Nutrition with Judy | Carnivore Diet

**Our final Wholeness Method cohort of 2026 is open now.**
Can you follow a carnivore diet, improve your environment, take the right supplements, and still feel stuck in chronic illness? Judy Cho sits down with licensed clinical social worker and Wholeness Method practitioner Lauren Cogan to examine nervous system dysregulation, trauma responses, anxiety, people-pleasing, boundaries, CIRS, mold illness, and the mind-body patterns that can remain after the physical foundations are addressed.
This conversation explores why some behaviors that appear to be personality may actually be protective responses, why understanding a pattern is different from changing it, and how chronic illness can alter the way someone interprets every new healing strategy. This is not an argument against carnivore or functional medicine. It examines the additional layer that may matter when diet, sleep, lifestyle, and protocols have helped, but the body still does not feel safe. 
How trauma and anxiety show up in the body
When anxiety can look like ADHD
Talk therapy, somatic work, and nervous system healing
How childhood shapes the stress response
When a trauma response feels like personality
A chronic illness transformation story
Why saying no can trigger fight or flight
The crash that can happen before a health issue
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EPISODE REFERENCES
Wholeness Method Cohort
Wholeness Method Resources

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
📫 Tips and Weekly Updates

JUDY CHO RESOURCES
⛑️ Work with Us
🎙️ Podcast
📕 Inflammation Fix Book
📘 Carnivore Cure Book & Elimination Diet
📚 Articles
🎁 Free Resources
📗 Complete Carnivore Diet for Beginners

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*DISCLAIMER: This content is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. It should not replace professional medical advice.

Sign up for the Wholeness Method webinar.

Get personalized root-cause care with Empower Functional Health.
Learn more at empowerfunctionalhealth.com
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Can eating more fat stall weight loss, even on a zero-carb carnivore diet? In this episode, Judy Cho sits down with Craig Emmerich to examine why some people lose weight effortlessly on carnivore or keto while others gain weight, struggle with hunger, or see their metabolic health worsen. They discuss dietary fat, protein intake, calories, leptin resistance, muscle loss, fasting, thyroid function, hormones, and why postmenopausal women may respond differently than men.
The conversation also moves beyond macros into the limits of diet itself. Craig shares what years of strict carnivore could and could not resolve in his own experience with Lyme disease, mold illness, CIRS, inflammation, and chronic pain. This episode challenges several popular carnivore claims while offering a more individualized framework for weight loss, body composition, metabolic health, and long-term healing.
We discuss the following: 
The fat debate
The Randall effect
Fat gain without carbs?
Stress, cortisol, and obesity
Fat threshold explained
Practical protein and fat targets
Leaner carnivore satiety
Nutrition misinformation online
Adjusting fat intake
Why carnivore harder isn't the answer
Why some people leave carnivore
Where to start for complex cases 
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EPISODE RESOURCES
Why Diet Alone May not be Enough - Lyme, CIRS and Autoimmune Interview with Craig Emmerich
Keto Maria Website
The Art of Metabolic Health Book
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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
📫 Tips and Weekly Updates

JUDY CHO RESOURCES
⛑️ Work with Us
🎙️ Podcast
📕 Inflammation Fix Book
📘 Carnivore Cure Book & Elimination Diet
📚 Articles
🎁 Free Resources
📗 Complete Carnivore Diet for Beginners

_____
*DISCLAIMER: This content is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. It should not replace professional medical advice.

Sign up for the webinar.

Get personalized root-cause care with Empower Functional Health.
Learn more at empowerfunctionalhealth.com
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Heart surgeon Dr. Philip Ovadia joins Judy Cho to discuss what may actually drive heart disease beyond a single focus on LDL cholesterol. Drawing from 25 years in cardiac surgery and more than 3,400 operations, he explains why insulin resistance, inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, diet, and vascular damage deserve more attention in heart disease prevention.

