Be Cautious With the Lion Diet

Article at a Glance

• Popularized by Jordan and Mikhaila Peterson, the Lion Diet is an elimination diet that restricts intake of all foods, other than beef and lamb.
• While anecdotes abound, currently, there are no studies to support application of the Lion Diet as an elimination diet protocol.
• Nutrient deficiency, excessive saturated fat consumption, serum ammonia, degraded microbiome composition, and TMAO are all reasons to exercise caution with the Lion Diet.

Genes Mentioned

• ABCG8

We have written previously about Mikhaila Peterson’s remarkable blood work results on her version of the carnivore diet, which she calls the Lion Diet.

The Lion Diet is part elimination diet, part carnivore diet, and part autoimmune protocol where nothing but ruminant animals (beef and lamb) are consumed. Both Mikhaila and her Dad, Jordan Peterson, follow the Lion Diet, and eat nothing but beef for every meal.

The Lion Diet recommends avoiding:

• All Fruits
• All Vegetables
• All Grains
• All seeds
• All dairy products
• All plant proteins like beans and soy products
• All meat from non-ruminant animals (chicken, pork, rabbit)
• All seafood
• All beverages (coffee, tea, soda, matcha)

The Lion Diet is not a science backed elimination diet

Elimination diets have shown efficacy for those suffering from severe food sensitivity and the Peterson’s credit their strict dietary changes with putting lifelong depression and autoimmune disorders into remission.

While no studies support application of the Lion Diet as an elimination diet protocol, it is not my place, or really anyone’s place, to question the individual results Jordan and Mikhaila have seen eating nothing but beef.

However, Jordan Peterson is a disciple of Carl Jung, who famously said, “the more a law lays claim to universal validity, the less it does justice to the individual facts.” The issue I have, and many of the members of our research team have, with carnivore diets is not their rare application to individual facts, as with Mikhaila Peterson. We as a team only take issue when diets like the Lion Diet attempt to carve out a place as a rule of universal validity, where they most certainly do not belong.

In my view, it’s brave for Mikhaila to share her story of recovery, but irresponsible to proselytize for a diet that has real potential to harm sick people who turn to her protocols out of desperation.

The issue of autoimmune disease in this country is a growing problem and the root causes are multi-factorial. However, the number of people who need to address autoimmunity with such an extreme diet as the Lion Diet are very small.

Potential health issues with the Lion Diet

In my view, there are five key problems with the Lion Diet that make the protocol unsustainable.

• Nutrient deficiency. Over time, adhering to such a strict diet will result in nutrient deficiency.
• Saturated fat. At roughly 50-60% of calories coming from saturated fat (SFA), the diet recommends daily SFA calories in excess of the upper limits seen in ground breaking studies like PURE, which were more liberal than the current U.S Dietary Guidelines with some of their cohorts. The highest quintile of SFA consumption in PURE ate 14% of daily calories from SFA and saw lower stroke risk, but anecdotal evidence of carnivore dieters suffering from strokes is on the rise. Many people will see unhealthy increases in LDL-C and APOB on the Lion Diet.
• Undigested protein. Ironically, the Lion Diet is marketed as a tool for healing “leaky gut,” but there is research indicating the opposite may happen – undigested protein can change the composition of the microbiome for the worse, aggravating intestinal permeability.
• TMAO. In a similar vein to the concern about increased intestinal permeability on the Lion Diet, there is also a very real concern that TMAO levels, a metabolite of carnitine and other amino acids in red meat that has been shown to be a driver of heart disease risk, may rise to very unhealthy levels eating an all red meat diet.
• Ammonia. Animal protein is organic nitrogen and eating it triggers the urea cycle, which is the body’s way of converting nitrogen to ammonia, and finally urea so it can be excreted in urine. On the Lion Diet, where beef is consumed in large quantities at every meal, the constant influx of nitrogen from protein can place a significant burden on the liver’s urea cycle. If ammonia production exceeds the body’s ability to convert it into urea, levels can rise, potentially stressing both the liver and kidneys.

Mikhaila’s health story is complex

To illustrate this point, I want to share a few details of Mikhaila’s story, which she has been public about. She was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis at age 2, was prescribed methotrexate, which didn’t help, and has shared that she lived in moldy buildings and may have had Lyme disease. Prior to carnivore, Mikhaila suffered from severe depression.

Lyme. Are You Kidding Me? https://t.co/f0m0Rvxcd2 pic.twitter.com/PtAQHxsIPj

— Mikhaila Peterson (@MikhailaFuller) March 7, 2019

These are truly some remarkable individual facts, and as often happens with these types of unique cases, where there are a concert of factors that lead to illness, the patient gets lost in the system, often with no answers.

I have great empathy for Mikhaila, and applaud her for carving out a regimen that works for her. But anyone looking to follow in her footsteps should be aware they travel a road fraught with peril.

The genetic angle

Let me tell you about a published case study from the European Heart Journal titled: Seventeen years of misdiagnosis in rare dyslipidemia: a case report of sitosterolemia in a young female. 

A young patient was misdiagnosed with juvenile arthritis and familial hypercholesterolemia, given immune suppressants, even mega doses of statins — and nothing helped. 

Eventually she was found to have homozygous mutations in the ABCG5 gene and elevated levels of plant sterols in the blood, which meant she had sitosterolemia. 

She was prescribed Zetia and a low sterol diet. 

What physicians had believed were “joint related tumors” ultimately turned out to be xanthomas, which are common in patients with this condition. 

This woman was misdiagnosed as having juvenile arthritis for 17 years before her doctors finally discovered the real issue that had been causing her health problems. 

Even her initial genetic testing, at age 10, failed to identify the sterol issue because no one is looking for it – new research suggests that the condition is underdiagnosed and should be considered in adults and children previously thought to have FH. 

I highlight the case study here because there are some striking parallels to the Mikhaila Peterson story. 

For example, Mikhaila Peterson was diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis at age 7, symptoms began at age 2.

This Case Study Patient was diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) at age 9 after joint tumors were surgically removed. 

She first started complaining of joint pain at age 4. 

Both women were prescribed methotrexate, an immunosuppressive drug, but in both cases things only got worse. 

Both experienced early, severe joint damage that required surgery and medication but was not controlled by standard treatments.

Both women lived for years in blind spots of modern medicine and didn’t discover a fix until years later.

So, what’s the takeaway? 

The causes of autoimmunity and food sensitivity are complex.

Very complex.

While it’s tempting to believe there is a simple protocol that can heal all of us, following the Lion diet on the recommendation of an online influencer could result in serious health problems and is likely unnecessary in light of proven alternatives.