Skin

Joey Schwartz is wise beyond his years. Growing up in L.A. with a nutritionist mom, he has always had a keen interest in health and wellness. “I’ve always been super fascinated in nutrition—trying to find the best food to eat to ensure longevity, happiness…you know, overall satisfaction in life.” He grew up on the low-fat menu his mom (and many other nutritionists) commonly recommend, but when he started getting into weight lifting, he dove head first into the research himself. He tried a “body builder” type diet at first, with lots of carbs and protein—and ended up with skin issues. Eventually, he decided to give low-carb a try, but the copious amounts of vegetables he was eating left him lethargic and with stomach pain after every meal.

One day, he came across a Tik Tok video by carnivore advocate Paul Saladino, and became intrigued by the notion that plants were potentially harmful to your health. Delving further, he researched how plants have “biological chemical warfare mechanisms embedded within them to prevent you from eating them.” Logically, it made sense, so he started eating a meat and fruit diet not long after that. Six months later, he dropped the fruit and decided to give an all-meat diet a try—and describes the subsequent results as “life-transforming.”

Following the change, he could sleep fewer hours and wake with more energy—but where he really saw a profound change was in his athletic performance. Playing competitive soccer at the time, he says “My coach said, ‘I’ve never seen anyone improve this much in such a short period of time.’” Joey got faster, stronger, and could run non-stop the whole game with what seemed like boundless energy. He also noticed effortless muscle gains when hitting up the gym and lifting weights.

On top of that, his mental acuity was way better. “It’s kind of a strange phenomenon to describe. I can think better…I can remember things much easier—I have a more vast vocabulary.” He also says he’s feels calmer when under pressure. It’s a stark contrast compared to his fellow classmates in high school, many of whom—while relatively affluent—are stricken with mental health problems and are on medication.

While gearing up for his freshman year of college at UCLA, he encountered pushback from the college’s dining services to accommodate his carnivore diet—an interesting development considering how eager they are to cater to vegan and vegetarian students. The problem? They wouldn’t cook the meat in anything besides canola oil, and that was something Joey wasn’t willing to compromise on. Don’t worry, a crockpot full of meat in his dorm room has since solved the problem.

At just 18 years old, Joey is now on a mission to spread the carnivore message to the younger generation, and is starting a Youtube channel of his own to get the message out there. He has great insight into why many in the field of nutrition are resistant to embracing the carnivore lifestyle. “By switching your approach so drastically, you’re basically conceding to the notion that what you’ve been practicing is entirely wrong.” Out of the mouths of babes!