My Dive into Nutrition

I, like may interested in the field, closely follow Peter Attia. He is well researched, thoughtful, and a true pioneer in what evidence informed personalized longevity medicine should look like. It is no surprise that I agree with him in almost all facets of his approach to health. So instead of echoing more of the same Attia approved ideas, I thought it would be more helpful to focus on the main area of health that I differ from Peter in my read of the literature. 

What might this disagreement be? It is this:

I am not so sure animal products are healthy.

Honestly, that was very hard to write. As a life long devourer of all things animal flesh, the idea that eggs, steak, and chicken could be harmful to my health is difficult to stomach. Peter's stated approach is that non processed animal products are healthy. That is, they promote health, provide high quality protein, and are not in and of them selves a driver of chronic diseases. He loooooves his Maui Nui venison sticks. I subscribed to this pro meat diet for years and years, happily I might add. Now I am not so sure. 

Notice the hesitancy of the above statement, "I am not so sure animal products are healthy". I can't tell if this is because the literate is messy, or if I just don't want it to be true. For full transparency, I, with every fiber of my being, want to be able to eat meat and not think about it. But, I am forcing myself to challenge this belief. I started by 'sinking my teeth' into many books on the subject, including T Colin Campbell's The Future of Nutrition and The China Study, Michael Greger's, How Not To Die, Marion Nestle's Food Politics, Michael Pollen's In Defense of Food, and Mark Hyman's The Pegan Diet amongst many others. The studies these books cited fascinated me. 

Now the bigger picture challenge for me is this: If I am going to label myself a truly open minded physician, I need to fully explore the data on this and be willing to change my convictions to be in alignment with the data. This is simply good medicine.

Now what I propose to do is to take you on a journey with me, exploring many of the landmark studies as well as the most recent peer reviewed literature coming out on the topic. Together, let's explore this question of animal products in our diet to see if we can get any clarity and make the best personal nutritional decisions with the evidence available.