Dad suffered from a number of health problems. He had GERD, minor psoriasis, mouth ulcers, fatigue and had an extremely hard time losing weight. He stopped eating desserts, went without sugar, and tried exercising. The worst health problem was severe depression. It seems to run in our family.
When I started figuring out my problems were caused by food, and my depression lifted, I convinced dad to go on the same diet. The first year he lost 50 pounds. No joke. He lost about a pound a week. I know this sounds extreme but he’s eating well. We eat a lot and we definitely don’t calorie count. All his minor health problems went away, and he seemed to age backward. No joke, check out his previous YouTube videos (2014 ish) compared to 2016-2017’s. The depression has been harder to get under control but it’s under control too. He doesn’t nap either. We’re going to make a video soon about it.
Anyways this is his diet:
Meats:
- turkey
- beef
- chicken
- lamb
- duck
- wild game is fine too, elk, moose, etc.
- wild salmon
- tuna – check the ingredients! Get stuff that’s just tuna and water and perhaps salt.
- organ meat – chicken liver tastes the best I find
- wild herring – check the ingredients!
- wild sardines – check the ingredients!
Veggies:
- lettuce
- arugula
- arugula microgreens (arugula sprouts)
- cucumber
- swiss chard
- seaweed –check the ingredients! this is hard to find without soy and other things. The brand I’ve linked to is safe and really tasty
- cilantro
- collard greens
- broccoli
- turnips
- cauliflower
- parsnips
- sweet potatoes
- spinach
Fruit:
- olives – check the ingredients! see my olive post. be super careful about which brands you buy here too, many have preservatives and flavours and dyes.
Vinegars:
- apple cider vinegar – try to get the organic stuff so there aren’t dyes and flavours added
Oils:
- coconut oil – get unrefined. And try to avoid the Nutiva brand. It’s everywhere but it doesn’t taste as good, and I’ve had ones that have gone bad before.
- olive oil – make sure your olive oil is pure olive oil. Sometimes it’s also soybean oil!
Spices/Seasonings
- salt
- pepper
- marjoram
- parsley
- oregano
- thyme
- rosemary
- peppermint
- turmeric
- basil
- bay leaf
Other:
- baking soda (probably won’t eat this but it’s good for toothpaste 🙂 )
- peppermint tea – check the ingredients. Buy loose leaf (David’s sells an organic peppermint which is lovely) or organic. We want to make sure there aren’t preservatives or flavours added. White tea bags or coffee filters are often bleached with sulfites. If you’re super sensitive (dad and I), you’ll react to these. So make sure you get organic tea bags as well!
- black tea
- bourbon
- vodka (unflavoured)
This makes it extremely difficult to eat out, and we’d be more relaxed about it if messing up didn’t result in a deep and miserable month long depression. We’re trying to branch out to more foods, but it seems like most of what we try and reintroduce goes badly. Next test is tomatoes!
UPDATE:
Hi Mikhaila, greetings from Mexico!
I just found your blog through your father’s twitter post. I was wondering if you have tried to introduce onions at some point. There are several varieties, red, yellow, white. Maybe you can find one you like. I sometimes prepare french onion soup with the white one, and I have found I feel better in general and with less allergy symptoms.
If you happen to handle onions well, apparently they can aid in introducing tomatoes to your diet when you pair them together in the same meal.
I hope you feel better!
We haven’t tried onions yet.. They’d be an excellent addition and will be tried in the future for sure
Hi Mikhaila,
That’s fascinating, thank you for sharing. I’m on a very similar diet for 5 years now (although I re-introduced some things recently), and it completely changed my life – lost tons of weight, gained strength, more energy, vast psychological improvements etc. etc. It might not be for everyone, but this diet sure seems to help many people.
I wonder if you have looked into iodine supplementation – that’s something that also helped me a lot (and at least for me, it keeps infections at bay!). There is a book about it called “Iodine: Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without it”. And another, less scientific one called “The Iodine Crisis”. Another can of worms for sure!
All the best to you and your family and thanks again from Germany
Hi Mikhaila,
I found your blog after your dear Dad mentioned his meat and greens diet on Joe Rogan.
I am so very glad you have had success with your dietary changes and I was moved to tears when you spoke about the unexpected benefit of your depression lifting.
I am keto, but need to quit dairy. Argh. You have lit a fire under me.
Keto and fasting (and quitting alcohol) have helped me hold an aggressive cancer at bay, and taken 10 years and 60 lb off me.
I love fasting and only do so when I weigh enough to actually fast.
I am going to add foods back one at a time after my next fast.
I am walking the Camino soon (March/April) and intend on putting one foot in front of the other as long as I can.
All the best.
I thought bacon would be on the lost because he talks about eating eggs and bacon every day.
He’s sensitive to pork unfortunately. Even though that was basically his favourite food.. It’s hard to find bacon that sugar and preservative free as well.
Hola Mikhaila!
My dear son Samuel pointed me to this page… I like it! We just bought Jordan’s book 12 Rules For Life. He’s about to start reading it.
Just a quick note to let you know that the link to the updated diet is broken:
https://mikhailapeterson.com/2018/03/12/the-diets-updated-march-2018/
The good one is:
https://mikhailapeterson.com/2018/03/13/the-diet-updated-march-2018/
Wish you the best!
Thanks!
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