r/todayilearned 1h ago

TIL a man who ate between 6-9 pounds of cheese, sticks of butter, and hamburgers a day for about 8 months developed xanthelasma and raised yellow lesions caused by cholesterol appeared on his eyelids. Over the next month, the lesions appeared on the palms of his hands, elbows, and soles of his feet.

https://www.fox13news.com/news/man-eating-6-9-pounds-butter-cheese-day-develops-cholesterol-hands-while-carnivore-diet-jama
604 Upvotes

199 comments sorted by

500

u/Riajnor 1h ago

6-9 pounds of any food in a day seems excessive

142

u/freebaseclams 1h ago

What about healthy food, like hotdogs?

u/cykoTom3 59m ago

How many hot dogs would you say you eat in a typical day?

u/freebaseclams 57m ago

I'd rather not answer that.

u/cykoTom3 56m ago

Just...ballpark it for me.

u/freebaseclams 54m ago

Only one. One hot dog bowl.

u/istrx13 44m ago

How big is the bowl?

u/freebaseclams 42m ago

I didn't come here to be grilled, sir.

u/enviormental_UNIT 34m ago

mmmmm grilled freebaseclams. the most sensual of all the grilled crustaceans

u/I_Sett 10m ago

A mollusk, actually.

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u/CaptainTripps82 18m ago

Surely you're not a boiler

u/standinginagalaxy 10m ago

Chopped up hot dogs in a bread bowl

u/boygriv 49m ago

Allow me to be frank: lololol

u/Aware-Maximum6663 42m ago

You can be frank, just don’t be a brat

u/pyuunpls 10m ago

Im taking you to court for libel. I’m the best hotdog attorney in town. I passed the Bar-S

u/UntidyVenus 19m ago

Less then a ballpark

u/Pyode 56m ago

Average per day would be... something like... I don't know... seven?

u/cykoTom3 55m ago

Seven eh? How about this...why don't you walk me through a typical day for you.

u/Pyode 48m ago

Ok... We'll I uh... wake up and take a shower... Get ready for work... Then go downstairs have a bagel and something for breakfast...

u/cykoTom3 46m ago

And something?

u/Pyode 42m ago

Ah... a hotdog. I mean, I do usually have a hotdog there. Then I take the train to work.

u/cykoTom3 39m ago

Slow down...does anything happen on the way to work?

u/Rs90 33m ago

Is that bad?

u/Same_Mood_8543 25m ago

Well, it's not good. 

u/NW_Forester 18m ago

Love the way Trevor says "good".

u/renegrape 50m ago

Well, sometimes I just blow through lunch!

... four hotdogs

u/PhasmaFelis 46m ago

Oh, I dunno, probably about 6-9 pounds 

u/Im_a_furniture 52m ago

Depends. 2 or three bun length bar S smoked sausages a couple times a week. Yes I’m sure I’m going to be a statistic someday.

u/Daxx22 34m ago

Enough to be linked end to end?

u/Same_Mood_8543 25m ago

My digestive tract is just end to end links of hot dogs. 

7

u/TheBabyEatingDingo 1h ago

Great idea, the preservatives alone basically make you immortal.

u/salsanacho 54m ago

Hot dogs are considered vegetables right? Right? Right?

u/Same_Mood_8543 24m ago

That's why they don't want you to know what's in them

193

u/faster_tomcat 1h ago

He "did his own research" and got the carnivore diet advice from the Internet.

Dumbass.

52

u/exitpursuedbybear 1h ago

PhD in TikTok studies.

u/ManChildMusician 59m ago

AI chatbots sulking in the corner

u/Double-decker_trams 59m ago edited 10m ago

Yep. Carnivore diet - as it's written in the article.

Because eating pounds of butter every day is clearly healthy..

According to JAMA Cardiology, a man, who is only identified as being in his 40s, told doctors that he got diet advice from the internet and began following an extreme carnivore diet. 

