Exploring Ancestral Diets with Mike Keen - Episode 2783

In this episode of Fitness Confidential, host Vinny Tortorich welcomes back guest Mike Keen, a British adventurer and researcher known for his extreme experiments with ancestral diets. Keen recounts his 3,500-kilometer kayak journey around Greenland, where he lived exclusively on a raw, nose-to-tail Inuit diet—eating seal, walrus, whale, fish, reindeer, and muskox—for 120 days. He lost 14 kilograms (2 stone) in just three weeks, stabilizing at a lean 75 kg, which he now calls his 'Greenlandic weight.' He attributes his sustained energy, resilience, and ability to kayak 50–80 miles per day to the diet, not exercise. Keen also discusses his upcoming expedition: skiing across 350 kilometers of sea ice in northwest Greenland with a Greenland sled dog, eating only fermented seal meat and living off the land. The journey will be documented and includes scientific analysis of human and canine microbiomes, nutrient changes in fermented meat, and the role of vitamin C production in sea mammal fat. Keen emphasizes the importance of embracing discomfort, stepping outside comfort zones, and learning through experience rather than over-preparation. He also shares his upcoming year-long experiment comparing hunter-gatherer, agricultural, and industrial diets to find a sustainable, optimal modern diet. The episode is a deep dive into ancestral nutrition, evolutionary biology, and the psychological and physical rewards of extreme self-experimentation.