Episode 1551: Paul Saladino | The Brogan Report

A Psychiatrist Cosplaying as a Nutritionist Promotes Fad Diet Pseudoscience

TL;DR: Joe Rogan gives three hours to Paul Saladino — a board-certified psychiatrist with no nutrition research credentials — to promote the carnivore diet through cherry-picked evidence, dangerous cholesterol misinformation, and anti-plant rhetoric so extreme that even Saladino himself later abandoned the diet after it damaged his health.

This episode aired on October 16, 2020. Saladino used the platform to promote his book “The Carnivore Code” and advocate for an all-meat diet, making sweeping claims about plants being toxic, seed oils causing disease, and high LDL cholesterol being harmless. A comprehensive 272-citation rebuttal by nutrition scientist Dr. Layne Norton found the episode “worse than I ever could have imagined.”

Who Is Paul Saladino?

Paul Saladino is a physician who is board-certified in psychiatry, not nutrition, endocrinology, or cardiology.

He has no advanced degree in nutrition science, epidemiology, or metabolic research.
He holds a “Functional Medicine” certification — a credential that mainstream medicine considers poorly defined and often associated with pseudoscientific practices.
Wikipedia describes him as “an American health influencer and board-certified psychiatrist who promotes pseudoscientific claims regarding human health and diet.” Wikipedia - Paul Saladino
He later abandoned the strict carnivore diet after experiencing sleep disturbances, heart palpitations, muscle cramps, and a drop in testosterone levels. Hone Health

Claim 1: Plants Are Toxic and Should Be Eliminated

Saladino claimed that plant chemicals “are not good for us” and can “affect thyroid, androgens, sex hormones, make you have diarrhea, nausea, or kill you.” He argued plants exist on a “spectrum of toxicity” and should be largely avoided.

What the evidence says:

World Health Organization: Diets rich in fruits and vegetables are associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and overall mortality. WHO recommends at least 400g of fruits and vegetables daily. WHO - Healthy Diet
Meta-analyses (multiple): A 2017 meta-analysis in the International Journal of Epidemiology found that higher fruit and vegetable intake was associated with significant reductions in risk of heart disease, stroke, and premature death. IJE, 2017
Dose matters: While certain plant compounds (e.g., solanine in raw potatoes, oxalates in excess) can be harmful in extreme quantities, this does not make plants categorically toxic. This is a textbook example of the “dose makes the poison” principle that Saladino ignores.
Biolayne analysis: Dr. Layne Norton noted that Saladino “liked to cherry-pick his evidence, focus on weak mechanistic data, and ignore large volumes of evidence counter to his bias.” Biolayne

Claim 2: High LDL Cholesterol on a Carnivore Diet Is Harmless

Saladino argued that elevated LDL cholesterol from the carnivore diet is not a cardiovascular risk factor, claiming that oxidized LDL — not total LDL or ApoB — is the real concern, and that seed oils are the true cause of heart disease.

What the evidence says:

European Heart Journal (2017): A consensus statement from the European Atherosclerosis Society concluded that the causal role of LDL cholesterol in cardiovascular disease is “established beyond reasonable doubt” based on genetic, epidemiological, and clinical trial evidence. EHJ, 2017
ApoB is a well-established risk factor. Eating a diet high in animal fat typically raises ApoB levels. The majority of research indicates elevated ApoB is a strong predictor of cardiovascular disease risk.
Marcel Kuijsten’s analysis of Saladino’s book found that the claim about high LDL being harmless is “considered dangerous” — one of the most concerning claims in the entire book. Marcel Kuijsten
This claim is especially dangerous because it may discourage listeners with elevated cholesterol from seeking medical advice or treatment.

Claim 3: Seed Oils Are Toxic and Cause Disease

Saladino claimed that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), particularly linoleic acid from seed oils, cause cardiovascular disease and should be completely eliminated from the diet.

