The Natural State with Dr. Anthony Gustin

Today I'm sharing one of the most requested episodes yet: my results from doing a carnivore diet — which means eating only animal products — for 5.5 weeks. At the beginning of March — after doing my own research and receiving a lot of questions about whether or not carnivore is healthy — I started a carnivore diet experiment to track its effects on my cognition, productivity, emotional well-being,...

If you want to live a healthier life, cutting out sugar from your diet is an impactful first step.  Not only is sugar harmful to your metabolism and energy levels, it's also highly addictive, so kicking the habit is necessary to retrain your taste buds and food preferences.  In today's episode, Zevia CEO, father, and athlete Paddy Spence shares his own journey of going sugar-free and explains how...

What if eating less fiber and prebiotic foods was the key to optimal gut health? You've probably heard how important fiber is to feed the bacteria in your gut and speed up digestion, but this popular belief may be doing you more harm than good.  Dr. Michael Ruscio, a leading functional medicine practitioner specializing in gut related disorders, joins me today to bust the most common (and damaging...

There is a lot of misinformation about what it takes to lose weight on a ketogenic diet. Are calories in, calories out all that matters on keto?  Will too much protein stop your weight loss?  How do you stay at a calorie deficit without feeling hungry? To set the record straight, this week I'm chatting with Craig Emmerich, the co-author of the book  Keto: The Complete Guide to Success on The Ketog...

When you do strength training on a carb-based diet, you need a lot of carbs to build and maintain mass.  However, those rules go out the window when you follow a ketogenic diet and become fat-adapted. Building muscle and getting stronger without depending on carbs is completely possible on keto. Today Luis Villasenor explains exactly how to optimize your ketogenic diet for muscle building, includi...

Just like a calorie isn't simply a calorie, a nutrient isn't just a nutrient.  For instance, the zinc in pumpkin seeds isn't absorbed the same way as the zinc in red meat, so it doesn't give you the same health benefits.  The source of your nutrients and the quality of that source are fundamental to your health.  Choosing anything less than the highest-quality, most nutrient-dense foods can lead t...

Most people start a ketogenic diet to reap the fat loss and energy benefits of running on fat instead of carbs, but beginners often struggle during the initial keto-adaptation period – the phase in which your cells adapt to burning fat for energy.  During this keto-adaptation process, your body goes through fundamental cellular changes that improve how you store and create energy, which takes some...

Whether you're a competitive endurance athlete, biker, CrossFitter, or barely entering the fitness world, you've probably heard that the best way to fuel your body and speed up recovery is by loading up on carbs.  You may have also been told that the source of those carbs doesn't matter, so you can indulge in pasta all you want.  When Steph Lowe was doing long-cross triathlon a few years ago, she...

What if everything you were ever taught about dietary fat was wrong?  According to science journalist and best selling author Nina Teicholz, it is.  Nina is an investigative science journalist who became popular after writing her NYT best selling book The Big Fat Surprise, in which she unmasked the truth about saturated fat and how our grain-loving nutritional guidelines are based on bad science a...

Could you eat only meat and water for a year?  Today's guest, Dr. Shawn Baker, is doing just that. Dr. Baker is an orthopedic surgeon, weightlifting world record holder, and pioneer of the carnivore diet. He became a vocal leader of the carnivore movement over a year ago, when he transitioned from the ketogenic diet to fully carnivore.  He eats around 4-6 pounds of meat per day, water, and 0 plant...

Whole grains are promoted as the cornerstone of a healthy diet by authorities like the USDA, the American Heart Association, and the Food Guide Pyramid.  There's just one problem: Grains are also the leading cause of heart disease, especially modern crops like wheat and corn.   When Dr. William Davis came to this shocking realization, he began conducting research and later published the New York T...

If you have a chronic disease like type II diabetes, asthma, Alzheimer's, hypertension, or atopic dermatitis, it's unlikely the severity of your condition will ever diminish under traditional healthcare.  Why?  Because our health system is designed to dull external symptoms with drugs instead of fixing the root causes of chronic conditions, which are often a mix of genetics and lifestyle factors. ...

