Dr. Herbert Leon Newbold as pictured on the dust jacket of one of his books.
Dr. H. L. Newbold was the first place I encounter the idea of an all-meat diet. He published a number of books throughout his career, but his last one The Type A / Type B Weight Loss Book published in 1991 is by far his best overall book on diet. It represents the culmination of everything he had learned about health and nutrition up to that point in time. He practiced orthomolecular medicine and was a colleague of Linus Pauling, as well as Dr. Robert Atkins. He also worked with and was greatly influenced by Dr. Theron Randolph whose work is described in his excellent book An Alternative Approach to Allergies.
Dr. Newbold’s private practice was located in New York City. His untimely death in 1993 at the age of 72 was apparently caused by an anaphylactic reaction to an antibiotic he received in the hospital while being treated for some type of infection. I have no idea what happened to his patient’s medical records, but I would love to get my hands on them. He presents some fascinating case histories in the above mentioned book, and I imagine he had many more like them that could not be included in that small volume.
Dr. Newbold worked extensively with people who suffered with obesity and eating disorders. He found that many of his patients were able to lose weight and stop destructive eating behavior if they ate an all-meat diet comprised almost entirely of beef. He allowed other meats as well, but – over the years – he discovered that the majority of his patients thrived on fatty ribeye steaks. Unlike Atkins, he does not single out the macronutrient carbohydrate as being the main culprit in his patients’ eating and weight problem.
Rather, Dr. Newbold takes a step back and points to what he called “new foods” in the human diet, i.e. foods such as grains and sugar as well as dairy and eggs. He felt that some people were genetically less well-equipped to handle these kinds of foods. Yes, many of these foods were high in carbohydrates, but he felt that the bigger issue was that people could become allergic to them. He explains that when a person is allergic to a food, it not only becomes addictive, but it also causes weight gain by interfering with proper hunger signaling and causing the allergic person to develop disordered eating.
People with “Type A” obesity – when triggered by an allergic food or chemical – would spree eat or binge on anything sweet they could find, while people with “Type B” obesity – when triggered by an allergic food or chemical – would have to eat a certain sweet food at regular intervals in order to feel satisfied and to avoid “withdrawal” symptoms. He noticed that the trigger foods were always from the category of what he labeled as food new to the human diet.
In other words, people don’t eat a steak and then feel like bingeing on cake and ice cream. Most people in his experience were not allergic to beef, or meats in general, and could eat them without having their appetite signalling go haywire. But for someone who is allergic to wheat eating one cookie can send them on an eating spree that would put the Cookie Monster to shame (Type A). Or, someone may find that they must have their cookie fix at least once every day in order to feel okay (Type B).
In addition to “new foods,” Dr. Newbold also found many people had allergic hunger that was triggered by environmental factors such as pet dander, pesticide sprays, copy paper ink, perfumes, gas pilots lights, florescent lighting, tobacco smoke, lipstick, and many other similar things. So, if you are trying to follow an all meat, or Zero Carb, diet and find yourself continually getting derailed by cravings, you may find Dr. Newbold’s book to be extremely helpful. Since an Zero Carb diet eliminates all foods derived from plants, it can go a long way in helping a person to overcome cravings for sugar-rich foods.
But Dr. Newbold also found that even some of the ‘”newer” animal foods we eat – namely, eggs and dairy – can also be incredibly problematic for some people. He has a case history of one young woman who was addicted to milk. She drank gallons of it every day. However, the damage caused by her addiction to milk went far beyond her weight. Not only was she quite obese, but she was also mentally impaired. She was still living at home with her parents and was unable to function normally in the world. Once Dr. Newbold got her off the milk, she went on to live a very happy and satisfying life.
It is my opinion that Dr. Newbold was one of the great medical minds of the last century. It is unfortunate that his accumulated knowledge was never given a very broad audience. All of his books are now out of print and must be obtained from used book sellers. (See link below for a free PDF version that created to share here.) It is my hope that his work will one day be brought out of obscurity and examined more closely in the light of modern research. In the same way that Dr. Jeff Volek resurrected Dr. Stephen Phinney’s Low Carbohydrate research and brought him out of retirement, Dr. Newbold needs an advocate who recognizes what a brilliant mind he was. The Type A / Type B Weight Loss Book should definitely be included on the list of essential reading by anyone who wishes to eat an all meat diet.
Other Articles of interest…
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Very interesting…..
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like like like!!!!!! You pointed out this book to me in December and it has been such an eye opener to me… found one answer after the other – and I can assure you I had been reading dozens of books on this subject!
