A lot of people know I am an advocate for certain healthy lifestyles. The Bulletproof lifestyle happens to be one lifestyle that I recommend to some people. That being said no lifestyle or diet is perfect for everyone.

People ask me all the time, what diet do I recommend them following? Why do I advocate or criticize certain diets or lifestyles?

These are valid questions, and I am going to start with a lifestyle that I have been involved with since the beginning of Fix Your Gut, Bulletproof.

Bulletproof

I remember the first time I heard about Bulletproof. I was listening to podcasts to occupy my time when Abel was first diagnosed and at UNC Chapel Hill. I would walk and take the bus back in forth to the Ronald Mcdonald house and I listened to the Joe Rogan Experience. I remember listening to the first podcast he had Dave Asprey on and I was like, damn this guy knows his stuff.

I Googled him, and the rest is history.

Most people know about Dave Asprey and the Bulletproof lifestyle by now.

But if you do not, the Bulletproof lifestyle originated from Silicon Valley genius Dave Asprey. He was extremely overweight and with much research modified the Paleo diet so that it would eliminate mycotoxins and help speed up weight loss and increase mental clarity. He also teaches complete a lifestyle change that can help you sleep better, exercise more efficiently, and achieve greater health.

The Diet

Here are some tenets that I like about the Bulletproof diet:

• Can be done as a cyclic ketogenic diet that can help you lose weight. ¹
• Bulletproof intermittent fasting and protein fasting regimens. ²
• Diet limits mycotoxin exposure. ³
• A ranking of foods that are considered Bulletproof. A list of foods that are healthier to eat instead of what to avoid specifically. Food ranking instead of food limiting gives you more choices, power, and less regret. ⁴
• Lower in lactose / casein than the SAD (standard American diet.) ⁵
• Lower in fructose than the SAD. ⁶
• Reduction or elimination of gluten suggested in the diet. ⁷
• Emphasizes the importance of organic food. ⁸
• Emphazises the importance of ingesting non-GMO food. ⁹
• Emphasizes increasing omega three ingestion over omega six. ¹⁰
• Emphasizes the important of ingesting healthy fats (saturated fats, animal fats, extra virgin olive oil, avocados, omega 3’s.) ¹¹
• Emphasizes low-temperature cooking and denaturing of proteins. ¹²
• Reduction of lectins and nightshade alkaloids. ¹³

Here are some points to consider:

• Ketosis is contraindicated in people with adrenal fatigue or hypothyroidsm. Prolonged low carb or no carb dieting can increase cortisol and adrenaline need from the adrenal glands and increase the body’s need for thyroid hormones. In addition, for some people SBHG (sex binding hormone globulin) can increase leading to a decrease in sex hormones (for some with hormonal dysregulation this may be beneficial) and thyroid function. Also, women may have issues with cyclic ketosis because of the increased need for carbs due to a comprehensive hormonal cascade (need to refeed more frequently.) ^{14 15 16 17 18 19}
• Emphasis on caffeine (Bulletproof coffee.) Though I have no issues with people ingesting caffeine moderately if they are healthy, if you have adrenal fatigue it may be a good idea to avoid BP coffee.
• Poor emphasis on increased exposure to dioxins (only mentioned in the Bulletproof diet book) from the increased ingestion of meat (specifically grass fed beef if their grass is located near plants that release dioxins from production like paper.) ^{20 21 22}
• The limiting of mycotoxins may not be as important to people who are not as mycotoxin sensitive.
• Cyclic ketosis may reduce microbiome diversity.^{23 24}
• Over-emphasis on low temperature cooking and denaturing of proteins (sometimes you’ve got to grill.) Now do not take this criticism as me saying you should burn your food all the time. Ancient man has been eating roasted food since the invention of fire. Ingestion of heterocyclic amines may be an issue for some (if you have problems with redox and inflammation,) but most people can handle occasional ingestion. The more recent increased ingestion of acrylamide coming from fried carbohydrates and coffee (granted BP coffee should be lower in acrylamide) maybe much worse for your health. Studies of the effects of HA consumption are mixed at best. In addition, you can add herbs like rosemary to the meat as a marinade which would reduce their formation when you grill. ^{25 26 27 28 29}
• Can be an expensive diet.
• Nightshade reduction may not be needed for some people. Some nightshade alkaloids can be reduced with proper preparation methods. For potatoes, solanine exposure can be reduced by avoiding green skin potatoes and removing the skin before consumption. ³⁰
• Can be difficult to eat out depending on where you live.
• “Fat adaption.” Some people may not be able to tolerate the high amounts of fat in the diet if they are missing their gallbladder, have liver issues, or have other digestive issues. Taking a lipase supplement may reduce disaster pants, but it would be best if you reduced your fat intake and slowly titrate up, watching out for loose stools.