“It’s been a little over 3 weeks since we last met, and I wanted to send you an update.
I started eating red meat daily to address the reactive hypoglycemia. I am feeling so much better! I am a lot less hungry, can fall asleep more easily and stay asleep! (I can’t believe this works.)”
This was an message from one of my patients who reluctantly incorporated more red meat into her diet with near immediate results in symptoms that we would never imagine could be helped by such an intervention.
For years, I have observed that conscious inclusion of red meat into the therapeutic diets of my patients – women coming to me for labels of depression, chronic fatigue, Fibromyalgia, ADHD, autoimmunity, and chemical sensitivity – is an essential part of the alchemy of healing. This observation has been extended now to the hundreds who have participated in our online healing program Vital Mind Reset. It simply works.
Confessions of a female physician who inspires people to eat red meat
At this point in my practice, if a prospective patient is vehemently opposed to eating red meat on principal, we let them know that there is likely a better clinical fit out there. I feel that way because of the radical transformations I have seen through a carnivorous dietary framework and my conviction that food is medicine.
The truth is that once I hold space for the potential healing nature of animal foods like beef, lamb, and pork, the women I work with begin to open up to this possibility. They meditate on it, they mindfully consider it, and they venture into a culinary land they may have sworn off for decades.
Often there is a necessary break down of a dietary identity that had supported a life framework that limits their ability to evolve into the next phase of self-hood. Sometimes this identity is one of the elements of a belief system that needs to be deconstructed in order for them for be further born to themselves.
We eat the food that heals us
Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez, in my time working with him, helped me to make sense out of all that I had observed about the potential for a red meat inclusive diet to heal my patients. As parasympathetic dominants, by and large, my patients could ONLY get better through inclusion of these animal foods.
Dr. Gonzalez helped me to see past the marketplace orthodoxy of vegetarian and vegan diets as cure-alls. He confirmed my held belief that there are different diets for different types of patients (learn more in our online program) and that “getting clean and clear” didn’t mean fasting, it meant supporting the autonomic nervous system through detox and therapeutic nutrition.
He always said that patients want to eat the diets that will heal them.
I have found that with a structured Reset, we can clear the slate, and connect to our own healing instincts, desires, and cravings. One of the most important studies ever conducted, in my opinion, was by Dr. Clara Davis who watched 15 orphans keep themselves robustly healthy on a traditional menu of self-selected items including bone marrow, sweetbreads, and beets. But this instinct is pulled and pushed by a steady infiltration of processed foods that are literally designed to addict us.
My patients who explore the dietary template I recommend for 30 days invariably LOVE eating this way. Once they can clear the pop science, the blogs, the latest nutrition guru from their minds, they can feel that they actually love eating this way, sometimes despite their assumptions about their own preferences.
The latest science that supports this approach
There is so much dogma that surrounds the issue of nutrition. We are encouraged, culturally to pick a camp and raise our pitchforks at any trespassers. I imagine that part of this cultural phenomenon is related to the fact that we don’t have, most of us, a connection to our heritage, lineage, or tribes to help guide us. We don’t have a connection to our own intuition. And so when we use our minds to “figure out” how to relate to our food in a way that feels right, we end up adopting the associated righteousness, tendency toward quantification, and reduction of the near mystical informational properties of food into units that fuel us.
Because we are flesh robots than run on high fructose corn syrup, chemical colorants, wheat processed beyond recognition, all washed down with pesticide-saturated coffee!
The trouble is that the controlled trial is not set up to reveal the optimal healing diet for an individual. In fact, research scientists rarely consider the synergistic effects of a dietary profile and instead focus on single dietary interventions or a macronutrient like fat (often hydrogenated GMO soybean oil!).
Amazingly, however, Jacka et al have corroborated findings from two of their previous studies which, to the team’s surprise, demonstrate a health-promoting role for red meat with regard to depression and anxiety.
In a study entitled Red Meat Consumption and Mood and Anxiety Disorders, they looked at a sample from a cohort of 1,046 women aged 20-93 and found that those who ate less than 3-4 servings of beef or lamb a week were TWICE as likely to be diagnosed with depression and/or anxiety. Australian meat is by and large grassfed, a highly relevant variable in this type of study. They controlled for variables including the “healthy user bias” as well, finding that demographic and lifestyle differences could not have accounted for the finding.
