I think something that needs to be added to these conversations is the prospect of flooding and worsening symptoms.
I myself experienced it on keto, and yes I did it correctly, tried cycling under the care of different functional medicine doctors.
Keto became a religion and I became the scapegoat. The one who wouldn’t comply so much he blamed and judged.
The same thing happened in my former religious circles and in my yoga/breathwork circles. Almost any time I mention my adverse experiences I’m met with judgement and criticism.
I have had several therapists who understand now that sometimes as the “healing” occurs that it floods the nervous systems and body with the old somatic energy. It can even cause psychosis.
Dr. Britton Willoughby has done plenty of research on this phenomenon regarding meditation but I believe it can occur in ANY healing modality/space. She started the cheetah house for meditators in distress.
Yes, ultra-processed foods are harmful, but that’s not the same as demonizing carbohydrates. Carbs are essential, especially for those with thyroid conditions, as they support proper hormone function. Waking up at 3 AM in a sweat? That could be hormonal dysregulation, and in some cases, insufficient carbohydrate intake. Blood sugar balance isn’t just about carbs—there are at least 42 factors involved, including stress, sleep, muscle mass, and overall diet quality.
The ketogenic diet has clinical applications, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. Long-term keto can be risky, especially for women, as it may disrupt thyroid function, increase cortisol, and negatively impact hormone balance. It should be approached with caution and, ideally, under medical supervision.
Nutrition isn’t just about macronutrient ratios. Metabolic health is complex, and oversimplifying it does more harm than good.
Very much appreciate the care taken with discussing keto diet and it not being a panacea. Dealing with my own chronic illness, I've tried multiple times to switch to keto or modified keto diets and have been unable to sustain them due to flare ups in pain and immobility, despite sleeping well and exercising consistently. I've found my best improvements/times of most stability have come just from simply upping the protein:carb ratio and cooking everything myself, without the need of restricting any food groups.
On a different note, it's interesting to see other fields grappling with biological reductionism. Genetics and genomics as fields have been walking a fine line trending towards this as well. Not sure if it's more dangerous in G&G or in psychology, but there are strong eugenicist undercurrents in the biological reductionism of g&g. Seems like there's a greater danger for populations there while psychology faces more individual dangers with this. Lots to think about.
Such powerful words, Roger! Thank you for sharing them. I started out skimming the top of the article to determine if it would make it to my "Read" folder . . . and an hour + several journal pages later, I'm behind in my morning routine. Thanks for the diversion, much great processing, and several quotes I look forward to sharing in the future.
My family and I combine Terrain Teheory with Ray Peat's wisdom, we have actually always eaten as he advocates but he has many other wise thoughts that you should listen to. Toxic-free food, lots of carbohydrates and meat and dairy products from happy animals that have lived as they should, no supplements, no medications and of course no vaccines. Very simple, just rewind the tape and see how people ate and lived before money took over. I must say that we are healthy, not overweight and we were not affected by the famous virus that doesn't even exist and no, we don't live isolated in the middle of the forest, we live normal lives and work in offices.
My one complaint ~ in keeping with your theme, I hope ~ is that kicking off this treasure of an offering with CGI ... FAKE PHOTO of FAKE HUMANS FAKE CELEBRATING ... is just *too* grotesque.
Appreciate your work and perspective very much, but want to call on you to raise your image use standards up to the same high standards as your written work. Using AI photos without any acknowledgement they are fake generative renditions of humans undermines the credibility of your other articulated perspectives. That AI photo is an ultra-processed and preservative-packed item. When you write an article calling out the need for reality based solutions and then bravely question the efficacy of pharmaceutical medications -- but start it all off with the image equivalent of an SSRI it calls into question the validity and value of every word of yours that follows. There are many awesome free image libaries out there and many human artists still accessibly offering images of their work for use online.
Thank you for another excellent post with many important truths, Dr. McFillin.
I can speak to the wonderful success of the keto diet, heavy on fish, for helping me get my metabolism in order. In addition to that, I take Vitamin D and have added various herbs, spices & supplements to my diet. I've learned to listen to my body. I will always have Lupus & heart problems, and CPTSD however, being proactive about my health especially getting far, far from neurotoxins and toxic people has done wonders as well.
I'd also state that ethically applied and properly followed up past life regression hypnotherapy can also help work miracles. I speak from experience. I also do meditation and energy work, QiGong and yoga, as well as chakra clearing. I've also begun utilizing frequencies and sound healing. There are plenty of true treatment modalities that actually provide true healing and real health, but that Rockefeller based "health care" and big pHARMa have teamed up for far too many years to keep hidden or attempt to discredit as it eats into their profit$.
Many thanks again for another insightful and informative post. Please keep up the extraordinary work. You are truly doing God's work and making a huge difference in helping get the real information out there to help transform lives. Very deeply appreciated.
