Hamid is a 25 years old Iranian man, living in Germany. He has been athletic since the age of 15, playing basketball or sprinting. His diet journey began when he wanted more muscle and to “bulk up some.”
Hamid was 75 kilos at the time and watched some Youtube videos to learn how to bulk up. He used whey protein to help. He had been having depression and sleep problems, and he also saw a Paul Saladino interview saying that diet was more important than drugs, so he started asking around about diet. What he heard was “vegan diet is good, meat is bad.” His friends said he had to cut meat from his diet.
Hamid’s Vegan Journey
Eating meat is part of Iranian culture, and it is common to sacrifice an animal to have a feast for any major occasion. Growing up there, Hamid had never seen a vegan or vegetarian before. Despite that, he decided he would try being a vegan and cut meat and dairy from his diet. All the problems he had didn’t get better but actually got worse.
The Impact of Culture on Diet
“I don’t have to be a nutritionist to understand which food is bad for me; I can just eat that food and try it on my body.”
Studying environmental management, Hamid also didn’t believe that vegan and vegetarianism is good for the environment or meat is bad for it. He saw evidence in his country: “As a person who came from Iran, I saw all the grass-fed sheep,… we saw all the time with grass-fed sheep that this is something good for the environment.”
The Vegan Industry
Hamid saw vegan diets as an industry, and his vegan friends were not accepting of his cultural norms about meat. He calls it “vegan intolerance and the environmental lies that all around the world are telling that the vegan diet is the way to go. But in my opinion, it is actually another form of industry and can be more dangerous than even industrial meat.”
Hamid’s Transition to a Meat-Only Diet
Hamid looked at what he had done trying to follow a vegan diet and getting worse. He asked himself “you’ve cut all the animal-based protein and food from your diet, and it’s not getting better. So why not cut all the plants from your diet?”
He started following Dr. Baker and learned much more about the diet and felt inspired to try it.
Hamid had lost all his muscle gains and was down to 70 kilos. He told himself “This time I’m gonna bulk up, but not with whey protein, not with plants, only with meat.”
Benefits of a Meat-Only Diet
He noticed that his sleep quality improved, as did his recovery after exercise. His cognition improved, and he became happy instead of depressed. Hamid’s energy skyrocketed, and he asked himself why he didn’t feel this way before. Hamid feels his testosterone level has improved as well, and his body fat percentage lowered.
“I would say just try it, give it a chance!”
