And if you really do indulge, occasionally, certainly your body can handle this stuff and it’s not worth worrying about. Also enjoying the squashes as they’re here in season. As I record this during the winter time, acorn squash, butternut squash, they’re so easy to make in the crock pot or the instant pot, if you in a rush for time. Brad (28m 5s): And that’s a nice source of starchy carbohydrate and the high starch carbohydrates actually have that much less concern about the plant toxins than the things above the ground. Like the leafy greens and things, the cruciferous family that have higher levels of these objectionable agents that many people are highly sensitive to. So it’s kind of a flip-flop of the old commentary where primal, paleo recommended, you know, taking it easy on the starchy carbs because you get a bigger carbohydrate dose and going ahead and, and indulging in the big servings of leafy greens and salads and all that other produce and cruciferous vegetables that are more fibrous and less glycaemic response. Brad (28m 52s): So pretty interesting. Same with fruit. We always were saying for years to take it easy with fruit, because it’s got a lot of sugar and it can be easily converted into fat in the liver. If you already have full glycogen stores, fruit can be genic, but it also happens to be the least offensive type of plant. Because again, the fruit is the final offering of the plant, right? The plant does not care if you pick the berry off and eat it, the plant doesn’t want to get eaten itself. The seed is the most precious part of the plant, right? The life force of the plant. And that’s why seeds are some of the most highest ranked in the plant toxin category. So everything’s, flip-flop from the old times where we said, watch it on fruit, watch it on squash, go ahead and eat your kale salads. Brad (29m 38s): And now we’re saying, Hey, watch out for those kale salads, those might be ripping your gut apart and you don’t even know it. Whew. Yep. Critical thinking. Open-mindedness self experimentation, right? I’m just telling a story of what my diet’s like, but I want you to experiment for yourself and notice, Hey, maybe if you’ve backing off on those salads and those stir fries, you might notice some changes. And when I drifted away from that inspired by this carnivore message, I noticed an incredible absence of digestion and elimination symptoms that had plagued me for my entire life. And I’m talking about leaky pipes in association with endurance runs. So if I’m out there pounding the pavement or the trails for 30 minutes or an hour, I would always have some associative bowel concerns with those efforts. Brad (30m 29s): And I always thought that was attributed to the pounding of the digestive track, but I believe it was the irritation caused by these plants. The minor irritation that I didn’t really notice in everyday life until I tried to go run on that stomach that had a giant salad the night before. Same with all manner of gas, bloating, transient, abdominal pain. I especially noticed these in the hours after consuming my super nutrition green smoothie that I once proudly put on YouTube and showed people how I was dumping down stocks of celery and big piles of kale and spinach and raw beets and putting in the powders and making this big, the super nutrition drink in the morning. Brad (31m 11s): But as it turned out, when I really got into that game and was going every single day with the super smoothie, I would have gas and bloating and my stomach would literally pop out for at least a few hours after I drank the smoothie. And the life-changing moment for me was when I was discussing this matter with my friend who was also really into the health scene and making a smoothie every day and throwing all that stuff in there. And he said, yeah, I get stomach pain also after the smoothie, but it’s so healthy that it’s worth it. And his comment stopped me in my tracks because I realized something is wrong with this picture here, because if something is truly healthy and nutritious for you, it shouldn’t pop your stomach out like a balloon for several hours. Brad (31m 55s): Of course my stomach always righted itself, but it would be painful and it would be strange and uncomfortable. And I just kind of grew to associate that with normal until the comment woke me up and said, you know, that’s not right. And maybe I should stop drinking these as an experiment and see if things go away. So this massive shift away from salads, stir fries, and super green smoothies has been an amazing change and more regularity and simplicity with my digestion and elimination. So back to the list, just to recap, and then we’ll go through this more quickly. The dark chocolate is there. The avocados, the sweet potatoes. Brad (32m 36s): Squashes during the winter season. And I also enjoy canned sun-dried tomatoes for some reason, those go well with any recipe. Maybe I’m not a gourmet and I’m a spoiling some of the things I like to put them on like eggs or steak, but I go through those canned sun, dried tomatoes. As far as nuts and seeds. I am not consuming many of those because typically I use those in a snacking mode and now I don’t need to snack anymore because my, the nutritional density of my meals, I don’t have any cause for snacking in between meals, trying to adhere to that two meals a day strategy since my name’s on the book, why not? But as a treat, Oh my gosh, the Brad’s Macadamia Masterpiece. I can’t say enough about it. Brad (33m 16s): It’s getting rave reviews from every single person who’s tried it. And I do think about it as an indulgence, a luxury, a delicacy, maybe a spoonful here or there, or when you’re heading out for a long hike. Mia Moore. And I both like to take a big giant spoonful, and then we will go out there for four hours. No problem, sustained by that nice nutrition and