Experts rip into the ‘Lion Diet’ where people only eat meat and salt for 30 days

A controversial diet promoted by Jordan Peterson has sparked concerns with health experts, with the 'Lion Diet' raising some serious red flags.

Medical researchers at Healthline described the diet as eliminating 'all foods except salt, water, and meat from ruminant animals' from a person's diet.

The health kick spruiks itself as a 'healing elimination diet', but medical professionals reckon it is 'high in saturated fat'.

They also described itself as 'unsustainable and likely to lead to nutritional deficiencies'.

Cool, cool, cool.

Accredited dietitian Chloe McLeod told Body + Soul that excess consumption of meat had been linked to multiple health conditions, including bowel cancer and heart disease.

"Couple this with non-existent fibre intake, and the risk increases further, not to mention other health issues which are highly likely, such as constipation, high blood pressure and if followed for some time, osteoporosis," she said.

She added: "There is no valid reason [to adopt the diet]. It is so disappointing to see this meat-only diet be given a platform, particularly when aiming to appeal to those with debilitating health conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, and claiming it helps improve mental health issues."

The biggest names giving the diet a platform both come from the same family: Controversial Canadian author and clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson and his daughter Mikhaila.

In a 2018 podcast with Joe Rogan, the media personality shared his surprise at the benefits of the Lion Diet.

Peterson said: "I’m certainly intellectually at my best. I’m stronger, I can swim better, and my gum disease is gone. It’s like, what the hell?"

Mikhaila also claims she helped create the Lion Diet, describing it as a

'cure-all' which helped her beat a number of health problems she had struggled with since childhood.

"My brain and gut were so damaged that an all-beef or ruminant meat (like lamb and bison) diet, what I call the Lion Diet, was all I could tolerate," the podcaster said on her website.

The 28-year-old has been on the diet for five years now and claims she is 'healthy' and wants to share the diet with others so people 'can improve their life themselves'.

As per the Australian Heart Foundation, Aussies should only consume 350 grams of unprocessed red meat per week, which equals about one to three meals.

With those meals, the Health Foundation also calls for meat to be eaten with vegetables and whole grains.

Featured Image Credit: EyeEm / Alamy. The Picture Pantry / Alamy.

Topics: Health, News, Food And Drink, Jordan Peterson

Rachel Lang

Rachel Lang is a Digital Journalist at LADbible. During her career, she has interviewed Aussie PM Malcolm Turnbull in the lead up to the 2016 federal election, ran an editorial campaign on the war in Yemen, and reported on homelessness in the lead-up to Harry and Meghan’s wedding in Windsor. She also once wrote a yarn on the cheese and wine version of Fyre Festival.

@rlangjournalist