A sacred relationship
As someone who mindlessly threw processed food into my gas tank for 3 decades of my life, the notion of a sacred relationship with food was completely anathema to me at the start of my healing journey. Now, it has become clear – every bite you put in your mouth was destined just for you. It grew, developed, and traveled to your mouth. Not his, not hers, not mine. Yours. The relationship to our food is highly personal and deeply meaningful.
That’s why we have to open ourselves up to receive our own intuitive messages. We have to move beyond dogma and even cultural expectations. In order to do this, you need to get clear – eliminate addictive substances like processed wheat, dairy, sugar, alcohol, and coffee. Practice daily meditation, conscious consumerism, and in some cases, active detox.
Then you will be able to discern whether or not a therapeutic model that includes pastured animal foods and red meat is part of a healing relationship for you.
If this video makes your mouth water, it’s certainly possible that steaks, stews, and bunless burgers may very well liberate you from an experience of depression you thought you were destined to be shackled to for life.
I adore you Dr. Kelly Brogan. OXO!
Why do you say to eliminate coffee?
Dear Dr. Kelly! I am so appreciative of the information I have and continue to receive from you. As I continue to research and confirm via Dr. Nick’s books, (now especially ” the Protoblast and the Origins of Cancer”), I am thrilled to actually be focused on the causes, and not simply addressing the symptoms.
I have a request. Is it possible that I could obtain a copy of your book on Coffee Enemas?
I have been taking coffee enemas occasionally for several months. I use only organic. I am finding that after my enemas (usually once or twice a week at best) I feel a little disoriented at times… difficult to remain focused… sometimes I also find amazing clarity of thinking in the evening after a morning enema.
I believe that your book can really help. I want to get it right as I’m trying to set the right example for my family who also have a rich history of disease.
I am also trying to get to Dr. Isaacs to become a patient, as the more I learn, the more I realize I Don’t know….
Thank you so very much for being willing to share the truth, despite all of the challenges to do so.
Best always, Terry
Been told red meat just than once/wk; now u say it may defeat depression; if so, I could some day be a happy girl if it’d work for me! Leary tho cause I was told for yrs eat mostly poultry & I do. It’s nearly all I eat for supper/veggies. Hubby tires of it & often cooks meat for himself but cooks it well; we both hate half cooked meat! Thx for your time on this; appreciated!
Regards,
Lee
Thank you for promoting the need for and value of eating red meat. I eat it as well as taking Taurine as recommended years ago by Dr. Norm Shealy, the founder of the American Holistic Medical assoc. I believe Taurine is an amino acid found in red meats.
What if you have had a blood food panel done and are extremely allergic/sensitive to beef and eggs? I love eggs but get extreme headaches
Terri, I cannot tolerate beef but do great with bison and lamb–you just might have to look for different kinds of red meat. Also what the animal eats has a huge effect on many of us–my husband and I do fine with eggs from just 2 farmers in our area. Many of the farmers let their chickens free range but since we live in a cold climate some supplementing must be done and most feed their chickens soy and corn–even if GMO free can cause allergic problems. Our favorite farmer feeds his own mix of different beans and grains with no soy or corn. We also get duck eggs when we can find them and do great with them. http://www.localharvest.org is a great place to find local farmers. good luck!
It is very coincidental for me that you posted this today. I was actually going to try to find a way to email/get in contact with you because I have this burning inquiry about a carnivorous diet vs. vegan. A Mind of Your Own was thee first book I read that sparked a changed in my lifestyle. I thoroughly enjoyed it as well as respected the research and implications. Over the past few months I have watched numerous documentaries about plant based diets.
Long story short- I’m super confused… My husband is adamant that plant based is the way to go and I am not so sure…ANY advice, research, info will be greatly appreciated. Thank you,
Michelle
Taurine may be what is necessary. I still limit red meat but adding Taurine has stabilized my moods!
The blood type diet also worked for me! I could never adjust to a vegetarian diet; this gave a reason! I’m O negative. I do crave red meat occasionally – could be the iron in it also.
