12. The Science of a Meat Only Diet & Why RDA is Wrong | Amber O'Hearn

In current times, eating meat only or having a carnivorous diet seems absurd but there is science behind this way of life. We were very enthusiastic of having Amber O'Hearn on board with us to talk about some of the controversial issues, scientific literature (or lack thereof) and the misconceptions around this lifestyle. Hold on to your bootstraps! This is a joyride!       Bio: Amber is a computer and cognitive scientist by training, but has been studying low carb, ketogenic diets on her own time since the 90's. In 2012 she started two whimsical blogs as a place to explore her own questions. www.ketotic.org looks at the science behind ketogenic diets, and www.empiri.ca is a personal site, mostly devoted to carnivorous eating.     Time Stamps: 

1:25 – What kind of diet does Fahad Follow?

2:51 – Amber O’Hearn Intro.

5:15 – “The Carnivores of The Apocalypse”

6:05 – Amber’s journey to Keto/Zero Carb

9:19 – How do I tell my social circle that “I only eat meat”

11:15 – Switching from an introvert to becoming a leading educator in carnivorous lifestyle

13:30 – As an educator, where does Amber go to have her questions answered?

15:07 – How to distinguish good nutritional research from junk nutritional research?

17:30 – How to go beyond the abstract in nutritional studies?

20:56 – Why protein recommendations are low and why people don’t get enough of it

22:50 – Incomplete vs. complete sources of protein

24:55 – Why RDA and biomarkers for high carb diets may be different for Ketogenic diets

27:22 -  Problems with current dietary guidelines

31:28 – Is drinking blood necessary on a zero-carb diet?

33:33 – Aged, fresh vs. rotten meat consumption

35:00 – How various meats are different from others

36:50 – Could certain plants work in synergy with an all meat diet?

38:08 – How plants, fasting and lifestyle choices can influence signaling pathways in the body

42:36 – Have there been pure carnivorous societies?

46:24 – How do you make sense out of so information?

47:49 – What are things that could be potentially unsafe in meat and plants?

50:07 – What kind of toxins may be present in plants we eat on daily basis?

53:10 – Extinction of megafauna and forced domestication of plants

54:11 – What are “phytochemicals” or “phytonutrients”?

56:51 – How could you build nutrition from scratch?

59:50 – Has a carnivorous diet been pitched against complicated diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s?

1:03:27 – How to make sense from various studies using various “Ketogenic Diets”.

1:04:35 – What kind of biomarkers we are currently stressing on are redundant?

1:10:15 – Could you raise carnivorous (zero carb) kids?

1:13:45 – Does Amber have concerns with the meat industry and the environment?

1:18:33 – What is the response to “You’re causing animal suffering”?

1:21:05 – What does Amber think about insect consumption?

1:22:34 – How would Amber design a nutritional study?

1:25:09 – The link between bitcoins, veganism and carnivore diets?

1:27:52 – What’s more likely to cause food born illnesses: meat or plants?

1:29:00 – Could you consume raw meat?

1:31:02 – Antibiotics, probiotics, fiber and why the big focus on microbiome may be overblown!

1:39:33 – What is the future of food and nutrition?

1:41:15 – Final message from Amber