great taste that you’ll find in the Masterpiece. It’s now for sale on Amazon. So I guess this show is being interrupted by a commercial in the middle, but it’s really great. And I’m glad to have my name on it and promote it. So if you are not sensitive to the toxins contained in the nut and seed family, you can try this as a great delicacy. Brad (33m 56s): Someone wrote a compliment saying that, yeah, I love this stuff. I put it in my smoothie and I’m like, no, no, it’s too precious. It’s too good to put in a smoothie, go dump some almond butter in a smoothie. If you want to make a smoothie and enjoy the masterpiece with just a spoon. Okay. Back to the list. I’m also been fond of taking these little baby corn tortillas that you can buy in a packet they’re like for street tacos. And I fry those in olive oil or butter to get them just a little bit firm, not crunchy crispy, but not floppy either. And I’ll put my egg meal or my steak meal inside those with some avocado and it was kind of a go-to meal. Brad (34m 36s): So yes, I’m getting some corn tortillas, some grains in my diet and it seemingly on a more frequent basis lately. Thank you very much. I’m also trying to introduce some spoonfuls of raw honeycomb and this is per Dr. Saladino’s enthusiasm for honey and especially in and around my workouts, because I do feel like as, as I talked about the tiling of those stress factors, the aforementioned stress factors that going out of my way to enjoy a little extra carbohydrate in and around my high intensity workouts is a helpful strategy for me. You know, enough about my fascination with popcorn. So this is really trying to stay stand strong as an occasional occasional treat, whether we’re turning on a good movie or whatever’s going on rather than a daily habit. Brad (35m 25s): And I’m a master at making this delicious popcorn that has quite a bit of melted butter and flavored olive oil, either lemon or lime flavored. Oh yes. With plenty of salt. And then you’re talking about a true popcorn experience. I’ve mentioned the cheesecake on my birthday. So on very rare occasions, maybe a birthday here and there, or when my mom makes her butterscotch brownies on Christmas that she hadn’t made for about 30 years for some reason. And then someone mentioned them that a great memory from childhood, and now she’s on the rampage and making little gift bags for people. And boy, you can have, you can have a little bit of those and be incredibly satisfied. Brad (36m 9s): And I think that’s a different story than when I was a youth and would just mow down, you know, large rows of brownies getting across the entire casserole pan. But now when my, my taste buds and my senses have been de-habituated from intense sugar inhalation as per my, my time when I was a triathlete and eating so many calories now a little goes a long way, same with the cheesecake or anything that’s presented. You can look on my Instagram. I made this interesting recipe of paleo pumpkin pie, and it’s really hardly classified as a dessert because it’s not very sweet at all. So if you’re a familiar with how sweet, the, how disgustingly sweet, the commercial pumpkin pies are, this is not going to taste anything like it, but it’s pure pumpkin with a whole bunch of other ingredients that are low carbohydrate and really tasty. Brad (37m 2s): So it’s an, it’s a nice experience where you want something that simulates a dessert, but it’s not really a high sugar crash dessert. I actually make the crust out of pureed nuts, and I throw in a melted butter and coconut butter. And that makes for a nice mushy crust, kind of like an oatmeal consistency. I spread the crust in the pan. And then I prepare the mix, which is just canned pumpkin, a few eggs and maybe dropping in a one or two teaspoons of honey, or maybe a tablespoon total into the mixture. And you cook that thing up and it’s pretty good. So look on the Instagram If you want the recipesaint benwah yogurt . Brad (37m 43s): I’m eating a lot of full fat yogurt, and there’s a great product that we just found called Saint Benoit vanilla yogurt. I usually try to stay away from the vanilla because they’re overly sweetened, but this one tastes really great. And it’s a really authentic, true yogurt product with that nice distinctive taste. So I’ve been hitting that now and then, and once in a while, I’ll make a protein smoothie, but not too big on the smoothies. But it’s really something to do if I want some extra calories to recover. I think you can get protein in its real form. It’s food form as your first choice. And then if you want extra protein, which has a small segment of the population, people like my son, who’s trying to pack on a bunch of muscle and keep it on. Brad (38m 29s): And then he’s slamming through those giant jugs of protein and drinking them in between every meal and late into the night. Good for him. But for me, once in a while, yeah. If I want to have a really nice recovery protocol, I will hit that with some protein scoops collagen protein. I’m particularly interested in now to preserve joints, connective tissue and skin health. And I’ll make that with coconut milk, a few chunks of frozen banana, and then also throw all the recovery stuff in there. So I have powdered creatine glutamine, and some electrolytes, something like the LMT product that Robb Wolf and Louis Villasenor put out. So that’s my protein smoothie once in a while. Brad (39m 8s): And Hey, if I’m shopping while I’m hungry, I noticed that once in a while, the Sesame blue corn chips will land into my shopping cart somehow. Oh, I also like the red hot blue corn chips. And then we’ll take those puppies home dip into some guacamole and have the classic chips and dips. But if I said I did that every night, that would be a huge difference from saying once in a while, this does happen. And I do associate that with shopping when