Warning: Fat Holds Toxins. Carnivore and keto folks should watch out.

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May 23, 2025

Aaron, myself, and a couple other team members went to Tennessee to participate in Meatstock 2025 last weekend. It's a carnivore/keto party in the Smoky Mountains. Boy, we learned a lot and met a lot of wonderful people, both people who healed through food as well as doctors and experts that help people heal.

One person we had the pleasure of meeting was the amazing Dr. Kiltz. He's a carnivore. He's also a doctor who specializes in fertility. And can you guess how he helps many of his patients? Yup, through food. He's a big supporter of the carnivore and keto diets. He suggests getting 70-80% of your calories from fat, 15-30% from protein, and 0-10% from carbs.

Dr. Kiltz spoke at a dinner we attended. And something he said shocked us -- "Don't worry about grass fed, regenerative, and all that natural stuff. It's the fact that you're eating fat that matters." 😳

Woah woah woah. Hold up a sec. We, of course, had a conversation with Dr. Kiltz about this.

I mean, why are people having health issues in the first place? Sure, some of it could be genetics. Some of it's definitely environmental. But, a lot of it is likely the food we're eating. It's processed food laden with seed oils and carbs and sugar and yucky additives... but also the farming practices that result in toxic stuff hidden in plain old ingredients.

Dr. Kiltz agreed and elaborated on his statement. What he's saying is that, if you're eating a standard American diet, the biggest and fastest impact you can make comes from altering your diet on a macro level - fat, protein, and carbs. But the granular stuff you can't see or count matters too, especially once you're making progress.

OK, I get it. But then I thought some more...

Toxins accumulate in the fat. So, if you eat animal-based foods (especially the fattier ones) and are looking to limit (or eliminate) that awful toxic stuff, farming practices matter. Like a lot!

So, unsurprisingly, I went into research mode. Here's what I learned.

Which toxins accumulate in fat and why?

Not all toxins accumulate in fat. Some are stored in bone, muscle, organs, etc. But, there are certain toxins that a body stores specifically in fat. They include:

Dioxins and furans (PCDDs/PCDFs) - These are persistent pollutants, resistant to breakdown, that are generally creating by burning things like plastic and chemicals and garbage. They can also be created as byproducts of industrial processes.
PCBs - That's short for polychlorinated biphenyls, which are synthetic chemicals that were used to make various consumer products, from paint to glues to lubricants to coolants to batteries. They were banned in 1979, but because of their inability to breakdown, they remain as toxins in our environment.
Pesticides & Herbicides - This includes previously banned pesticides (like DDT) that are still present in our environment. This also includes pesticides used today, like organochlorine and organophosphate pesticides.
Certain Toxic Heavy Metals - Mercury, lead, cadmium, and aluminum are known for accumulating in fat.

The reason the above toxins collect specifically fat (AKA adipose tissue) is because they are lipophilic. Liophilic is when a substance is "fat loving" and can bond with or dissolve in fat.

Other toxins are hydrophilic, meaning they are "water loving" and can bond with and dissolve in water. These include bentazone, glyphosate, imidacloprid, flouride, and arsenic. They do not accumulate in fat.

What can an overload of toxins do to your body?

I like to think about toxic overload like a cup. Our bodies can process a little of it. But, when the cup is overfilled with stuff like pesticides, toxic heavy metals, mold, carcinogens, etc, that's when problems happen.

Our bodies are pretty good at handling stress. That's why toxic overload can be confusing. It may take a long time - months, years, or decades - for the problem to arise. Then, once the problem happens, it's hard to pinpoint the cause. And then, healing time is often lengthy (and sometimes the damage can't completely be undone).

When it comes to toxins, the response really depends on the body. The list of issues that can arise is exhaustive. They include fatigue, headaches, digestive problems and leaky gut, brain fog, anxiety and depression, increased risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, hormone imbalance, mast cell overreaction, histamine responses, bloating and inflammation, trouble sleeping, skin conditions, liver damage, obesity, and more.

Where can toxins in animal-based foods come from?

