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A
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. I also never had any medicines.
B
Wow.
A
Yes.
B
No antibiotics?
A
No, no, never.
B
Wow.
A
Because I never got sick, so it's like I don't need.
B
You've never been sick?
A
Never.
B
What?
A
Never. 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. Living according principles, even when they are misunderstood or criticized.
B
Okay, guys, Marilena here. Today we're going to talk about her diet and what she's working on in America. She came here from Italy, age of 22.
A
Exactly.
B
Yeah. So, first of all, thanks for coming.
A
Thank you for being here. It's an honor for me.
B
Absolutely. I saw your content of you eating raw meat and I was like, this is interesting. So how long have you been eating raw meat for?
A
It's been more than 10 years now.
B
Wow.
A
I know this can sound like extreme for many people. For me it's a deeply considered lifestyle choice.
B
And you've been eating 1 kg per day, right?
A
Yes, around 1.5 kilogram per day.
B
I wonder how many pounds that is, because in America we use pounds.
A
It's around three pounds.
B
Holy crap. So three pounds a day?
A
Yes.
B
And you brought some today, right?
A
Yes, that's just an example.
B
Here, show this camera. Raise it a little more. Yeah, yeah. So that's. How many pounds is that?
A
This is just one pound.
B
Okay.
A
I wanted to show you the kind of marbling I'm looking for.
It's really highly marbled.
B
So you like a little fat?
A
Yes, it needs to be some fat as this is the only food I eat. So I need to get my fat amount right daily.
B
And do you care if it's grass fed?
A
I do care, especially here in America. I see that there is prime beef, but I prefer the grass fed one just for the quality.
B
Okay, and where do you buy your meat?
A
Normally I buy my meat exclusively from trusted butchers who work with high quality farms. I don't just buy meat, I try to choose the absolute best. I choose the dry age cuts that have been matured under controlled environments. This does not only concentrate the flavors, also enhances the digestion and the safety. Over the years I've also been building connections with the suppliers who know exactly what I'm looking for. Not only grass fed, but also hormone free and raised with cure.
B
Got it.
A
So I try to curate it and I Source it with the same rigor as the one I apply for any field of my life, as I feel that what I put inside my body should be a foundation for what I give back to the world.
B
Right. So when you travel, is it hard to find food?
A
I'm very aware every time I travel. So I do research and I already look where I can find the steak. Yes. For instance, I'm very careful to the reviews because the meat needs to be high standard. As for the quality, we look at many things when dealing with the raw meat. First of all, the ph. So since this is a particular.
A particular process under which the harmful bacteria and parasites cannot survive in specific chambers at precise temperature, airflow and humidity, this means that even the place where this meat has been maturing needs to be completely.
High standard.
B
Wow. Okay, so there's no parasites in the meat you're eating.
A
Basically, there is. The difference here is that I've been growing up like this, therefore my body has been adapted to that.
B
Okay.
A
This is something many people underestimate about raw meat. It's not about the flavor or the preference. It's about physical adaptation. For instance, even the fat, the cartilage are really hard to chew and to swallow. For a person that hasn't done this in his life, that would be almost impossible. He could chew. Excuse me, he could. He could choke or find it unbearable. For me, since my parents raised me up like that, it became second nature.
B
So your parents have the similar diet to you?
A
They don't. They also eat carbohydrates, but also in paleo diet, this is called Paleolithic diet, just because it's ancestral, the food is clean, is plain, just as from nature. And I don't even put salt, not even condiments. Every time I go to steakhouse, I have to ask for, please don't put any butter because usually they. They add some additives.
B
Yeah. Please give it to me raw and no butter, please.
A
Well, in some places they can't serve it to mirror. So what I ask for is to please store it for only 10 seconds, no more than that. Yes.
B
So legally. Yeah, because of the FDA or whatever.
A
Right. The thing is, the bacteria usually are on the surface. So they sort the meat to kill the surface. The surface of bacteria. And then that's. That makes sense when I'm good.
B
Have you ever got sick from eating it?
A
I never got sick, but this is one of the first concern people have when watching me eating raw meat.
What for most people is dangerous for me is my shield for.
Wellness. And it has been really my source for lasting health. I never get 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. So even my. My immune system has became efficient, more efficient than average.
The microbiotes, especially.
B
The microbiome.
A
Yes, the microbiome is.
Really, really resistant. Because this. I usually do checkups, even for the parasites. So I never had any parasite infections. But the reason is because I'm very strict with the quality and sourcing and there is the physical adaptation variable. So since I've been growing up like that, now the body is adapted.
