DR. ANTHONY CHAFFEE: Avoiding animal fat sacrifices vital nutrients--DHA, EPA, vitamins D3, K2, A, E, choline, cholesterol, and saturated fat--essential for neurological function and child brain development.

Ancestors ate high-fat megafauna (mammoths). Hunters today still target fat-rich animals--whales, seals, polar bears.  Even Arctic fish are fat-rich.  Large animals especially, Arctic species hunted in the Ice Ages, naturally carry a higher percentage of body fat.  Significant inter-abdominal fat is also found in the omentum, mesentery, and around the kidneys. Healthy animals simply have more fat than starving ones.

Due to decades of processed food propaganda, people now discard nutritious subcutaneous and abdominal fat, consuming only lean muscle.  Discarding this fat is not an ancestral practice. 

Avoiding animal fat sacrifices vital nutrients--DHA, EPA, vitamins D3, K2, A, E, choline, cholesterol, and saturated fat--essential for neurological function and child brain development. 

Weight stalls often stem from a "dirty carnivore" diet, [dairy, artificial sweeteners]. When issues arise, people wrongly blame high fat, forgetting high-fat carnivore initially drove their health and weight loss.  Switching to low-fat risks malnutrition and protein poisoning, which can result in weight loss, but of the expensive health.  As health suffers, people blame long-term ketosis on the poor health effects, even though this is against all the best long-term peer-reviewed evidence.  See my YouTube video, Is Ketosis Harmful? for more.

Remember that your hormones like testosterone and estrogen are made out of cholesterol, and avoiding fat will make all hormones suffer.  Eating carbs raises insulin and insulin resistance, which suppresses testosterone in men and estrogen in women.  

Fat is an essential nutrient and is good for you.  Don't avoid fat just because it's trendy and you don't want to give up dairy or sweets.

That is good for you, so eat the damn fat.

Dr. Anthony Chaffee discusses Ketogenic Diets here, here, and here.

SAMA HOOLE: Levitical texts detail how the "choice fat" of sacrificial animals belongs to God. The fat of the kidneys, the fat covering the organs, the fat tail of sheep: all reserved for burning on the altar. The priests consume the meat, but the fat? That's holy. Too valuable for human consumption in religious ceremonies. It goes to the divine.

Ancient Near East, roughly 1500 BCE. Fat isn't just food. It's sacred.

Levitical texts detail how the "choice fat" of sacrificial animals belongs to God. The fat of the kidneys, the fat covering the organs, the fat tail of sheep: all reserved for burning on the altar. The… pic.twitter.com/BDvMZk2pdu

— Sama Hoole (@SamaHoole) December 17, 2025

Ancient Near East, roughly 1500 BCE. Fat isn't just food. It's sacred. Levitical texts detail how the "choice fat" of sacrificial animals belongs to God. The fat of the kidneys, the fat covering the organs, the fat tail of sheep: all reserved for burning on the altar. The priests consume the meat, but the fat? That's holy. Too valuable for human consumption in religious ceremonies. It goes to the divine. This isn't unique to Hebrew tradition. Across ancient cultures, fat is revered. The Greeks believe the gods prefer the smoke from burning fat over any other offering. Romans save the best fat for festival days and religious observances. Fat represents prosperity, blessing, abundance. Jump forward to medieval Europe. The nobility eats fat with every meal. Fatty cuts are status symbols. The poor eat lean scraps and develop deficiencies. Eating fat means you've made it. You have resources. You're successful. Then something shifts. Around the 16th century, Christian asceticism starts reframing physical pleasure as spiritual danger. The body is corrupt. Physical desires must be denied. Fasting becomes virtue. Deprivation becomes godliness. And fat? Fat becomes associated with sin. Gluttony. Lust. Physical indulgence. The pleasure of eating fat is recast as moral weakness. "Fatty foods" become coded language for excess and lack of self-control. By Victorian times, this is fully crystallised. Fatty meat is "rich" food. Rich doesn't mean expensive anymore: it means excessive, dangerous, immodest. A proper Victorian lady doesn't eat fat. That would be vulgar. She eats lean portions and demonstrates moral superiority through dietary restraint. The temperance movement expands this. They're not just against alcohol. They're against anything that brings physical pleasure. Fatty meat makes you lustful. Spices make you aggressive. Pleasure itself becomes the enemy of virtue. This worldview gets dressed up in scientific language by the 20th century but the moral framework remains identical. Eating fat isn't just unhealthy: it's undisciplined, weak, shameful. People who eat fatty foods lack self-control. They're giving in to base desires. We went from burning fat as an offering to God to treating fat consumption as moral failure. Same substance. The only thing that changed was who controlled the narrative. And who benefited? The grain industry needed fat to be shameful so bread could be virtuous. The sugar industry needed fat to be dangerous so sweetness could be innocent. The pharmaceutical industry needed fat to be disease-causing so they could sell statins. Fat didn't change. The agenda did. Your great-great-grandmother ate dripping on toast and called it breakfast. Your grandmother was taught to fear it. You've been taught it'll kill you. What changed wasn't the science. What changed was who stood to profit.

