Health
‘The carnivore diet saved my life after decades of anorexia'
After suffering from a lifelong eating disorder that almost killed her, an Ohio woman says switching to a carnivore diet saved her life.
Valerie Smith, 54, struggled for decades with multiple physical and mental health conditions, including anorexia.
At one point, Smith, who is 5’9″, was down to 70 pounds and a BMI of 11. She was hospitalized and kept alive by feeding tubes several times, she told Fox News Digital.
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In 2017, after following a strict plant-based diet for most of her life, she slowly began transitioning to an animal-based ketogenic diet, which she credits for healing her mind and body.
At one point, Smith (pictured here), who is 5’9″, was down to 70 pounds and a BMI of 11. She says switching to a carnivore diet saved her life. (Valerie Smith)
Prior to switching to animal foods, Smith tried a myriad of other treatments for her anorexia and other disorders.
“I was actively in treatment for my entire life,” she said during an interview. “I was seen by hospitals and medical doctors. I had over a dozen psychiatrists. I was on a cocktail of different psychotic medications over the course of three or four decades.”
“I spent a lifetime under traditional treatment and never got better.”
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The hospitals recommended a plant-based diet “devoid of any animal protein,” Smith said. She stuck with their meal plans, but struggled to maintain a healthy weight and suffered digestive issues.
By the time Smith was 47, she was back down to 70 pounds, enduring fractures due to osteoporosis, and had undergone several surgeries for multiple organ prolapse. Her mental health was also at an all-time low.
“I was not going to survive another year,” she said. “I desperately needed to gain weight, but the mental illness was stopping me from gaining anything permanently.”
“I spent a lifetime under traditional treatment and never got better.”
“And I also knew that even if I weighed more, it was not going to help my brain, because I had experienced that many times in those decades.”
While doing research, Smith discovered some metabolic psychiatrists and learned about the benefits of the ketogenic diet.
“I learned that animal foods and animal fats are a priority in the brain,” she said.
Valerie Smith poses for photos after reaching a healthy weight on the ketogenic diet, following 35 years of not consuming any animal foods. (Valerie Smith)
“There are more than 100 neurotransmitters in our brain, and most of them rely on the amino acid profile that’s in complete animal proteins,” Smith went on. “Our brain is not going to function correctly if we don’t have the building blocks of animal products.”
After 35 years of not consuming any animal foods, she decided to experiment with adding them back into her diet.
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Smith started slowly, with just one bite of meat per day. Each week, she added another bite. It took her eight weeks to get up to eating 8 ounces of meat.
At the three-month mark, she began seeing improvements — not necessarily in her weight, but in her mental health.
“My depression and anxiety were lifting,” Smith said. “At that point, I had not gained any weight yet, so it was not weight gain that healed my brain — it was the ketogenic diet.”
As the months went on, Smith continued to look and feel healthier. After a year, she said, all anorexia symptoms were gone. (Fox News)
As the months went on, Smith continued to look and feel healthier. After a year, she said, all anorexia symptoms were gone.
“Even my body dysmorphia was gone — and I had no drive to starve whatsoever,” she said. “All the obsessive thoughts, the negative self-talk, the brain dysfunction — it was completely gone.”
“I was not fighting against myself anymore. It was effortless.”
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Today, Smith consumes between 2 and 3 pounds of meat each day — primarily red meat — as well as eggs. She also occasionally eats chicken, pork and wild-caught fish.
Since starting her animal foods diet, Smith has gained 50 pounds of muscle. In eight years, she said she has not experienced any of the health issues that have plagued her for decades.
“For me, this is about healing — and I feel that the ultimate healing for body and mind is with animal products in the diet.”
Doctor voices support
Dr. Georgia Ede, a Harvard-trained, board-certified psychiatrist specializing in nutritional and metabolic psychiatry, has often spoken about her support of the carnivore diet.
“In my clinical work, I have found well-formulated carnivore diets to be very helpful in stubborn cases of overeating disorders, such as binge-eating and food obsession,” she told Fox News Digital.
Since starting her animal foods diet, Smith has gained 50 pounds of muscle. In eight years, she said she has not experienced any of the health issues that plagued her for decades. (Valerie Smith)
“Some patients have reported relief from ‘food noise’ and a welcome sense of satiety, often for the first time in years.”
Research has suggested that carnivore diets may be “exceptionally useful” in treating the severe malnourishment of anorexia, Ede said.
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“Meat contains all the nutrients we need, in their most bioavailable forms, and without the antinutrients and defensive toxins naturally found in plant foods,” she went on.
“Medically supervised clinical trials are needed to help us understand better the potential risks and benefits of carnivore diets in the management of anorexia.”
