Digital Social Hour
Vegan to Carnivore: How Meat SAVED My Life and Mental Health | Judy Cho DSH #943
Mon, 02 Dec 2024
The Diet That Saved Me From Mental Illness - Watch this incredible story of transformation through food! 🙌 Former plant-based advocate Judy Cho shares her powerful journey from mental hospital to complete healing through the carnivore diet. After 12 years of struggling with eating disorders and severe depression, Judy discovered how changing her diet completely transformed her mental health and life. Learn the shocking connection between gut health and mental wellness, why traditional treatments failed, and how meat-based nutrition provided the key to recovery. Judy, now a nutrition expert, explains the science behind food's impact on mood, shares evidence-based insights on parasites, mold exposure, and the truth about "healthy" foods that may be harming us. From battling eating disorders to becoming a respected nutrition expert helping thousands, Judy's story proves that what we eat directly impacts our mental health. Whether you're struggling with mood disorders, curious about carnivore eating, or interested in the connection between diet and mental wellness, this episode delivers eye-opening insights that could change your perspective on nutrition forever. Join Sean Kelly and Judy Cho for this raw, honest conversation about mental health, healing, and the power of proper nutrition. Ready to challenge everything you thought you knew about diet and mental wellness? Watch now! 🎯 #carnivorediet #mentalhealthawareness #ketodiet #mentalhealth #fiber CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:40 - Judy's Life-Changing Diet 06:00 - Depression and Diet Connection 11:28 - Benefits of Raw Milk 13:25 - Breastfeeding with Diabetes 16:02 - Understanding Vaccines 17:28 - Mercury in Dental Fillings 19:47 - Impact of Parasites on Health 22:54 - Overcoming Sugar Cravings 24:34 - Carnivores vs. Vegans Debate 27:19 - Importance of Vitamin D 27:52 - Understanding Mold Illness 29:44 - Water Quality Testing 31:31 - Importance of Meat Quality 39:41 - Insights from Paul Saladino 44:18 - Blood Test Reference Ranges 45:17 - Nutritional Benefits of Eggs 46:20 - USDA Cholesterol Guidelines 46:54 - Find Judy Online APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [email protected] GUEST: Judy Cho https://www.instagram.com/nutritionwithjudy/ https://www.nutritionwithjudy.com/ SPONSORS: BetterHelp: https://www.betterhelp.com/DSH LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What was Judy's life-changing diet?
And I said, screw this, I'm going to just try this. Getting and changing my diet, I've never had depression like I used to struggle with.
All right, guys. Got Judy Cho today. We're going to talk some healthy things today, aren't we?
Yeah, I'm excited to be here. Thanks for having me.
Absolutely. So I found you from the Kayla show.
Okay. Yeah, I wasn't sure how you found me, but that's cool. I know you're not part of the carnivore space fully.
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Chapter 2: How is depression connected to diet?
I'm not fully, but I'm shifting.
Okay.
But I keep hearing mixed things, so I can't wait to talk to you about it, actually. Okay. So when it comes to me, are you fully carnivore right now?
I'd say I'm more meat-based. It depends on who you're talking to. So obviously there's like a subset of the community that's super strict, meaning that they only eat from the animal kingdom, land, sea, and water. And then if you eat anything beyond that, coffee, teas, sugar-free stuff, then you're not part of the carnivore community.
Even coffee?
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Chapter 3: What are the benefits of raw milk?
Yeah. So because it's from a plant, it's from a, so in that nuance, but I try not to be dogmatic because I mean, my living is mostly through a private functional medicine practice. And so for that reason, I'm not super strict. I was super strict for the first three years of carnivore. And then this last four years, it's more meat based, but I mean, like today I've had nothing but meat.
Got it. And you made this shift because you were dealing with some health problems, right?
Yeah, so I was a management consultant. That was my career. I was going to be a partner in a consulting firm and knew really nothing about nutrition. But I grew up in LA and I got really sick. I went to UC Berkeley and then I became plant-based there because that's the sort of narrative and I totally fell into it. And then I stuck to it for about 12 years.
And I started struggling with an eating disorder and mood disorders and severe depression. And I never once was told that it was actually my diet or it could be related to my diet. So I continued to just eat that way. And I was getting help, was going through therapy. Nothing was fully working. Then I had my first son. And in the process of nursing him, I was six months into nursing him.
And I got mastitis. So I had an infection in my breast tissue and I had to take antibiotics and something along the way of having the eating disorder, my plant-based diet, as well as getting on antibiotics. I had a mental breakdown and I was sent, my family didn't know what to do with me. So the, put me in a mental hospital. We have a psychiatrist in the family. He says she needs to go.
They put me on antipsychotics and antidepressants. And I don't remember a lot of my memory then, but they told me that I probably suffered from severe postpartum depression and that I should go to an eating disorder facility to work on all of that. I did all of that. I did everything they told me, intuitive eating, mindful eating, nothing worked. Truly out of pure desperation.