Among the important issues this post raises is medicine's inability to solve the Cartesian dualism that divides people into minds and bodies. Medicine (including psychiatry) cannot heal people because healing perforce involves the whole person. (You may be interested in my post, "Why Psychiatric Disorders Don't Exist.") In years past I performed countless psychiatric consultations to advise physicians whether their patients' problems were mental or physical. The correct answer, of course was always yes.
Attribution bias is our curse as humans. We tend to believe we know why things are as they are. There's this assumption every time that the reason someone did what they did or things are the way they are is within the scope of things that we personally know. Because we need to. We would rather be wrong than live with uncertainty. Look no further than politics. I've spoken to people who firmly believe Trump intends to become a forever president. They got this idea and it makes perfect sense to them and they readily accept the notion that they could know why Trump does anything at all. I couldn't think of a worse way to enjoy my twilight years as a billionaire but OK.
When I first got fat and tired I thought it was aging (at 23). Then years later I found out I had Hashimotos. But taking thyroxine didn't solve everything. Then investigating my allergies and GSTT1 gene deletion I was sure it was just I wasn't methylating. Then I thought maybe the Hashis was downstream from a vagus nerve tone issue giving me too much cortisol from PTSD. I have excellent excuses for PTSD. And it is a great scapegoat for ADHD, OCD, hypervigilance and introversion. Now I discover a raft of symptoms across family members looks like B6 deficiency? Which would be about right since we got that missing gene...
Of course I went straight out and bought P5P B6 for me and my siblings. I also started seeing articles complaining about B6 toxicity and the government thinking they need to restrict access. That is always a good sign that something works. I will likely never learn my lesson, but I may one day develop the grace to treat my attributions with the skepticism they deserve. Maybe B6 will help.
Among important issues your post raises is the inability of our health care system to come to grips with the mind-body problem, aka Cartesian dualism, as it is clueless how to treat whole people. Psychiatric diagnostic labels are meaningless or misleading except in relation to the rest of the person. In years past I performed countless psychiatric consultations for internists and surgeons who asked me to opine whether patients' problems were mental or physical. The correct answer, of course, is always yes.
This post needs to be read and explained to every single human on the planet. It is brilliant and brilliantly written. Thank you!
Hot damn. Thank you for your voice, Dr. McFillin.
Oh the lengths we go to avoid feeling our emotions and being present with ourselves! It’s so much easier to eat avocados and pop pills.
Excellent points about biological reductionism.
I think something that needs to be added to these conversations is the prospect of flooding and worsening symptoms.
I myself experienced it on keto, and yes I did it correctly, tried cycling under the care of different functional medicine doctors.
Keto became a religion and I became the scapegoat. The one who wouldn’t comply so much he blamed and judged.
The same thing happened in my former religious circles and in my yoga/breathwork circles. Almost any time I mention my adverse experiences I’m met with judgement and criticism.
I have had several therapists who understand now that sometimes as the “healing” occurs that it floods the nervous systems and body with the old somatic energy. It can even cause psychosis.
Dr. Britton Willoughby has done plenty of research on this phenomenon regarding meditation but I believe it can occur in ANY healing modality/space. She started the cheetah house for meditators in distress.
Interesting
Yes, ultra-processed foods are harmful, but that’s not the same as demonizing carbohydrates. Carbs are essential, especially for those with thyroid conditions, as they support proper hormone function. Waking up at 3 AM in a sweat? That could be hormonal dysregulation, and in some cases, insufficient carbohydrate intake. Blood sugar balance isn’t just about carbs—there are at least 42 factors involved, including stress, sleep, muscle mass, and overall diet quality.
The ketogenic diet has clinical applications, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. Long-term keto can be risky, especially for women, as it may disrupt thyroid function, increase cortisol, and negatively impact hormone balance. It should be approached with caution and, ideally, under medical supervision.
Nutrition isn’t just about macronutrient ratios. Metabolic health is complex, and oversimplifying it does more harm than good.
Well said... Ketogenic diet has clinical applications for some people- most accurate way to report it.
Very much appreciate the care taken with discussing keto diet and it not being a panacea. Dealing with my own chronic illness, I've tried multiple times to switch to keto or modified keto diets and have been unable to sustain them due to flare ups in pain and immobility, despite sleeping well and exercising consistently. I've found my best improvements/times of most stability have come just from simply upping the protein:carb ratio and cooking everything myself, without the need of restricting any food groups.
On a different note, it's interesting to see other fields grappling with biological reductionism. Genetics and genomics as fields have been walking a fine line trending towards this as well. Not sure if it's more dangerous in G&G or in psychology, but there are strong eugenicist undercurrents in the biological reductionism of g&g. Seems like there's a greater danger for populations there while psychology faces more individual dangers with this. Lots to think about.
Such powerful words, Roger! Thank you for sharing them. I started out skimming the top of the article to determine if it would make it to my "Read" folder . . . and an hour + several journal pages later, I'm behind in my morning routine. Thanks for the diversion, much great processing, and several quotes I look forward to sharing in the future.