Research has suggested that carnivore diets may be “exceptionally useful” in treating the severe malnourishment of anorexia, one doctor said. (Valerie Smith)
Nick Norwitz, a Harvard medical student and researcher, recently completed a case study on three people who overcame eating disorders using the ketogenic diet.
He also recently released a video in which he debunked eight myths surrounding the carnivore diet. (See the video at the top of this article, and more videos at https://www.youtube.com/@nicknorwitzPhD.)
There is no “one size fits all” dietary solution, Norwitz said, adding that “context and nuance are essential.”
“However, I do feel the carnivore diet is misunderstood, and that red meat and animal-based foods often get unfairly scapegoated and thrown under the ‘big food bus,’” he told Fox News Digital.
Experts call for caution, more research
Margot Rittenhouse, a licensed professional clinical counselor with Alsana in California, said it is “absolutely critical” that any diets or modalities used to treat eating disorders are backed by “extensive and consistent research.”
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“While some research indicates that a ketogenic carnivore diet may be beneficial in treating anorexia nervosa, there is not a preponderance of evidentiary proof to indicate that this could currently be used as a viable treatment option,” she told Fox News Digital.
“There is little to no evidence to support that one can receive all the vitamins and nutrients required to sustain the body through a ketogenic diet,” which aims to eliminate most or all plant-based foods and carbohydrates, according to Rittenhouse.
Experts agree that those suffering from disordered eating should not attempt to treat the condition without professional help. (iStock)
Tanya Freirich, a registered dietitian nutritionist in Charlotte, North Carolina, who practices as The Lupus Dietitian, said she does not recommend the carnivore diet as a means of treating disordered eating.
“Nuts, seeds, legumes, grains, fruits and vegetables are an important part of a balanced diet and provide a multitude of important nutrients,” Freirich told Fox News Digital. “For optimal health, you also need the wide variety of vitamins and minerals found in other food groups, as well as fiber and carbohydrates.”
“Dieting in general, but especially with such a restrictive diet as the carnivore diet, is a factor that increases the risk of developing disordered eating,” she added.
Rittenhouse also cautioned against adopting any type of restrictive diet, which has been shown to create “harmful relationships to food.”
“Some patients have reported relief from ‘food noise’ and a welcome sense of satiety, often for the first time in years.” (iStock)
“Eating only animal proteins is not a complete diet by any means, as one would be consuming nearly exclusively saturated fats and protein,” she said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
Experts agree that those suffering from disordered eating should not attempt to treat the condition without professional help.
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Rittenhouse recommends seeking support from a multi-disciplinary team that includes an eating disorder-informed dietitian, therapist, psychiatrist and doctor.
“These mental illnesses are complex, bio-psychosocial disorders and cannot be treated by only one provider or discipline alone,” she said.
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Journalist Katie Couric is sharing a scary medical episode that she experienced on June 27.
In a post on Substack titled “The Day I’ll Never Remember,” she detailed a sudden episode that left her unable to recall the current month, year and president.
“I thought it was 2024. And I believed Joe Biden was president,” she wrote.
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The event occurred while Couric was attending the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado, during which she participated in two public panels — one on AI and one on journalism — both of which she cannot remember at all.
“I have no idea what we talked about, or of what occurred when the panels ended,” she said.
Journalist Katie Couric is sharing a scary medical episode that she experienced on June 27. (Getty Images)
John Molner — Couric’s husband, who was in attendance at the festival and the two panels — also shared his account.
After the event, someone told Molner that Katie wasn’t feeling well. When he reached her, an EMT and a doctor were tending to her. “I could tell something was off,” he wrote. “It could have been altitude sickness, but Katie was definitely not all there.”
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At the hospital, when Couric struggled to recall the year, the president and her grandchildren’s names, doctors began checking for a stroke.
An MRI revealed no signs of stroke, which was a relief, but “Katie’s ‘fog’ became a lot more apparent,” Molner wrote.
John Molner, Couric’s husband, who was in attendance at the festival and the two panels, also shared his account. (Getty Images)
“She repeatedly asked me the same questions: ‘What was I doing before we got to the hospital?’ ‘Why am I at the hospital?’”
Couric was ultimately diagnosed with transient global amnesia, a sudden, temporary episode of memory loss that prevents a person from forming new memories and may also erase some recent memories, according to Mayo Clinic.
“The cause seems to be as mysterious as the brain itself.”
It is not caused by a stroke, seizure or head injury, and it usually resolves completely within 24 hours.
“[It’s] just a very weird neural episode that’s pretty uncommon and, at least in most cases, is a ‘one and done’ experience,” Molner said.
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Couric said she finally began feeling “like herself” again around 9 p.m. and went to sleep at 2 a.m.
As TGA leaves a “permanent gap in memory” for the duration of the episode and for hours beforehand, Couric said that from around noon on that day until at least 7 p.m. will remain a “big, black hole.”