I started a keto diet, but still plant-based. Helped a little bit, not enough. So I was adding the fat back. But it wasn't until a friend said, why don't you try this crazy diet called the carnivore diet? And I said, that is crazy. I haven't eaten meat in 12 years. But it was at my lowest low. I was in front of the toilet, struggling with my eating disorder again.
Now I'm trying to care for my child, but I keep prioritizing this addiction, this illness. And I said, screw this. I'm going to just try this because there's these crazy stories of people healing and I really need to get my life back. And so I started two weeks in the physical hunger, the need to binge and not care for anything but to go binge went away.
Wow.
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Chapter 4: What is the carnivore diet and its principles?
Yes. So I think she, I mean, hers also had an autoimmune related illness, but I think she had me on primarily because when carnivore is not working enough for, and it's not that because there's a better diet, but that there's the diet itself is not just the issue. It could be environment as well. And so we talked a little bit more nuanced about the environment too.
Yeah, and a lot of people don't. This episode of Digital Social Hour is brought to you by BetterHelp. How do you keep cozy during the holiday season? My favorite way is wrapping up in a blanket and watching Christmas movies with my family and two dogs, Milo and Otis. The holidays can be tough on people and seasonal depression is no joke.
Therapy is a great way to bring yourself some comfort that lasts even when the seasons change. We'll see you next time. Find peace and comfort this December with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash DSH today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash DSH. Never put depression along with diet. They just assume it's like genetic or some traumatic incident.
Chapter 5: How does gut health affect mental wellness?
They don't really look to their food as an answer for that.
Yeah, so I was told that I had a serotonin imbalance, something I was born genetically with slight... minor depression. And so why not just take a serotonin reuptake inhibitor or an SSRI? And I was on Zoloft for a few years. And if I take that, then I should have a better balance of my moods. But that didn't work enough.
And so then I ended up getting on antipsychotics and all of those other medications. And when I got on a carnivore diet, there's so many reasons why a carnivore diet can heal you. Because first of all, most of your serotonin is in your gut. And yes, a lot of that serotonin won't go back to your brain, but they communicate because they're neurotransmitters.
And when you eat a carnivore diet and you remove a lot of the toxins, including plant toxins, processed foods, your gut is able to heal. And as your gut is healing, I mean, 80% of your immune system is in your gut. So not only does your serotonin and all of those neurotransmitters start healing and they can improve, your gut starts healing.
You start having less leaky gut and inflammation in the body. And then The more recent research shows that leaky gut is leaky brain. And so it's very, very one and the same.
That's crazy. And a lot of people have gut issues right now.
Absolutely. I think the statistic is 95% of people have low stomach acid. And with low stomach acid, you're not able to break down your food. So it's not only you're eating the best foods with the most nutrients available, but it's the bioavailability of the nutrients. So your body has to be able to absorb the nutrients.
So for example, one reason that meat is more beneficial is because the nutrients are more bioavailable. As an example, we can talk about iron. When I was plant-based, I should have known. So when I had my first pregnancy, my OBGYN told me I was anemic. And so my iron levels were really low. And so she said, get on supplements. I didn't think anything of it.
But during that time, I was eating a pound of spinach every single day. And that has a ton of iron. What I've learned through nutrition is that the bioavailability of iron from spinach is very, very low compared to the bioavailability of vegetables. iron in meat.
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Chapter 6: What nutritional benefits do eggs provide?
Chapter 7: Why is meat quality important for health?
Chapter 8: How can parasites affect our health?
Wow.
And the mental side of turning to food, turning to an addiction changed. And I needed to go through therapy to do that because I don't think food fixes everything, but it can fix a lot. And that changed my life. Then I got mad. Because in the eating disorder long-term facility, they said that I was broken and that I had to take psychiatric meds for the rest of my life.
Jeez.
And then... getting and changing my diet, I've never had depression like I used to struggle with. And so I am now just trying to give back because I got my life back and I don't want other people to suffer like the way I did.
That's incredible. I can see why Michaela had you on because she dealt with something similar, right?
Yes. So I think she, I mean, hers also had an autoimmune related illness, but I think she had me on primarily because when carnivore is not working enough for, and it's not that because there's a better diet, but that there's the diet itself is not just the issue. It could be environment as well. And so we talked a little bit more nuanced about the environment too.
Yeah, and a lot of people don't. This episode of Digital Social Hour is brought to you by BetterHelp. How do you keep cozy during the holiday season? My favorite way is wrapping up in a blanket and watching Christmas movies with my family and two dogs, Milo and Otis. The holidays can be tough on people and seasonal depression is no joke.
Therapy is a great way to bring yourself some comfort that lasts even when the seasons change. We'll see you next time. Find peace and comfort this December with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash DSH today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash DSH. Never put depression along with diet. They just assume it's like genetic or some traumatic incident.
They don't really look to their food as an answer for that.
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