One of the most common questions I get asked is my opinion on various diets, so I've decided to do a little diet review series to help those interested readers get more information on diets they may be considering this year. Next up is the Ray Peat diet review.
Ray Peat Diet Angle:
The Ray Peat diet is deeply rooted in supporting cellular energy production with a pro-metabolic dietary approach aimed to increase the metabolic rate. Dr. Ray Peat has written extensively on the connection between aging, nutrition, stress and hormones (especially estrogen and thyroid hormones). If you have time to dive into his work, there is a lot of value there.
Dr. Peat describes his approach as follows: "My approach gives priority to environmental influences on development, regenerative processes, and an evolutionary perspective. When biophysics, biochemistry, and physiology are worked into a comprehensive view of the organism, it appears that the degenerative processes are caused by defects in our environment."
What does Dr. Ray Peat's pro-metabolic diet boil down to in practice? Well, a lot of things. Typically, the diet is based around the following foods and nutrients:
- healthy fats: butter, coconut oil, and dairy products
- easy to digest carbohydrates: fresh fruits (emphasis on tropical), fresh fruit juices, root vegetables and tubers (emphasis on raw carrots and potatoes)
- balanced protein intake: getting a good amount of protein from dairy products, muscle meats (i.e. beef, lamb, pork, chicken, etc.), organ meats (specifically liver), along with collagen, and whole animal proteins such as eggs, shellfish, and other seafood
- avoidance of polyunsaturated fatty acids (pufas), namely vegetable oils, but fish oils too
- white sugar, used in moderation
- encouragement of light therapy, particularly red light therapy
- strong emphasis on dairy products, specifically milk, ice cream and cheeses without additives
Ray Peat Diet Reality:
From my experience, many find Peat's work while seeking a recovery of their health, but specifically seeking to regain thyroid function, hormone, metabolism and energy equilibrium. While the Ray Peat diet is centered on mostly whole foods and is very nourishing at its core, the devil of this diet is really in the details...
You see, there is no official "Ray Peat diet," instead there is a birth of a pro-metabolic Ray Peat diet based mainly on assumptions, i.e. the foods he talks about in his writings, and what Peat says he consumes in his own diet. This is where things go terribly wrong...
Peat is often quoted when referencing his daily diet. The descriptions often include things like drinking quarts of orange juice and milk, a pint of ice cream, along with Mexican coke, gelatin, shellfish, liver and other food variations. This is Dr. Peat sharing a summary of what works for him, and perhaps his body has adapted to tolerating well over decades and decades of research and observation.
This does not mean what works for Dr. Peat will work well for most people — quite the opposite from my own findings, especially those in "diet recovery." This kind of a diet spells disaster for many, especially those coming from carbohydrate-restricted diets like paleo, keto or carnivore.
The body doesn't react well when you restrict something (like carbohydrates, sugar, and dairy) for a period of time, and then dive right into doing the very opposite with a Peat-style diet of any variation (read: large amounts of dairy, juice and sugar). It often spells dietary disaster in the form of severe blood sugar imbalance, digestive difficulties, extreme stress, cellular inflammation and significant weight gain. This is to be expected, but most Ray Peat dieters are often startled when it doesn't go as planned.
Ray Peat Diet and Pro-metabolic Diet Positives:
The soul of this dietary paradigm has may upsides, namely:
- big on easy to digest foods like ripe fruits, root vegetables, squashes, and tubers
- emphasis on therapeutic and highly tolerated dietary fibers, specifically found in bamboo shoots and raw carrots
- advocates getting enough protein and "eating the whole animal." That is balancing muscle meat consumption with broth, collagen, seafood and dairy to get a more balanced amino acid intake
- emphasis on nutrients, specifically potassium, vitamin C, dietary calcium, and vitamin A — this could also be a negative if one has vitamin A toxicity
- cautions about the additives in foods, particularly carrageenan
- promotes carbohydrates as a cornerstone to optimal health
- aims to educate on the health benefits of saturated fats and the downsides to omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids
- doesn't demonize all form of sugar as death on a teaspoon, like so many diets today do, supporting a balanced attitude and approach to eating
- supporting mineral balance and the stress response by getting adequate sodium (from salt), potassium, and zinc
Ray Peat Diet Negatives:
Here's a few negatives of the Ray Peat diet to keep in mind, many of which I see in my Ray Peat diet clients:
- causes you to tune out your body, while tuning into diet rules that worked for someone else and may not work for you
- promotes dairy as a large component of the diet that doesn't work for many, especially those coming from low carb, keto, other highly restricted diets or those who are at risk of vitamin A overload
- encourages eating large amounts of fruit juice without mindful caution about blood sugar balance which largely varies from person to person and where their overall health is at
- weight gain and digestive issues are very common for newcomers to this style of eating, especially with the large amounts of dietary lactose found in milk and ice cream
- may increase the risk of vitamin A toxicity (think: weight gain, liver/biliary stress) due to the emphasis on high vitamin A foods such as orange juice, raw carrot salad (with coconut oil and vinegar), dairy products and liver
- could increase the risk of copper toxicity due to the emphasis on beef liver, oysters resulting in a higher risk of hormone and mental health symptoms
- can encourage experimentation with supplements such as thyroid hormone, niacinamide, pregnenolone, vitamin D, aspirin, vitamin A (retinol), and vitamin E without guidance or supervision from a practitioner
- discourages eating fatty fish (salmon, sardines, herring, mackerel) and fish oils containing omega-3 fatty acids, which can be disastrous for cell membrane health (read: inflammation, metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, obesity, vascular disease and more)
Better Options and Things to Consider Before Going on The Pro-metabolic Ray Peat Diet:
My philosophy as a nutritional therapist is never to tell anyone what to do. Instead, I prefer to help provide information, data from testing, and an opinion based on my work with clients and what I see every day in my practice. That way, you can feel empowered to make the best decision for you.