The conversation also examines statins, coronary artery calcium scans, CT angiograms, seed oils, processed carbohydrates, red meat, vegan diets, gut health, and nutrient absorption. Dr. Ovadia shares how becoming obese and prediabetic changed his own understanding of metabolic health, and why he now focuses on helping patients avoid the operating table.
We discuss the following: 
Dr. Ovadia’s lessons from 3,400 heart surgeries
Why cholesterol isn't the root cause
Pharmaceutical and food industry influence
How diet guidelines failed patients
Dr. Ovadia's personal health transformation
Seed oils vs processed carbohydrates
Early warning signs of heart disease
Coronary calcium scan and CT angiogram
What a heart surgeon eats for breakfast
Dr. Ovadia’s new book
Can vegans have optimal health?
When diet alone isn't enough
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EPISODE RESOURCES
Nutritionist's Guide to the Carnivore Diet
Dr. Philip Ovadia's Website
Dr. Philip Ovadia's Instagram
Stay Off My Kitchen Table Book
Stay Off My Operating Table (First Book)
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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
📫 Tips and Weekly Updates

JUDY CHO RESOURCES
⛑️ Work with Us
🎙️ Podcast
📕 Inflammation Fix Book
📘 Carnivore Cure Book & Elimination Diet
📚 Articles
🎁 Free Resources
📗 Complete Carnivore Diet for Beginners

_____
*DISCLAIMER: This content is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. It should not replace professional medical advice.

Get personalized root-cause care with Empower Functional Health.
Learn more at empowerfunctionalhealth.com
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Peptides are everywhere right now: VIP, KPV, BPC-157, TB-500, Thymosin Alpha 1, GHK-Cu, GLP-1s, and more. They are being talked about for inflammation, gut repair, immune support, tissue healing, weight loss, recovery, and chronic illness—but they are not automatically safe just because they sound “natural.”

In this episode, Judy Cho breaks down what peptides are, why context matters, and the mistakes people may be making when they use them too casually or too early. Peptides can be powerful tools, but the wrong peptide, timing, or source can pose risks most people are not considering.
What are peptides
VIP (Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide)
KPV
BPC-157
TB-500, Thymosin Beta-4 (Wolverine Stack)
Thymosin Alpha 1, Mots-C
GHK-Cu
GLP-1s, natural peptides, 3D GLP1s, 
Peptide risk nuance and examples
Peptide grey market risks
Four tactical peptide considerations
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EPISODE REFERENCES
NwJ Peptide Article
Taking VIP Too Early 
Copper Toxicity
Peptide Contamination: 1, 2
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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
📫 Tips and Weekly Updates

JUDY CHO RESOURCES
⛑️Work with Us
🎙️ Podcast
📕 Inflammation Fix Book
📘 Carnivore Cure Book & Elimination Diet
📚 Articles
🎁 Free Resources 

_____
*DISCLAIMER: This content is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. It should not replace professional medical advice.

Get personalized root-cause care with Empower Functional Health.
Learn more at empowerfunctionalhealth.com
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What if chronic stress is the real reason chronically ill patients fail to heal, no matter what protocol they follow? Dr. Stephen Sideroff has spent decades researching exactly what happens to the nervous system under prolonged stress, and what he's found challenges how most practitioners think about root-cause healing. In this episode, he reveals what conventional medicine gets wrong about stress, why some people are wired to stay stuck, and what it actually takes to get the body back into a state where healing is even possible. Watch the full interview to find out.
Dr. Stephen Sideroff is a clinical psychologist, resilience researcher, and assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at UCLA. He is the founder of the UCLA Stress Strategies program and author of The Path: Mastering the Nine Pillars of Resilience and Success, a comprehensive framework built on decades of clinical research into stress, neurofeedback, and what separates people who heal from people who stay stuck.
We discuss the following: 
Nervous system Balance
The four horsemen of stress
Recognizing signs of poor stress management
Why recovery after stress matters 
Resilience, trauma, and childhood wiring
How to start managing stress 
Breaking the negative mindset cycle
Rethinking therapy and rumination
Why change is so hard
Getting chronically ill patients unstuck
Protecting your energy from social media
Judy's reflection and the Wholeness Method
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EPISODE RESOURCES
Wholeness Method Website
Dr. Stephen Sideroff's Website
Dr. Stephen Sideroff’s YouTube
Quantum Leadership Podcast
The Path: Mastering the Nine Pillars of Resilience and Success Book
_____
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
📫 Tips and Weekly Updates

JUDY CHO RESOURCES
⛑️ Work with Us
🎙️ Podcast
📕 Inflammation Fix Book
📘 Carnivore Cure Book & Elimination Diet
📚 Articles
🎁 Free Resources
📗 Complete Carnivore Diet for Beginners

_____
*DISCLAIMER: This content is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. It should not replace professional medical advice.

Sign up for the webinar.