2/1/2009
By Charles Washington – Founder of Zeroing in on Health (ZIOH)
I have been privileged to include as a member of my blog, the great Owsley “ The Bear ” Stanley who is the best example we have of an individual who has eaten a zero carb regimen for over 50 years. He provided the guidelines for what we consider to be a zero carb diet.
SEVEN SIMPLE RULES FOR THE HUMAN-CARNIVORE – According to “The Bear”
1) Eat only from the animal world (eggs, fish, red meat and fowl and some dairy are all animal-sourced foods, i.e.: meat).
2) Eat nothing from the vegetable world whatsoever. (Very small amounts of flavourings such as garlic/chillies/spices/herbs which may be added, are not ‘food’).
3) On diary: avoid milk and yoghurt (heavy carbs- lactose), use only pure (not ‘thickened’- heavy) cream (read the label), cheese and unsalted butter.
4) Don’t cook your meat very much- just a little bit on the outside- for flavour- blood-rare or bleu. For this reason I advise against eating pork.
5) Eat liver and brains only very infrequently- they are full of carbs.
6) Be sure to have plenty of fat of animal origin at each meal and eat mostly of the fat until you feel you have had enough- you can eat more lean at this point if you like- calories are not important, nor is the number of meals/day. Vegetable oils are not good food.
7) You do not need any supplements of any kind. Drink a lot of water and do not add salt to anything.
That is all there is to it.
DO NOT obsess over what you eat, follow the rules and it will become second nature, and you will not have to think about it at all. What you eat is a social conditioning, most people will never alter their diet from what their mum fed them as babies, only those rare individuals who have a strong will and desire for a normal-sized, healthy body can do it. Even the grossly obese have trouble with my path. You may feel low on energy for a few days or weeks, but as soon as you keto-adapt to zero-carbs that will pass and your energy will be increased.
I have a forum where over 300 members are putting these principles to use in their daily lives with astonishing results. The only thing I would add to this is that the foods that the Bear eats may or may not be the most optimal for you. For instance, in number 3, he mentions dairy, the cheese and unsalted butter. For some people, they have such high insulin response that they cannot include these foods in their diet less they gain weight. For them, they have to eliminate dairy as well and eat a diet similar to pemmican, beef (muscle meat), fat and water. My version of Zero Carb (ZC) is based on pemmican, which the native Americans of the Great Plain enjoyed for centuries without eating vegetation. We learned that the fur traders, trappers, and explorers all lived on such an all-meat regimen and enjoyed sustained, superior health despite the heavy labor of the fur trade.
For more on this subject and others, join our Facebook Groups, Zeroing In On Health and Zero Carb Health.
