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Dr Paul Mason obtained his medical degree with honours from the University of Sydney, and also holds degrees in Physiotherapy and Occupational Health. He is a Specialist Sports Medicine and Exercise Physician.
Dr Mason developed an interest in low carbohydrate diets in 2011. Since then he has spent hundreds of hours reading and analysing the scientific literature.
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Background and context
- Sports and exercise medicine focus; work expanded from athletes to public metabolic health.
- Metabolic syndrome in 30s despite low-fat diet, sodium counting, heavy exercise, high carbs/sugar intake.
- Metabolic syndrome defined by 3 of 5: central adiposity, low HDL, high triglycerides, high blood sugar, high blood pressure.
Plant only vs carnivore
- Plant only diet benefit often comes from leaving heavily processed “SAD” eating.
- Research comparisons often use a low baseline and exclude plant-only junk-food intake.
- Many nutrition studies group “red meat” together with junk food and other confounders.
- Food-frequency questionnaires are a core data source, with major recall limitations.
Carnivore
- Carnivore movement includes high-profile advocates; diet sits at the extreme end of dietary change.
- Pure carnivore marked as extreme; question raised about maintaining optimal health on it.
- No research cited that proves optimal health on pure carnivore is impossible.
- People on pure carnivore can be extremely healthy; early support is largely anecdotal and observational.
- Personal contacts and patients on carnivore show very good health; some reversed chronic issues after switching.
- Population and historical patterns (Maasai, Inuit, other cultures) include predominantly animal foods with minimal plant food.
Animal foods, growth, and brain nutrients
- Cross-country child stunting aligns with low animal-food intake; economics and availability drive intake.
- Ecuador intervention: giving children one egg per day prevented pathological stunting.
- Red meat, dairy, and eggs support child growth and development via nutrient density.
- Developing brain needs DHA; plant omega-3 converts poorly to DHA; algae is a potential exception.
- Dietary DHA availability links to cognition and measured IQ differences in children.
Evidence quality
- Study design and confounding control determine reliability; avoid cherry-picking supportive papers.
Cholesterol, LDL, and carbohydrate damage
- Excess carbohydrate drives damaging changes to LDL; LDL level alone is a weak signal without metabolic context.
- Older-adult evidence synthesis: 19 cohorts; LDL inversely associated with all-cause mortality in 16 cohorts.
Practical blood tests and interpretation
- Triglyceride:HDL ratio and HbA1c are practical, widely available predictors of cardiovascular risk.
- HbA1c reflects average glucose exposure via sugar attachment to red blood cells over ~120 days.
- Lab “normal” ranges mirror population distribution and can drift as population health worsens.
- Liver enzymes help flag metabolic dysfunction; interpret toward optimal health, not the average.
- Homocysteine can reflect malabsorption and B-vitamin/folate insufficiency.
Fatty liver, connective tissue, and pain
- Fatty liver raises matrix metalloproteinases, increasing connective-tissue breakdown and arthritis pain risk.
- Early weight loss often comes from the liver and reduces these enzymes.
- Around 10% body-weight reduction links to ~30–50% pain reduction in obesity-related arthritis.
References
- [00:12] Eggs in Early Complementary Feeding and Child Growth: A Randomized Controlled Trial — https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-3459
- [00:43] Lack of an association or an inverse association between low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol and mortality in the elderly: a systematic review — https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010401