As TGA leaves a “permanent gap in memory” for the duration of the episode and for hours beforehand, Couric said that from around noon on that day until at least 7 p.m. will remain a “big, black hole.” (Getty Images)
Data shows that approximately three to eight people per 100,000 will have an episode of transient global amnesia, with people 50 years of age and older at higher risk.
The specific cause of TGA is not known, but some experts believe it stems from a “temporary dysfunction in the brain’s hippocampus — the area responsible for creating new memories,” Couric shared.
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“Doctors believe this is driven by brief interruptions in blood or oxygen flow, or microscopic spasm in the blood vessels.”
Episodes could potentially be triggered by intense physical exertion, emotional distress, extreme temperature changes or migraines, experts say.
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Approximately 15% of patients will have a recurrence 10 years later.
“Why did this happen to me? Was the altitude an issue? Was I dehydrated? Tired? Stressed? The literature doesn’t seem to indicate that these are contributing factors, but the cause seems to be as mysterious as the brain itself,” Couric wrote.
Anyone who experiences sudden memory loss, confusion, difficulty speaking, weakness, numbness, vision changes, severe headache or other stroke-like symptoms should seek immediate medical attention or call 911, doctors advise. (iStock)
“All I know is that those hours will be forever lost. Someone described it as my brain failing to hit the ‘record button.’”
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“While this was a freaky occurrence, it could have been much more serious. So ultimately, I’m relieved — even though several hours of a Saturday in June will always be missing for me.”
Anyone who experiences sudden memory loss, confusion, difficulty speaking, weakness, numbness, vision changes, severe headache or other stroke-like symptoms should seek immediate medical attention or call 911, doctors advise.
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Older adults identified as “super movers” are about half as likely to develop cognitive impairment than their peers.
That’s according to a recent study led by Stony Brook Medicine in New York, which evaluated the cognitive function of 4,000 adults 80 and over who participated in multiple aging and longevity studies over several years.
Among this group, 6% to 10% were classified as super movers, which means they walk at a much faster pace than others of the same age and gender — at speeds comparable to people three decades younger.
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The super movers were found to have about half the risk of cognitive decline compared to seniors with typical gait speed.
The findings were published in the journal Neurology on June 16.
Older adults identified as “super movers” are about half as likely to develop cognitive impairment than their peers. (iStock)
“The study reinforces that mobility and brain health are closely connected,” lead study author Dr. Joe Verghese, MD, neurologist at Stony Brook Medicine, told Fox News Digital. “This suggests that preserving mobility may be an important marker of healthy brain aging and resilience.”
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The most intriguing finding, according to Verghese, was that super movers maintained cognitive function despite having similar dementia-related brain changes as their peers.
In postmortem brain analysis, there was no difference in dementia-related pathologies between the super movers and the slower walkers, the study stated.
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“This suggests they may possess resilience mechanisms that help preserve brain function even in the presence of age-related changes,” he said. “Understanding these resilience factors could lead to new strategies for promoting healthy brain aging.”
As the study was observational, there were some limitations, and it does not prove that walking faster prevents dementia, the researchers noted.
Super movers were found to have about half the risk of cognitive decline compared to seniors with typical gait speed. (iStock)
“Other factors, such as cardiovascular health, physical fitness or genetics, may also contribute to both faster walking and better cognitive outcomes,” Verghese said.
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This study adds to growing evidence that what’s good for the heart and muscles also benefits the brain, he noted, adding that “staying physically active remains one of the most effective, evidence-based ways to support healthy aging.”
“Walking speed is best viewed as a marker of overall health, not a treatment.”
“The broader message is that physical activity is important at any age,” Verghese said. “Walking is an easy step-up point because you don’t need any special equipment. You can do it inside or outdoors, and you can do it on a regular basis. You can walk with a dog, you can walk with a friend.”
Any activity is beneficial if it’s done regularly and with the right intensity, he added.
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Rather than just trying to walk faster, the neurologist recommends that seniors focus on maintaining mobility through regular physical activity, strength training, balance exercises and good cardiovascular health.
“Walking speed is best viewed as a marker of overall health, not a treatment,” Verghese noted.
Major public health guidelines from the CDC and U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week, such as brisk walking.
Major public health guidelines from the CDC and U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week, such as brisk walking. (iStock)
This can be achieved by walking 30 minutes a day, five days a week, or about 20 to 25 minutes most days. Another option is to engage in shorter sessions that add up over the day.
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“You have to do it within your health limitations and medical conditions,” Verghese advised. “So if there are any medical concerns, I would get your physician to clear you before starting exercise.” The good thing about walking, he added, is that you can start at a slow pace and then gradually build up to a brisker pace.
“And then adding on strength and balance training, whatever age you are, I think is also important.”
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