Michael's Story

I grew up in an immigrant household in NYC, and was raised mostly on home cooked food centered around meat, fruits, vegetables, and soup, and of course candy and sweets. As I got older, the numerous tasty, hyperpalatable options of fast food, junk food, and snacks started to become a daily staple in my diet. Some of my favorites were pizza, fried chicken, fries, burgers, and chinese food.

At age 19, I was eating fast food multiple times a day while dorming in college when I began to experience concerning symptoms - frequent diarrhea, unbearable stomach pain, blood in my stool. To make a very long story short, I went home and was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, an autoimmune disease and a form of IBD, after rigorous testing. I was understably dejected and depressed, and put on powerful, injectable biologic medication - adalimumab, which eventually failed and had to switch out for another powerful, injectable biologic medication - ustekinumab. 

I had made some strides to try to take control of my health by switching to what I believed at the time to be a healthy diet. I had not yet begun to read the ingredient labels of what I was buying, not realizing my diet was still filled with seed oils, processed sugars, preservatives, colorings, additives, gums, lecithins, and more. Eventually I began to lift weights and stumbled upon the vertical diet. After reading Stan Efferding’s entire book on it, I switched about 50% of my diet to be fully vertical, while still eating out for the other half. I was still on injectable biologic medication, ustekinumab, and my symptoms began to worsen, eventually landing me in the ER with unbearable stomach pain.

Despite CT scans, MRI’s, ultrasounds, colonoscopies, and endoscopies, my GI doctors could not explain what was wrong and just kept me on the cancer-causing, 5-pages of side effects biologics.

It was at this point I decided that I had to commit myself to my health - or it would get worse.For the first time ever, I went fully animal-based without cheating - eating nothing but organic fruits, veggies, grass-finished ruminant meat and organ meat, and organic white rice. After 2 months or so without improvement, my symptoms all began to subside. The longer I continued, the more like my old self I began to feel. Against the advice of my GI doctor, world-renowned in his field, I came off my medication completely. All my tests, conducted by the doctor himself, were not only normal, but amazingly healthy. 

I want nothing more than to share this way of living with others. Others who may be feeling dejected, and like there is no way to improve their health situation. Others who may be feeling like a slave to medication and doctors appointments. Others who are feeling helpless, like there is no way out. I want to make the healthiest superfoods on earth be readily available to them. These organ crisps alone will not fix your issues - but combined with an animal-based diet, exercise, and avoiding the toxins of the modern world, you will not only get your health back, but you will become the healthiest and happiest version of yourself you can possibly be.

Matthew's Story

Growing up as a first-generation American, my early diet was a mix of home-cooked meals featuring common household ingredients (seed oils, non-organic produce, candy, and more) and the irresistible allure of fast food that I saw my friends enjoying at school. Burgers, subs, and pizza became staples in my diet, and as I grew older, I found myself clinically obese at the age of 16, weighing 240 lbs at 5'9. The "American" lifestyle I had adopted led to mental instability and physical issues, all stemming from my ever-growing weight. After grappling with severe anxiety surrounding my weight, I decided to take responsibility for my health and began a weight loss journey that would prove to be both enlightening and life-changing.

As I delved into the world of weight loss, I was bombarded with online media promoting low-calorie alternatives to conventional foods, as well as chemical additives and sweeteners to help restrict calories and achieve my physique goals. Little did I know that this approach would be just as harmful to my body as my previous fast-food habits. My pursuit of weight loss and fitness through the consumption of these "fake" foods resulted in severe joint pain in my arm, constant cracking in my wrist during rotation, and a gradually restricting range of motion. At 17, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and prescribed methotrexate, a chemotherapy and immunosuppressive drug, to relieve inflammation in my arm. As I took this medication weekly, I resigned myself to a life with autoimmune disease and aching joints that depended on my medication to feel "normal."

By the time I was a college freshman, I had lost a significant amount of weight and began lifting weights regularly, but my joint pain persisted. That's when my brother introduced me to Stan Efferding's Vertical Diet. When I was home for breaks, I followed my brother's diet—consisting primarily of red meat (bison and beef), white rice, some veggies, and juices—and noticed my symptoms improving marginally. However, when I returned to campus, my consumption of the inflammatory dining hall foods cooked with canola oil and other harmful ingredients negated any progress I had made.

At the end of my freshman year, I discovered the animal-based diet. I had heard about the carnivore diet before but had never seriously considered it. The idea of an animal-based lifestyle, however, intrigued me. That summer, I fully embraced the animal-based way of living, consuming only meat, organs, fruit, honey, and raw dairy, eliminating toxic elements from my environment, and filtering all my water. To my amazement, my joint pain disappeared, and by the end of the summer, I was completely off methotrexate and haven't needed it since. As of 2022, my disease is in complete remission, and I can confidently say that adopting an animal-based lifestyle has been key to optimizing my health.

Incorporating organ meats into my diet was instrumental in boosting my energy levels, meeting my micronutrient goals, and improving my overall well-being when I first transitioned to an animal-based lifestyle. Having struggled with autoimmune and weight-related issues in the past, I founded Nose to Tail Provisions with the mission of providing our delicious bison liver crisps as a gateway for others to embark on their own healing journeys through the animal-based diet. However, it's important to remember that it's not just about the diet, but the lifestyle as a whole. By addressing your environment and eliminating waste and toxins from your daily life, you can unlock your full potential for self-improvement and achieve optimal health as a human being.