As you eluded to, I believe it is important to choose grassfed and humane meats whenever possible. I have not yet seen a vegan with completely healthy adrenals free of mental imbalances (depression, anxiety). But I can understand that stressful animals CAN impart stress frequencies to the consumer, which is why pastured “happy” animals are preferred. Still many vegetarians will complain that killing an animal is not ethical and we’d be eating that energy of stress etc.
I believe that ONE DAY our bodies will fully evolve to a place where we do not really need to eat meat per se, but for most people that is not today. There haven’t been five generations of fertile vegans yet, and until there is….
Furthermore, one can neutralize the “negative” energies attached to meat by clearing it energetically. I teach my students to do this – it isn’t hard at all.
Once a person becomes healthy, grounded in all areas, they may find themselves naturally preferring less red meat and more chlorophyll containing foods – and I believe that type of evolution is okay. I believe our DNA can change like other beings from other planets who were like us now. But I don’t believe we can force these things based on spirituality etc. We still have to take care of our 3D bodies…and for many people, that means eating red meat.
Thanks Dr. Brogan for another insightful article!
Dr. Karen Kan
Dr. Brogan,
It worked for me! I was following a vegetarian anti-Candida diet in the 1980’s when the dentist who was removing my amalgams told me to eat meat, red meat. I thought he was crazy, but since he was into health-centered dentistry and his father had a Ph.D. in nutrition, I thought I’d try it for a few days. My energy came back, and now I know that I need to eat Paleo and leave grains alone as much as possible to feel well. Thank you for sharing this wisdom that goes against all the advice from “health” experts. BTW, I’m also a Type B blood type. The Type A’s are the vegetarians, but Type B’s and especially Type O’s NEED meat in order to remain healthy. Some of the sickest people I’ve known have been Type O’s who adopted a vegetarian diet for idealistic reasons. Their health suffered greatly.
Thanks for your hard work on the site, very useful and very nicely put, all the time.
I am a vegeterian, since 1998. I can see where you’re coming with the consumption of red meat, but it’s not a solution for me obviously.
What do you suggest for a vegeterian? (I do consume eggs. I normally do but since last year I don’t consume dairy products too.. because I am breastfeeding my daughter who has dairy allergy.)
Hey Kelly,
Quick question… are these findings also relevant for men? May seem like an obvious question, but I just had to ask.
Cheers,
Jeff
Great question! I am working on broadening my messaging! Yes, it does. Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez’s protocol and approach was not gender-based, so the idea of this individualized nutrition applies to all walks of life.
Thank you, Dr. Brogan! I’m currently studying to be a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner and to say you are my inspiration would be a wild understatement. Your work, message, energy, and just beautiful nature are propelling me into functional/integrative psychiatry. I’ve questioned whether I’ll be able to practice the way I want to, but I know that by continuing to follow you and so many other pioneers in the field, I can help people in a similarly life-altering, soul opening way. If you are ever open to mentoring, precepting, or upon my graduating/passing the boards, working with someone as eager as I am to facilitate healing, I hope we can connect. Again, thank you for being such a shining light in the truly dark world of psychiatry.
Thanks for your article on red meat. And yes us australian’s know how to take care of our meat providers (the cows, pigs, sheep 😊). I am now living in NY with my husband. Farmer’s markets are a must as hate to think what happened to the animals that went to the supermarket shelves…I am struggling with red meat intake right now, 20 weeks pregnant and it doesn’t always stay down!!
Kelly
Yes to this: “The truth is that once I hold space for the potential healing nature of animal foods like beef, lamb, and pork, the women I work with begin to open up to this possibility. They meditate on it, they mindfully consider it, and they venture into a culinary land they may have sworn off for decades.”
I love that you address this aspect because so many women I work with have avoided it for so long and many do so for humanitarian reasons. I was one of those vegetarians 15 years ago and saw a huge improvement in my anxiety when I added back grass-fed red meat (of course it was one of many nutritional change I made – I also quit gluten, healed my gut and used GABA and tryptophan and zinc)
Now I see similar results with my anxious clients – they thrive on the protein, zinc, iron, vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and omega-3s in grass-fed red meat!
Thanks for sharing this important aspect of eating for mental health! And thanks for doing what you do!
I also adore you and tell everyone how wonderful you are. Keep up your incredibly important work, you are making a difference in many lives. God Bless you, Kelly.