What the evidence says:

The Proof (fact-check): A detailed analysis of Saladino’s seed oil claims found them to be misleading, noting that Saladino selectively cited mechanistic studies while ignoring large-scale clinical trials and epidemiological data. The Proof
American Heart Association (2017): The AHA reviewed the evidence and concluded that replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat (including from vegetable oils) reduces cardiovascular risk. AHA Presidential Advisory, 2017
Nuance Saladino ignores: There are legitimate scientific discussions about optimal fat ratios and the quality of processed foods. But Saladino does not engage in nuance — he makes blanket claims that seed oils are “toxic,” which is not supported by the weight of evidence.

Claim 4: The Carnivore Diet Is Optimal for Human Health

Saladino presented the carnivore diet — eating exclusively or primarily animal products — as the ideal human diet, citing ancestral eating patterns and claiming it resolves autoimmune conditions, skin problems, and other health issues.

What the evidence says:

No randomized controlled trials support the carnivore diet for any health outcome. The “evidence” consists almost entirely of anecdotes and self-reports.
Saladino himself abandoned the diet. After following his own strict carnivore protocol, he experienced sleep disturbances, heart palpitations, muscle cramps, and a significant drop in testosterone — eventually adding fruit and honey back to his diet. Plant Based News
Every major dietary guideline body — WHO, AHA, USDA, NHS — recommends diets that include fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. None recommend an all-meat diet.
Potential risks: The carnivore diet eliminates dietary fiber (linked to reduced colon cancer risk), vitamin C (risking scurvy in extreme cases), and numerous phytonutrients with established health benefits.

Joe Rogan’s Role: Enthusiastic Enabler

Rogan’s performance in this episode follows a familiar pattern with diet and health guests:

No meaningful pushback on any of Saladino’s major claims about plants being toxic, LDL being harmless, or seed oils causing disease.
Enthusiastic reception: Rogan has long been sympathetic to carnivore diet claims, having experimented with the diet himself and regularly hosting carnivore advocates (including Shawn Baker, another frequently criticized guest).
Failed to mention Saladino’s credentials gap: Saladino is a psychiatrist, not a nutrition researcher, cardiologist, or epidemiologist. Rogan presented him as a diet authority without questioning this mismatch.
Amplification effect: This episode generated so many questions to nutrition scientists that Dr. Layne Norton’s 272-citation rebuttal took “far longer to finish than any of his previous critical analyses.”

Expert Response

Dr. Layne Norton, a PhD in nutritional sciences, published a comprehensive evidence-based rebuttal with 272 clickable citations:

“It was worse than I ever could have imagined… far worse than The Game Changers.”

Norton systematically demonstrated that Saladino:

Cherry-picks evidence that supports his conclusions
Focuses on weak mechanistic data while ignoring clinical trials
Ignores large volumes of evidence counter to his bias
Makes claims that range from misleading to outright dangerous

The full analysis is available at Biolayne.

Why It Matters

The carnivore diet has no evidence base. Promoting it as a health solution on a podcast with millions of listeners risks encouraging people to abandon well-established dietary patterns for a fad diet.
Cholesterol misinformation can kill. Telling people that high LDL is harmless may lead them to ignore a modifiable risk factor for the leading cause of death in the United States — cardiovascular disease.
Saladino’s own health declined on the diet he promoted to millions. He later added carbohydrates back after experiencing adverse symptoms, but the damage of this episode’s messaging was already done.
The episode demonstrates the credentialism problem on JRE: a psychiatrist is presented as a nutrition expert, and his credentials are never questioned. Board certification in one field does not confer expertise in another.

Conclusion

This episode exemplifies how the Joe Rogan Experience can function as an infomercial for pseudoscientific health products. A psychiatrist with no nutrition research credentials was given three uninterrupted hours to promote a fad diet through cherry-picked evidence and dangerous cholesterol misinformation — claims so poorly supported that even the guest himself later abandoned the diet after it harmed his health. Rogan provided no pushback, no alternative perspective, and no disclaimer. For listeners who adopted the carnivore diet based on this episode, the consequences could be serious.