You Cured What?!

Jason Sousa, health coach and CEO of Solas Light, shares his experience of overcoming health adversity from Lyme Disease.

For complete show notes, visit http://youcuredwhat.com/podcast/jason[1:00] Jason is a functional medicine health coach and the founder and CEO of Solas Light.

[1:55] Jason grew up close to Lyme, CT.

[2:40] Jason got Lyme twice. He got it once in 2007 and once in 2013.

[3:45] Jason’s medical providers initially just followed the standard approach and gave him antibiotics for Lyme.

[4:50] Jason was having awful symptoms of Lyme: nerve pain, couldn’t get out of bed, could barely walk, serious pain in stomach, liver, and kidney.

[6:00] Lyme is an infection (from a tick bite); once you have it, you will always test positive for Lyme; it’s in your blood. It’s like having a parasite in the body.

[6:25] What alternatives (to standard conventional medicine approach of antibiotics) did Jason try for Lyme?

[7:20] Some of the alternative healing modalities were herbs, sound therapy, light therapy, high-dose Vitamin C, and even crystals. The (retired) doctor who helped him with these treatments is Arthur Gertler.

[8:20] Light helped his body heal, which is why he started Solas Light.

[9:20] Jason sat/laid on mats that pulsed specific electromagnetic fields (EMFs) to help combat Lyme and found this beneficial. Some studies indicate that certain frequencies can actually kill parasites and regulate blood flow and other processes.

[10:25] Certain sound wavelengths can be beneficial. They were healing for Jason.

[12:35] Jason started feeling better within 6-8 weeks of doing the “alternative” treatments.

[14:10] Jason says his sickness ultimately put his life onto a better path.

[14:50] Jason was amazed that there were not more opportunities available to use light therapy which had been so beneficial for him. 15-20 minutes a day reduced his inflammation and improved his mood. To provide this type of technology: that’s what motivated him to start Solas Light.

[17:10] Jason describes a red light therapy session and goes into some of the ways red light therapy works in the body (through helping body’s cells’ mitochondria function properly).

[18:50] Red light boosts cellular ATP production (cellular energy).

[21:10] Humans are natural beings that need light.

[22:30] Red light therapy typically operate on two wavelengths.

[23:50] Jason’s testosterone used to be low. Red light therapy took his free testosterone levels from 300-400 levels up to nearly 1000.

[25:55] Jason’s dad saw a lot of benefit for hair growth from red light therapy.

[27:55] Jason describes the subjective improvements in energy and libido from the increased testosterone he’s gained from red light therapy.

[29:40] Jason stands in front of his red light for about 15 minutes a day, 5-6 days a week. 5 minutes of that he stands naked to get the testosterone boost (using the red light wavelength).

[31:40] Jason shares one of his favorite customer stories: the customer used red light to improve back and nerve pain. And his daughter used red light therapy to overcome horrible menstrual cramps.

[34:55] Did diet make any impact on Jason’s health?

[37:20] How did crystals factor into Jason’s healing Lyme treatments? His mood “just changed”

[39:55] Jason gives some detail on blue light and how excessive amounts of it are likely harmful for health.

[47:35] “How human can you be during the day?”

[48:10] Jason recommends his company’s blog for more info on red light and also recommends searching “red light” at Science Direct.

[50:55] Does Jason consider himself cured of Lyme Disease?

[52:55] Jason considers socialization with family, love, light, sound, good food, good water, good relationships good ways to make deposits to your own health.

[53:25] Now that Jason has improved his health, what is one thing Jason enjoys doing that he couldn’t do before?

[54:25] Jason’s company’s site is solaslight.com (use code 10OFF for 10% off) and his health

Vic Basmadjian shares his story of curing himself after many years of hypertension, acid reflux, and severe sleep apnea.

For complete show notes, visit http://youcuredwhat.com/podcast/vic[1:00] Vic Basmadjian is now a health coach but he comes from a background of battling obesity and having years and years of sleep apnea and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD, also known as acid reflux).

[3:50] Vic used to be a bit of a yo-yo dieter. He could lose weight for a while but he wouldn’t keep it off.

[5:00] Vic tried Weight Watchers several times.

