High fat animal based diet

[Nicholas Sortino]

I am just curious if anyone else out there is on a high fat diet (I hate this word so from now on i will use WOE - way of eating)?

My WOE probably consists of roughly 60-70% fat by calories and easily 40% of that is saturated. I only consume maybe 10% of my calories from carbs, and these are entirely in a post workout shake.

I would also venture to say that at least 90% of what I eat is animal products. Generally I don't eat any fruits, grains, nuts, legumes etc and very little vegetables. In fact the only vegetables I eat on a regular basis is the 2 scoops of wheat grass/veggie powder that goes into my PWO shake. Along with a little coconut oil, macnut oil, and whatever artificial ingredients are in my protein, these are the only non animal products I eat.

My diet generally consists of large amounts of eggs, steak, lamb, bacon, ground meat, half&half (normal milk has too much sugar, and I like the cream) and raw cheeses outside of the aforementioned PWO shake. Everything is cooked in either grass-fed butter or grass-fed tallow (if it isn't grilled). I will occasionally marinate in olive oil, but I don't typically use it outside of that. Most (around 75%) of my meat is grass-fed and the eggs are pastured and not fed and disgusting soy and only small amounts of grain. Milk Products are grass-fed and Pasteurized at the lowest legal temps.

Before the outcries of how I am going to die of atherosclerosis within the next year, I would like to note that I don't do this flippantly. Since I have started eating this way my lipid profile has improved dramatically, my blood pressure has gone down, I have more energy throughout the day and even during workouts, and my general health has improved a lot. I don't get sick almost at all anymore, when I used to get bad colds on a regular basis.

I am not starting this thread to have an argument on the merits or detriments of this type of WOE, merely to see if I am not alone. I have done more than my fair share of research into nutrition and have my own results (and the results of others I know who eat this way) to go off of. So please don't try to sway me, as it will be an effort in futility. I won't argue, but I won't agree either.

[Guest]

There are many paleo advocates on this forum (I am one) and although everyone has defined their own little permutation of this particular way of eating, I think most of us proportionally eat large amounts of fat and protein and low amounts of carbs.

[Nicholas Sortino]

There are many paleo advocates on this forum (I am one) and although everyone has defined their own little permutation of this particular way of eating, I think most of us proportionally eat large amounts of fat and protein and low amounts of carbs.

I actually find this surprising since most of the "paleo" people I have met through crossfit don't actually have a clue what it means. The majority of them still ate lean meat and had a lot of fruits and nuts instead of limiting them to smaller amounts. It is nice to hear how forward (or backward really!) thinking a lot of the people here really are.

I wanted to clarify that I don't actually demonize fruits or veggies or anything, i just rarely feel the need to eat them. Some days I will just for variety steam some asparagus with a steak, have a small salad (my wife makes crazy salads), or even a few raspberries and/or blackberries in some heavy cream if i feel the need for a desert. I just merely feel they aren't actually necessary for good health.

[Guest]

Well, I don't pretend to speak for the whole community here but if you read through the various posts in the Nutrition subforum you will notice that many Paleo-people consume large amounts of fats (Ido Portal, one of the moderators, even uses high-fat PWO shakes). Most of it seems to be plant-based (i.e. avocados, nuts, coconut milk etcetera) and from fatty fish, though. I personally prefer to eat lean meat, lots of veggies, and all the rest simply because I like it but I'm quite openminded and as long as another way of eating provides measurable health benefits, who am I to judge? I think the most important thing is not getting caught up in nutritional dogmas.

I actually find this surprising since most of the "paleo" people I have met through crossfit don't actually have a clue what it means. The majority of them still ate lean meat and had a lot of fruits and nuts instead of limiting them to smaller amounts.

A high-fat diet doesn't preclude eating lots of lean meat and veggies as long as fats (whatever their origin) make up a large portion of your caloric intake. Although of course varying from individual to individual, Paleo-style diets will always be proportionally rather high in protein and fat by necessity (since grains etc. are left out) so I don't think it would be necessary to reduce the amount of lean meat, nuts, etcetera. Rather, increase the amount of desired fats.

[Chris Hansen]

Sounds like your diet is working for you.

Personally, I love fat. I eat a lot of veggies too but I don't shy away from fat and my cholesterol levels are the envy of many.

You might want to consider more veggies though. The vitamins and stuff are important.

[Jay Guindon]

I would say I eat a high fat high meat diet. I generally will have two large leafy green salads a day and that is all the vegetables I eat. I usually have an apple with lot's of cinnamon on it once a day as well. The rest of my diet is grassfed beef, eggs, bacon, and coconut oil, and a little bit of olive oil. I don't eat nuts or seeds or grains. Sometimes I have grassfed dairy but if you've seen my previous post I am unsure of continuing this.

The most important thing about any diet is that it improves all your health markers. The second most important thing is that once you find a diet that improves blood lipids, HBA1c, glucose, bodyfat, etc. you can stick to it. I would call myself paleo but I am most certainly not dogmatic about it. It just seems to be a diet that has improved my health markers better than any other I've tried.