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So glad you recommended Dr Newbold’s book. I was able to find one used on Amazon and it makes a lot of sense for me. Thank you again 🙂
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What concerns me a little bit is that H.L. Newbold died from lymphoma. Stanley Owsley also died from cancer. And both men had heart disease.
What do you think about it?
Wikipedia says:
“Risk factors for common types of non-Hodgkin lymphomas include autoimmune diseases, HIV/AIDS, infection with human T-lymphotropic virus, EATING A LARGE AMOUNT OF MEAT AND FAT, immunosuppressant medications, and some pesticides.”
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I spoke with the pharmacist Dr. Newbold used in his medical practice shortly after he died. He told me what I wrote in the post, anaphylactic reaction to antibiotic. I have never been able to verify what happened beyond this. It is impossible to say what exactly happened. However, yes, he did have a heart attack (which he discusses in his book) and that is what prompted him to change his diet and gave him another 20-30 good years. Like anything else, though, it is impossible to know all the facts unless you knew him personally. How much stress did he experience, etc.? It is also important to keep in mind that that he was extremely sensitive to just about everything, both foods and chemicals, so it is not like he was a perfectly healthy person who took up an all meat diet. He went to an all meat diet because that is what worked best for his body. He also found that an all meat diet worked best for many of his sick and overweight patients. To really understand him, it is necessary to read his book.
Stanley Owsley did not die from cancer. He died from a car accident. His cancer was caused by a chronic infection in his tonsil due to scar tissue build up and improper drainage. It is also important to remember that Owsley used a lot of LSD during his life and lived a stressful life on the road managing the sound system for the Grateful Dead concerts. Again, it is impossible to know all the facts.
I consider both of these men to be pioneers, but neither of them were perfect nor infallible. Take what works for you, and leave the rest.
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True enough for me to grasp. I too am a child of the Sixties and I expect that that experience will kinda hinder any rejuvenation benefits of all meat. Heck, I was surprised when I hit 25 years old, so to be in my sixties now is all gravy.
Oh yeah, great article.
I will never be able to express my gratitude enough.
This concept along with Fat of the Land and the No Tweaking is really starting to fully sink in. Finally!
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I’d rather die at 70-80 of cancer or whatever, then live the next 30-40 years of my life on powerful anti-depressant and bipolar meds, which all meat has enabled me to drop!!! Not that I have to choose, or want cancer. But I recognize that I have to die of something and I’d rather be vibrantly healthy, happy, and energetic up to that point than live with low level chronic illness and degeneration, and mental instability that requires major pharmaceutical intervention for the rest my life… That being said I don’t know if I’ve seen many people try all meat “just because”… They’re usually dealing with medical issues or want to seriously improve their health.
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I agree, Marty.
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I feel the same way, Marty–thanks for expressing it so well. I’m still new to all meat, but am trying to learn fast. I realize it’s simple: just eat meat and drink water, but I always need to fully understand why I’m doing something for it to work. So far, the result in just a couple of weeks have given me a lot of hope thanks to all in the carnivore/zero carb community. I no longer have a FB account, so I won’t be joining the groups on there, but there are some on Twitter/Instagram and on sites like Esmee’s that I’ve learned from and am so grateful for.
My only ‘complaint’ is that my sleep isn’t that great. I’ve had problems in that area since I was a child (I was given phenobarbital as an infant with colic and I’m sure that didn’t help at all), but I’m hoping that adopting a carnivorous diet will eventually help with that as well. If you or anyone you know has any tips for getting a longer sleep than 3 or 4 hours, it would be much appreciated! 🙂
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A Ketogenic diet is very healing for the brain and has been used to treat epilepsy in children. You may want to be more exact in your fat to protein ratio and target for 80% fat by calories.
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I enjoyed being on a ketogenic diet the last few years, but my body has made it clear that I need to eliminate all plant-based foods. I eat plenty of fatty beef every day and have already found many symptoms going away and my skin is clearing (my most pronounced reaction to plant-based foods was an outbreak of pustules on my face–hard to ignore.) I find the carnivore diet is simple and straightforward and I really like it except that my sleep is worse now than before I started. I can’t figure out why as my life is finally at a point where the stress is very low and I have every reason to sleep soundly at night. I get a good walk in the mornings so that my circadian rhythms stay aligned, I observe good sleep hygiene every evening; I just can’t seem to sleep longer than approx. 4 hours…sometimes 3, sometimes 4.5-5. It’s frustrating, but I’m trying very hard to stay calm about it.