[7:00] The heaviest Vic ever got was 295 pounds.

[8:10] Vic is 57 at the time of recording. He started to have hypertension at the age of 25. Even on blood pressure medication, he was borderline hypertensive.

[10:15] Vic’s medical providers gave him the advice of “Eat less, move more, and watch your salt.”

[12:30] On top of high blood pressure, Vic was suffering from acid reflux.

[13:15] Vic describes some of the symptoms of acid reflux.

[15:30] Vic’s GERD got progressively worse from age 40 on.

[15:45] At age 50, Vic was diagnosed with sleep apnea.

[16:50] Every 15 seconds or so during his sleep, Vic’s breathing was stopping. He was put on a CPAP machine.

[19:35] What did Vic change at age 55 (at a weight of nearly 300 pounds)? He started cutting out starchy foods.

[21:00] After some success by cutting starchy foods, Vic’s son mentioned the ketogenic diet to him.

[21:50] Vic started following Doctor Tro online and learned a lot from him.

[25:30] What was the timeline like for Vic’s transformation and reversal of high blood pressure, GERD, and sleep apnea?

[26:40] Within two months of adopting a ketogenic diet, his blood pressure normalized. He had to reduce his blood pressure meds, and eventually went off them altogether in about 6-7 months.

[28:30] It took about eight months of the ketogenic diet to be able to come off his CPAP machine.

[33:50] From nearly 300 pounds, Vic got his weight down to about 180 pounds. He has maintained 180-185 pounds for approximately a year and a half as of recording.

[35:00] What types of foods make up Vic’s ketogenic diet?

[46:00] What was Vic’s doctor’s reaction to Vic being able to come off thirty years of blood pressure medication?

[50:15] Vic got a lot of his family to improve their diets even if they didn’t all go full-on keto.

[51:15] Vic’s wife eventually went full-on keto and lost 35 pounds.

[52:00] Vic helped two of his friends lose 100 pounds apiece.

[53:15] Vic is now a keto coach; he does it out of passion.

[56:30] Does Vic consider himself cured of hypertension, GERD, and/or sleep apnea?

[57:45] Vic used to have eczema on his fingers and he has seen a large improvement in that.

[58:45] Now that Vic has improved his health, what is one thing he enjoys doing that he couldn’t do before?

Scott Riley shares the fascinating journey of mind, body, and spirit that helped him cure his rheumatoid arthritis and depression.

For complete show notes, visit http://youcuredwhat.com/podcast/scott[2:40] Scott provides his background dealing with rheumatoid arthritis.

[3:40] Scott tried some immunosuppressant drugs for his autoimmune condition: rheumatoid arthritis.

[5:10] Scott found one pharmaceutical drug which helped for about six months. But then it stopped working and this was very discouraging.

[5:55] Scott describes his rock bottom point. It was in June 2014: his joint pain made it difficult to open doors, brush his teeth, and to go up and down stairs.

[6:50] Scott also started to feel very isolated and withdrawn.

[8:40] Scott lacked any hope and had what might be described as suicidal depression. "I certainly did not want to be here."

[11:05] After researching people who had success with autoimmune conditions online, Scott came across the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. In the documentary, the main person Joe Cross, healed from an autoimmune condition by going on a 60-day juice fast.

[12:30] Scott decided a 60-day juice fast would be worth trying. He decided to combine the approaches of two juicing documentaries: Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead (by Joe Cross) and Super Juice Me (by Jason Vale).

[14:30] Six months out from January 2015, Scott booked a trip to the Peruvian Amazon to be treated by tribes there with plant medicines.

[15:30] In the Amazon, Scott was treated with wachuma, ayahuasca, and bobinsana. Scott originally heard about the idea from Aubrey Marcus on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

[17:45] What was Scott's experience like on the juice fast?

[23:45] What were some of the tangible effects of the juice fast that started to show up about four weeks in?

[28:00] Between the 60-day juice fast and his trip to Peru, Scott's diet was "clean" and consisted mainly of steamed veggies, chicken, and fish. No refined sugar, processed foods, or added salt.

[28:45] What was Scott's first solid food meal after his 60-day fast?

[30:45] Booking the trip to Peru was key for Scott in his healing and for him sticking to his juice fast.

