Post low-carb content and the carnivore crowd calls you a traitor. Post about fibre and someone decides you must be vegan. In this solo episode, Dr Cliff Harvey goes back to where his low-carb work started - a skinny teenager trying to make the First XV - and walks through 30 years of prescribing keto, the PhD research on how low you really need to go, and why he still refuses to pick a side in the diet wars.

In this episode we cover:

• How a high school rugby ultimatum started Cliff's career in nutrition
• Why starting with carbohydrate targets left too little room for protein and fat, and where "carb-appropriate" came from
• Who tends to thrive on low-carb or keto (and why autoregulation of energy intake is usually the reason)
• Abstention vs moderation: why cutting a food group helps some people
• What Cliff's PhD trials found: 5%, 15% and 25% of energy from carbohydrate, and who got into ketosis
• Why percentage of energy may predict ketosis better than a fixed gram limit
• Keto flu: why energy intake mattered more than ketosis itself
• Observational studies, diet quality and the "keto is bad for you" claim

Chapters

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:12 Why Cliff gets criticised from both sides
• 03:57 From bonsai to the First XV: how it started
• 07:48 What we were taught about macronutrients
• 11:00 The birth of carbohydrate-appropriate nutrition
• 13:52 Who thrives on low-carb and keto
• 16:37 Abstention vs moderation
• 18:36 Two Muay Thai fighters, two different diets
• 20:43 High-carb fuelling in 24-hour mountain bike racing
• 22:39 Back to AUT and into ketosis research
• 27:28 5%, 15% or 25%: how low do you need to go?
• 31:33 When someone can't get into ketosis
• 33:40 What really drives keto flu
• 34:55 Nickel allergy and the carnivore diet hypothesis
• 37:46 Low-carb athletes, mental health and keto
• 40:31 Is keto bad for you? Observational research and diet quality
• 42:42 Autoregulation and what matters most
• 44:55 Wrap-up and the HPI Practitioner's Roadmap

About Dr Cliff Harvey

Dr Cliff Harvey PhD is a registered clinical nutritionist, naturopath, researcher and founder of the Holistic Performance Institute. His PhD at AUT focused on ketosis, keto-induction and individual responses to carbohydrate restriction, and he is the author of The Carbohydrate Appropriate Diet. Find Cliff at https://cliffharvey.com.

Links mentioned in this episode

• Harvey et al. (2019) Low-carbohydrate diets differing in carbohydrate restriction (PeerJ): https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6273
• Harvey et al. (2018) MCTs and time to nutritional ketosis (Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism): https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/2630565
• Harvey et al. (2018) Supplements to induce ketosis: a narrative review (PeerJ): https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4488
• Harvey (2026) Low-nickel diet case report and narrative review (Journal of Metabolic Health): https://doi.org/10.4102/jmh.v9i1.127

Holistic Performance Institute

• Roadmap: https://www.holisticperformance.institute/pages/roadmap
• Podcast page: https://www.holisticperformance.institute/pages/podcast
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/holisticperformancenutrition/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HolisticPerformanceNutrition/
• LinkedIn: https://nz.linkedin.com/company/holistic-performance-institute
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@holisticperformance

Want to apply low-carb and keto with clients without the dogma? HPI's Low-Carb & Keto for General Health course covers who does and doesn't benefit, and Nutripaedia keeps you current on the evidence. If you're thinking about a career in nutrition or health coaching, grab the free Practitioner's Roadmap above. Follow Translating Nutrition so you don't miss an episode, and share this one with the keto zealot in your life.