Toxins are one culprit, lack of energy the other, please look at Ray Peat's work, and you will see what I mean.
https://raypeat.com/
Thank you for bringing up Ray Peate’s work! Anyone that promotes keto, doesn’t fully understand human metabolism 😬
Well, how much white refined sugar do you consume?
My family and I combine Terrain Teheory with Ray Peat's wisdom, we have actually always eaten as he advocates but he has many other wise thoughts that you should listen to. Toxic-free food, lots of carbohydrates and meat and dairy products from happy animals that have lived as they should, no supplements, no medications and of course no vaccines. Very simple, just rewind the tape and see how people ate and lived before money took over. I must say that we are healthy, not overweight and we were not affected by the famous virus that doesn't even exist and no, we don't live isolated in the middle of the forest, we live normal lives and work in offices.
I am pretty Peaty myself, but I can't see how high amounts of white refined sugar can be good - I think he was wrong about that one.
B * R * A * V * O * !!! Thank you ~
My one complaint ~ in keeping with your theme, I hope ~ is that kicking off this treasure of an offering with CGI ... FAKE PHOTO of FAKE HUMANS FAKE CELEBRATING ... is just *too* grotesque.
Appreciate your work and perspective very much, but want to call on you to raise your image use standards up to the same high standards as your written work. Using AI photos without any acknowledgement they are fake generative renditions of humans undermines the credibility of your other articulated perspectives. That AI photo is an ultra-processed and preservative-packed item. When you write an article calling out the need for reality based solutions and then bravely question the efficacy of pharmaceutical medications -- but start it all off with the image equivalent of an SSRI it calls into question the validity and value of every word of yours that follows. There are many awesome free image libaries out there and many human artists still accessibly offering images of their work for use online.
Thank you for another excellent post with many important truths, Dr. McFillin.
I can speak to the wonderful success of the keto diet, heavy on fish, for helping me get my metabolism in order. In addition to that, I take Vitamin D and have added various herbs, spices & supplements to my diet. I've learned to listen to my body. I will always have Lupus & heart problems, and CPTSD however, being proactive about my health especially getting far, far from neurotoxins and toxic people has done wonders as well.
I'd also state that ethically applied and properly followed up past life regression hypnotherapy can also help work miracles. I speak from experience. I also do meditation and energy work, QiGong and yoga, as well as chakra clearing. I've also begun utilizing frequencies and sound healing. There are plenty of true treatment modalities that actually provide true healing and real health, but that Rockefeller based "health care" and big pHARMa have teamed up for far too many years to keep hidden or attempt to discredit as it eats into their profit$.
Many thanks again for another insightful and informative post. Please keep up the extraordinary work. You are truly doing God's work and making a huge difference in helping get the real information out there to help transform lives. Very deeply appreciated.
Among the important issues this post raises is medicine's inability to solve the Cartesian dualism that divides people into minds and bodies. Medicine (including psychiatry) cannot heal people because healing perforce involves the whole person. (You may be interested in my post, "Why Psychiatric Disorders Don't Exist.") In years past I performed countless psychiatric consultations to advise physicians whether their patients' problems were mental or physical. The correct answer, of course was always yes.
Radical!
Attribution bias is our curse as humans. We tend to believe we know why things are as they are. There's this assumption every time that the reason someone did what they did or things are the way they are is within the scope of things that we personally know. Because we need to. We would rather be wrong than live with uncertainty. Look no further than politics. I've spoken to people who firmly believe Trump intends to become a forever president. They got this idea and it makes perfect sense to them and they readily accept the notion that they could know why Trump does anything at all. I couldn't think of a worse way to enjoy my twilight years as a billionaire but OK.
When I first got fat and tired I thought it was aging (at 23). Then years later I found out I had Hashimotos. But taking thyroxine didn't solve everything. Then investigating my allergies and GSTT1 gene deletion I was sure it was just I wasn't methylating. Then I thought maybe the Hashis was downstream from a vagus nerve tone issue giving me too much cortisol from PTSD. I have excellent excuses for PTSD. And it is a great scapegoat for ADHD, OCD, hypervigilance and introversion. Now I discover a raft of symptoms across family members looks like B6 deficiency? Which would be about right since we got that missing gene...
Of course I went straight out and bought P5P B6 for me and my siblings. I also started seeing articles complaining about B6 toxicity and the government thinking they need to restrict access. That is always a good sign that something works. I will likely never learn my lesson, but I may one day develop the grace to treat my attributions with the skepticism they deserve. Maybe B6 will help.
Among important issues your post raises is the inability of our health care system to come to grips with the mind-body problem, aka Cartesian dualism, as it is clueless how to treat whole people. Psychiatric diagnostic labels are meaningless or misleading except in relation to the rest of the person. In years past I performed countless psychiatric consultations for internists and surgeons who asked me to opine whether patients' problems were mental or physical. The correct answer, of course, is always yes.