[31:25] The place Scott went to in Peru is Sprit Quest Sanctuary near Iquitos.

[32:45] The treatments (the plant medicines mentioned earlier) have a psychoactive component.

[40:30] Scott describes the setup of SpiritQuest Sanctuary at his arrival.

[45:20] Scott recommends Michael Pollan's book How to Change Your Mind as a good Western look at psychedelic/psychoactive drugs/medicines. The book describes some of the neuroplasticity that can be achieved by psychedelics.

[50:00] Scott describes the start of the Peruvian treatment and the focus placed upon setting intentions. "Whenever you set the intention to actually take the medicine, it begins working."

[54:30] This (ayahuasca) was Scott's first experience with psychoactive medicine.

[1:00:00] Ayahuasca treatments were every other night at SpiritQuest Sanctuary.

[1:04:20] Part of the healing process involved the entire SpiritQuest group (approximately 20 people being treated) getting together and sharing their experiences the morning after ayahuasca treatments.

[1:10:00] The ayahuasca portion of treatment was challenging; the wachuma portion was uplifting. Scott had set two intentions in Peru: to help others improve the quality and circumstances of their lives, and to find other likeminded people to connect with.

[1:14:30] Scott found out about the Wim Hof Method and took the 10-week course: it took him from a prevention mindset (keep the bad symptoms away) to an optimization mindset (as in, "I'm capable of so much more than I realized").

[1:17:00] Scott became a certified Wim Hof instructor. The Wim Hof Method has 3 pillars: breathwork, cold immersion, and mindset. It helps train your nervous system to go from "fight-or-flight" to "rest-and-digest"; it helps

Debra Scott shares her story of reversing Type 2 Diabetes, a condition that has afflicted her and many of her family members.

For complete show notes, visit http://youcuredwhat.com/podcast/debra[1:45] Many of Debra’s family members have suffered from Type 2 Diabetes, including her late mother.

[2:45] Debra describes many of the negative side effects of diabetes that her family members have dealt with.

[4:15] A couple years ago, Debra was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes herself.

[5:25] Debra’s HbA1c reading was 62 (7.8%).

[6:30] Once she was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, she was not given any way to do blood glucose testing. She compares the situation to crossing the road blindfolded.

[7:45] Debra was prescribed Metformin. Debra was concerned about taking any kind of medications due to potential side effects so she decided to do some research on her own.

[8:40] Debra did some research at home; at the time, she didn’t even know what a carbohydrate was.

[9:30] Debra learned about low-carbohydrate diets and healthy fats.

[10:30] Debra went to the forums at diabetes.co.uk. She transitioned to a low carb diet (approximately 30 grams of carbohydrate per day).

[11:30] Debra’s official advice, provided to her in booklets, had been to eat 50% of her foods as starchy carbohydrates. But she was learning from the diabetes.co.uk forums, she was learning that people were having a great deal of success by cutting these starchy foods out of their diets.

[13:15] Debra found in her research that prior to 1980, guidelines had promoted low carbohydrate diets, but that changed due in large part to flawed research of Ancel Keys which promoted low-fat diets.

[16:45] Debra describes the starchy foods she avoids on her low-carbohydrate diet and she describes some of the foods she replaces them with.

[23:30] From December 2017 to February 2018, after adopting a low-carbohydrate diet, Debra shocked her diabetic nurse: her HbA1c dropped from 62 to 47 (7.8% to 6.5%). The nurse had never seen such a dramatic improvement before, so quickly. Debra’s latest test, in November 2019, came back with an even further improvement to 36 (5.4%).

[29:15] Debra hadn’t been given a low-carbohydrate option by her medical care providers; she had to Google it.

[30:15] She wants to get the message out there that Type 2 Diabetes doesn’t have to be a chronic, progressive disease. She wants people to know that “you can do this”

[32:45] Debra recommends searching the web for videos about low carb and “reversing diabetes”.

[34:15] The low-carb diet keeps Debra full for longer.

[38:00] Debra was 55 at the time of her diagnosis (she is 57 as of recording).

[40:45] Debra knows someone who had an HbA1c of 125 (13.6%) and was able to bring it down to 33 (5.2%) using a low-carbohydrate approach.