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How long have you been zero carb now? How much salt do you consume per day?
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I’ve been zero carb for just a little over 2 weeks. I liberally salt my meat and I eat twice a day, usually. Why, do you think some people take longer to get a proper sleep when switching from keto to zero? I’m hoping that’s all it is, but it gets discouraging when I read other people’s accounts and they seem thrilled with their sleep as a carnivore. Even when I was keto and tried to adopt a once-a-day eating plan so that I might take advantage of intermittent fasting, it didn’t work out. I would eat my one meal at about 1 pm and I’d feel fine going to bed, but would wake up 90 minutes later every time. I simply could not get more than 1.5 hours at that time, so I suspect my cortisol levels (or something) must have freaked out. I had to give it up because waiting to eat just once a day at 6 or 7 pm just seemed too long and I didn’t feel it was right to endure hunger for many hours if I could help it. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with OMAD or IF, but I think I do better when I simply eat when hungry and stop when satiated..
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I’ve eaten one meal of fatty beef once a day in the evening for 3.5 years and it works great for me. It quickly becomes easy to wait to eat until dinner, but there is a short adaption period as your body readjusts. However, you are still adapting to ZC at only 2 weeks. I would tey to be patient and give it more time. Everyone’s adaptation experience is different, even those coming from keto. You may be consuming too much salt, but it’s hard to say because I don’t know the exact amount you are consuming.
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Thanks, Esmee, I’m hoping it gets better when I adapt, as well, and perhaps I’ll cross paths with someone who has had the same problems with their sleep as I continue on. Take care 🙂
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Please keep me posted.
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Will do. Your site is very informative and supportive, so I’ll be around 🙂
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Do you drink coffee in any form or caffeine. That can be a major for a lot of people’s sleep. If you do then wean very slowly and then know that the body takes anywhere from 1-3 years to totally heal from caffeine and coffee. But sleep will improve over that time. From my experience sleep became blissful around the 18 month to 2 year mark.
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(Almost) every writer somehow connected to an all-meat diet seems to link its benefits to overweight people – what about skinny people ? The reason I ask is because this diet does seem to work perfectly for the overweight but does it benefit people who aren’t ? I am thin and always was – the reason I want to try this diet is because of certain health problems I have but obesity/insulin resistance isn’t one of them.
I remember Dr. Atkins wrote this diet will benefit most people but not everyone – do you know what he meant ?
Sorry for this stupid question, it’s just an under-adressed issue ( all meat diet for people without weight issues ) 🙂
I also want to thank you for this wonderful website – the information is priceless – thank you for putting all of this online.
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Robb, I was underweight when I started this way of eating. I have gained 25 lbs. since I started and an back to my natural healthy weight. You can read my 4 month update here: https://zerocarbzen.com/2015/04/30/my-first-four-months-on-zero-carb-by-esmee-la-fleur/ Esmee
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Just burning the pilot light on our gas heater (even though the heater is vented to the outside) will start me flying stupid after about three days no matter what my diet is. Jet fuel during travel has much the same effect. From where I sit, there is much to be learned about the immune system.
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I was very fortunate to be a patient of Dr. Newbold for several years. He saved me from becoming mentally disabled due to my many food allergies. Dr. Newbold was a great believer in eating foods that related to your ancestry. I am of German descent and he named the foods I should eat and the ones to be avoided. Therefore, the steak diet he recommended worked well for me. When I first went to him, I was hooked on a Spanish brand of champagne. I became so anxious and panicky that I was afraid to go outside. He said he wasn’t surprised since formaldehyde was the root cause of this reaction which was added to that brand of champagne to increase shelf life. I definitely stopped that. However, I did cheat on other occasions and started eating croissants with brie cheese and forest ham and after a week or so, I could actually see my skin crawl with some kind of maggots (wheat caused hallucinations). I had gone to a dermatologist and told him that I thought I had lice (felt like bugs crawling on my scalp). After two visits with no results, he sent me to a psychiatrist. He said I was exhibiting schizophrenic behavior and needed to be evaluated.. I went back to see Dr. Newbold and he told me to stop eating bread and the symptoms should be eliminated in 3 days. Sure enough it stopped. Lastly, I was losing my balance and I had to hold on to the walls when walking so I wouldn’t fall over. I visited Dr. Newbold again and he said it was the hormones in the eggs that were the cause. Just like before, I stopped eating the eggs and the symptoms went away. I am forever grateful to Dr. Newbold for saving me from a life of pain and suffering. He was a brilliant scientist and the knowledge he had was to vast to be covered in the few books he had written. You would have to experience it to see what a wonder he really was. (Linda Longstreet)
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Thank you so much for taking the times to share your experience with Dr. Newbold, Linda. It is deeply appreciated.
