The Ancestral Indigenous Diet: A Whole Foods Meat-Based Carnivore Diet

by Frank Tufano

  I did it by taking an old grate and putting it on the bottom next to the burner where the flames come out. So I get the gas going then toss some small pieces wood on there. This means it gets going fast and I still get some extra flavor and smoke from the kindling. For me, this is the only way to go anymore. Even in New York, I get out there in the snow. It’s that good.

  But I understand grilling every day isn’t for everyone. So you will want to have a good cast iron or carbon steel pan to sear your meat on the stovetop for those occasions. Roasting or baking is also good for certain types of meat, so you’ll want a few baking sheets and racks.

  The Searing Secret

  Everyone always talks about moist meat and not letting your steak, pork, chicken, or turkey dry out. It’s the cardinal sin of cooking! Perhaps that’s why so many people misunderstand one important part about cooking meat: You don’t just want — you need — a dry surface. Yes, you want the final product to be moist — but that’s on the inside.

  To start the cooking, though, it is absolutely essential to dry off the surface on the outside. This is what helps get such a great, flavorful crust on a steak (but also every other type of meat). Otherwise, if the surface is wet, you end up just steaming the outside rather than getting that hard, brown sear that brings a cut to the next level.

  The best bet is to leave it in the fridge on a rack or towels overnight. Then use paper towels to pat it very, very dry right before you get ready to put it into the cast iron or on the grill. If you want to go the extra mile, you can add salt the day before to further harden the exterior but opinions vary on when is the best time to salt a steak when it comes to flavor.

  Adequate Heat

  When pan searing, you need to find the Goldilocks temperature. If the pan isn’t hot enough, you won’t get a crust. If it’s too hot, however, you get a burnt crust before the interior has time to cook at all. And to make matters even more complicated, this temperature differs depending upon the dish. You’ll want to cook a rare ribeye hot and fast while crispy-skin salmon filet needs a softer touch and more time in the pan.

  Especially with a steak, make sure to frequently move the meat around the cooking surface for even heat distribution. Use tongs to get all four sides and don’t forget about the ends. Chicken is more forgiving in general and can be tossed around as necessary to get some brown flavor all over. Salmon should sit still, skin side down, for almost the entire cooking process until you flip it over for the final minute to finish it through.

  Cooking Temperatures

  If you want a specific doneness, having an instant read thermometer is very helpful. You will get better at this in time, but having one handy will help you figure out how you like your meat and get used to your stove and equipment.

  I personally eat my steak blue rare. But from a culinary perspective, 120-123 degrees Farenheit is rare, 124-127 degrees is medium rare, and 130 degrees is medium. Anything past that is well done — and probably best left for the dogs. For chicken you generally want to shoot for 150F for white meat and 175 degrees for dark meat. For pork, I try to go to 135 degrees, although some food safety pros would probably suggest going higher than that (at around 145 degrees).

  And don’t forget about resting time and “carryover cooking time.” To get your meat to settle in at a desired temperature, you need to take it off the heat about 5-10 degrees before its at the mark. That way, once you remove it from the heating element and set it aside to rest, it will continue to cook for another few minutes and hit the temp.

  Adequate Fat

  Aside from baking and smoking, in most other cases, meat needs some fat to cook properly. This is what helps distribute the heat and caramelize the crust. Without sufficient fat, honestly it’s usually impossible to get a proper crust.

  This is generally no problem for a fatty ribeye or good old ground beef patty. But you will want to use some external fat when dealing with a lean piece of meat. In a cast iron or other pan, this can be done by starting with a bit of fat (whether animal fat like tallow, butter, or ghee for its high smoke point).

  Or on the grill, you will want to baste it while it cooks. And don’t be scared to lather on the butter lavishly. I go with clarified butter or tallow usually, and it not only gets the grates well oiled but gets the fire going better. Be careful about flare ups. You don’t want to set the house on fire, but a few flames jumping up into the meat will only add that flavor you are trying so hard to get on the meat in the first place.

  Raw vs. Cooked: Nutrient Loss?

  In various modern dieting communities — carnivore, primal, raw paleo, and more — there is a big debate about raw vs. cooked meat. There are decent arguments for both sides, and everyone has their own preference.

  For you, cooked may seem like the only option at this point. Others may want to experiment with raw. Or you may get to a point where you want to vary it depending upon the specific food.

  There is one important factor in all of this though. Our ancestors consumed food raw, cooked, and fermented. There was never a group of people who focused on one of these specifically and abandoned all the rest. And this was part of how they got nutrition, particularly in terms of using fermented food for Vitamin K2 (and just preservation before refrigeration).

  On the raw side, some people do it just to feel more like a caveman. Others are worried about degrading the nutrient content by cooking. But when it comes to considering vitamins and minerals, as I have said a million times by now, the constant is the food quality. This is what’s important.

  Yes, braising a chunk of beef for one hour will cause it to lose some of its B vitamins. They may even be cut in half depending upon the method, time, and type of meat. You could even lose all of the Vitamin C with longer preparation times, and there is a possibility of reducing even some of the fat-soluble vitamins. (There are certainly enzymes and bacteria that are altered as well, but unfortunately there isn’t much data on this.)

