Things I used to believe until clients proved otherwise. The Rat Study That Launched a Thousand Misinformed Posts
Winter food list (even if the ground is frozen where you live...)
I used to be a huge believer in strict seasonal eating - which meant a more carnivore or keto diet all winter long.
It sounds brilliant in theory, and the biophysics of light, deuterium and metabolism even seem to support it…..until you try to apply it in real human bodies living in 2025.
Today I want to chat about the rat study many in the Quantum Biology space cite when it comes to this conversation, provide you with a free winter food list, and talk about what HAS worked with clients during the winter!
NOTE: I still recommend shifting your diet in winter to meet the changes in UV index (if you live in a place where the UV index shifts), but there are some caveats that need to be discussed.
A couple quick things:
Today only - Grab the Quantum Winter Blueprint at 50% off - click here - winter food lists & recipes, cold therapy course, red light therapy course, winter sleep & more!
If you have been waiting: Next week for Black Friday - mini courses will be 40% off & Leptin Reset and Quantum Nutrition will be $100 off!
Holiday Gift Guide (new items added this week on my regular store and amazon deals)
I used to be a huge believer in more carnivore or keto-style diet all winter long. Low deuterium - ketosis - more fasting.....(and I DO still use these with myself and selectively with some clients who are in need of a deep winter reset)....
All of this sounds great in theory, and some of the science around light, UV index, hormones and metabolism really does point in that direction…...but when I began to applying it in real people’s lives (in the modern stressful world), the theory had some holes in it.
Because here’s the thing: it’s one thing to imagine you’re living in a natural seasonal rhythm, spending most of your time outside - gathering berries in summer and eating nose-to-tail in winter....rising & sleeping with the sun.
It’s a completely different thing to live in Canada, Chicago, New York, Finland, or anywhere the ground is literally frozen for five months. There’s no fruit growing, no vegetables growing, and way less sunlight (no UV for a period of time in extreme northern latitudes).
And the way people live now is a lot more stressful with modern lifestyles - jobs - modern transportation, electronics, NNEMF, circadian disruption, daily use of hormone disrupting cleaning products, beauty products, poor air quality in the homes.......I could go on and on.
My main point is that the modern world is hormone disrupter in itself, and one size does not fit all.
Furthermore: many people come to me with low thyroid - low leptin & dysregulated cortisol patterns......so when those same people try to go super low carb - I see thyroids slowing down even more, cortisol going up, sleep falling apart, and cravings getting worse.
Women with low leptin, low thyroid, perimenopause symptoms, or chronic stress were the ones who struggled the most in my clientele and student groups.
They didn’t need less carbohydrates.....they needed enough protein & fat - paired with cellar-stable produce for blood sugar stability. They needed the foods we have actually stored and eaten during winter in the last 7,000 - 10,000 years - (roots, squashes, ferments, canned foods, lower sugar fruits that don't rot when you keep them on your counter for a few days).
And yes - root cellaring is not new - Archaeological sites from Europe, the Middle East, and Asia show underground storage pits designed to keep foods cool and stable through winter.
Winter Food List ⬇️
Now here's where many people get confused: There's a study many in the Quantum Biology space reference about leptin - obesity & eating fruit out of season (click here to read).
Where the Confusion Comes From
When you look at the methods of the study, the entire thing falls apart for humans, because the study wasn’t about human seasonal eating at all.
Researchers fed Fischer-344 rats cherries under highly controlled laboratory conditions. These rats are photoperiod-sensitive mammals- their metabolism changes dramatically based on light cycles in ways humans simply do not share.
The lighting was artificial.
The rats weren’t exposed to sunrise, sunset, UVA, or UVB, and there was no seasonal photoperiod, no changing day length, just fluorescent lab lighting (which raises blood sugar and insulin in the absence of food) and isolated cherry feedings.
That alone makes the model non-physiological for humans.
The cherries were fed in isolation.
The cherries were not eaten as part of a meal with protein & fat, and humans do not metabolize carbohydrates in isolation the way rodents do under experimental constraints.
The endpoints didn’t translate to human winter physiology.
The study measured rat glucose and lipid markers - not human:
• leptin sensitivity
• T3 production
• dopamine signaling
• cortisol rhythms
• melatonin clearance
• mitochondrial redox
• UV-dependent carbohydrate handling
So when this paper gets turned into a blanket rule like “people shouldn’t eat fruit from October to April,” it’s not coming from the authors of the study......it's coming from people interpreting rodent data incorrectly.
But Let’s Be Fair - Rodent Studies Do Have Value
Rodents give us insight into mechanisms we simply can’t ethically test in humans, and help us understand:
• how light at night raises obesity risk
• how circadian clocks respond to feeding windows
• how melatonin affects glucose metabolism
• how mitochondrial redox shifts under stress
• how CLOCK/BMAL1 genes regulate hormones
Rodent models are fantastic for generating hypotheses, but they are terrible for generating rigid human nutrition rules - especially when:
• humans are not photoperiodic mammals
• our metabolism does not shut down in winter
• we live with unique light environments, stressors, and nutrient demands
• we rely heavily on thyroid and dopamine tone that tank in low-UV months
Which brings us back to why the study gets misused & misinterpreted!
So What Does This Mean for You This Winter?
If you’re living in a northern latitude, winter already places extra strain on your metabolism:
• lower thyroid output
• lower dopamine tone
• more melatonin carryover in the morning
• months of low UV index
Removing all carbohydrates during a time when your body already struggles with energy availability, mitochondrial redox, and cortisol regulation is not always wise (again - I DO practice this with some clients when conditions are ideal) - especially if the person is you are already under hormonal stress
What does make sense is eating for your physiology and your actual light environment: This is why the foods that consistently support people in the winter are the ones that have always worked: root vegetables, winter squash, apples and pears, fermented foods, citrus, brassicas, ancient grains, hearty animal proteins, cold-water fish, butter, ghee, broth, warming spices.
These are the foods that stabilize your metabolism when the sun is low and the mornings are dark. They’re the foods your mitochondria expect- not because they’re “seasonal” in the trendy sense, but because they’re biologically appropriate for low UV, cold temperatures, and higher stress load.
That’s why I created the Quantum Winter Blueprint - to simplify all of this so you’re not guessing or trying to follow outdated advice that doesn’t map onto real life anymore.
If you always feel like winter hits you harder, your energy drops, your weight creeps up, or your hormones get weird, it’s the mismatch between the environment your biology expects and the one you’re actually living in. The Quantum Winter Blueprint can help you close that gap.
And just a heads up - today it’s 50% off. Next week I’m doing a bigger sale on the Leptin Reset and Quantum Nutrition lifetime access, but my mini courses will only be 40% off.
So if the Winter Blueprint is the one you’ve been thinking about, this is the best deal you’ll get (click here for the details).
