A nutritionist has lambasted a blogger’s claims that she cured her depression and arthritis by switching to a meat-only ‘carnivore’ diet.
Mikhaila Peterson, the 26-year-old daughter of controversial psychologist and anti-feminist Youtube lecturer Jordan Peterson, from Toronto, said she and her father had recovered from their mental health troubles by eating nothing but ‘beef, salt, water and bourbon’.
But Harley Street nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert, of London, said no diet can ‘cure’ medical ailments, and that you won’t be able to get all the nutrients your body needs from just eating meat.
Mikhaila Peterson, 26 (pictured), is one of the biggest promoters of the carnivore diet which she says has helped her tone up her abdomen and cure her of her health problems such as her severe arthritis and her depression
Mikhaila says she eats about 1.5kg of meat a day with a little salt but no pepper, and that’s it. She even eats steak for breakfast (pictured)
Mikhaila, who suffers from severe arthritis, autoimmune disease, chronic fatigue, and depression, preaches that ‘many (if not most) health problems are treatable with diet alone’ and has become the poster girl for the so-called ‘carnivore diet’.
The blogger, who has amassed a following of more than 25,000 people on Instagram with this message, said she managed to ‘cure’ her own ailments by cutting out all foods other than ‘meat, salt and water’.
The mother-of-one, whose blog is called Don’t Eat That, added that her parents, including 12 Rules for Life author Dr Peterson, also stick to this diet – and said that it also ‘cured’ her father’s depression and health problems.
Mikhaila, who eats about 1.5kg of meat a day, feeds her one-year-old daughter milk and meat only too.
Harley Street nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert (pictured) has warned people against following extreme, restrictive diets such as a meat-only plan, because you will miss out on essential nutrients you can only get from vegetables
The carnivore diet says that followers should only eat meat, salt and water and nothing else – though Mikhaila Peterson also enjoys a glass of bourbon now and again. She usually eats steak (pictured) and does not eat bacon
But Rhiannon wrote on her own Instagram page that people should be ‘wary’ of claims that any diet can cure an ailment – and that you should never ignore medical advice.
Rhiannon said: ‘The daughter reportedly had arthritis, now she doesn’t (or at least, she thinks she doesn’t!).
‘She says ‘Beef, salt, water and bourbon = cured’. Apparently “meat contains all the nutrients you need” and “carbs are bad for you”.’
She added: ‘One thing you can’t ignore is there are some nutrients you just can’t get from meat.
‘Most people’s lifestyles and traditions make it difficult to follow a restrictive diet. Rigidity can lead to a distorted attitude towards foods and social isolation too.
‘Folate, vitamins C and E all pretty much only come from veggies – that’s why sailors used to get scurvy with not enough vitamin C in their largely fish diets.
Mikhaila, the daughter of controversial psychologist Jordan Peterson, credits her lithe figure after pregnancy with eating a carb and gluten-free meat-only diet
Mikhaila mostly eats beef but doesn’t just eat steak. She also cooks blade roasts (pictured), spare ribs, short ribs, and beef sausages, though she also enjoys chicken wings
‘Then there’s fibre. Meat has none of it, yet we know fibre promotes a good gut health and research suggests your microbiome impacts everything from digestion to your immune system to your mood. You need fibre, and meat can’t give it to you.
‘Meat also tends to push the balance of our good and bad cholesterol (called HDL and LDL) towards the bad end.’
Mikhaila, who had multiple joint replacements by the age of 17 due to her severe arthritis, is one of the biggest promoters of the carnivore diet, but others are raving about the apparent benefits of the restrictive eating plan too.
One of the most high-profile figures is former orthopaedic surgeon Shawn Baker, whose licence to practice medicine was revoked last year.
Mikhaila Peterson struggled with her health growing up, struggling with bacterial infections from the age of two and requiring multiple joint replacements by the age of 17 but now she says her meat-only diet has sent her into ‘remission’ from her illnesses
Mikhaila has acknowledged that there is no medical evidence to back up her claims that the meat-only diet can help health problems, and has even admitted that the diet sounds ‘absolutely insane’.
But she has defended promoting in Youtube interviews, saying: ‘I was always really sceptical about diet. I thought it was for silly Californian girls.
‘Now I’m literally eating the most extreme diet I’ve ever heard of. It’s absurd.’
She also told BusinessDay: ‘It was disturbing, realising I could have prevented all my horrible diseases with diet.’
Rhiannon Lambert said people looking for a way to cure health problems should avoid relying on diet alone.
She said: ‘There’s no one way of eating but be wary of any claims of “curing” conditions thought of as treatable only with medicine. Please never ignore medical recommendations in favour of food-based treatments.’
Mikhaila has responded to Rhiannon’s Instagram post on her blog, Don’t Eat That, to defend herself.
Remarking on Rhiannon’s comment that she has no nutritional qualifications, she responded: ‘This is true. I’m very open about it. I’m also not concerned about it. I’m not going to go to a school run by either the pharmaceutical companies or the food companies to learn about how eating grain is healthy.’
She also responded to Rhiannon’s warning to never ignore medical advice by writing: ‘Medical recommendations put me on more medications than I can count on my fingers, and left me with a hip and ankle replacement at age 17. I’m permanently damaged from these surgeries. There is no going back for me.
‘You can’t heal when your joints have been removed. My goal is to (at least) get people to start looking at their own diet for answers. Try eliminating foods and see what happens. The “beef, salt, and water diet” is what works for me. It seems to be the ultimate elimination diet. After a month, reintroduce foods! I don’t care.
‘Just try and figure things out yourself before you also suffer irreparable damage. I want people to hear my story so that they know they have a choice. That there’s hope. That the responsibility for getting better is on them, not with the medical system. Research, explore. Don’t take anyone’s word for it, including mine.
‘I don’t advocate quitting your medications irresponsibly. Talk to your doctor. I advocate doing the research and testing things out yourself. That’s what worked for me.’