B
Yeah.
A
And by the way, I couldn't even buy, like, 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.
B
Wow. So you can't eat cooked meat.
A
It's my body. All the enzymes are used to digest this.
B
So you actually brought some blood results, right?
A
Yes, yes.
B
So what, what were the results? Were they pretty good?
A
I can show you. So I thought to bring some evidence instead of bringing my opinion.
B
Yeah. Thank you for doing that. Because not many guests have ever done this.
A
So you can see whether there are stars, it means defeat, defiance, or excess of something.
B
Volume Piastrini. I don't know what that is.
Oh, is this an Italian?
A
It is, but translation in English should be as straightforward. Really close to that.
B
There's not many stars. No, I only see like three.
A
I think what interests people the most is the cholesterol and technique.
B
Yeah, the cholesterol. Is your cholesterol high or low.
A
They all think that.
Raw meat, or especially meat, fatty meat, makes it. Makes it grow up. But mine is completely perfect in. In the average.
B
Oh, wow. Yeah. 86 triglyceride.
A
86 should be less than 150.
B
Yeah. You're. You're completely healthy according to this. Wow.
A
Yes.
B
This is impressive. You brought the receipts. No one can even hate on you because of this.
A
Yes, I brought everything.
B
Wow. Well done. How often do you test your blood?
A
Twice a year. So every six months. And when I go to Italy, I do it as there are doctors following my case. I just would like to remind my case is unique in the world as this is the first diet. This is the first time this diet has been followed since childhood. So for me, it's 10 years of only roasted fruit.
B
Of fruit too.
A
Yes. Okay. I do also eat fruit as compensation for what is the lack on the meat.
B
Okay, so the vitamins.
A
Yes, vitamins. Antioxidants and some natural fibers. Just because I didn't want to cancel that at all.
B
Right.
A
My diet.
B
Yeah. Because too much meat is constipation. Right?
A
It is. In my case, it's not really constipation. I'm going to try to explain what happens in my case.
My. My digestive system is just more efficient. It's not about frequency. It's about. It's about efficiency. It's very clean and it works well. But I. But it's just very different from average. I barely go to the bathroom once a month.
B
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A
This is not because I have stool inside my body that I can't expel. No. My body doesn't even produce it. Wow. The thing about raw meat is that his stool highly viable by. Excuse me again. It's a highly bi available. This means that my body can absorb. It can absorb it. Excuse me. This means that my body can absorb almost everything leaving a very little waste.
B
Wow.
A
So that little part of residual my barriers is ready to expel it only after such a long time. But I'm perfectly good and.
The simplicity of this diet makes me avoid all the most modern complications driven by processed foods and sugars.
B
Yeah. Because a lot of people use the bathroom two to three times a day.
A
I know.
B
And you only go once a month.
A
Wow.
B
That is crazy. So your body's just absorbing the meat.
A
Then it's absorbing with an incredibly little waste.
B
That is interesting. And do you drink a lot of water?
A
I Don't. This also is quite surprising because I think how can you be hydrated? When I feel dehydrated, I would just eat my amount of fruit. I don't eat it every single day. I listen to my body and when I feel that I need to be hydrated, I would just eat more fruit.
B
Got it. What fruit do you eat?
A
I do eat the one with the most amount of vitamin C. It helps me to absorb the collagen contained inside this.
B
So oranges?
A
Oranges, most. Mostly strawberries.
B
Strawberries, yes. That has a lot of vitamin C. Yes.
A
And also kiwis. As for the vitamin K which is not contained in. In meat. So everything I do is very rationate. I try to make this combo.
In a way that it can perfectly work for me. I try to be complete because people who only eat meat, I think that they have some lacks for the vitamins. So I try to get them from the fruit.
B
That makes sense. So you're also a researcher, Quant?
A
Yes.
B
Could you explain what that is for people that don't know?
A
Oh, absolutely. I work with mathematics and statistics, apply it to finance. Especially what I do in my research. I'm studying idiosyncratic volatility, how it relates to liquidity measures in the market. Most generally what I do is I do forecasting for portfolio or in the market using.
Programming softwares like Python, my favorite one. Wow. Yes.
B
So that's how you got from Italy to America.
A
Yes, I came here first for my studies that was a master in mathematical finance and. And then I continued with a PhD and now I'm in quantitative finance.
B
Wow. This is so different from what you're doing on social media, right?
A
I think my social media.