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Yes Linda, thank you SO much!!!!
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That is really interesting. In the “Breaking the Vicious Cycle” Elaine Gottschall she too cites an example of severe mental health problems being solved by removing all wheat/grain. She links it to the bacteria though, and says starving the bad bacteria, so they stop making toxins in your gut, by avoiding all complex carbohydrates (most sugar, grains, starchy vegetables) is the solution.
She also explains that proteins and fats are the easiest for many people with intestinal problems to digest.
She also quotes a few scientists (I think 1-2 hundred years ago) writing that mental health begins in the gut, and all schizophrenic patients also exhibit digestion problems.
(Unfortunately she died recently too old age in 2005)
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Great comments and questions!! Thanks ♥
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I believe Dr. Elson Haas has written about the allergy/addiction cycle in his book The False Fat Diet…unfortunately his dietary advice is not helpful…but the other information is similar to what I’ve read so far in Dr. Newbold’s book.
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I have no health issues. I have been studying health for 40 years. I did low carb, low fat (Patrick Holford) for 20 years but it bothered me that I still got colds and flu once, twice a year. Eventually I heard of LCHF and did it for 2 years, never once getting sick. Eventually I evolved into very, very low carb and then decided to hold my breath and go carnivore. I was so brainwashed that vegetables was the best thing for health that it was hard to stop eating it. (Let alone humiliating to tell my children that I no longer eat vegetables!) I find your articles fascinating and I love reading about other people’s experiences, Since I was never sick or overweight I do not know if I’m doing the right thing but I have such a feeling of well being on meat that I am amazed. Thank you for the article on dr Newbold. I have followed the orthomolecular doctors for years and have not heard of him. You gave me a lot of new information.
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Thank you for your comment. Kudos to you for gradually figuring out what works best for your body. Newbold was a brilliant man and wrote a number of interesting books. It is a real shame that he has been largely forgotten.
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Thank you for your site, your wealth of information and your generous heart to share with us. Godspeed all our journeys to optimum health!
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Thank you. 🙏💗
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I had the amazing good fortune to get really sick in the 70’s so I was finally referred to Dr. Newbold. I will write more later about him. A brilliant “rebel” at the time….so thankful.
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Please please do! I would love to hear about your experience with him.
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“I just can’t seem to sleep longer than approx. 4 hours…sometimes 3, sometimes 4.5-5. It’s frustrating ” > “…. How long have you been zero carb now? How much salt do you consume per day? …”
I understand the “how long have you been ZC” part; adaptation etc . But what is your thinking or theorizing about salt as it may relate to sleep? Thanks
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When you are adapting, you temporarily lose a lot of sodium and this can cause insomnia.
However, too little fat can also cause insomnia.
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Thanks I knew neither.
I found some info to support that about the salt.
I have not looked for info about “too little fat can cause insomnia “; I believe you but can you please give any broad or general probable physiologic reasons or things that are likely happening to make that so (yes I’m being lazy, but you likely have done the work already & broad concepts/probable theories is all I’m after- those & listening to my body should be enough to get me where I’m trying to be). I happen to me tweaking my salt + potassium + fat:protein ratio for the past few weeks after reading many articles here. So far very helpful; but I can tell I’m not optimal. I can share my findings, history etc & that may make your comments more targeted to me, but I should try to apply the broad principles first & see what happens before I burden you.
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I don’t have any scientific references for you regarding fat and sleep. I simply speak from my own experience. However, it may have to do with roo mich protein causing the hormone glucagon to rise which may increase alertness. I remember reading about this in the book Enter the Zone by Dr. Barry Sears many years ago.
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Greetings from Germany Esmee, I just wanted to write to tell you how much I am enjoying your very informative and well written site. A lot of love went into this!
Kindest regards, Grace
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Thank you, Grace. God bless your journey.
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I was a patient of Dr. Newbold’s from 1978 thru 1982, he balanced my hormones and cured my allergies when no conventional doctor knew how to. He was a genius.
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Thank you so much for your comment.
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I was a patient of Dr. Newbold’s in 1978 thru 1982, he balanced my hormones and cured my food allergies. I have all of his books still to this day. He was amazing.
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I assume you are GG who also left a comment, but I’m posting both since your words were slightly different. I appreciate you sharing your experience with Dr. Newbold.