There's no doubt our exercise and diet habits have drastically changed since the hunter-gatherer days.  We now exercise in machines and have immediate access to high-carb, high-calorie foods. These changes, although convenient, are harming your health more than you think.  Today's guest, Mark Sisson, explains why and what to do about it.  Mark has been advocating for a healthy lifestyle rooted in...

The most effective ways to upgrade your confidence, relationships, energy, and mental performance are also the simplest.  Biohacking means doing small but powerful changes -- biohacks-- that have a profound and long-lasting impact on your health. Today's guest, Tony Wrighton, shares his favorite biohacks for leveling up. Tony Wrighton is a Sky sports presenter as well as an author, one of Britains...

The quality of your food determines the quality of your health. It's no coincidence that the overconsumption of ultra-processed foods goes hand-in-hand with the rise in obesity and heart disease all over the world in the last few decades. The best way to achieve optimal health is to focus on finding, eating, and enjoying real, high-quality food.  Today's guest explains exactly how to do that.  Viv...

The way you perceive and interact with your food affects your health. Counting calories, obsessing over macros, eating on impulse, and binge-eating as a "reward" all foster a harmful relationship with food that makes you miserable and unhealthy.  Today's guest, Chris Dufey, knows this first hand. Chris is an author, speaker, former personal trainer, weight loss expert, and entrepreneur who went fr...

Movement is more than just your workout. It's the way you walk, how you sit, how you stand, and the facial expressions you make.  Everything around us affects our movement, and in turn, our movement has a ripple effect on our physical, emotional, and mental health.  In today's episode, movement coach, licensed massage therapist, podcast host, and founder of Align Therapy™, Aaron Alexander, breaks...

Did you know that over 40% of Alzheimer's disease cases have one main cause?  Today's guest will tell you what it is (hint: it has to do with nutrition). In today's episode, famous science journalist and brain food expert Max Lugavere joins me to talk about how we can protect our brains from dementia and boost our cognitive performance with proper nutrition. He also explains the truth behind the o...

The protective effects of the ketogenic diet, including weight loss and brain power, happen thanks to abundant fatty acids and a strict carb restriction of just 20g/day. But what would happen if the carbs went down from 20g to zero? That's exactly what the carnivore diet does.  In this episode, filmmaker and low carb veteran Chris Bell compares the health effects of both the ketogenic diet and the...

The fuel your body runs on determines how you feel and perform.   Relying on carbs when you should be using fat, or vice-versa, can lower your workout performance, mental energy, and productivity.  Metabolic flexibility unlocks your ability to switch between fats and carbs easily so you can adapt to different situations. Dr. Mike T Nelson is an expert in metabolic flexibility and our guest today. ...

  What is more likely to lead to heart disease: cholesterol or insulin resistance?  According to one of today's guests, Dr. Brian Lenzkes, it's the latter.  Dr. Lenzkes is an internal medicine doctor with extensive knowledge in clinical nutrition. By working closely with his patients, he's discovered insulin resistance is central in many metabolic diseases, much more so that cholesterol or triglyc...

Inflammation is one of the major culprits in virtually all diseases.  Today's guest, Dr. Will Cole, has devoted his entire career to helping people with autoimmune inflammatory conditions, so he's an expert at dealing with inflammation.  One of the tools he implements to reduce inflammation in his patients is nutritional ketosis. A ketogenic diet can dramatically cut down inflammatory reactions an...

To improve your health, all you have to do is pay attention to what you eat. That's what today's guest, Emily Schromm, learned while she was in the process of healing her chronic acne, digestive problems, and fatigue. She explains why a high fat, low carb approach is the best to eradicate these health problems.  Emily is a successful personal trainer, nutritional therapy practitioner, CrossFit coa...

Common nutrition advice champions eating more plants, more vegetables, and more natural foods. But what happens if you turn your back on that advice? What happens when you instead cut out all plants and  only eat meat?  That's the Carnivore Diet, and today's guest Ryan Munsey experimented with this diet for 30 days.  Ryan is a former fitness model, with a Dietetics degree in Food Science and Human...

Calories in vs calories out is a great place to start with weight loss, but where those calories come from does matter.  Carbs make you fat, and we're exploring topics such as carbing up, cheating on keto, and what that does to your body, your gut, and your progress.  We'll also discuss "realistic keto". Because let's face it: you're going to eat pizza again. It's a part of life. How can you incor...