Anthony Chaffee MD on Seafood
Dr. Chaffee (Plant Free MD) personally feels best on beef and doesn't push fish — but his show surfaces some of the most scientifically grounded arguments for including seafood on carnivore.
Chaffee's Own Position
"I'm in the position that I can sort of eat whatever meat I want, but I always feel best eating just beef and that sort of thing. But there are others that have to be more careful with it and so there are different sorts of things that complement each other — there's different meats and organs and seafood."
Iodine: The Overlooked Gap
"Most soils are actually pretty deficient in iodine, especially in Australia. 100% of the people that I check — check their iodine in Australia on a standard diet unless they eat a lot of seafood — they're low. A lot of fish can sort that out, but a lot of people aren't doing that."
Implication: Beef-only carnivore without iodized salt creates a real iodine gap. Seafood is the primary whole-food solution.
Omega-3s When Eating Grain-Finished Beef
"Adding in some fish, things like that — you have to think about those omega-3s if you're predominantly eating grain-finished."
Grass-fed beef has a favorable omega-3:omega-6 ratio; grain-finished shifts toward omega-6 dominance. Fish corrects this without supplementation.
n=1 Guest: Surf-and-Turf After Grief, Then Shellfish for Iron Retention
"Before he passed, I was eating a lot of red meat. And then after he passed and after things sort of shifted for me, I started eating more fish. And now I do like a surf-and-turf kind of thing."
"I'm sorry — the iron from the meat. And so that's why I added in shellfish because copper helps retain iron and ferritin and that was very important to me. And ever since I made those changes really it's been smooth sailing from there."
Mechanism: Copper (abundant in oysters and shellfish) is required for ceruloplasmin — the protein that loads iron into red blood cells. Low copper = poor iron retention even with adequate iron intake. This guest fixed their ferritin problem by adding shellfish as a copper source.
n=1 Experiment: 7–14 Day Sardine-Only Fasts
"I've done a lot of sardine-related. So I've done like 7, 10, 14-day sardine fasts where that's all I ate. I did before and after blood work and DEXA scans just to see what would happen."
"Very interesting visceral fat loss on a sardine fast. It's basically a protein sparing modified fast."
Finding: Sardines alone (high protein, moderate fat, complete amino acids, rich in EPA+DHA) drove measurable visceral fat loss on DEXA. The mechanism: high protein + lower calories = protein-sparing modified fast effect while maintaining muscle.
Histamine Warning for Sensitive Individuals
"It could be that you need to go low-histamine carnivore... how fresh is it? Is it aged? Is it smoked? You can't — if you have histamine issues — you can't be eating a bunch of smoked brisket... even fish."
Caution: Smoked, canned, or aged fish (smoked salmon, sardines in cans) is high histamine. People with histamine sensitivity should use fresh fish only.
Fish as an On-Ramp for Ex-Vegetarians
"Half of them decided to start eating eggs and fish and chicken etc. So you know, you're not always going to get everyone full carnivore but you're moving them in the right direction."
Sources: Anthony Chaffee MD transcripts — Videos: bCtJCOOEuv8, GC9SVt5fNn8, F6r7xoJCSrc, qd2WDow8ltM, VgfGo8zK0_0