[43:30] Debra describes the improvements she felt beyond just her blood sugar numbers dropping.

[46:15] Now that she has improved her health, what is one thing Debra enjoys doing that she couldn’t do before?

[47:30] Debra’s husband has also adopted a low-carb diet. He lost 28 pounds and improved his blood pressure in doing so.

[49:40] Debra is passionate about getting the word out about how much low-carbohydrate diets can help improve people’s lives even though she doesn’t get paid a penny for anything about diabetes or low-carb diets.

[52:10] Debra has lost 56 pounds as a part of this process.

[53:15] Does Debra consider herself cured of Type 2 Diabetes?

[1:02:25] Debra’s sugar cravings went away with her low-carbohydrate way of eating.

Debra Scott shares her story of reversing Type 2 Diabetes, a condition that has afflicted her and many of her family members.

For complete show notes, visit http://youcuredwhat.com/podcast/debra[1:45] Many of Debra’s family members have suffered from Type 2 Diabetes, including her late mother.

[2:45] Debra describes many of the negative side effects of diabetes that her family members have dealt with.

[4:15] A couple years ago, Debra was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes herself.

[5:25] Debra’s HbA1c reading was 62 (7.8%).

[6:30] Once she was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, she was not given any way to do blood glucose testing. She compares the situation to crossing the road blindfolded.

[7:45] Debra was prescribed Metformin. Debra was concerned about taking any kind of medications due to potential side effects so she decided to do some research on her own.

[8:40] Debra did some research at home; at the time, she didn’t even know what a carbohydrate was.

[9:30] Debra learned about low-carbohydrate diets and healthy fats.

[10:30] Debra went to the forums at diabetes.co.uk. She transitioned to a low carb diet (approximately 30 grams of carbohydrate per day).

[11:30] Debra’s official advice, provided to her in booklets, had been to eat 50% of her foods as starchy carbohydrates. But she was learning from the diabetes.co.uk forums, she was learning that people were having a great deal of success by cutting these starchy foods out of their diets.

[13:15] Debra found in her research that prior to 1980, guidelines had promoted low carbohydrate diets, but that changed due in large part to flawed research of Ancel Keys which promoted low-fat diets.

[16:45] Debra describes the starchy foods she avoids on her low-carbohydrate diet and she describes some of the foods she replaces them with.

[23:30] From December 2017 to February 2018, after adopting a low-carbohydrate diet, Debra shocked her diabetic nurse: her HbA1c dropped from 62 to 47 (7.8% to 6.5%). The nurse had never seen such a dramatic improvement before, so quickly. Debra’s latest test, in November 2019, came back with an even further improvement to 36 (5.4%).

[29:15] Debra hadn’t been given a low-carbohydrate option by her medical care providers; she had to Google it.

[30:15] She wants to get the message out there that Type 2 Diabetes doesn’t have to be a chronic, progressive disease. She wants people to know that “you can do this”

[32:45] Debra recommends searching the web for videos about low carb and “reversing diabetes”.

[34:15] The low-carb diet keeps Debra full for longer.

[38:00] Debra was 55 at the time of her diagnosis (she is 57 as of recording).

[40:45] Debra knows someone who had an HbA1c of 125 (13.6%) and was able to bring it down to 33 (5.2%) using a low-carbohydrate approach.

[43:30] Debra describes the improvements she felt beyond just her blood sugar numbers dropping.

[46:15] Now that she has improved her health, what is one thing Debra enjoys doing that she couldn’t do before?

[47:30] Debra’s husband has also adopted a low-carb diet. He lost 28 pounds and improved his blood pressure in doing so.

[49:40] Debra is passionate about getting the word out about how much low-carbohydrate diets can help improve people’s lives even though she doesn’t get paid a penny for anything about diabetes or low-carb diets.

[52:10] Debra has lost 56 pounds as a part of this process.

[53:15] Does Debra consider herself cured of Type 2 Diabetes?

[1:02:25] Debra’s sugar cravings went away with her low-carbohydrate way of eating.

David Smith shares his experience overcoming decades of depression, bipolar disorder, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and many other ailments.

