Digital Social Hour – Episode #1657

Guest: Marilena Sansone
Host: Sean Kelly
Release Date: December 3, 2025

Main Theme

In this riveting episode, host Sean Kelly sits down with Marilena Sansone—a quant researcher from Italy with a highly unconventional lifestyle: she has eaten only raw beef and fruit for over ten years and claims to have never been sick in her life. The conversation explores the science and philosophy behind her unique diet, its impact on her physical and mental health, and the intense discipline required to sustain it, all while addressing skepticism, common concerns, and her broader life ambitions.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Marilena’s Raw Beef and Fruit Diet: Origins and Routine

• Diet Overview:

  • Eats only raw dry-aged beef (about 1.5 kg/3 lbs daily) and fruit.
  • No salts, condiments, or additives; avoids even lightly seared or cooked meat where possible.
  • No supplements or medicines, and has never taken antibiotics.
  • Routinely undergoes blood tests to track health outcomes.
  • First and only known person to follow this exact diet since childhood.

• Quote:

  • “I couldn't even take a bite of cooked meat as my body doesn't recognize it, it can't process it the same way of raw meat.” (Marilena, 00:00)

• Food Sourcing:

  • Buys exclusively from trusted butchers and high-quality, hormone-free, grass-fed farms.
  • Prefers dry-aged cuts matured under controlled environments for safety and flavor.
  • Does careful research before traveling to maintain her standards.

• Adaptation:

  • Raised with raw meat from an early age; her body is adapted to process it.
  • Emphasizes the need for strict sourcing to minimize risk, highlighting that sudden adoption by others is dangerous.

Health Outcomes & Physical Adaptation

• Never Sick:

  • Claims to have never been sick, not even with a fever.
  • Asserts her immune system and microbiome are exceptionally robust due to her consistent, “pure” diet and physical adaptation over time.

• Bloodwork Evidence:

  • Routinely performs twice-yearly blood tests and shares results with Sean—no anomalies, average cholesterol and triglycerides, and all markers in normal range.
  • “You're completely healthy according to this. Wow.” (Sean, 09:02)

• Digestion and Elimination:

  • Extremely efficient digestion: bowel movements as infrequent as once a month, attributed to the high bioavailability of nutrients in raw beef.
  • “My body can absorb almost everything leaving very little waste.” (Marilena, 11:47)

• Fruit as Supplement:

  • Consumes fruit for vitamins, antioxidants, and natural fibers not present in beef—primarily strawberries, oranges, and kiwis for vitamin C/K.

• Hydration:

  • Drinks very little water, prefers to hydrate via fruit intake based on body signals.

Psychological and Lifestyle Effects

• Mental Strength & Resilience:

  • Sees diet as a source of mental fortitude and self-consistency, resisting social pressure and criticism.
  • “What fascinates me the most is the mental strength that this choice builds. So it's not only about nutrition, it's about the consistency, the resilience.” (Marilena, 00:23 / 27:07)

• Routine:

  • Practices intermittent fasting: one meal a day, often in the morning, with 18-22 hour fasting windows.
  • Occasionally completes 3-day fasts twice a year for autophagy and detoxification.
  • Regular sleep and 5am workouts are integral to her regimen.

• Quote:

  • “It gives me a perfect mental and emotional balance throughout the day.” (Marilena, 25:33)

Concerns, Criticism, and Public Perception

• Addressing Safety Fears:

  • Stresses that her case is unique due to lifelong physical adaptation and meticulous food sourcing.
  • Warns that switching abruptly to raw meat can be dangerous for others.

• Social Media Hate:

  • Responds to critics with politeness and steadfast values, seeing negative comments as reflecting the critics’ own insecurities.
  • “What bothers them the most is that they cannot distress someone who is rooted in their values.” (Marilena, 21:24)

• Cost Perspective:

  • As she only eats beef and fruit, the diet need not be expensive, especially with strategic cut selection.

Professional Background and Ambitions

• Quantitative Finance:

  • Works as a quant, researching idiosyncratic volatility and liquidity in financial markets using programming (primarily Python).

• Purpose of Her Social Media:

  • Aims to show the link between mental health and nutrition, using her own life as a case study.

• Research Aspirations:

  • Hopes her case will be formally studied in medical/scientific research for its unique longevity and consistency.
  • “We know that one single case doesn't make statistics, but it still can provide useful insights.” (Marilena, 22:48)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Marilena on never being sick:

  • “I never got sick. I don't even have a fever, temperature. Just because the purity of this diet alongside with consistency has made my body more and more resistant.” (06:07)

• Digestive revelation:

  • “I barely go to the bathroom once a month.” (10:35)
  • “This is not because I have stool inside my body that I can't expel. No. My body doesn't even produce it.” (11:47)

• On withstanding criticism:

  • “I feel that the way I face all of the hate can make my value arise.” (21:15)

• Diet cost logic:

  • “Many people think yes. Actually it's not because I only eat this.” (24:20)

• Nutrient density claim:

  • “Raw dry-age meat is one of the most nutrient dense foods we have. It provides proteins, essential fats, vitamins like zinc and iron, and fat soluble vitamins, all in highly bioavailable forms.” (26:15)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Intro to dietary origins & adaptation: 00:00 – 04:00
• Meat sourcing & safety: 02:14 – 04:00
• Physical adaptation & never falling ill: 06:07 – 07:27
• Bloodwork evidence: 07:51 – 09:02
• Discussion on fruit and hydration: 13:03 – 14:02
• Professional background as a quant: 14:24 – 15:08
• Routine and fasting: 19:20 – 19:58
• Three-day fasting and its purpose: 20:02 – 20:10
• Handling critics: 20:41 – 21:54
• Research aspirations and unique case: 22:24 – 23:05
• Addressing safety and costs: 23:19 – 24:20
• Motivation and personal benefits: 25:15 – 27:07

Closing Thoughts

This episode presents a compelling glimpse into an extraordinary dietary experiment, supported by methodical self-tracking and an unwavering commitment to a unique lifestyle. Marilena combines rigorous logic both in her quant work and nutritional decisions, offering listeners insight into the interplay between discipline, physical adaptation, and mental resilience. Her case, while not generalizable, challenges conventional dietary wisdom and offers a fascinating subject for further study.