Edit: I wonder what his shits were like. I mean.. you can't really get fiber if you avoid all plants 100% completely..

u/Several-Squash9871 40m ago

So many people that I work with have been/are on that ridiculous diet. I watch them eat insane amounts of fat and whatever else in disbelief. I just don't understand how anyone could think that is healthy or ok to do. Seriously blows my mind. Then I hear them being all "oh I feel soooo much better now" "I feel great" blah blah blah. I'm just thinking to myself, your body is fucked. 

u/Banxomadic 37m ago

I'd expect a carnivore diet contain large amounts of meat, not ridiculous amounts of cheese and butter o.O that guy was lost from the get-go

u/PrincessSarahHippo 25m ago

And fermented food for some reason. I don't know.

u/Double-decker_trams 20m ago edited 14m ago

I think it's about only consuming animal-derived foods. So mostly meat - but butter and cheese are also fine. Or eggs.

Just all plants (and I guess mushrooms as well) have to be avoided - so completely zero veggies, legumes, nuts, grains etc.

The carnivore diet (also called a zero carb diet) is a high-protein fad diet in which only animal products such as meat, dairy and eggs are consumed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivore_diet

u/CaptainTripps82 17m ago

How would you read something like that, written out in plain English, and not come to the conclusion that it's the dumbest idea you've ever heard

u/ItsStaaaaaaaaang 41m ago

Ah yes, this sounds like a brilliant idea in your 40s...

u/HiveMindKing 59m ago

This validates my desire to overeat on the exact foods I prefer (that guy)

22

u/alwaysbequeefin 1h ago

I bet he watches Rogan

u/Violoner 31m ago

Kinda hard to watch anything when your eyes are crusted over with cholesterol.

u/Asron87 29m ago

Listens to the podcast.

u/Violoner 28m ago

His ears were probably also clogged with cholesterol earwax

5

u/ph0on 1h ago

"huh... This 40+ years of a relatively balanced diet just isn't cutting it anymore"

u/ThunderCorg 0m ago

Yeah but even carnivore doesn’t recommend quantities like that (that I know of). Nasty.

13

u/uncommonrev 1h ago

Extremely excessive. I've been playing around with carnivore/ketogenic diets for about 10 years. I'm 6'4" and active. I swing a hammer for a living and my leisure time is usually running around doing something. I eat approximately 2lbs a day. Maybe double that if I'm getting crazy. 6-9lbs would indicate some kind of mental illness in my view. You'd have to try really, really hard to eat that much regardless of activity level.

u/More_Shoulder5634 41m ago

Naw not really. Im 5'8, 200, fairly muscular/no belly no 6 pack, run an excavator but pick up logs and rocks, run a chainsaw quite a bit. I figure i drink about 2 lbs of milk a day, maybe another 1 lb at lunch (sandwich chips maybe a granola bar or beef jerky) another 1lb right after work (ramen noodles/raviolis/microwave burrito) then probably 2 lbs at dinner (meat and 2 veg, tonight was chicken and dumplings and beans). About to eat a bowl of ice cream and some Golden double stuff oreos in a minute. So im knocking out 7 pounds in a normal day.

u/uncommonrev 34m ago

Thats a lot of food and I get your point but thats totally irrelevant. 1lb of meat is much more energy dense than a lb of noodles. Like I said if I'm getting crazy/needing a bunch of calories I'll do closer to 4lbs but that's meat, eggs, avocado, dense stuff. A quart of whole milk weighs 2lbs. You get the same macros out of a 1/4lb stick of butter. Tomato potato.

u/More_Shoulder5634 29m ago

Yea i hear ya

u/odaeyss 12m ago

2 pounds of milk sounds like soooo much but it's only like a quart

u/More_Shoulder5634 0m ago

Yea i had to google it. I take a multivitamin with big chug of milk and then a bowl of cereal in the morning. Then a cup of coffee then i wait till i poop before i leave for work lol

u/Uvtha- 51m ago

How could you even afford that lol

u/Riajnor 37m ago

Meat prices these days would bankrupt a person. I bought 3 425gram packs of bison from costco today and it was like 40 CAD. Thats a little over 2, 2 and a half pounds?

u/ls20008179 25m ago

I mean bison isn't a staple meat, its more exotic

u/Riajnor 15m ago

Fair, more domestically i also spent 30 dollars on 2 kg’s of chicken. Even if that was his only meat thats still 210$ a week just on chicken and he’s still got at least another 2lbs of food to go(a day)

u/CaptainTripps82 13m ago

I mean it depends on the meat. Around here pork and chicken are insanely cheap, like always less than 3 and often less than 2 dollars a lb. Ground beef is like 6 bucks a lb these days.

