• Why Pete Evans put his daughter into therapy at 12 months old
"Once upon a time I used to train at the gym and I would have a standard Australian diet," he said.
"I'd have a muesli in the morning, a wrap or sushi at lunch and at night-time I'd cook a pasta or a stir-fry. I thought I was doing all the right things by what our dietary guidelines and our so called 'experts' promote."
But now, Evans says that advice is out the window.
"I just eat when I'm hungry … sometimes that's two or three times, sometimes it's one," he said. "Sometimes I don't eat at all in a day."
The father-of-two, who converted to a paleo lifestyle seven years ago, has been criticised by peak medical bodies previously for his comments on diet and medical advice.
Earlier this month, the Australian Medical Association called for his documentary The Magic Pill to be pulled from streaming service Netflix.
The doco, both produced and narrated by Evans, focuseson the ketogenic diet, in which people claim a diet rich in protein and fat, but low in carbs can help relieve everything from epilepsy to autism to asthma.
Launched on Netflix in May, the AMA said the "risk of misinformation is too great" to keep the doco on the streaming service.
AMA president Dr Tony Bartone said he's worried "vulnerable members of society" — like people with cancer — might believe some of the doco's claims over the advice of health professionals.
"All forms of media have to take a responsible attitude when trying to spread a message of wellness," he told Fairfax.
"Netflix should do the responsible thing. They shouldn't screen it. The risk of misinformation … is too great."
But the father-of-two rejected criticism around his lifestyle choices, and said the paleo way of eliminating carbohydrates, dairy and sugar from his daily intake means he's healthier than ever — and no longer steps foot in a gym.
"From 10 or 15 years ago until now, I guarantee I've added 20 or 30 years to my life," he said.
"[And that's] probably pain free years to my life. I've created a great role model for my children and possibly the coming generations after that.
"I'm not going to overeat because society says to do it when my body isn't hungry. I've been the same weight for the past seven years and it's very easy."
In Australia, the recommended daily intake for the average adult is 8,700 kJ — which is broken up in to five servings of vegetable and legumes, two servings of fruit, six of grain, and around 2-3 portions of fish, lean meat, poultry and dairy products.
Evans said he no longer feels hunger, mainly because he doesn't include carbohydrates in his diet.
"Generally when people adopt a paleo approach or the low carb one which we promote, within 3-4 weeks they are down to 2 or 3 meals a day because they don't feel that hungry," he explained.
"They are getting nourishment. You only get hungry if you're on a high carb diet because your blood sugars go down. Once you become fat adapted, you no longer have that hunger."
Following Dr Bartone's criticism of his documentary, Evans was quick to hit back on social media — asking if the AMA was scared of people becoming healthy.
"Is the bigger picture for the AMA that this simple approach may actually hurt the industries that rely on a large percentage of the population being sick?
"Perhaps the bigger question to ask would be, 'is the head of the AMA fearful of people in Australia becoming healthy?' What would this mean to their industry," he continued.
"Does the head of the AMA believe that eating vegetables and fruit with a side of well sourced meat/seafood/eggs to be a dangerous way of life? If so can they please share the evidence that this way of eating is detrimental to the health of human beings."
Speaking of his dietary advice, Evans said he's had people in their elderly years praise the lifestyle change as adding years to their life.
"I've had people in their 70s or 80s tell me they feel better than they did in their teenage years," he said.
"When you eat this way, generally you start feeling like only eating one or two meals a day which saves you time in the kitchen and on the grocery bills," he said. "Plus you feel fantastic plus you have heaps or energy. mental clarity."
"I'm actually not that active. I'm actually less active now in terms of physical exercise than I was when I was overweight and inflamed and thinking I was eating right.
"People think fitness equates to healthiness. So they are running or they're boxing or going to the gym … where as an actual fact is if you eat well, like what I do, you won't have to go to the gym. You won't have to go for a run. You will just have to do the sports or the activities that really resonate with you that you want to do."
This article is based on extracts from the Balls Deep podcast series, a production by news.com.au. For the full episode with celebrity chef and paleo advocate, Pete Evans, listen to the podcast here.
