PDF Summary:The Maker's Diet, by Jordan Rubin

Modern health struggles often stem from poor gut health and dietary choices that work against the body's natural design. In The Maker's Diet, Jordan Rubin presents a nutrition plan based on biblical dietary laws and traditional eating practices. He argues that the digestive system is central to overall health, affecting everything from mental well-being to immune function, and that restoring gut balance through specific foods is key to wellness.

Rubin outlines a three-phase approach to implementing his diet, starting with a stabilization period that restricts certain carbohydrates and emphasizes animal proteins and healthy fats. The plan progressively reintroduces foods while focusing on raw, fermented, and fiber-rich options. This guide explains the science behind Rubin's approach to gut health and provides practical details on transitioning through each dietary phase.

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The Risks of Consuming Probiotics and Soil-Based Organisms

While Rubin recommends consuming large amounts of live bacteria from fermented foods and soil-based organisms, researchers have found that this practice can sometimes have negative effects. In rare cases, medical researchers have found that consuming large amounts of live bacteria from fermented foods and soil-based organisms can lead to invasive infections. An academic paper found that some patients developed infections after consuming probiotics, and a review article found that some patients developed infections after taking soil-based organism supplements. These cases were rare and mostly occurred in people with weakened immune systems.

Biblical & Traditional Principles for Robust Health

Rubin emphasizes the importance of proteins and fats derived from animals. He argues that only animal proteins supply a complete source of protein, offering all essential amino acids. For the body to function well, it needs specific proteins and fats that are exclusively available from animal sources. The diet recommends animal proteins like lamb, goat, beef, elk, venison, buffalo, and other red meats that are deemed clean. It also includes scaled, finned fish from rivers and oceans, along with turkey, chicken, and additional free-range, organically raised poultry. Additionally, Rubin suggests consuming meats obtained from wild sources.

(Shortform note: While animal proteins are considered complete because they contain all essential amino acids, it’s possible to get all essential amino acids from plant-based sources by combining different plant proteins. For example, beans and rice together provide a complete amino acid profile. Additionally, while certain nutrients like vitamin B12 are primarily found in animal products, most essential nutrients can be obtained from a well-planned plant-based diet. Plant-based fats, such as those from avocados, nuts, and seeds, provide healthy unsaturated fats and essential fatty acids.)

Rubin advises against pork, shellfish, or other protein sources deemed biblically unclean, like ostrich and emu. However, he does recommend consuming a lot of omega-3 fatty acids, which can be found in cod liver oil, eggs enriched with omega-3s, and ocean-caught fish like salmon, mackerel, and sardines. Beef, chicken, and milk from animals raised on grass have trace amounts. Rubin also suggests consuming a balance of the natural fats found in wild-caught fish, cod liver oil, omega-3 eggs, and grass-fed, organic, free-range meats. The diet includes animal-derived foods like butter, cheese, and whole-milk cultured dairy like kefir and yogurt, along with raw milk and cream from biblically clean mammals like cows, sheep, and goats.

Rex Russell and the Origins of Biblical Nutrition

Rubin’s recommendations for oily fish, animal fats, and dairy echo the work of physician Rex Russell, who published a book in 1996 that linked Old Testament food laws to modern nutrition. Russell argued that avoiding animals classified as unclean, such as pigs and shellfish, while favoring clean land animals, certain fish, and minimally processed dairy could confer health benefits. He explains that the biblical dietary laws were not merely cultural customs but rather a deliberate design by God to promote human health. Russell’s work predates Rubin’s by several years, suggesting that the idea of connecting biblical food rules to modern nutrition was already gaining traction in Christian health circles before Rubin’s book was published.

The regimen also includes natural carbohydrates. Rubin explains that carbohydrates consist of sugars and starches that plants create. They're synthesized in the body using proteins and fats. However, humans refine them, turning them into calories that deplete nutrients from the body instead of replenishing them.

(Shortform note: In Biochemistry, the authors explain that the body can synthesize carbohydrates through a process called gluconeogenesis. This process occurs in the liver and kidneys and involves converting non-carbohydrate sources, such as certain amino acids from proteins and the glycerol backbone of fats, into glucose. This metabolic pathway is crucial for maintaining blood sugar levels during fasting or low-carbohydrate intake.)

Implementing the Maker's Diet: Stages and Staples

In this section, we’ll cover the trio of implementation phases and the core staples for a Maker’s Diet.