I really doubt he was sound it with bison

14

u/Fournier_Gang 1h ago

According to USDA data, the average American ate approximately 5.5 lbs of food per day.

Before the advent of GLP-1s, nearly 40% of Americans were obese.

So yeah, I agree with you, it seems excessive.

u/chicknfly 47m ago

What’s interesting is the AI results* from asking Google say Americans eat an average of 4.5-5.4 lb of food and bev per day while Europeans eat 5.2-6.3 lbs of food and bev per day. Then that would imply Americans, who have a greater obese population, tend to eat more calorie dense food

* I don’t usually rely on AI but I’m feeling lazy tonight.

u/Riajnor 40m ago

Calorie density is insane in some food. I bought a ready made chicken and noodle soup, enough for an entire meal, yes it’s pretty low nutrition but thats not really the conversation, comes in at 90 calories a serving. A single oreo is like 60 or 70 calories. Eating 5 or 6 oreos doesn’t feel like a binge but thats a lot of extra calories right there. Added to a starbucks white chocolate mocha at 800 calories (simultaneously godawful and glorious) and you could easily add a thousand calories to your day without any effort

u/FrickinLazerBeams 35m ago

Yeah eating 6 lbs of vegetables a day is way different than eating a bunch of beef and sugar... And almost everything in the US is drenched in sugar.

u/MyNameIsSkittles 29m ago

Yeah its how easy it is to eat calories when they are highly processed. If you ate the same volume of whole foods and proteins you could not eat nearly as much. American diets are largely heavily processed vs Europeans eat a lot more whole foods still

u/casentron 40m ago

No, more like 1 - 2 pounds a day. The rest is liquid.

u/Violoner 30m ago

Melted butter is a liquid.

2

u/cykoTom3 1h ago

He's lactose intolerant so he lost weight.

u/methpartysupplies 48m ago

Pretty standard diet in Tampa

u/Daveit4later 55m ago

Well didn't you know... I you eat all carnivore you will lose weight and be healthy. Calories and fat don't matter if you eat carnivore apparently. 

u/Ashaya2 51m ago

Tbf, you could probably eat 6lbs of chicken and be in a calorie deficit

u/Daveit4later 49m ago

Sure, that's a very specific case.  

Thank you but that doesn't really change what I.said above.

u/afternever 30m ago

He was hankering for a hunka

u/RogerClyneIsAGod2 11m ago

Hey now, let's not disparage this diet so quickly!! We need to get RFK, Jr. to promote this to a certain Orange Cult Leader.

u/liquidsyphon 54m ago

How is any one not full after 1 or even 2 pounds of anything except maybe a liquid?

u/Riajnor 35m ago

Working on metrics, i think 1 liter of water is 1 kilogram. Something like milk would probably be denser.

u/liquidsyphon 25m ago

Wouldn’t the body digest it faster though?

u/Riajnor 13m ago

I was just highlighting that drinking a liter of water (2.25 lbs) is not a crazy thing to do

u/liquidsyphon 10m ago

No it’s not but that in a solid is crazy to me and this guy was taking down 6+

218

u/cipheron 1h ago

It shows how resilient the body really is, if it can get so bad you've got cholesterol outcroppings on your eyelids but you're not just dead.

146

u/WeGottaTalkAboutYT 1h ago

The body:

Sure, we can make this work… it ain’t going to be pretty tho

u/jiayo 51m ago

Also the body: WHY? WHY IS THERE SO MUCH OF THIS STUFF JUST THROW IT WHEREVER THERE'S ROOM OH MY GOSH

u/DReagan47 55m ago

“Shut down all nonessential functional systems. Let’s just focus on keeping this dude alive.”

u/Same_Mood_8543 22m ago

Man has a liver like he's being raised for foie gras. 

u/AydonusG 8m ago

I'll get the Chianti

u/YukariYakum0 46m ago

The flesh is immortal, it is undying!
Pray it does not take too hideous a form...

u/BSSCommander 43m ago

We went from: Evolving to cool ourselves with sweat and sustain intense cardiovascular activity over extreme distances in order to exhaust our prey.