Is just to show the link between my mental health and the way I eat as these are highly correlated and I think it's extremely good nowadays to show some values behind of what someone is showing off. So I really would love to spread good messages and be focused be.
I want to say.
That it's extremely important to be focused on. On your mental.
Excuse me, mental health. Yes.
B
Yeah.
A
More than mental health. Even the way you want to use your skills and make them a treasure. So you need to have some support and you that. That needs to be some connection between what your performance are in your field of study or. Or work and the way you eat.
B
Agreed. Yeah. There's a big link, right?
A
Yes. It's lifestyle.
B
Yeah. So you said you've been doing this for 10 years?
A
Yes.
B
So did you eat vegetables before this?
A
I used to.
B
Okay.
A
I never Had a vegan diet, but I've always had a restrictive diet since I was very little. My parents introduced me the raw meat at a very early age. But I used to also eat anyway clean other vegetables or sources of carbohydrates, like complex carbohydrates. Then in my teenage year, we said, okay, let's try to remove other foods. And now, right now, it's been more than 10 years of only steak and fruit.
B
Wow.
A
Before, I used to eat also the salmon.
B
Mm.
A
That could give me a little greater amount of vitamin D. Then checking my blood analysis, they improved and they got to the status they are today with just this product and. And the fruit.
B
Yeah. Your vitamin D levels are really good, actually.
A
Yes.
B
A lot of people have vitamin D deficiency in America, right? Yeah. I don't know if it's like that in Italy, but Americans have a big vitamin D deficiency.
A
I think maybe they don't take enough sun as the primary source of vitamin D should be the sunlight.
B
Right. So do you take any supplements?
A
I don't.
B
Wow.
A
I don't at all. I never did. And I also never had any medicines.
B
Wow.
A
Yes.
B
No antibiotics?
A
No, no, Never.
B
Wow.
A
Because I never. I never got sick. So it's like I don't. I don't need.
B
You've never been sick?
A
Never?
B
What?
A
Never?
B
That's crazy.
A
You can ask anyone in my family.
B
People get sick like once a month out here. Wow.
A
Also, I'm always very positive. I feel like the way I eat also supports me and sustains me as regards my behavior. During. During the day, I see many people, they are very aggressive. I think it's also related to the way they eat.
B
I think so too. What about stress? Any stress?
A
What I do in school is really stressful. So I usually do one meal a day and I do it before work. It gives me mental energies that helps me to support my work and all I do. So I feel that after I ate, I'm full of energies. I do whatever I need to do. Then I don't have a crazy life. I do my study and then I go home. And then I sleep also. Sleep is very important. And in the morning, in the following morning, 5am I'm up, I go to the gym, and then I eat again. It's a loop. It's very routine.
B
So only one meal a day in the morning?
A
Yes. Yes.
B
So you're basically fasting from afternoon to the next morning? Yes, it's 18 hour fast.
A
18 hours when I do twice. Usually what I do is that the days I eat Meat, I eat the fruit.
The days I also eat the fruit I would eat twice a day.
B
Okay.
A
But when I only eat the steak, which is the most of my weekly days, it's going to be only one meal. And this means a fasting of minimum 22 hours. Wow.
B
Do you ever do multiple days fast or. No? Three days.
A
I do three days.
B
Like once a year.
A
No, I do twice a year.
B
Oh, twice a year. Yes. Okay. And you do that to reset the body, right?
A
Yes. It helps your body to go into autophagochitosis. It's a process under which the cells purify themselves the body, get rid of any toxins. And to do that it burns your fat, your pre existing fat. And that's why you also lose weight.
B
Wow, that is so interesting. How do you deal with the hate, the haters on social media? Do you respond to them?
A
I respond in their opposite way. The opposite way they are. I see that most of times the thing they say are more about their frustration or insecurities than about me. Because what I see is that I'm always polite, always respectful to anybody, even when they don't deserve it. I feel that the way I face all of the aid.
Can make my value arise. And this is the only way I can answer or I can reply to, to them.
B
Yeah.
A
And also I believe that what bothers them the most is that they cannot distress someone who is rooted in their values. Because me, I never change and don't change depending on the situation. Like I face aggressive aggressivity, rudeness, but I'm just the opposite. I just can't be like them.
B
Yeah, it.
A
I can't.
B
You've never been mean before.
A
No. So it's very difficult.
B
Wow, that's impressive. Great parenting, I'd say.
A
Thank you.
B
Yeah.
A
Really much.