  But this won’t be much of a concern for anybody who — like most of us meat eaters — cooks their steak to rare or even medium. Rather than worrying about losing a few percentage points of your vitamin content, start by getting high-quality meat to begin with. The nutrient profile of feedlot beef is suspect to begin with. So you’re better off eating a few ounces of a freshly slaughtered, fatty steak raised on summer pasture that was cooked all the way to well done than choking down four pounds of grain-fed poison raw.

  One last thing to know is that freezing and storage time can affect the nutrient content. Vitamin C, especially, will be lost the longer you wait after the animal is killed. Some other nutrients, perhaps Vitamin B, can be affected. But as long as you aren’t eating meat that is months upon months old, you will probably not be losing all that much.

  Chapter 10

  Understanding Natural Hunger:

  The Three Types of Satiety

  After becoming a full-time carnivore, I began to understand a few things about hunger. Some days, I am just not that hungry. Other times I can eat pounds and pounds of steak in a single sitting.

  As an experiment, I once spent some time following the typical YouTuber carnivore diet of nothing but grain-fed ribeye steaks. I was insatiable. I could just keep eating and eating until my stomach was physically stuffed.

  I have long attributed this hunger signaling to my body’s needs. When Frankie Boy needs more Vitamin A, I crave liver. If I haven’t had any sun all week, it might be salmon. If I need energy, it’s fat. That’s why I think I could eat so much conventionally raised ribeye at once. Well-seasoned steak — while delicious — doesn’t provide all the nutrition you need.

  People who eat this way can feel great in comparison to the Standard American Diet (SAD). Low inflammation levels alone can make a huge difference for people who are used to being bloated and struggling to digest antinutrient-full plant foods. But it isn’t sufficient.

  Understanding How Real Hunger Really Works

  A few years ago, it all clicked. Interestingly
enough, I was making natural, raw milk ice cream at the time. The heavy cream was delicious, but I couldn’t eat much of it.

  I otherwise had been eating very well and knew I was fully stocked up on all my vitamins and nutrients. And after eating sufficient fat and protein, my energy needs were all met. As good as that ice cream tasted, my body just didn’t want it. And now that I’ve been eating this way, I listen to my body. It’s usually right.

  Because this was homemade, Frankie Boy-style ice cream, it didn’t resemble anything you would buy in a store. There was a little bit of raw honey, but even that paled in comparison with the tons of corn syrup they add in a factory, not to mention all the other crap.

  Processed food is all about trickery. Modern culinary techniques used in ice cream — and, really, almost everything you find packaged — include adding crazy amounts of sweetness, flavorings, and additives in carefully researched ratios to create an artificial palatability. This fools you into eating when you don’t want to (more money for them) by masking natural hunger signals. And because most of society has been eating this stuff for decades now, people lack the ability to stop eating junk or crave what they actually need.

  It was around the time of my ice cream experiment that I realized started thinking more about real hunger. I soon began to consciously eat foods in a certain order most of the time when I sat down at the table. This method helps to make sure that our natural appetites match up with our nutritional needs. It is also how some researchers believe our ancestors ate.

  When an animal was killed, the prized organs, especially the liver, probably would have been eaten first. This was followed by the fat and then — though not always — muscle meat. Little went to waste but if a predator lurked or weather threatened the hunter and something had to be left behind, it would be the “steak,” not the liver or bone marrow.

  If you eat this way, you will notice that there are different types of satiety. The most nutrient-dense foods usually satiate you fast. A few bites of salmon roe are all most people will want. Some people really do love the taste of liver, but even they probably won’t want more than a few ounces.

  Taste is part of this phenomenon. But this isn’t all about palatability. Even foods widely seen as delicious — like egg yolks and bone marrow — have a potency and richness that typically make people naturally unable to eat them in bulk.

  Fat has a different level of satiety. Try eating raw butter. Especially if you eat a Keto Diet or a Carnivore Diet and run on a fat metabolism, it will taste great. Two tablespoons is probably plenty though. It may start to make you nauseous if you keep trying to gulp down any more. Few people will truly want to go back for five spoonfuls.

  Eating grass-fed, slightly charred beef fat is more delicious. I can eat a lot more fat that a cow stored on its body than liver, butter, or even marrow, a food that I simply love. But fat will also start to become less palatable before long. You can even get nauseous from this too. And as long as you have been eating well in recent weeks and months, this will probably happen before your stomach is bulging.

  The same even goes for cheese — a very highly palatable food. But you will notice that raw, grass-fed cheeses tend to be much richer and taste heavier than the store-bought “cheeses” that you have had in the past on deli sandwiches or nachos. Those products were designed by corporations to be extra palatable (by using “natural” flavoring) and entice people to eat more and more. Classic cheeses — think bleu Roquefort and Parmigiano-Reggiano — have enough of a funk and character that they taste great but satiate you much faster.

  The Hunger for Fat vs. The Hunger for Protein

  As delicious as cheese and certain fats can be, there is still usually some hunger signals that prompt you to stop eating. This is partly because digesting fat requires bile, a substance made in limited quantity in your gallbladder.