When it comes to farming, there are few places that toxins can be introduced to animals. This can be from toxins resistant to breaking down from decades ago or toxins being used or produced today. This can be on the actual farms or in the facilities that prepare food for sale:

Air: Toxins can vaporize and float in the air. Animals can breathe it in or it can settle on top of soil or water.
Water: This is especially true with city water, which often has chemicals added to it or may run through old pipes. But, as we all know, water pollution varies from area to area.
Soil: This can come from the local area or a non-farming activity that happened on the land previously. This can also be from past farming practices or current ones.
Slaughter and butchering: Did you know an antimicrobial is required by the USDA when processing meat? Processors can choose harsh chemicals like bleach or opt for more natural ones like citric or lactic acids or vinegar.
Recipes: Think beef jerky or lunchmeat. They have ingredients. First off, anything that's less than 1% doesn't need to be listed on the package. And then, of course, there's the hidden stuff depending on the quality of the ingredient.
Packaging: Even what our food comes in can leach chemicals into our food. I mean, think about microplastics in bottled water!

When toxins enter your food, you can't see them. You can't taste them. You can't smell them. This is why knowing more about how your food is produced is important.

How can farming practices decrease the levels of toxins?

Well, there are bunch of ways toxins can get into food from farming. Here are some ways that farms can decrease toxins in the final food:

Choose A Clean Location: If a farm is located right next to or downstream from a factory or city, toxin levels will likely increase. Farms should ideally be far from cities or factories.
Have Clean Water: If contamination is persistent in your area, you'll likely know it. And, you can always test the water, too.
Improve Soil Health With Regenerative Farming: When soil is dead and unhealthy, toxins break down at their normal speed. But, with regenerative farming that creates robust microbiology, toxins can break down faster.
Fertilize Naturally: There are plenty of chemical fertilizers out there. But, compost and manure from natural chemical-free sources are just as good… if not better.
Limit, Eliminate, Be Considerate With Pesticide And Herbicide Use: A grand majority of farms still use pesticides and herbicides regularly. Yeesh. Even the organic ones can contain yucky stuff. With things like fruit, it's kinda necessary to some extent. But, especially with pasture raised animals, they're simply not needed (even though some farms still choose it).
Choose Naturally Formulated Feed: This is the idea of the ingredients in the ingredients. You can have the most pristine land, air, and water, raising beef. But, if you feed them GMO corn sprayed with glyphosate and grown in contaminated soil... well... those toxins are introduced. Farms can make sure they're feed ingredients are pure and the sources the ingredients come from are chemical-free.
Eliminate Vaccines: Yup, vaccines contain toxins. And especially when injected, they can harbor themselves in fat. Aluminum is a common ingredient in vaccines. And, did you know that animal vaccines can contain Thimerosal (AKA mercury)? That's been banned in human vaccines. When animals are raised outdoors and to be naturally happy and healthy, vaccines aren't necessary.
Be Mindful With Anyone Who Processes Your Food: This can be a challenge, especially if you're in an area with more conventional farms. Farms can ask the hard questions and ask for changes like what antimicrobials are used (apple cider vinegar is allowed by the USDA), what the ingredients are, and where the ingredients are sourced from.

At Miller's Bio Farm, we try to reduce your toxic intake as much as possible.

Here's a few notable things we do (among the many):

All of our small farms are 60+ miles from any major city.
Our pastures are never sprayed with pesticides or herbicides. We love the biodiversity!
Our pastures are fertilized with manure and more manure!
Our farms that raise our animals regenerate their soil year after year. The idea is to improve the quality of the soil, and that includes the microbes that can help break down toxins.
Clean well water is used for the animals to drink and for processing our meat and all of our products.
Our beef, pork, and lamb are washed with organic apple cider vinegar. Our chicken is air chilled. Our turkey is washed with water and only water.
None of our animals are fed corn or soy. And, our feed is chemical-free.
Our farmers do not vaccinate their animals. Our chicken and turkey and lamb is 100% vaccine free. The only way a vaccine could be given to a cow or pig is if the animal was bought in and previously vaccinated. We make sure that no animal has received an mRNA vaccine.
None of our products have yucky stuff like nitrates/nitrites, additives, fillers, etc. It's simple natural food.
We always vet our processors before working with them to make sure they're up to our natural standards.

We'd love to supply you with clean foods and hope you join the movement!

Do you eat a lot of fat? Whether you do or not, what toxins make you most worried?

I'd love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us 😊

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References:

What does pasture raised eggs mean to our farm?

Pasture raised? What does this term really mean and what are our requirements for having "pasture raised" eggs?

