The Lion Diet is a meat-only regimen consisting exclusively of ruminant meat (like beef, lamb, and bison), salt, and water. It’s essentially a highly restrictive version of the carnivore diet. Toronto native Mikhaila Peterson, daughter of psychologist Jordan Peterson, adopted this diet in December 2017 to address chronic health issues that conventional medicine failed to resolve
A Lifetime of Chronic Illness
Mikhaila’s health challenges began early. By age 2, her parents noticed her atypical gait. She was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at 7, and by 17 she’d undergone hip and ankle replacements due to joint degradation. Alongside this, she battled severe depression, bipolar tendencies, idiopathic hypersomnia, chronic fatigue, debilitating skin conditions, histamine issues, IBS, multiple allergies, chemical sensitivities, PTSD, and insomnia. By her early twenties, traditional treatments—including biologics, high-dose antidepressants, opioids, and SSRIs—offered little relief.
The Path to Elimination
In 2015, she began an elimination diet, removing gluten, dairy, legumes, nuts, eggs, sugar, and processed foods. Within months, her rash disappeared, fatigue lifted, and she discontinued SSRIs. However, flares would recur upon reintroducing certain foods. Over time, she narrowed it down to meat, root vegetables, and rice, and eventually to just ruminant meat—the strict Lion Diet.
Rapid Transformation
Mikhaila reports dramatic changes within weeks of starting the Lion Diet:
- Within two weeks, joint pain subsided.
- Around six weeks, depressive symptoms eased significantly.
- By five months, chronic anxiety had lifted completely
- She credits the diet with inducing remission of her arthritis, psychiatric disorders, chronic fatigue, skin issues, and more. Her father, Jordan Peterson, later adopted the diet and reported losing weight and resolving various conditions, including depression and GERD
Beyond Physical Health
Improvement wasn’t purely physical. Mikhaila also experienced enhanced mental clarity, emotional stability, and a marked transformation in her psychological well-being—replacing depression, anxiety, and brain fog with resilience she’d never known . She believes she suffered from extreme gut permeability, making her reactive to most foods and chemicals—issues she describes using the diet to address.
Podcast Revelations & Longevity
On her public platforms—including The Mikhaila Peterson Podcast and on Joe Rogan’s show—she’s shared her ongoing journey. In a five-year anniversary episode, she detailed how the diet supported psychotropic medication withdrawal, managed food allergies, and improved gut health, while also allowing experimentation with fasting. She’s since moved into experiments with intermittent and multi-day fasting, stress resilience, and supplement optimization.
Controversy and Caution
Though many praise her results, the Lion Diet remains controversial. Nutrition experts caution that such a restrictive diet may pose long-term risks, and there’s limited scientific evidence supporting its safety or efficacy for most people. Mikhaila, however, emphasizes this regimen is not a lifestyle for everyone, but an elimination protocol used to identify triggers and reset the body.
Taking Control
Mikhaila’s story is one of self-directed healing. She quit conventional treatment in her early twenties and pursued knowledge in biomedical science before embracing the Lion Diet. She now runs liondiet.com, hosts her podcast, writes about health, and serves as an advocate for people failed by traditional healthcare.
In Summary
- Diagnosed early with multiple chronic inflammatory and psychiatric conditions, Mikhaila faced severe impairment well into adulthood
- She discovered that near-total elimination of foods, culminating in the Lion Diet in 2017, brought rapid and profound improvements physically and mentally .
- Her father also benefited, lending further attention to the diet .
- While anecdotal evidence is strong, the diet remains unverified by long-term studies, with experts cautioning users to proceed carefully .
- Mikhaila continues to explore health, fasting, and lifestyle optimizations—sharing her journey as a call-to-action for others navigating chronic illness .
- Her journey is a testament to the potential of radical dietary interventions—but also a reminder of the importance of personal medical oversight and nuance when attempting extreme elimination strategies.
Conclusion
Mikhaila Peterson’s journey with the Lion Diet is a striking example of how unconventional approaches can lead to profound personal transformation—especially when conventional medicine falls short. Faced with lifelong autoimmune and mental health challenges, she turned to a strict elimination diet out of necessity, not trend. Her dramatic improvements in both physical and psychological well-being have inspired thousands and sparked conversation around food sensitivities, gut health, and the mind-body connection.