SAMA HOOLE: Chicken breast is 99% protein and 1% fat. Your body needs fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Guess what you need to absorb those vitamins? Fat.

Chicken breast is 99% protein and 1% fat.

Your body needs fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K.

Guess what you need to absorb those vitamins? Fat.

It also has minimal B vitamins and virtually no minerals compared to red meat.

You're eating a protein shake with a beak and…

— Sama Hoole (@SamaHoole) October 17, 2025

SAMA HOOLE: The expert's guide to troubleshooting carnivore: Tired? Add more fat. Brain fog? Add more fat. Hungry too soon? Add more fat. Constipated? Add more fat

The expert's guide to troubleshooting carnivore:

Tired? Add more fat
Brain fog? Add more fat
Hungry too soon? Add more fat
Constipated? Add more fat
Can't finish your food? You're eating too lean

You might notice a pattern.

— Sama Hoole (@SamaHoole) October 14, 2025

SAMA HOOLE: Lean meat has a protein ceiling - you can only metabolise so much before gluconeogenesis becomes toxic. Fat has no such ceiling. You can derive 80% of calories from fat indefinitely. This is why fat, not protein, was the evolutionary driver.

Lean meat has a protein ceiling - you can only metabolise so much before gluconeogenesis becomes toxic.

Fat has no such ceiling.

You can derive 80% of calories from fat indefinitely.

This is why fat, not protein, was the evolutionary driver.

Protein came along for the ride.

— Sama Hoole (@SamaHoole) October 10, 2025

SAMA HOOLE: The Hadza rank honey, brain, and fatty meat above all. The San will ditch a lean antelope for one with more backfat. “Fat is life.” --Hadza hunter, via Frank Marlowe

4. Hunter-gatherers still hunt fat.

The Hadza rank honey, brain, and fatty meat above all.
The San will ditch a lean antelope for one with more backfat.

“Fat is life.” - Hadza hunter, via Frank Marlowe pic.twitter.com/WHn0mFwmG4

— Sama Hoole (@SamaHoole) August 24, 2025

Make Snacks & Desserts Nutritious: Dates & Butter

Eat
Real
Food pic.twitter.com/pmjYEB8Rny

— Case Bradford (@casbrad) January 19, 2025

"Extra fat within the abdomen can displace the stomach . . ."

I thought I would post this because I've known a few folks who've had hernia operations, and had they had this information prior to listening to their doctors they may not have gone through with the operation. Just as all surgeries weaken the tissue and organ operated on, so will hernia surgery weaken the abdomen. You don't want this, since so many functions we take for granted are under the direction of the abdomen and intestines. Think of what the diaphragm does. It regulates breathing and oxygen absorption. This is too important of a function for health. Don't take it for granted. Just because you are able to breathe and you do breathe does not necessarily mean that you're breathing to your fullest. Like everything else in your life you want high performance. It's why you seek certain foods at the grocery store or when you select certain restaurants to eat at. Don't skimp on your health and well-being either.

The points made in this slideshow are pretty good even if you don't have a hernia. I like Ayurvedic medicine. It is gentle. Ayurvedic herbs were the first ones I'd heard of to help with stress outside of the B Vitamins. Also, I'd had an Ayurvedic massage almost 12 years ago and could not believe the energy it generated throughout my body. I did go back months later for a second Ayurvedic massage but it didn't have the same effect. And the cost back then 2002 of $100 was prohibitive for me. Still, that was a great memory.