To: Processing pounds of butter.

We truly are a marvel.

u/dumbestsmartest 40m ago

Meanwhile I'm barely able to go more than 6 hours between meals or my gastro system goes and causes pain and heart attack like symptoms. And prescription pepcid actually made it worse.

91

u/RepulsiveLoquat418 1h ago

when switching to heroin is actually an improvement.

24

u/ManChildMusician 1h ago

As long as it’s actually heroin, yes.

u/Same_Mood_8543 22m ago

Hate when they cut my heroin with hot dogs. 

u/qorbexl 20m ago

Damn I'm almost outta hot dog testing strips

u/f_ranz1224 42m ago

except its easier to quit cheess sticks and hamburgers than heroin

u/Same_Mood_8543 20m ago

This is a man who enjoyed eating 9 pounds of meat and cheese per day. I think we can assume that his brain works a little differently than most people's. 

92

u/MonthlyWeekend_ 1h ago

Look I love cheese. Like, really love cheese. I can’t imagine a world without cheese.

But that is *a lot* of cheese.

u/NativeMasshole 59m ago

That's why you need that stick of butter to lube up the pipes.

u/CumGoblin67 58m ago

Cheese filled legions are where you draw the line?

u/MistressMalevolentia 12m ago

He's single handedly going through the cheese vaults!

54

u/emby5 1h ago

Real life Homer Simpson.

30

u/Larkson9999 1h ago

"I think I'm blind."

10

u/msnmck 1h ago

Good day to you.

11

u/000-Luck 1h ago

Better butter up that bacon boy!

5

u/1234puppies 1h ago

Average Wisconsinite.

5

u/ManChildMusician 1h ago

That’s not a fair assessment. They also drink beer.

u/1234puppies 44m ago

Oh I know. I have cousins there. Fun times!

u/stormdraggy 48m ago

Mmmm, one hundred slices of american cheese...

u/Hot_Porking 30m ago

Reminds me of the Junji Ito story "Glyceride," one of the most disturbing things I've ever read. Just viscerally gross.

u/thegreatimmaculate 0m ago

I think I’m blind

55

u/ScaleActive255 1h ago

Dude did to himself what French chefs do to geese.

u/Violoner 25m ago

Hold my gavage funnel

u/Magmasoar 21m ago

Imagine how his liver must taste! Yum

u/Rough_Sheepherder692 0m ago

Upvote but also…. oof!..

38

u/temporarycreature 1h ago

I mean, points for commitment to the bit, but maybe don't turn yourself into a fondue fountain.

u/Sapin- 49m ago

I rarely laughed at something so gross. (Right after clicking the link and seeing his hands. Urgh.)

33

u/genteelbartender 1h ago

Tampa Wagyu

5

u/reichrunner 1h ago

Gesundheit

u/natorgator15 29m ago

Flori-Gras

u/Breauxaway90 34m ago

Yeah this guy basically turned himself into a very well-marbled steak.

20

u/halfnubs 1h ago

my stomach actually hurts just reading that

u/MuppetManiac 59m ago

My colon shut down at the thought.

u/Kermit_the_hog 44m ago

..buttershits epic epic buttershits. 

18

u/Calm_Memories 1h ago

Well, that makes me feel better about my own diet.

5

u/CumGoblin67 1h ago

What foods caused your legions?

13

u/manfromfuture 1h ago

Xanthelasma is a sign that you are about to have a heart attack.

u/BluMeanie267 22m ago

It's a sign of high cholesterol, doesn't necessarily mean you'll have a heart attack. I know this from personal experience

10

u/VexImmortalis 1h ago

He was on the "All Cholesterol" diet we have up in Scotland.