I’m starving. Okay, what else? I’m cooking steak and sauteed onions and things like that. So again, a strict carnivore might frown upon that, but I have no problem consuming some sauteed onions and maybe other vegetables at times in preparation with the recipe, or also to be polite if someone serves me a meal and there are some broccoli spears on there, or some asparagus, of course, I’m going to eat it and I’m going to enjoy it. Brad (40m 3s): But I have to say these guys done and mess with my head because as soon as I started to dig into this carnivore rationale and learn about the plant toxins and learn about the possible health compromising aspects of eating the go-to things like the big stir fries that I mentioned, or the salads or the cruciferous vegetables, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, et cetera, I have to admit that it has done something to my brain, to where my taste buds no longer consider this delicious and it’s really authentic brainwashing experience. Brad (40m 43s): And I realized that part of the reason that we enjoy certain foods is because we have become convinced that they were healthy. I don’t know if that goes the other way. Like if we know that cheesecake is unhealthy or doesn’t have a lot nutrition, but it still tastes good. So I wish it would go both directions, but it’s really interesting to me to look down at a bowl of salad which I absolutely loved and enjoyed so much for years and decades. And now I have absolutely no appetite for it whatsoever. I just completely pass and same with the delicious steamed vegetables that I always would vote a big thumbs up and say that I really, really loved them deep down, but a lot of that love was due to the purported health benefits. Brad (41m 25s): And now I’m, you know, I remember having my first few plates of stir fried vegetables or, or steamed broccoli. And it kind of tasted like cardboard. Like there was just no connection. It was really strange. I don’t know if anyone else can weigh in on that. If so, please, please help me out. Give me some support. Tell me I’m not crazy email podcast@bradventures.com and you know, we’ll, we’ll talk through it on a future show, but yeah, so I have a lack of appetite for salad, steamed vegetables, and stir fry. That took place with a great boom a couple of years ago. How about that? Brad (42m 5s): People, I think I’ve covered all the points. You got all the aspects of non animal foods that are still on the diet. And there’s a good big picture. I think one takeaway because I look how long this bullet list is that I mentioned that I’m going in a intuitive manner. That’s not really a great source of stress, whether I’m having to count macros or really pull my hair out, missing things that I wish I could eat. So if I want to fry up some corn tortillas, I have no problem doing that. I’m not concerned about where it sits on the scoreboard. And again, every anything that relates to be an indulgence or a celebratory food, I want to keep those in that category and by doing so, not worry about it at all. Brad (42m 52s): I remember the cheesecake on my birthday. I had a nice big slice, put some whipped cream on top. It was so good. And then what, 30 minutes later, I think I was making my, helping myself since it was my birthday to another slice. Imagine that because you know, you keep these things out of your diet for a long time. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I’m inclined to overindulge because they’re so damn good, but that’s a big difference from the daily habits. That’s the biggest takeaway there. And I appreciate the exercise. Thank you, Martin Brauns for teeing this up with an email exchange and I hope you guys get value out of it. I mentioned Brian liver, King Johnson, and his amazing diet and lifestyle practices. So if you go over to ancestral supplements.com, that’s also where you can order some MOFO for 10% off using the code BRAD. Brad (43m 38s): Thank you very much. But you can also click on this page that says “about us” and that’s a, a really authentic and amazing rundown of Brian and his family’s lifestyle. And what inspired him to start this company and make these organ meats. His children were not thriving and they were getting sick and returning to the doctor and getting prescriptions. And so he had this great health awakening. But the content on that page is probably some of the best stuff I’ve ever read on the internet for how to live that total all in ancestral lifestyle. And this guy is no joke. You go to his house, there’s no wifi signal. So you have to plug in and there’s a hundred foot ethernet cords dangling around all over the place. Brad (44m 19s): So you can always find a place to plug in. You’re not allowed to use your cell phone. They sleep on the ground per Katy Bowman’s recommendation. Oh my goodness. It’s all in all the way. And the dietary strategies are second to none and you might not want to go, you know, to that extreme. But I think we can gain great inspiration from these people that are carrying the torch and that are exploring and digging deep into the science. And second guessing people like Robb Wolf and Paul Saladino, who amazingly lined up on the podcast to produce back to back shows. And the back-to-back interviews really blew my mind because these guys are such straight shooters and so honest and so willing to just engage and call out stuff that they believe to be bullshit in conventional and medical and dietary advice and strategy that is really refreshing. Brad (45m 9s): And I aspire to do the same. So I’m giving you the honest, full truth here. Hope you enjoy it. Thanks for listening. Share the show with somebody. You can push the button on your podcast app and send a little text message and get them into it. Have a great day. Talk to you soon. Bye.

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