Here's a few recommendations of things to explore before going on a pro-metabolic Ray Peat diet:
- Make sure you understand and address underlying reasons for thyroid health, hormone, metabolism and energy problems before taking a diet approach that mimics what works for one other person. The opposite of dieting approach and the Personal Nutrition Assessment are easy ways to get started with understanding your body from the inside out!
- Instead of drastically changing your diet overnight, learn about what foods work for and against your body. If this sounds too difficult for you, testing may be helpful.
- Consider testing to discover your nutrient excesses, deficiencies, and gut microbiome status to see if they may be hindering your health goals. Hair Analysis, GI Map testing, Fatty Acid testing and lab testing are my favorite tools for this.
- If digestive symptoms are a key problem you are trying to solve, consider gut testing or start off by reading my post on how to fix your gut.
- Always go SLOW with adding new foods (or macronutrient groups) into your diet, especially those foods or macronutrients that you have been avoiding for long periods of time.
- Always listen to your body over some dietary guru.
Bottom line: Dr. Ray Peat's research and be a fantastic resource and tool. Just don't try to mimic what works for him on yourself. Find out what works for you, and use testing if you need help discovering what that is. Understanding your own body and what it needs is the only way to ground you from bouncing around from diet to diet.
I hope you enjoyed this review of the Ray Peat diet. Don't forget to check out the others in the diet review series.
2022 Update: Dr. Ray Peat passed away on November 24, 2022 at the age of 86 years old. His research and profound contributions to metabolic health and the nutrition world are a gift. He will be deeply missed.
Have you tried the Ray Peat diet or another pro-metabolic based diet? If so, how did it go for you? Please share in the comments!
PIN IT:
Isabel Cruz
Thank you for clarifying this very unusual diet. I remember how confused I was as I struggled to follow this diet and get correct info about it. You end up having to follow someone blindly because there really isn't a structured RP diet that he himself wrote about. I had so much hope when first discovering it and then so terribly disappointed when it did, indeed, turn out to be disastrous. I love that you added this segment on analyzing the confusing world of diet and nutrition and I appreciate your balanced and unbiased approach. Thanks so much.
Brenda
What are your thoughts about the Keto diet? It seems to ignore concerns people may have regarding cholesterol and/or sodium levels.
Catherine
Hi Brenda,
You can read my review of the keto diet here: https://butternutrition.com/keto-diet-review/
Abundantly,
Catherine
Judith
Thank you for a very clear summary of the RP diet..
i have implemented much of it,
One think I have not seen anything mentioned about is drinking oj from the plastic bottles it comes in. An acid drink in a BPA plastic bottle. It seems it would be very toxic since so much of it is drunk on the diet.
Any thoughts on this?
Thanks, Judith
Chen
🙌🏻Love to read all your work. You explain very well. I actually love Dr Ray Peats work but have a hard time fully understanding. You have cleared a lot of the confusion! Thank you for your great research and work.
Catherine
Thanks Chen for the kind words 🙂
Mike M
I find the 'Peat' diet quite fascinating as I've consumed a lot of dairy, OJ, fruit, and carbs in general for most of my life and have found that works very well for me despite all claims to the contrary by many in recent years. Admittedly, this provides a positive bias of sorts for me in that it somewhat encourages foods I already love to eat.
Peat was the first person I came across in my research to really shine a light on the issues with those 'essential' fatty acids (PUFAs), so I've been experimenting with limiting those. The biggest obvious change I've noticed in this regard is that it makes me somewhat sunburn-proof, which is interesting.
I'm currently exploring introducing gelatin and bone broth into my diet to see how that goes and also plan to give the famed 'daily carrot salad' a try to see how that affects digestion, bowel movements, etc.
Some general takeaways I come away with and use myself for this diet:
- Eat more saturated fat
- Eat less (or close to none) polyunsaturated fat
- Eat that which provides lots of calcium, potassium, sodium, and magnesium
- Eat that which provides sufficient fat soluble vitamins (A, E, D, K)
- Avoid food or stimuli that promotes stress on your system via adrenaline, cortisol, and estrogen.
