Dr. H. L. Newbold is one of the original low carb thinkers, although that is not how he would have described himself. He was a man before his time who was able to think outside the box. As a physician in New York, he catered to a very wealthy clientele that primarily wanted to lose weight. However, the value of his book lies not in its focus on weight loss, but rather on the insight it offers to people with food and environmental sensitivities and intolerances. He observed initially in himself, and then in his patients, that certain foods and chemicals caused uncontrollable cravings for carbohydrates and subsequent disordered “addictive” or “binge” eating. Through trial and error, he came to the conclusion that some people simply cannot tolerate what he termed “new foods,” i.e grains, vegetables, fruits, and even dairy and eggs; in other words, any food that became a major part of our diet after the Agricultural Revolution was capable of triggering cravings for these sensitive people. Interestingly, he also discovered that many man-made chemicals commonly in use around us today are also capable of triggering these irresistable cravings. He includes a long list of all the different chemicals he identified that might be a potential issue. His solution to this problem for himself and his clients was to: first, remove all the “new foods” from the diet and return to the foods of our pre-agricultural ancestors, namely meat, but more specifically beef; and second, to reduce our exposure to the many chemical poisons that surround us in our modern environment. Like many in the Zero Carb Carnivore community today, he found that fish, chicken, and pork were all far from being able to satisfy his patients appetites, and many of his patients also experienced negative reactions, like fatigue, after eating them.
Unfortunately, his unique and insightful book is out of print and there seems to be no interest in republishing it, and used copies are prohibitively expensive. Therefore, I have taken the liberty to create a high quality PDF version and make it available for free here on my website. I originally read it when it first came out in 1991 and I have revisited it many times throughout the past 25+ years. I encourage everyone who struggles with weight management or food and chemical intolerances to make the time to read this largely forgotten classic on the value of a diet based predominantly on red meat. A word of caution: He is very sexist and some of his comments may offend female readers. Additionally, keep in mind that he was a pioneer forging a new path and did not have any one else to fall back on for experience in eating an all-meat diet. Consequently, he tends to err on the side of caution by including an array of vitamin and mineral supplements, as well as a very small amount of vegetables and/or fruits simply because he did not know is meat alone would provide himself and his patients all the nutrients needed for good health. However, there are many others since the time his book was published who have decided to adopt an all-meat diet for health reasons, without the addition of any plant foods or supplements, and have remained perfectly healthy for many years and even decades. Nevertheless, please pay attention and listen to your own body which may have special needs and follow whatever path feels best to you. If you wish to meet and converse with other carnivores, please join us in our Facebook group Principia Carnivora. May your journey be blessed!
The Type A-Type B Weight Loss Book by H. L. NewboldÂ
Eat Meat. Drink Water. 