For complete show notes, visit http://youcuredwhat.com/podcast/david[1:40] David shares his health history. He marks his conditions largely by carbohydrate addiction and exercise addiction.

[4:50] David describes his background with bipolar type 2 disorder.

[6:55] David went to psychiatrists for depression and hypomania, and he tried medications for them, with limited success.

[9:00] David’s depressions were cyclical.

[10:00] David recently scored a 0 on a depression questionnaire for the first time.

[11:00] David has not had any depressive episodes since he began eating a ketogenic diet about 4.5 years ago.

[13:00] For nearly four decades between graduating college and learning about the ketogenic diet, David suffered from cyclical depressions at least every year. He describes some of the medications he tried during this long stretch of time.

[17:00] David now eats 10 egg yolks per day.

[19:00] David used to have a low body temperature, tingling in his fingers, and tooth decay to go along with his depression.

[19:30] David’s tinnitus, skin tags, and brain fog also went away with his dietary change.

[22:00] David has experimented with wearing a continuous glucose monitor to see the effects different foods have on his blood sugar.

[26:50] What were the changes in David’s diet that helped lead to his major health improvements?

[27:35] David initially did “lazy keto” or “dirty keto”. Now he eats largely carnivorously (meat, eggs, fish as staple foods).

[29:20] David recommends against eating seed oils (e.g. vegetable oil, canola oil, soybean oil, corn oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, etc).

[31:15] David used to be very sensitive to sunburn. He no longer gets sun

burns.

[33:50] “If you don’t address root causes, you are asking for trouble.”

[38:50] How did David hear about the ketogenic diet?

[41:20] David discusses Dr. Christopher Palmer’s work noting that Palmer uses the ketogenic diet like a medication: this holds true to the idea that it can even be dangerous for Palmer’s patients to discontinue the diet cold turkey.

[41:50] David can make his gastroesophageal reflux disease come back in a few days by changing what he eats.

[47:20] David does intermittent fasting effortlessly now. He feels enhanced energy and mental clarity.

[49:00] David used to be addicted to carbohydrates; he ate a lot of Ben and Jerry’s!

[50:40] David has experimented with hyperthermic stress exercise.

[52:20] After a hyperthermic exercise experience, David noticed a cessation of his carb cravings.

[55:00] David has noticed leg cramps are related to electrolyte intake.

[56:45] How have doctors, family, and friends reacted to David’s change in diet and in health?

[1:07:15] Now that he has improved his health, what is one thing David enjoys doing that he couldn’t do before?

David Smith shares his experience overcoming decades of depression, bipolar disorder, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and many other ailments.

For complete show notes, visit http://youcuredwhat.com/podcast/david[1:40] David shares his health history. He marks his conditions largely by carbohydrate addiction and exercise addiction.

[4:50] David describes his background with bipolar type 2 disorder.

[6:55] David went to psychiatrists for depression and hypomania, and he tried medications for them, with limited success.

[9:00] David’s depressions were cyclical.

[10:00] David recently scored a 0 on a depression questionnaire for the first time.

[11:00] David has not had any depressive episodes since he began eating a ketogenic diet about 4.5 years ago.

[13:00] For nearly four decades between graduating college and learning about the ketogenic diet, David suffered from cyclical depressions at least every year. He describes some of the medications he tried during this long stretch of time.

[17:00] David now eats 10 egg yolks per day.

[19:00] David used to have a low body temperature, tingling in his fingers, and tooth decay to go along with his depression.

[19:30] David’s tinnitus, skin tags, and brain fog also went away with his dietary change.

[22:00] David has experimented with wearing a continuous glucose monitor to see the effects different foods have on his blood sugar.

[26:50] What were the changes in David’s diet that helped lead to his major health improvements?

[27:35] David initially did “lazy keto” or “dirty keto”. Now he eats largely carnivorously (meat, eggs, fish as staple foods).

[29:20] David recommends against eating seed oils (e.g. vegetable oil, canola oil, soybean oil, corn oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, etc).

[31:15] David used to be very sensitive to sunburn. He no longer gets sun

burns.

[33:50] “If you don’t address root causes, you are asking for trouble.”

[38:50] How did David hear about the ketogenic diet?