I do not know which vitamins would benefit a hernia.  I would guess that probiotics in the form of yogurt would help.  Problem is is that if you're a tough guy who has always been around construction, maintenance, lifting, or sports, you're going to find this a bit disappointing.  But maybe you could have watched out for your stomach and your intestines a little better.  Still, the video is worth the few minutes of your time.  One detail from the slideshow that caught my attention was that 27% of men get hernias, whereas only 3% of women get them.  Get that.  It's men who are doing all the lifting. I hope I am not overstating it.  And if it has no relevance to your, perhaps you can pass it on to a friend or family member who may benefit from it now . . . or later.  Obviously, I wish you the best health possible.  It's one reason why I make these posts.  Information does not hurt.  And this site is not a bad source for healthful resources.

The idea of customized and custom-fitted truss was excellent.  I could not imagine any better physical support than a bilateral hernia belt.  Find them at Amazon. These support belts will push an inguinal hernia back into its proper position in the intestinal wall.  This is a viable option if the hernia is reducible.  How can one know if it is reducible?  What are the signs of reducibility?  The hernia support belt should be fitted while standing so that it can accommodate any of the usual positions you assume in normal activity.  The truss must be specifically designed for your particular hernia rather than purchasing a generic drug store truss which may hinder circulation in the abdomen and legs.

EXERCISE YOUR ABDOMEN

To exercise your abdomen, simply lie on your back on the floor with your feet flat on the floor and your knees raised.  Keeping your shoulders on the floor, lift your buttocks and back.  Hold it for a second.  Repeat this exercise 10 times per session.

DIAPHRAGM

Tone the diaphragm.  A diaphragm too tight from stress needs relaxing.  Massage helps with this, but this exercise is also immediately beneficial, requires no appointment, and costs nothing but your time and effort.  A diaphragm with a weakened opening will require tightening.  Yoga breathing and relaxation techniques can help with both tightening and relaxation.  Not bad.

Always try diaphragmatic breathing.  The procedure is simple.  Lie down with both knees bent and feet close to the buttocks.  Feel relaxed.  Put both hands lightly on the abdomen and concentrate the attention on this area.  Now breathe in gently, pushing the abdomen up under the hands at the same time until no more air can be inhaled.  Then relax, breathing out through the mouth with an audible sighing sound and allow the abdominal wall to sink back.  The shoulders and chest should remain at rest throughout.

SMOKING

If you smoke, stop.  Nicotine weakens the muscles of the abdomen.  And chronic coughing can worsen or even cause a hernia.  

DIET

Roughage.  Eat plenty of roughage.  The slideshow depicts bread products as roughage.  I can think of more nutritious roughage.  It does state to avoid fatty and fried foods.  Hmm.  Mayb for the duration required to heal the hernia, but I would guess that fatty foods, foods with good saturated fats, would be good for you.  Fried foods I absolutely agree to avoid those.  Though they are delicious, the fried oils wreak havoc on the intestines.  Avoid foods that induce flatulence, like milk and carrots, as these can contribute to a strangulated hernia.    

Eat numerous small meals everyday rather than a few large ones.  Don't lie down or bend over within two hours of a meal.  Food gets trapped in pockets.  Avoid spicey foods, fried foods, and those that are hard to digest.  They also delay the stomach's emptying time.  Avoid hard fiber such as oats. Didn't realize that oats were hard fiber.  Compared to what?  He recommends rice.

Stay away from alcohol, caffeinated and fizzy drinks.

BED/SLEEP (5:57 minute-mark)

Raise your bed at the head end.  Don't support your head with extra pillows for this can increase pressure on the abdomen.

LIFTING & BENDING

Avoid lifting heavy weights.  If you do need to lift things, lift by bending your knees into a squatted position and lift with your legs, not with your back.

BODY WEIGHT (6:32 minute mark)

Lose weight if you are overweight.  Extra fat within the abdomen can displace the stomach, pushing it upward through the aperture in the diaphragm in the case of a hiatus hernia.  Hiatal Hernias involve the diaphragm.  Inguinal Hernia involves the groin.  Abdominal hernias occur at the abdominal wall.

CLOTHING

Avoid wearing tight clothes around your chest or abdomen.  They put pressure on the stomach.

TEAS

Herbal remedies.  1/4 cup of Aloe Vera juice in the moring and again at night. Very beneficial home remedy for hernia.

FOOD REMEDY

Rice has been shown to be beneficial for hiatus hernias.  Use buttermilk and banana and rice is a good treatment for the burning associated with a hiatus hernia.

FIND AYURVDEDIC PHYSCIANS IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA HERE, HERE AND HERE.