Man Ate Bacon and Eggs for 30 Days and His Blood Work Stunned Doctors
Ever wondered what would happen if you ate bacon, eggs, and butter every day? Most of us have been warned about the dangers of saturated fat, but what does the science actually show? Dr. Sten Ekberg, a former Olympic decathlete turned holistic health doctor, decided to find out through a controlled experiment. His unique combination of athletic achievement and medical expertise offers valuable insights for anyone interested in understanding how different diets affect our health. Read on to discover the surprising results of his 30-day high-fat diet experiment.
Why This Doctor Took a Risk With His Health
"I needed to undo the damage from a 10-day experiment," explains Dr. Ekberg. "Some of you may have seen the video where I ate junk food, namely the standard American diet for 10 days." His weight had jumped from 193 to 203 pounds, and his blood markers showed alarming changes. "This was the first time that I felt I put myself out there and took a little bit of a risk."
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What Science Says About Healthy Fats
According to UCLA Health experts Dr. Elizabeth Ko and Dr. Eve Glazier, "A robust body of research has revealed the wide-ranging benefits of including healthy fats in the diet. These include lowering the risk of developing heart disease, improving blood cholesterol levels, helping with blood sugar control and reducing inflammation."
Understanding Different Types of Fats
UCLA Health explains: "Fats are a type of lipid, which are molecules that do not dissolve in water. When someone talks about healthy fats, they're referring to lipids that, due to the specific types of chemical bonds that hold them together, remain liquid at room temperature."
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How Ketones Work in Your Body
"Ketones are byproducts of fat. They are a reserve fuel for the brain that the body develops when you go very low carbohydrates," Dr. Ekberg explains. "A ketogenic diet is about cutting down the carbohydrates. In my case, 30 grams works pretty well."
Sources of Healthy Fats You Can Try
UCLA Health recommends: "Healthy fats are found in plant-based foods such as walnuts, flax seeds, chia seeds, soybeans, avocados and olives… And don't forget about fatty fish. These are an excellent source of a certain form of omega-3 fatty acid."
What a Healthy Keto Diet Actually Looks Like
While bacon and eggs were staples, Dr. Ekberg emphasizes variety: "If you go from a junk food diet with lots of sugar and processed starches and seed oils and garbage foods, then switching to bacon butter and eggs and eating nothing else would be a vast improvement. But we don't want to just do better. We want to do optimal."
A Day of Meals on the Experiment
"I ate a lot of salads… with steak or ground beef or fish or chicken. And the only dressing I had would be extra virgin olive oil and vinegar… I had a good bit of omelets… I would put sausage and bacon. I would serve it on the side with avocado."
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The Truth About Saturated Fat Consumption
"This may be the biggest hurdle that keeps people from trying a low carb or ketogenic diet," Dr. Ekberg notes. "It's not the saturated fat that's the problem. It is how is the body processing it?"
What the Blood Tests Revealed
The results challenged conventional wisdom. "My insulin had gone from 4.8 to 5.7, first time out of the optimal range, 30 days of high fat, and I was back where I need to be in the three to four range," reports Dr. Ekberg. His triglycerides and VLDL levels also improved significantly.
How to Know if This Diet is Right for You
Dr. Ekberg notes that while effective for most, this approach isn't universal: "The vast majority, probably 95% of people are going to have fairly straightforward journey that these physiological mechanisms, these principles are going to work just fine. But then there is always the exception, the other 5%."
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Practical Tips for Including Healthy Fats
UCLA Health advises: "You can turn that around by cooking with vegetable oils, limiting saturated fats, avoiding trans fats and eating at least one good source of omega-3 fats each day." They add that even dark chocolate contains beneficial monounsaturated fats, though it should be consumed in moderation.
The Bottom Line on Fat Adaptation
Dr. Ekberg's final message is encouraging: "How adaptive your body is, that you can do serious damage in 10 days, but your body is very resilient. It will bounce back if you do the right things." And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.
