If you follow Lauryn on Instagram, you might have noticed her talking about how much protein she’s been consuming lately. Namely, MEAT.
Over the past year, she’s incorporated a lot more red meat, eggs, and raw dairy into her life and can really feel the difference: think more energy, more efficient workouts, better sleep, better hair, better skin and nails – always a win.
Either way, more and more doctors, integrative wellness coaches, and other health professionals are talking about the benefits of meat, eggs, and dairy. But just a few years ago, everything seemed to be vegan, vegan, vegan. It’s hard to follow, isn’t it?
As always, we are here to INFORM and present all sides of the story, if you will. If you’re vegan, great, if you’re a carnivore, good for you, if you’re pescatarian, we love it. You always do. We’re not trying to change our minds here, we just always want to explore different points of view and facts with openness.
With that, today on the blog we have a little q&a from Dr. Paul Saladino from Heart & Ground. He was also recently on the podcast, which is so factual and science-backed. He is a doctor who has personally seen incredible changes in his patients’ health issues and conditions and in his episode it goes into the vegan diet, “irreversible” diseases and health issues, and the misconceptions around an animal-based diet. We are so happy to have him also on the blog where he shares his idea of a balanced diet, how a vegan can start incorporating meat into their diet, food quality and more.
Let’s go with Dr. Paul Saladino.
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♡ Introduce yourself to The Skinny Confidential audience.
Paul Saladin: My name is Paul Saladino and I am a dual certified medical doctor.
Throughout my medical training, I realized that our Western medical system does not help people lead healthy lives. I left the practice of conventional medicine when I realized how flawed this system was. And I now help millions more people by sharing information on my social networks.
I believe in challenging our assumptions about health and nutrition. I also believe that most chronic diseases are preventable and reversible. And I believe that nutritional choices are at the root of the majority of chronic diseases that people suffer from today.
♡ How did you personally discover the benefits of an animal-based diet?
PS: My personal health journey has seen me experiment with a number of different diets. I’ve done vegan, keto, paleo, and carnivore, all in my quest for optimal health. A common thread throughout this journey was a willingness to challenge my assumptions about nutrition and refuse to become beholden to any particular nutritional dogma.
This allowed me to arrive at what I call an animal-based diet, centered on the most sought-after, nutrient-dense foods available to humans. Meat, offal, fruit, honey and raw dairy products. These are foods that our ancestors were looking for above all else.
♡ Can you give us scientific evidence and benefits that humans need animal foods?
PS: Consider the fact that there are NO essential nutrients for human health found only in plant foods. But there are many, many nutrients essential to human health that are found ONLY in foods of animal origin.
Things like creatine, carnitine, carnosine, anserine, taurine, K2, B12, riboflavin, choline, biotin, retinol, heme iron, etc. the list goes on.
Meat intervention studies consistently show that animal foods improve fertility, memory, intelligence, strength, and improve chronic disease, weight loss, diabetes, and more.
I’ve talked about these studies many times on my social media and my podcast.
Those who claim that vegetables are loaded with nutrients forget that these nutrients are linked to anti-nutrients, which makes them less available to your body. But animal foods contain the most readily available nutrients for your body to absorb and use (consider the bioavailable heme iron found in meat versus the non-heme iron found in vegetables, for example).
And if we take a look at our evolution, the importance of foods of animal origin becomes quite clear. About 2 million years ago, we saw an increase in the size of human brain growth, and that’s exactly when we started hunting and eating meat and organ meats.
♡ What does a balanced diet look like to you?
PS:The idea of a balanced diet is a modern concept. Our human ancestors weren’t looking for a balanced diet, they were looking for the most nutrient dense foods they could find. Inevitably, this led them to seek out animal foods like meat and organ meats, ripe fruits and honey.
Instead of aiming for a balanced diet, I would suggest aiming to get as many nutrients as possible in your diet, while limiting foods that contain added anti-nutrients such as those found in grains, beans, nuts, seeds and vegetables.
♡ If someone has been vegan for a while, not feeling their best and looking for a change, what easy animal-based addition can they make.
PS: I would absolutely start by adding grass fed meat to the diet. Start slowly if necessary. And start eating liver – 0.5 oz a day is all you need. Or just 4 oz per week. Liver is the most nutrient-dense food on the planet.
If you can’t get fresh organs, try our desiccated organ supplements at Heart & Ground. Our supplements are tasteless, so it will be an easier transition for you than going straight to meat or fresh offal. But I’m confident that once you start feeling the benefits, you won’t look back.
♡ What is your opinion on the quality of foods of animal origin? Is lower quality better than none due to affordability and availability?
PS: Lower quality animal foods will almost always be better than animal foods.
But I think the quality of your food is important…especially what the animal was fed, and whether or not there are any added ingredients such as fillers, gums, seasonings, etc. I mostly stick to grass fed beef.
The good news is that it’s totally possible to eat high-quality animal food on as little as $10 a day. I showed that it was possible even in Beverly Hills.
A lot of people on a budget end up compromising on food quality, but I think that’s a huge mistake. And even on a small budget, you can still eat super high quality foods that will lead to incredible health.
♡ What’s your favorite meal to cook on a busy weeknight that makes you feel good?
PS: My favorite dish is definitely the grass fed ground beef. I make burgers out of them and cook them on my grill. To this I will add a few organs (fresh or dried from Heart & Ground), fruits (pineapple, mango, banana), raw dairy products (fermented kefir and raw cheese/butter) and raw honey.
Not only is this meal incredibly nutritious, it’s so delicious that I can’t get enough of it. It’s also incredibly quick to make.
♡ Are there any animal foods you’re not a fan of?
PS: I’m not a big fan of pork and chicken.
The quality of what your chicken or pork is fed matters a lot, and it is INCREDIBLY difficult to find chicken or pork fed a species-appropriate diet.
That said, choosing to eat chicken or pork over grains or vegetables will still be a huge improvement for your health, as they are more nutrient dense and the nutrients are more bioavailable and absorbable than the nutrients found in plant foods. .
♡ Tell us the story of someone who has benefited from your supplements or philosophy.
PS: There are so many!
Find out what happened when Caitlin started taking our beef organs extra charge:
Stop thinking about it and take it!! I’m on my second bottle and have already had to lower my thyroid meds for my Hashimotos. I had more energy, better sleep and my skin started to improve as well. I’m much stronger now and have gone from 3 days a week to 5-6 days a week. The changes are gradual. But one day you look back and you’re like WOW. It’s the little changes that stack up to life-changing results. Thank you very much for this product!
At Heart & Soil, we have thousands of stories like this of people who have started nourishing their bodies with our desiccated organ supplements. You can read more on our website.
♡ What book, podcast or resource do you recommend?
PS: If you’re interested in long-form content and a deeper dive into health and nutrition, check out my podcast Basic Health.
Otherwise look at my instagram where I regularly talk about animal-based diets and other health-related topics.
♡ Where can everyone find you? Pimp yourself!
PS: instagram, Youtube, ICT Tac, Twitter, Spotify And Apple podcast.
You can also find me on my website: paulsaladinomd.co
And if you’re ready to experience the power of organs, then visit Heart & Ground (start with the beef organs).
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Be sure to read more about Dr. Saladino on his platforms. He always shares success stories and facts about an animal-based diet. Also, you can use code SKINNY for 10% off your order at Heart & Ground.
x, the Skinny Confidential team.
+ learn how to heal your gut after taking antibiotics here.
++ rod these mediterranean recipes by Neda Varbanova.
STORE DR. SALADINO FAVORITES:
