I’m a doctor who ate bacon, butter and eggs for a month straight – what happened to my body defies what ‘health experts’ tell you

For decades, Americans have been told that bacon and butter are bad for our health, as are too many eggs.

The reason? They are high in fat and cholesterol, which are demonized because of their apparent links to heart disease and weight gain.

But a Georgia doctor who ate the breakfast trio for 30 days straight claims they actually made him healthier.

Dr. Sten Ekberg saw his body weight and body fat drop, as well as his levels of insulin, glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol and indicators of liver damage.

Ekberg is a functional nutritionist, a medical professional who creates personalized nutrition plans for their patients. He also conducts diet-related experiments on himself.

In March 2023, he ate nothing but junk food for ten days in a row to see how it affected his health.

At the end of that experiment, he decided to try the ketogenic diet to see if it could reverse the damage.

He ate what he called a “clean” keto diet, which included plenty of bacon, butter and eggs for 30 days, as well as leafy greens and vegetables and other meats like steak, fish and chicken.

After ten days of eating nothing but junk food, Ekberg’s blood test was alarming.

Not only had he gained 10 pounds in just over a week, but his levels of insulin, glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol and indicators of liver damage had increased between 19 and 125 percent.

For several of these health markers — including insulin and VLDL, which indicates the risk of plaque buildup in the arteries — this was the first time they had ever exceeded normal levels, he said.

He wondered whether the keto diet — a high-fat, low-carb diet that helps the body use fat instead of sugar for energy — could reverse this damage.

During the 30 days, his typical meals may consist of salads topped with egg whites, seeds, bacon, a little olive oil, and vinegar dressing.

He also ate a lot of omelettes with sausage, bacon, avocado, onion and tomato, and steak with a side of steamed broccoli or cauliflower and topped with béarnaise sauce – made from eggs and butter.

He also practiced intermittent fasting, an eating plan that alternates between periods of eating and fasting.

Over the course of the 30 days, he ate one or two meals a day, typically fasting for 16 to 24 hours at a time.

The idea behind this type of diet is that it helps your body reach ketosis – a metabolic state that occurs when your body burns fat for energy.

On the third day of adhering to the keto diet, Ekberg’s blood work indicated that he had achieved ketosis, and he maintained this metabolic state for the remainder of the 30-day period.

At the end of the 30 days, he weighed himself and took blood tests again to see how his body had changed.

First, he discovered that his weight had fallen back into what he considers the normal, healthy range for his body.

After ten days of eating junk food, he weighed 203 pounds.

But after 30 days of keto, he weighed only 189 pounds — over the course of a month, he lost 14 pounds.

And where his blood tests had previously shown dangerously high levels of every health indicator he measured, now everything had returned to healthy levels.

His insulin, glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol and indicators of liver damage had all dropped significantly, indicating that 30 days of following a clean keto diet with intermittent fasting had repaired the damage caused by 10 days of eating junk food.

Despite the fact that bacon, butter and eggs are considered foods high in fat and cholesterol, Ekberg’s cholesterol levels fell slightly – from 222 to 220 – and his triglyceride levels fell from 101 to 60, putting him back within the range for both cases. healthy range. health indicators.

In addition, his insulin levels dropped from 5.7 to 3.4 and his insulin resistance – indicated by HOMA IR levels – dropped from 1.3 to 0.8.

He was especially surprised to see his LDH levels drop so dramatically after they rose to dangerously high levels during his 10-day junk food experiment — about twice as high as they should be.

After 30 days of keto use, his LDH was back within the healthy range at just 170.

The World Health Organization and the U.S. National Cancer Institute advise people not to eat meat like bacon often because of its link to cancer.

But Ekberg said in his YouTube video: “What I hope you learn from this is how adaptive your body is.”

‘You can do serious damage in ten days, but your body is very resilient and will recover if you do the right things.’

But that doesn’t mean the keto diet doesn’t come with risks, or that it will work for everyone.

The keto diet can cause low blood pressure, kidney stones, constipation, nutrient deficiencies and an increased risk of heart disease due to high cholesterol and saturated fat intake, according to UChicagoMedicine.

And studies have shown that if your insulin levels are lower, or if your body is resistant to insulin and already has trouble balancing glucose intake, you probably won’t lose weight on the keto diet.

But if your concerns about cholesterol and saturated fats keep you from trying this diet, Ekberg says you should consider the facts. Keto is a high-fat diet, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you need to eat more fat, he says.

The key is to stick to intermittent fasting, reduce carbohydrates to less than five percent and balance your fat intake with moderate protein consumption and plenty of leafy greens and vegetables, he said.

This keeps your insulin levels low and allows your body to metabolize the fat and cholesterol you consume.