B
Yeah, that's really. A lot of people get angry easily.
A
They are. And I see, I see this especially nowadays.
B
Yeah, it's really bad. Well, what's next for you? What do you have planned? What's the future look like for you? You're going to keep doing the researching quant stuff.
A
Yes, of course. This is my priority in life and I will continue with my diet as my also. My objective is to. Is for researchers to study my case. We know that one only case, one single case doesn't make statistics, but it still can provide insightful insight. Excuse me, it still can provide useful insights.
B
Right.
A
And.
I am, what I'm doing is that I'm. I am documenting, I'm providing some testimony about the effect of this diet. Over the long run.
B
Wow. So you're the only one doing this right now?
A
Right now, yes.
B
Wow. In the whole world.
A
In the whole world. And since such a long time. And for such a long time.
B
Wow. I wonder why no one else is doing it.
A
I think the reason is if someone suddenly started to eat this way, he would get sick. And of course, you know, it's very dangerous. It can be really risky to eat a raw meat like that all of a sudden.
B
Well, you gotta ease your way into it, right? You gotta slowly do it slowly.
A
Slowly. Or just like in my case, since I. I been growing up eating this way, my body recognize it as natural. And even though I get bacteria and parasites, my body would fight them. But for someone who is used to eat processed food or any other kind of cooked food as well, of course their body only recognize that and can. Can deal with.
B
Right.
A
With only that kind of food. This is very delicate. This is very. Something very serious.
B
Is it very expensive to only eat this way?
A
Many people think yes. Actually it's not because I only eat this. Of course, if someone needs to eat other things, then it will get expensive because also the quality is reflected on the prices. But still, you can find marble cats with lots of fat, even in ribs or in the cha kai or in the brisket. They're still very high in proteins and fats and collagen, but they are minor cuts. So a little cheap. Yeah, right.
B
Do you only eat raw steak? Do you eat any other animal?
A
No, only. Only beef.
B
Only beef.
A
I don't eat any other.
B
Okay. No chicken?
A
No, no, no, no, no.
B
Or fish or anything?
A
No.
B
Wow.
A
No. I literally eat only this. Only steak and fruit.
B
I would get so bored.
A
I don't really get bo.
The. All the other foods doesn't. All the other foods don't give me anything. I'm not craving anything. I wake up and I know that I eat this and it's my life. It makes me feel good.
By the physical point of view and the mental point of view. And with this, I mean that it gives me a perfect mental and emotional balance throughout the day.
B
Beautiful. Anything else? Where can. Where can people find you on social media?
A
My profile is.
B
Okay, we'll link it below. Thanks so much for coming on.
A
Of course.
B
And we'll. Can we upload screenshots of this too?
A
Yes.
B
Her blood results.
A
Sure.
B
Yeah, you guys can check out her blood results. And they're all good.
A
I also would like to add something else that where my choice come from. Basically.
Raw dryish meat is one of the most nutrient dense food we have. It provides proteins, essential fats, vitamins like zinc and iron, and fat soluble vitamins, all in highly bioavailable forms which my body can absorb with a very little residual part. So there is also a misconception that this can be an ALIE over the longer run. But in reality, the human body is incredibly well adapted to thrive on animal food. So even my medical checkups have constantly confirmed excellent health markets. From my blood performance, my blood work to my physical performance, and even the mental support that I get from the way I eat.
B
Beautiful.
A
So what fascinates me the most is the mental strength that these choice builds. So it's not only about nutrition, it's about the consistency, the resilience. Living according principles, even when they are misunderstood or criticized.
B
Yeah.
A
So.
B
Well, thank you, thank you for doing this. It's important for people to learn, so thank you so much. Check out her social media guys and I'll see you next time.
A
My pleasure. Bye.
B
I hope you guys are enjoying the show. Please don't forget to like and subscribe. It helps the show a lot with the algorithm. Thank you.
Guest: Marilena Sansone
Host: Sean Kelly
Release Date: December 3, 2025
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.
Diet Overview:
Quote:
Food Sourcing:
Adaptation:
Never Sick:
Bloodwork Evidence:
Digestion and Elimination:
Fruit as Supplement:
Hydration:
Mental Strength & Resilience:
Routine:
Quote:
Addressing Safety Fears:
Social Media Hate:
Cost Perspective:
Quantitative Finance:
Purpose of Her Social Media:
Research Aspirations:
Marilena on never being sick:
Digestive revelation:
On withstanding criticism:
Diet cost logic:
Nutrient density claim:
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.