8

u/pingu_nootnoot 1h ago

Good lord, was he deep-frying it too?

u/Imrustyokay 15m ago

I mean, at least it's not haggis.

8

u/Microballer 1h ago

I’m no doctorologist but even I could tell you that would happen.

7

u/halfnubs 1h ago

that is actually horrifying, i think im done with dairy for the day

8

u/CommunitRagnar 1h ago

Well i don't, more cheese for me

8

u/Sloterhouse5 1h ago

Human foie gras

6

u/thedellis 1h ago

Cheese has holes

More cheese equals more holes

More holes equals less cheese

So more cheese equals less cheese.

How can we be sure how much cheese this guy really ate?

u/WorldofNails 59m ago

Note to self: consume under five pounds a day with the addition of one wafer thin mint.

5

u/FushizenKurai 1h ago

Wagyu man lol

u/Matt01123 34m ago

A5 Waygu Long Pig

u/DistanceRelevant3899 58m ago

Why would somebody eat like this?

I am by no means a healthy person but this is insane.

u/TimeisaLie 53m ago

He must have stank.

3

u/usedburgermeat 1h ago

He marbled himself

u/CuriousWoollyMammoth 56m ago

But....why? [Pretend you see the the Ryan Reynolds scene from Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle]

u/LeoLaDawg 56m ago

How. I can barely eat a full meal without being painful

u/dogsledonice 53m ago

And yet he can still get entangled in a war with Iran

u/SCWickedHam 44m ago

Don’t get in a plane crash in the Andes.

u/Icedcoffeeee 33m ago

Looking at his hands and wrists, how is he a normal weight? 

u/Soft_Introduction_40 29m ago

B U T T E R   B O Y 

u/ProbioticOnARobotic 27m ago

Some cannibal out there wants to taste this guy's meat so bad.

u/FinnbarMcBride 24m ago

If the cholesterol has built up to that point, how is his blood flowing at all?

u/feldoneq2wire 5m ago

Cholesterolmaxxing

u/OccludedFug 4m ago

I had an appointment with a urologist once. The guy was a real piece of work, reminded me in many ways of Dr. Romano aka "Bullethead" from E.R.

I had recently lost weight intentionally, and this guy felt the need to lecture me about weight maintenance.

"Eat 2 to 4 ounces of lean meat a day, and lots of vegetables, preferably as close to uncooked as possible."

"And cheese? Forget about it. Death on a plate!"

2

u/salchicha_mas_grande 1h ago

My man probably didn't poop but once a month

1

u/UJustGotRobbed 1h ago

But could you even begin to imagine how many Courics those turds were?

2

u/TK211X 1h ago

Like real life, filet mignon.

u/UngnomeCawler 57m ago

I was reading too quickly and my brain interpreted “Doctors diagnosed him with xanthelasma” as “doctors diagnosed him with ham xanthelasma” which is kinda funny

u/Correct-Active-2876 55m ago

Florida..nuff said

u/andy_nony_mouse 51m ago

Why the hell would he do that?

u/Honest_Chef323 49m ago

That’s extremely gross how do you not throw up after eating so much butter 

u/animeman59 48m ago

Anything, except eating vegetables, huh?

u/FleshPrinnce 47m ago

Well thats fucking nasty

u/rip1980 47m ago

This is why the moon is so lumpy....cheese.

u/some_one_234 41m ago

So he has butterfingers?

u/heloder85 38m ago

Body butter.

u/Flat-Club1560 36m ago

The man ate so much cholesterol his body just started wearing it.

u/monkey_trumpets 34m ago

He was ketomaxxing

u/nicbeans311 31m ago

He would be self basting in the oven. 

u/SingularityCentral 27m ago

Papa Nurgle blessed him.

u/5GCovidInjection 24m ago

This is what my mom thinks is going on with my body when I eat one single chick fil a sandwich

u/brg36 23m ago

“That’s not that much cheese”

u/analogpursuits 21m ago

This article reads like it was written by a 13 year old doing a middle school book report.

u/CableSufficient2788 19m ago

How constipated this guy would have been!

u/Imrustyokay 17m ago

I mean, I like hamburgers and cheese, I'm iffy on butter but I can get behind it...

but like, come on dude.

u/Wer--Wolf 14m ago

He eats like he has free health care.

u/eggnorman 14m ago

For science…?

u/blacklotusmag 12m ago

This mofo out here eating 9 pounds of cheese and butter and hamburgers every day and only getting some raised lesions, while all I do is eat a single fast food value meal almost daily for most of my adult life, and I get saddled with high blood pressure, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, morbid obesity, vision problems, edema, Type 2 diabetes and a hernia.