[41:20] David discusses Dr. Christopher Palmer’s work noting that Palmer uses the ketogenic diet like a medication: this holds true to the idea that it can even be dangerous for Palmer’s patients to discontinue the diet cold turkey.

[41:50] David can make his gastroesophageal reflux disease come back in a few days by changing what he eats.

[47:20] David does intermittent fasting effortlessly now. He feels enhanced energy and mental clarity.

[49:00] David used to be addicted to carbohydrates; he ate a lot of Ben and Jerry’s!

[50:40] David has experimented with hyperthermic stress exercise.

[52:20] After a hyperthermic exercise experience, David noticed a cessation of his carb cravings.

[55:00] David has noticed leg cramps are related to electrolyte intake.

[56:45] How have doctors, family, and friends reacted to David’s change in diet and in health?

[1:07:15] Now that he has improved his health, what is one thing David enjoys doing that he couldn’t do before?

Barbara Kendrick shares her story of overcoming chronic kidneystones, IBS, fatty liver disease, losing 170 pounds, and more.

For complete show notes, visit http://youcuredwhat.com/podcast/barbara[1:10] Barbara details her health history. She was overweight dealing with hypertension, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, edema, chronic kidneystones, and more.

[3:35] Barbara’s highest weight was 367 pounds.

[5:10] Barbara would pass a kidneystone about once a month. She had multiple surgeries for this, and her medical team was unsure what was causing these kidneystones.

[6:00] Barbara found out she was also becoming diabetic (Type 2) around the time of her 40th birthday. (As of recording, Barbara is 44 years old.)

[7:00] Barbara is now off all medications and has not had a kidneystone in two years. She no longer has IBS, high blood pressure, or fatty liver disease.

[8:00] Barbara lost 170 pounds in the process (“a nice side effect”) of getting healthy.

[12:00] Barbara saw her health problems as being connected to insulin resistance, which she addressed by adopting a low carbohydrate ketogenic diet.

[15:00] Barbara describes what it felt like to transition from the standard American diet to a ketogenic diet. It was a difficult transition for a couple weeks.

[17:50] Barbara describes what kept her going through the rough transition (the “keto flu”).

[20:55] Barbara still had a few kidneystones in her first year on the ketogenic diet. And her blood pressure remained elevated for her first year on the diet. Her blood sugar came down right away and her IBS went away quickly.

[27:15] Barbara’s doctor is fully supportive of her ketogenic diet, asks her questions about it, and has even recommended it to other patients.

[28:30] Barbara describes a lot of the foods she eats on her ketogenic diet: she usually eats less than 20 grams of carbohydrates per day. Strict keto through the week, “dirty keto” on the weekend. She eats eggs, cheese, burgers, bacon, seafood, and veggies (among other foods).

[32:00] Barbara did not count calories for her first couple years on the ketogenic diet. Now to break a plateau, she has begun tracking the calories she’s eating.

[34:00] She has found there is such a thing as eating too many ketogenic foods.

[35:50] Barbara’s husband (her “swole-mate”) lost 60 pounds and her daughter lost 125 pounds. Both did so eating ketogenic diets.

Barbara Kendrick shares her story of overcoming chronic kidneystones, IBS, fatty liver disease, losing 170 pounds, and more.

For complete show notes, visit http://youcuredwhat.com/podcast/barbara[1:10] Barbara details her health history. She was overweight dealing with hypertension, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, edema, chronic kidneystones, and more.

[3:35] Barbara’s highest weight was 367 pounds.

[5:10] Barbara would pass a kidneystone about once a month. She had multiple surgeries for this, and her medical team was unsure what was causing these kidneystones.

[6:00] Barbara found out she was also becoming diabetic (Type 2) around the time of her 40th birthday. (As of recording, Barbara is 44 years old.)

[7:00] Barbara is now off all medications and has not had a kidneystone in two years. She no longer has IBS, high blood pressure, or fatty liver disease.

[8:00] Barbara lost 170 pounds in the process (“a nice side effect”) of getting healthy.

[12:00] Barbara saw her health problems as being connected to insulin resistance, which she addressed by adopting a low carbohydrate ketogenic diet.

[15:00] Barbara describes what it felt like to transition from the standard American diet to a ketogenic diet. It was a difficult transition for a couple weeks.