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I just finished reading the book as you had referenced it in the Carnivore for Autoimmune book. It blew my mind! What a pioneer. I have 4 AI diseases. It started with psoriasis of the nails at 6 years old, although I believe undiagnosed celiac came first. I was bottle fed, and my mother took me to the Drs. Office bc she thought I had jaundice. I was orange bc I ate baby food carrots almost exclusively. I was addicted to sugar! I believe now that new foods, especially sugar and grains are gateway drugs to addiction. I am a health coach who specializes in food addiction.
It’s very interesting to me that he has a whole chapter dedicated to cheating…I would call it relapsing. I believe the one missing link in his book is community. Having addiction recovery spaces available helps people stay faithful to eating in a way that heals them. I was amazed at how much he included about other toxins as well!
For the people having trouble sleeping, I use sleep tape. I cover my mouth with it prior to going to bed, and I sleep like the dead. I would also make sure your room is cool, and free of as much toxic material as possible. I sometimes place ice packs in my bed prior to hitting the sack!
Thank you for mentioning the book, Esmee!
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I’m really glad you read the book. It’s a gem and I don’t want it to be lost and forgotten. I agree that community is hugely important for many people in their efforts to change and maintain a healthier diet. Facebook groups have been a godsend in this regard, but the internet didn’t yet exist when Newbold wrote this book.
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Hi Esmee, I have read Dr Newbold’s type A type B book several times, amd absolutely love his work. I can’t however seem to find where he says eggs are a “new” food and this not ideal.
Do you have any details on where he mentioned this? Perhaps it was a different book
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Unfortunately, I don’t have time to go back over the book again right now. But essentially, any food that is not meat from a large ruminant animal will be a “new” food. Eggs are not something we would have had access to on a regular basis.
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For clarification, I will add that “new” doesn’t necessarily mean new in time, but new to comprising a large or regular part of the human diet. So while eggs have been around since time immemorial, they have not been a food that we have eaten on a daily basis until we settled down into a farm-based culture and raised poultry. We also never ate that much poultry meat because it was always a secondary or backup choice when a large ruminant could not be found. Even the small amount of fruits and vegetables that Dr. Newbold allowed his patients are “new” foods. They are all hybrids from wild ancestors. Again, all plant foods were a secondary or backup food when large ruminants could not be found. But Newbold was concerned about people becoming deficient in vitamins and minerals because no one had ever lived on just steak when he was recommending his diet. He was a trailblazer! He was protecting himself from being sued basically. If he had the opportunity to meet the Andersen Family and a number of other long term steak-only carnivores eating this way today, I think his recommendations would be different. I hope this makes sense.
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Okay, so you made me really curious and I have been leafing through the book again focusing on the main sections where he discusses the specifics of the diet. I am really struck by the fact that he never even mentions eggs at all, positive or negative. It’s like they didn’t even exist for him, Lol. Perhaps he considered them to be part of the “dairy” category since that’s where the USDA has always placed them. If that’s the case, then he would have considered them a “new” food for that reason and maybe he felt no need to state it explicitly. He does say on page 61 that any food added in the last 5,000 – 10,000 should be considered a “new” food, and so eggs would certainly fall into that category. All this being said, if you personally do well with eggs, then I done see any reason why you cannot include them in your own diet. Interestingly, I react badly to both chicken and duck eggs, but I have been greatly benefited by raw quail eggs. Studies have shown that they prevent mast cells from degranulating. They have made it possible for me to eat raw ground beef again after two years of not being able to do so.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6060182/
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I’ve been through the type A/B book thoroughly and he definitely doesn’t mention eggs at all. He does however mention dairy several times as being almost as deleterious as wheat and grains. It is indeed as if eggs didn’t exist to him! I was just curious if he specifically mentioned eggs somewhere, but since his books are out of print, it may be difficult to confirm this.
I personally don’t have any negative or addictive reaction to eggs, but interestingly I find that they just do not have the same satiety as meat, despite having a similar fat and protein profile.
I recently tried to include more eggs for budget reasons, and they just don’t match the satiety of meat. Fascinating stuff.
Thanks so much for your wonderful and detailed responses to my comment!
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I do not feel satiety from eggs either. In fact, I do not feel satiety from any animal food except for beef and the beef must be fatty enough as well. He was an amazing mind!
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Newbold only lived to 73. I am not sure what he died of though.
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I spoke to the pharmacist he worked with and apparently Dr. Newbold got food poisoning at a restaurant, was taken to a hospital, given antibiotics against his will, and died from a reaction to the antibiotics.
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