My Plates of Food
– Animal-Based –

Dr. Al Danenberg ● Nutritional Periodontist

October 17, 2021

When I began the “Carnivore Diet” on 1/1/20, I was strict – 100% muscle meat, bones, collagen, bone marrow, organs, and the animal fat. My diet was based on the Paleomedicina Clinic’s way of eating for cancer patients.[1]

But about a year later, I added a few fruits and vegetables that were low in phytates, lectins, and oxalates. As a matter of fact, the Paleomedicina Clinic allows their patients who have had success with the strict diet to become less strict. They are allowed to eat as little as 70% animal products by volume on a dinner plate and as much as 30% select plants.

I designed my Better Belly Blueprint way of eating with a 70%/30% proportion. My typical plate of food by volume consists of as little as 70% animal products and as much as 30% select plants. And the animal-based foods have a fat-to-protein ratio of approximately 2:1 measured in grams.

My goal is to recreate a robust immune system and assist my body in healing. Today, the means to that end include providing nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory foods. But most importantly, this also includes the avoidance and removal of any irritants that could damage my gut or create chronic inflammation that could affect all my organ systems.

My Better Belly Blueprint way of eating is part of my overall solution, which is outlined in my Unconventional Cancer Protocols. This way of eating assists my body to be metabolically flexible.

Metabolic flexibility basically allows my body to do what it was created to do metabolically. My body knows how to use carbohydrates for fuel. My body also knows how to burn fat as fuel when consumed carbohydrates are not available. By being metabolically flexible, I can cycle back and forth between burning fat and burning carbohydrates as fuel.

To maintain metabolic flexibility, I need to eat differently on my “fat burning days” and on my “carb burning days”. My typical meals are different. My plates of food are different.

 

Typical Meals …

I eat when I am hungry and drink when I am thirsty. But I eat to satiety and drink until my thirst is quenched. I drink SOLE first thing in the morning to help hydrate my cells. Many days of the week I eat only one meal. Some days I eat twice a day. Rarely do I eat more than two times a day.

To be metabolically flexible, I eat to be a “fat burner” about 5-6 days a week. In contrast, I eat to be a “carb burner” 1-2 days a week.

 

Fat Burning

Here’s a photo of my typical “fat-burning meal”:

 

Starting at the bottom of the picture and moving counterclockwise:

• A portion of grilled ribeye cooked rare with ghee
• Several fresh blueberries
• 1 teaspoon of Manuka honey
• Beef bone broth with collagen peptides
• A slice of raw Gouda cheese
• 6 desiccated bovine bone marrow capsules
• A slice of liver pâté

This way of eating helps me stay in ketosis for 5-6 days a week. The fat-to-protein ratio is approximately 2:1 measured in grams. I consume less than 20 grams of carbs daily on my fat-burning days.

 

Carb Burning

About 1-2 days a week, I cycle out of ketosis. I become a “carb burner” rather than a “fat burner” for a couple of days. After that, I go back to my “fat burner” way of eating by returning to ketosis. This maintains my personal metabolic flexibility.

The total grams of carbs on my carb-burning days are over 100 grams. Eating this way will keep me out of ketosis.

Here is a picture of my typical “carb-burning meal”:

 

Starting at the bottom of the picture and moving counterclockwise:

• 6 capsules of desiccated bovine organ complex
• About 2 tablespoons of raw local honey
• 1 dried fig
• 1 Blueberry plantain pancake
• A portion of ground lamb sautéed in ghee

 

My Ketone Levels

I can tell when I am in ketosis. My energy level is higher, and my mind is clearer when in ketosis. Also, I know I am in a “fat-burning” mode because I measure my ketone levels.

Ketosis is a metabolic state in which there’s a high concentration of ketones in the blood. Ketones can pass through the blood-brain barrier and supply the neural tissues with 70% of their energy needs. Ketosis occurs when fat provides most of the fuel for the body, and there’s limited access to glucose.

I use the BioSense Breath Ketone Monitor, which measures acetones in the breath resulting from ketones in the blood. The monitor’s unit of measurement is ACEs. ACEs are BioSense’s units of measurement for breath acetones. Essentially, if you divide ACEs by 10, you will get an approximation of blood ketones, which are reported in mmol/L units. For example, a score of “18 ACES” is equal to a “ketone blood level of 1.8 mmol/L”.)

The following Table explains the interpretation of ketone levels measured in ACEs.

 

My Ketone Levels for Fat-Burning Days

As I previously mentioned, I measure my breath acetone level to be sure I am in ketosis. Here is a graph during my “fat burning” days that registers my acetone levels measured by the BioSense Breath Ketone Monitor. It shows my ACE levels are between 6 ACEs and 19 ACEs:

As I said, the ACE units measure acetone in the exhaled breath from ketones in the blood. The acetone level is directly correlated to the ketones in the blood.

 

My Ketone Levels for Carb-Burning Days

Here is a graph of my breath acetone levels measured with the BioSense Breath Ketone Monitor. This graph is the day after my “Fat Burning Day”. You can see that I cycle into ketosis on my “carb day” with my ACE levels below 5 during my waking hours:

 

My Continued Research

This way of eating has impressed me. It has assisted my goal to recreate my robust immune system and increase my overall energy.

My continuing research of the NIH PubMed website has revealed many published medical abstracts that clearly show the production and circulation of ketones in the blood system to be beneficial for continued wellness.

[1] https://nutriintervention.com/paleolithic-ketogenic-diet-pkd-efficacy-and-applicability-faq/

 

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