[17:50] Barbara describes what kept her going through the rough transition (the “keto flu”).

[20:55] Barbara still had a few kidneystones in her first year on the ketogenic diet. And her blood pressure remained elevated for her first year on the diet. Her blood sugar came down right away and her IBS went away quickly.

[27:15] Barbara’s doctor is fully supportive of her ketogenic diet, asks her questions about it, and has even recommended it to other patients.

[28:30] Barbara describes a lot of the foods she eats on her ketogenic diet: she usually eats less than 20 grams of carbohydrates per day. Strict keto through the week, “dirty keto” on the weekend. She eats eggs, cheese, burgers, bacon, seafood, and veggies (among other foods).

[32:00] Barbara did not count calories for her first couple years on the ketogenic diet. Now to break a plateau, she has begun tracking the calories she’s eating.

[34:00] She has found there is such a thing as eating too many ketogenic foods.

[35:50] Barbara’s husband (her “swole-mate”) lost 60 pounds and her daughter lost 125 pounds. Both did so eating ketogenic diets.

Doug Wright shares his story of how he reversed his depression, allergies, and lost over 150 pounds and how he gained excellent health.

For complete show notes, visit http://youcuredwhat.com/podcast/dougwright[1:45] Doug grew up as a football player and lived at a high weight.

[2:20] Doug was suffering from depression, borderline type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and he also just got sick more than the average person. He also had dry skin, bloating, and he got sunburnt very easily.

[3:00] Most of the aforementioned problems went away as he underwent a journey of changing his diet. This journey started when Doug adopted a ketogenic diet. After that, he started eliminating foods that caused him problems and added more high-quality animal foods.

[4:00] Doug first eliminated seed oils, nuts, and any highly-processed plant foods (“if it comes in a bag or box”) that he could. Then he started adding animal foods like steak, eggs, and liver.

[4:45] Doug has noticed additional benefits at each step: from standard American diet to keto. From keto to carnivore. And even more small benefits from carnivore to raw carnivore (yes, that’s raw meat!). Now he hasn’t been sick in years.

[6:30] Doug looked at the root cause of his health problems instead of just treating the symptoms. In doing so, he lost well over 150 pounds. And once he started feeling better, he felt more like exercising.

[8:50] Starting at age 20 or 21 (he is nearly 27 as of recording), Doug began eating a ketogenic diet for about 4 years. He had good results. But he then began experimenting and noticed additional benefits from removing many plant foods.

[10:20] Doug considers the removal of sugars, grains, and seed oils very important to his health.

[12:00] In 2017, Doug experimented with Protein-Sparing Modified Fasts. He lost a lot of weight but did not feel optimal. He feels this was not addressing root cause of his health issues.

[13:45] Doug challenges others to find health for themselves and to look at root cause instead of symptoms.

[16:00] Doug understands that eating a raw carnivore diet sounds radical, but he doesn’t push everyone to eat that way. He just found health for himself in that way.

[17:40] Doug has been eating a raw carnivore diet for nearly 2 years.

[18:00] Doug and Joe discuss a book they both learned a lot from: Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Weston A. Price

[25:15] After changing to a ketogenic diet (and eventually to carnivore), Doug doesn’t need to eat as much food. He feels more satiated now that he has cut highly processed foods out of his diet.

[27:15] Doug’s blood sugar is now stable.

[30:00] Doug provides a bit of background about the depression he used to suffer from.

[32:00] No one ever told Doug that depression and his other conditions were reversible. He had to dig into that himself.

[34:40] Doug used to be allergic to basically “everything”. This includes a serious cat allergy. He does not suffer from allergies anymore. Also, he does not sunburn nearly as easily anymore.

[39:00] Doug shares some of his recommendations for other people looking to address the root cause of their health issues.

[48:00] How has Doug’s doctor reacted to his change in diet and in health?

[50:15] How has Doug’s family reacted to his change in diet and in health?

[52:15] Doug is a moderator of the World Carnivore Tribe Facebook group, which has nearly 50,000 members.

[56:50] Does Doug consider himself cured of his conditions?

[59:00] Now that Doug has improved his health, what’s one thing he enjoys doing that he couldn’t do before?