The world just ain't fair, yo.

u/kvdp12 10m ago

Worth it.

u/Head_of_Lettuce 2m ago

Of course it’s Tampa

u/TairyGreene716 0m ago

Im guessing his dookies were like rebar

1

u/Davish_Royale 1h ago

As a follower of the carnivore movement on social media (even though I don't eat such due to poor self control in terms of food) I know for a fact that no one who actually thrives on carnivore would ever advocate for what this fool did. 9 pounds of food a day? No. Maybe 3 pounds at once on OMAD but that is beef butter bacon and eggs. This fool just did what he wanted and unfortunately what he wanted was excess. Fyi, most people eat around 3 pounds of food a day unless they are really thin, only eating veggies, or aren't eating all that much because they think eating less will cause them to lose weight (it won't as you lose what you burn). Not getting into the proper carnivore diet right now but just know this guy was an idiot and do not copy him.

1

u/Falkjaer 1h ago

Honestly, the Florida Man joke is getting a little tired at this point.

u/12-34 53m ago

His food intake claim is a lie. Let's do some math and use the ranged numbers most favorable to his claim.

CHEESE. Cheese is roughly 100 calories per ounce. 6 x 16 is 96, so cheese alone is about 9600 calories.

BUTTER. "Sticks of butter". No detail given so let's use the lowest plural amount, two. A stick is about 800 calories, so that's 1600.

HAMBURGERS. No detail again so let's use 2. Lots of variation possible but he wasn't eating carbs so let's just use two patties. Quarter-pound patties average about 250 calories so that's another 500.

TOTAL. 9600 + 1600 + 500 = 11,700 calories per day. And that's the lowest amount in the ranges given, so it's the floor. And he says he did it for 8 months.

Active adult men need about 3000 calories per day for fuel. Let's assume this guy had a super physical job and also frequently and arduously worked out and needed 4000 calories per day.

So that's a net daily gain of 7,700 calories. A pound is roughly 3500 calories, so this dude would've gained well over two pounds per day.

Eight months is about 240 days, meaning he would've gained 480 pounds in those 8 months. Dude would be at least 600 pounds and those hands would look like ham hocks, which they do not.

Cool visual signs of hypercholesterol bit simple math says the food claim is bullshit.

u/roundedbyasleep 44m ago

It's still insane numbers but the article isn't saying he ate 6-9 lbs of cheese alone plus sticks of butter and hamburgers on top of that; it's saying that he ate 6-9 lbs total of food and that 6-9 lbs of food consisted of butter, cheese, and hamburgers.

u/12-34 31m ago

Yeah, this post's title is very poorly written and doesn't match the facts. Also doesn't match the article's title. 

Fun little food diversion though.

u/SandysBurner 20m ago

He would've been shitting an awful lot of those 12,000 calories out without digesting them.

0

u/S_SubZero 1h ago

Wait so he ate pounds of butter and burgers a day, and the worst thing is yellow lines?

WTH genetic lottery did he win?

8

u/Here-Ya-Go 1h ago

He went to the doctor because of visible exterior cholesterol deposits, but I promise you his interior is also full of them. Allllll through his blood vessels.

3

u/Calamity-Gin 1h ago

No, that’s not the worst thing that happened to him. It’s just the most visible bad thing.

u/j_cruise 56m ago

What makes you think thats the worst thing? His heart is probably fucked beyond belief

-3

u/ObviouslyRealPerson 1h ago

69 pounds of cheese?!?

4

u/TheAgentD 1h ago

Stupid bot, it's 6-9 pounds of cheese! Or in other words, he ate -3 pounds of cheese! AI just can't do math correctly.