The Three Phases of Implementation

The Maker's Diet consists of three stages. Rubin explains that the first phase is meant to regulate insulin and blood glucose, lower inflammation and infection, boost digestion, and balance hormones. This phase restricts carbohydrate-rich foods such as cereal, pasta, bread, sweeteners, potatoes, corn, and legumes like beans. It also limits healthy foods like whole grains, honey, and fruit. However, it encourages the plentiful intake of protein-rich foods, veggies, and nutritious oils.

(Shortform note: For people with reduced kidney function, this phase of the diet may accelerate the decline of their kidneys’ filtering capacity. Knight et al. found that women with pre-existing mild renal insufficiency who consumed more protein experienced a faster decline in kidney function over 11 years. However, the study found no evidence that higher protein intake accelerated kidney function loss in women with normal kidney function at the start of the study.)

In the following sections, we'll explore the stages of this diet plan and its associated goals.

Stage One: Stabilization and Calming

Phase One focuses on stabilizing and soothing the body, according to Rubin. It's intended to support healthy weight management and substantially enhance your overall well-being. It also aims to lower your chance of disease.

(Shortform note: In Sicker, Fatter, Poorer, Dr. Leonardo Trasande presents compelling evidence that reducing exposure to hormone-disrupting chemicals (HDCs) can significantly improve health outcomes. He cites studies showing that even modest changes in diet and food storage—such as choosing fresh or frozen foods over canned, avoiding microwaving in plastic, and limiting highly processed foods—can lower levels of HDCs like bisphenols and phthalates in the body within days.)

Second Phase: Reintroduction and Expansion

Rubin explains that Phase Two expands your diet by bringing back a broader selection of foods. You can continue to enjoy all the foods from Phase One while adding new foods such as fruit, seeds, and nuts. You'll keep shedding pounds, but at a reduced speed. The goal is to keep progressing toward your optimal weight while enjoying enhanced health.

(Shortform note: If you have a current or past eating disorder, a continued-weight-loss phase like this is not appropriate for you. If you have an eating disorder, you should seek care from a specialist. If you have a history of eating disorders, you should only attempt to lose weight if your doctor has determined that you need to lose weight for your health.)

Phase Three: Optimization & Lifelong Habits

Phase Three focuses on optimizing well-being and establishing lifelong habits. Rubin explains that this is the diet's maintenance phase, meant to promote nutritious eating from every food group. At this stage, you'll reintroduce nutritious foods like grains, as well as those containing more sugar and starch, like potatoes. Your weight should balance, and you can anticipate ongoing improvement in other essential areas of your health.

Rubin notes that having reached this phase, you’ve managed to establish considerable self-control, so it should be much easier not to "cheat." If you temporarily leave the Maker's Diet, maybe for a vacation, holiday, or other special occasion, you can always return to Phase One or Phase Two for a week or two to get back on track. This choice is consistently accessible and can be an excellent aid on your path to lifelong health.

The Dangers of Weight Cycling

While Rubin suggests that you can return to Phase One or Phase Two for a week or two if you "cheat," this approach may lead to weight cycling, which can have negative health consequences. Weight cycling, or yo-yo dieting, refers to the repeated loss and regain of weight. In Health at Every Size, Linda Bacon explains that weight cycling is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, insulin resistance, and premature death. Additionally, weight cycling can lead to psychological distress, including feelings of shame, body dissatisfaction, and preoccupation with food and weight.

Core Staples for a Maker's Diet

Rubin emphasizes eating raw, fermented, and fiber-rich foods. Raw foods are uncooked and contain enzymes that assist the body in digesting meals. Fermented foods are preserved by beneficial microorganisms and contain bacteria that support the digestive process and fight off harmful bacteria. Fiber-rich foods contain a lot of indigestible plant material, which helps keep the digestive system healthy by supporting consistent defecation and stopping constipation.

Diet Shapes Our Microbiome

In The Good Gut, Justin and Erica Sonnenburg explain that the community of microbes living in our intestines should be understood as a complex ecosystem that is constantly reshaped by what we eat. They argue that diet is the most powerful tool we have for steering this ecosystem, because sustained patterns of eating—especially the regular consumption of diverse, plant-derived carbohydrates that our own enzymes cannot digest and frequent exposure to live microbes from traditional fermented foods—determine which microbial species flourish or disappear, how they interact with our immune system and metabolism, and whether this inner ecosystem becomes more diverse, resilient, and health-promoting over time.