  So while your appetite for carbs and protein is mostly just an issue of stomach size, fat simply cannot be handled by your system in massive volume. And your body will know this at some level even if your tongue does not.

  Muscle meat, on the other hand, does not come with the same hunger type of signaling. Raw meat may lose its palatability quicker. But you can still eat a lot. And if it is well cooked on the grill with some salt — and then you add some black pepper or mustard sauce or balsamic vinegar — there may be no end to how much you can eat. Not consuming enough fat can also result in consuming excess protein.

  For protein, satiation is also more dependent on lean body mass. A bodybuilder or an athlete with a high muscle mass will likely eat significantly more protein than the average person.

  Eating for Your Natural Appetite

  Knowing these three different types of satiety is key to understanding our natural appetite. On some level — and especially the further you are away from eating processed and sugar-loaded crap — our bodies know what they need. This is why I recommend regularly doing something of a “meal test” to calibrate your hunger and give your body exactly what it needs.

  Start by eating the most nutrient-dense part of the meal. Liver, other organs, fish roe, marrow, eggs. Have a few bites of whatever food you are using as the primary means of getting in your daily nutrition. If you have any vitamin or other nutrient deficiencies, your appetite for these foods may change day to day.

  Some people will simply never like liver. I am neutral on the taste but will admit that I don’t love it. Even those who loathe it, though, should have more tolerance for it when Vitamin A levels are lower. Over time, your mind and gut learn to work together to make that connection. Your body will start to associate certain foods with certain nutrients. The Standard American Diet has destroyed this natural ability within most people, but it is something you can reestablish with patience and time. You might end up being amazed. In just a few weeks, you might find yourself craving a food that you hate.

  After eating the most nutrient-dense food to satiety, move on to the main fatty part of the meal. For me, this is usually straight fat from a ruminant animal, usually beef or lamb. Other people may use grass-fed dairy or simply high-fat cuts of meat, but ideally the fat will be separate from the main protein portion. The fat will serve two main purposes: adding even more nutrients (animals store many vitamins and minerals in their fat) and supplying energy through calories.

  Finally, move on to the protein. This should have the lowest satiety level, so it is best to eat last after you have already fulfilled your bigger needs from other sources. You will then reach your protein demand and likely continue eating beyond that for more calories. If you weren’t that hungry to begin with, you may stop before long.

  Other times, you might eat until your stomach starts to physically feel full. With meat, you still likely won’t get that massive bloated and distended feeling that comes from eating a whole pizza or bag of Doritos. But your stomach has a certain capacity and the meat could start to approach it. Still, you probably won’t completely stuff yourself on steak if you’re not drowning it in salt, pepper, or sauces that make it unnaturally palatable.

  You do not have to eat this way every single time you sit down at the table. And you don’t have to eat organ meats every day. Generally, on a daily basis, I personally enjoy eating fat first then alternating between protein and fat until I’ve reached full satiety. But it can certainly help to do this meal test several times.

  The more you do these meal tests, the more you will reset your natural appetite and learn about the different levels of hunger and different types of satiety. In time, this will retrain your mind, stomach, and body to understand when, what, and how much you should be eating.

  Our evolution created the hormones in our gut and mind. Learning how they work — and how they signal appetite — will make it much easier to eat for nutrient density and optimal health.

  Chapter 11

  FAQ: Addressing Common Ancestral Indigenous Diet Concerns

  With any diet, new adopters are going to have some questions. The same applies wit
h the Indigenous Ancestral Diet. It's only natural to have some confusion about a nutrition-based philosophy that is so different from everything you have always been taught.

  Really, it isn’t that complicated. There are some staple foods — specifically, high-quality animal foods — that you will start eating a lot. And there will be many other things you once thought were healthy that will no longer enter your mouth.

  This knowledge is enough to get you started. Within a few weeks, you will begin to better understand the “why” of everything. As you feel better, you will start to realize that Frankie Boy might just be onto something here. This should motivate you to commit harder.

  That’s one great part about these philosophies. Even incorporating a few tips will help a lot. Then, the sky is the limit. You will get as much out of it as you put in.

  That said, it won’t be a seamless transition. I have covered most of the fundamentals already. But I wanted to take this extra time here to try to answer some of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the Ancestral Indigenous Diet.

  How will I feel at the beginning? Is there an adaptation period, and how difficult is the transition?

  I won’t lie. I actually had a hard time adjusting to this diet. It took me months to get it right. But that was because I realized that I simply wasn’t eating enough fat. I spent my whole life in a fat-phobia world and I guess it must have even rubbed off on me.

  After incorporating some bison fat into my diet, and eating according to my natural appetite, I started feeling great literally within a matter of days. It was that easy. Don’t make the same mistake. Eat plenty of fat.

  Otherwise, the transition to feeling much better can happen quite quickly. And you now have the benefit of all the experience and knowledge that Frankie the Guinea Pig learned through trial and error. If everything is done properly, there shouldn’t be more than a period of a few days of feeling anything negative. (This will last two weeks at the very most.)