- Avoid grains and certain starches for the most part
- Include some simple sugars (i.e. fruit) when eating protein to avoid blood sugar dropping too low
- Include fats when eating sugars to prevent the sugar from being dumped into the blood too quickly
As you alluded to in your review, what works for one person may not work for you, so whatever works for you is really all that matters, and is important to consider for this diet or any for that matter.
It is funny how completely opposite it is to many other popular diets out there these days. It's made me wonder if paleo / keto / carnivore is akin to a workaround of sorts for those who can no longer handle relatively big sugar inputs.
My journey has taught me that sugar doesn't really raise my blood sugar all that much (nor cause cavities) and salt doesn't raise my blood pressure. Sitting close to the TV hasn't ruined my eyes either, but individual results may vary of course! Haha.
Paul Mitchell
I had to chime in here. I am 80 and started following Dr. Peats ideas a few years ago and what a change it has made in my life. I was about to die from malnourishment. I now drink half a gallon of milk aday and tons of OJ. I always mix three spoons of Great Lakes Gelatin on my milk. I take 600mg of kelp each morning. Eat calf liver twice a week, 3 baked potatoes a week. I take colostrum , stinging nettle, pregnoleon, B-complex,dhea,multi-vitamin and extra selenium, hawthorn berry, extra L-Glutamine-co q 10, carott salad, 2 cups of coffee, six fried eggs in butter, 2 pancakes with lots of real butter and lots of honey. I do isometric exercises, with 40 squats everyday. You ought to see my muscles for an old guy. I eat no muscle meats, no chicken or turkey and no fish. The key is to make sure the intake of potassium is around 4000 mg. everyday. That's kinda tough so I eat two cups of Kale and I also get K2 to direct my milk camcium to the bones. I take extra magnesium Taurate for the heart. The best thing I do is drink my morning tonic of lemon juice with Braggs Apple Cider. Peats great-take care everybody. Paul
Labell
You are wise beyond your years!!!!!
Tanya
Ray does not actually advocate eating potatoes or any starches that haven't been somehow pre-digested...lime for corn, sprouting for grains and nuts (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiAAqEB1fjw)...for potatoes he recommends juicing and cooking the juice once the starch is removed, though this is so onerous, you won't find much reference out there from people doing it. I went from paleo to Ray to ketogenic and back to Ray again, it's that time of life for me and I'm care-taking for my mother who has dementia and I don't wish to follow her lead, so we do a lot of experimenting in our house. One thing I can say about Ray's work, he freely shares his rather dense articles and newsletters, consults with individuals who contact him and does a lot of interviews on alternative radio stations, which is by far the easiest way to get your head around his concepts with the help of an interperter. Canola oil bad, coconut oil good. Following him for a bit gave me the strength to order some T3 and get myself up off the couch when no health practitioner would assist me - telling me, and my mother before me, that all my health issues were in my head and I should try to not focus so much on them. ARGH! If it were not for Ray Peat, I shudder to think where I would be in the health system now. Did I gain weight? Yep...but I also got a job, a husband, and my life back. Fair trade.
Joan M. Wilson
Our son (now 32) has struggled his whole life with severe epilepsy and about 14 yrs ago developed dysautonomia/POTS. We didnt find out about POTS until 4 yrs ago, and I wonder what Peat would have said about it. Anyhow, when our son was hospitalized with a thyroid storm in 2012 I contacted Peat after spending some months before reading his articles & trying to familiarize myself with the terminology etc... . We began about a 4 yr correspondence - he never asked for $, but I regularly sent him checks which he would not cash. I have all of it on my email stlll. I did respect him, but he was stuck in his theories. I believe now what caused the thyroid storm was from using iodine when my son likely was selenium deficient, bc his thyroid straightened out eventually, after I stopped messing with it. Ray was convinced he was hypo and his tachycardia was from the adrenaline trying to compensate. In the end it was POTS. Long story short, he had me throwing so much sugar mixed in orange juice and milk - forgetting to tell me to use lowfat milk that my skinny son who had weighed 115 lbs weighed 250lbs 18 mos later. His seizures were so bad he was in ICU 9 times in those months over 2 yrs) and in the ER in between. The sugar seemed to both calm the seizures initially so he could sleep a little, but then they came back much worse. We had to "wean" him off sugar. So, after he got off of it he could never tolerate any again, not even fruit, which is strange. Dr. Derrick Lonsdale says the sugar damaged his mitochondria. The biphasic effect with sugar was reactive hypoglycemia and if he eats sugar his blood glucose levels tank dramatically & fast. He can eat starch, but only a certain amount. None of this made sense to Ray. BTW our son's weight dropped to a normal 140 lbs over time, but I hated myself for letting this happen, but, as I said, there was a time where sugar saved him from dangerous seizures, and yet caused them to worsen. It took time to figure it out. And time to get him off of it. There were a few other really "out there" things he recommended to me for our son. Aside from all this, I can better today pick through his work and find helpful information. He was very kind and patient with me and I truly think he was remarkable. But after yrs of talking to lots of remarkable people I find that many tend to have tunnel vision. A big one for him was hypothyroidism. It just is not always the problem, but he tended to think it was.