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My actual process & questionnaire with clients. Why context matters & practical steps and considerations when making a diet change
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Understanding nutrition science vs real life - my question checklist
Have you ever had someone send you a study and declare: “See! This proves my diet is the best!”
I hear (and see) this all the time. Recently someone pointed to a diet study as proof it was the ultimate way to eat. The catch? That study was a self-reported survey, not a clinical trial.
Here’s the truth:
• Scientific data tells us what tends to happen in averages (and must be looked as as it can be HIGHLY subjective)
• Clinical data shows us what really happens in individuals.
And beyond both, there’s a deeper layer almost no one talks about: how your mitochondria collect and use energy from light, grounding, and circadian timing - not just food......so things like your job, sleep schedule, stress level & time of year ALSO play a role!
As summer is drawing to a close, I have had a lot of new people come to me and ask about which diet is best, so today I want to take you through my process/questionnaire & give you some actionable tools.
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❓❓Click here to watch the Free info session about the Leptin Master Plan that happened yesterday on Zoom, and please respond to this email with any questions about the program.
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First let's talk about types of nutrition studies, and how to spot what may or may not be relevant:
Observational → Shows associations (can’t always prove causation).
Surveys → Self-reported data, high bias.
RCTs → Strongest for cause & effect, usually short-term.
Meta-analyses → Combine many studies, but quality depends on inputs.
Mechanistic → Explains biological pathways, may not reflect humans.
When analyzing nutrition studies - you can weed out a lot of noise by understanding the study type.
This is why I like to have scientific data as a base, but the way I design templates & protocols is based on real world experience and questions.
When I work with someone, the most important questions aren’t just “what does the research say?” but:
- What are you eating right now/what is your current diet?
- What’s your goal- weight loss, energy, hormones, sleep, mood?
- What symptoms are showing up- fatigue, cravings, poor sleep, weight loss resistance, autoimmunity?
- Are there hidden factors- chronic stress, food fears, trauma- that no study will ever capture?
- What do you do for work/what is your daily life like? Are you indoors all day?
- Where do you live & what season is it currently?
Beyond Food: How We Really Get Energy
Calories are really only part of the story. At the deepest level, your mitochondria are powered by electrons. This is why your light environment & the way you live directly impacts how well your body uses food for fuel.
- Light as a programmer: Sunlight directs electron flow, telling your hypothalamus and leptin receptor how to regulate energy. Endocrinology. 2018 Mar 12;159(5):1992–2007
- Grounding: Direct skin contact with the Earth delivers electrons that rebalance redox status and calm the nervous system (Chevalier, 2012).
- Melatonin: Far more than sleep, melatonin orchestrates mitochondrial DNA repair, autophagy (cell cleanup), and apoptosis (cell turnover) (Reiter, 2014).
- Blue light toxicity: Artificial light liberates vitamin A and disrupts circadian regulators like CLOCK/BMAL1, fueling insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction (He, 2017; Nakahata, 2009).
- Sunlight as medicine: UVA releases nitric oxide to lower blood pressure; balanced red + blue light relaxes vessels and improves circulation. PMID: 24924758
Energy = electrons. Food matters, but so does light, circadian timing, and your environment when it comes to how well your metabolism actually operates.
In other words: Someone who has not optimized these cues & systems will struggle more to regulate hunger signals, energy levels and sleep. A diet plan should also include an "electron diet".
Ultra-Processed Foods & Leptin Resistance (beyond calories in calories out)
The type of food you eat changes everything about your hormonal signaling- especially leptin, your master energy regulator.
- Refined foods spike triglycerides, which stop leptin from entering the brain (Banks, 2004).
- Engineered hyperpalatability: UPFs hijack reward pathways, overriding satiety cues (Small & DiFeliceantonio, 2019).
- Inflammation wrecks receptors: Chronic food-driven inflammation impairs leptin receptor function (De Souza, 2005).
- Real clinical trial evidence: In Hall’s NIH crossover study (2019), people ate ~500 extra calories/day on UPF diets, even though the macros were identical to unprocessed diets.
This is why “calories only” is outdated. Ultra-processed foods don’t just add calories- they reprogram your signaling system.
Here’s how I translate all this science into practice:
- Address the light environment & build a protocol that supports the mitochondria from the viewpoint of light, EZ water & deuterium.
- I don’t start people on extreme diets. Those may look good on paper, but clinically, they can leave the nervous system stressed and food fears heightened (as well as disrupt sleep & mineral balance).
- Instead, I start almost everyone with balanced beginner macros- protein, carbs, and fat in ratios that restore safety and stability.
- Low leptin clients → strategic use of seasonal carbohydrates to bring leptin back up
- High leptin signs → balance blood sugar and use macros to pull down inflammation without stressing out the system
- Protein is constant & crucial for baseline signaling, and fat/carbs should be strategic based on goals, season, lifestyle & low/high leptin
This isn’t about ideology- it’s about circadian & quantum biology + individuality.
The Big Picture
- Studies provide guardrails.
- Clinical observation reveals the real story.
- Mitochondria remind us that food is only part of energy- light, timing, and electrons shape the rest.
- And with leptin, it’s not about “calories in, calories out.” It’s about whether your brain can even hear the signal in the first place!
For a full lifestyle plan that puts all this together - check out The Leptin Reset, and if you just want a laser focused macro approach to get back on track - check out BASICS.
The Leptin Master Plan is the ultimate program that merges the best of science, clinical wisdom, circadian biology & quantum biology into a framework that you can apply across multiple situations! Click here to sign up (we start live sessions tomorrow) - or click here to watch the free info session).
In the program you'll get symptom checklists, protocols, case studies & 6 zoom sessions in the group with me!
NEW PODCAST: Your Fall Blueprint: Do's and Don'ts for Light, Food & Seasonal Wellness
New Article: Can your haplotype explain your health struggles?
New Article: The problem with year round tans for some people
New Article: Office Job? Your guide to Circadian and Mitochondrial Health
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In Health🌞,
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