About Shawn Baker, MD
Shawn is a physician, lifelong athlete and father. He earned his Bachelor Of Arts University Of Texas At Austin, attended medical school at Texas Tech Health Science University and completes his Orthopedic Surgical Residency at University Of Texas.
Dr. Baker is the author of The Carnivore Diet.
Connect with Shawn
Books and Products Mentioned
Essential Fatty Nutrients | Vitamin D3 5,000 IU | Vitamin K2 as MK-7 90 mcg
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Show Notes
05:09 We are in the infancy in microbiome science, so declaring if a diet is harmful is not accurate.
05:40 There is no fiber on a carnivorous diet, but we can make short chain fatty acids out of amino acids. One of the major ketone bodies is beta hydroxybutyrate, which easily converts to butyrate.
06:16 Many people with ulcerative colitis, celiac, Crohn’s disease, IBS often get better on a carnivore diet and some have increased microbiome diversity.
07:17 In self-reported study of 90 days carnivore, participants lost an average of 30 pounds, 8 centimeters off their waist. Resting heartrate went down by about 8 beats per minute. Improvements were seen in skin health, libido, knee pain, sleep quality and digestive health.
10:03 LDL is considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease in those of us eating a standard American diet.
10:52 Those of us with low or no inflammation, good glucose control, low triglycerides and other low risk markers for cardiovascular disease, is LDL driving disease to the same degree?
11:39 Low carb, keto and carnivore diets bring down triglycerides, bring up HDL, LDL may stay the same or go up or down, brings down inflammation markers, brings down insulin and stabilizes blood glucose.
12:52 Dr. Baker has been on a carnivore diet for 3 years.
15:07 Eat the best meat you can afford. Biomarkers do not reflect dramatic differences between high quality and moderate quality meats.
17:38 Our healthcare industry creates 10% of US greenhouse gasses, so sick people create more greenhouse gasses. A meat-based diet is very healthy, so there are fewer sick people.
18:14 Cattle produce 1.9% of greenhouse gasses.
18:44 When we take animal products out of our diet, we do not replace them with fruits and vegetables. We replace them with corn oil and soybean oil. Beyond meat burger is primarily canola oil, bamboo cellulose pea protein isolate with artificial flavors and colors. It is not health food.
19:36 Calories from soy and corn are not as nourishing as what you can get from beef. Beef is a higher quality protein and contains essential amino acids like lysine, zinc and iron which are difficult to get from plant sources.
21:10 Carnosine is one of the most antiglycating nutrients. It has a critical role in brain health and can only be found in animal products.
22:00 Low levels of carnitine were found in a study of people with major depressive disorder. Vegetarians and vegans have higher rates of mental health disorders.
23:40 There are ways to produce meat that benefit the environment, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. Studies show that methane from cows makes no appreciable rise in atmospheric methane.
27:15 Lab meat requires a continuous supply of fetal bovine serum. It is harvested from a slaughtered pregnant cow. While the fetus is still alive, they stick a big needle into its beating heart and take out its blood.
28:41 Lab meat requires pea and/or soy protein isolates. Growing peas and soy is far less efficient than a cow can do. A cow eats grass and upcycles the amount of protein that is made.
29:42 Lab grown meat cells do not have an immune system, so there is no protection from bacterial contamination or infection. The lab meat must be bathed in antibiotics.
33:40 Grazing animals are critical to restoring soil.
35:12 Many domestic animals have it better than they would in the wild. Ruminants 96% of cows will reach adulthood. Wild ruminants like white tail deer: 50% do not make it to 12 weeks of life, usually eaten by a predator or some environmental factor.
38:06 There are about 750,000 cattle ranchers in the US. Most are small farms with fewer than 100 cows. Most are trucked to big feed lots to be grain finished. It is efficient.
39:05 In 1970 the US had about 130 million cattle. Now we have about 90 million. Despite this, we are producing more beef, yet we are producing less methane, use less water and use less feed.
40:24 Fat is an important energy source for carnivore dieters. Fat is essential and tastes good. Dr. Baker is a big proponent of the ribeye.
41:18 Our ancestors hunted and ate megafauna animals. The animals were fatty. Humans sought fat.
42:12 Humans have one of the lowest gastric pH in the animal kingdom, 1.5. We rank with hyena and vulture.
47:50 People say that you need to eat fiber for your microbiome, digestive function, reduction in cholesterol, heart disease, or cancer. The average person is on the standard American diet of sugar, seed oils and junk food. Any intervention will be beneficial.
48:25 If you don’t eat fiber, you still have regular bowel movements. Gut health nearly always improves. There is conflicting data on human intervention trials. Most pro-fiber data is population derived epidemiology. Intervention trials show that fiber may lower cholesterol a little and lowers blood pressure an insignificant amount.
50:11 It is not normal digestion to have intestinal pain, bloating or cramping. Fiber can be a GI irritant for some people.
52:37 In general, you should ignore headline health risk warnings unless they are in the 200% or more.
59:00 Western medicine has devolved into disease management industry. It is about managing symptoms and disease with expensive band aids. There is no incentive for a healthcare provider to do prevention.
01:05:52 Dr. Baker’s elevator speech: We need to change the focus of our healthcare system from disease management. We need to transform our food and our prevention efforts.
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