How to know if you can trust your raw milk farm

*Originally published on 1/13/26, Updated on 2/01/26.* I know how hard it is to find clean raw milk from a farm you can actually trust. You may have spent hours researching farms, reading reviews, asking questions in Facebook groups. Maybe you’ve even driven out to visit farms, met the farmers, looked at their operations. Or maybe you've been burned before by a farm that talked a good game but cut corners. Or maybe you're still searching for that one farm where you can feel completely confident giving their milk to your kids.So let me tell you what happened here in the last few weeks, because this story will show you exactly who we are, and more importantly, it might help you figure out what to look for in any farm you're considering trusting with your family's health. The first email It started the day after Christmas. A customer emailed in saying she wasn't feeling well after drinking our raw milk. Then, a day or two later, another email. Another customer, same story. The team got the details from them, the label color and the dates on the milk. My stomach dropped, it was my brother John's milk. Now here's what most farms would've done, and I'm being completely honest with you. They would've thought "it's only two people out of hundreds, it's January, it's flu season, the flu is spreading like wildfire right now, it's probably just that" and moved on with their day. Maybe they would've made a mental note to keep an ear out for more complaints, but that would've been it. I tried to tell myself the same thing that night. "It's probably nothing. It's flu season. These things happen." But I couldn't sleep. Because what if it wasn't nothing? What if there was even a small chance that something was wrong with our milk, and we did nothing about it? A tough decision I then contacted a DHIA to come out to test the milk. See, we'd already done our regular testing, the testing we do on every single batch that isn't even required by law. But those two emails kept replaying in my head. We needed to know for sure. We sent the milk samples to the state lab that day. Then came the hardest part, the waiting. If you've ever waited for medical test results, you know that feeling. Every hour feels like a day. You check your email or phone constantly. You play out every possible scenario in your head. And since we were now working with the state the test result didn't come back instantly, it took 2 weeks. The result that changed everything When the State inspector stopped in Thursday the 8th they confirmed the testing results."Positive for Campylobacter." We’ve been doing this a long time. Through every season, every challenge, and every batch of milk, we’ve never had a positive Campylobacter test. That’s not luck, it’s the result of how seriously we take producing clean, safe raw milk. I sat there just processing it. The inspector then let John know that we couldn't use his milk until it was clean again. What happened next Immediately we'd pulled all of John's milk from going out the door. Then I started drafting an email, one that had to be sent to over 800 trusting customers. Every single family who had purchased milk from us and possibly John's farm in the affected timeframe. Some people thanked us for being proactive and honest. Some were understandably upset, and they had every right to be. A few were scared. I told a few to call or email back if they had concerns or if anyone in their family started feeling sick. Those were some of the hardest phone calls and emails I've ever answered. But every single one of those families deserved to hear it directly from us, not from a recall notice in the mail, a news station, or a post on social media. The State gets involved The State inspector put John's farm under official quarantine on 1/8. That means no milk leaves his farm until we get two consecutive clean tests, taken at least a week apart. The farm is certified for raw milk production in PA. That's why the State got involved. *Side note: If a farm was NOT certified and is operating with a PMA (private membership) or just on the black market, none of the above would have happened. What's going on with the state of our raw milk right now? If you're a current customer reading this, here's what you need to know: Your milk is safe.Look at the bottles in your fridge right now. See those colored "best by" stickers? Blue, orange, and green? That's our farm identification system. We implemented this color-coding years ago as an extra safety measure, a way to quickly trace every bottle back to its source farm. At the time, it seemed like overkill. Now I'm incredibly grateful we did it, because that system is exactly what allowed us to identify which specific farm the issue came from within hours and protect everyone else. Right now, you're only receiving milk from our three other farms: Ben’s farm, David’s farm, and Daniel’s farm. All three have tested completely clean. All three are operating under the exact same safety standards they always have. All three continue to be inspected regularly by the state and tested by us with every single batch.If you see blue, green, or orange stickers on your milk, you're good. If you happen to have bottles with different colored stickers and you're concerned, please give us a call or send us an email. But based on our testing timeline and distribution records, the affected milk has already been consumed or disposed of. Our testing standards and why they matter to us Let me pull back the curtain and show you exactly what goes into keeping your milk safe, both what the law requires and what we do beyond that. What Pennsylvania Law Requires:The State of Pennsylvania doesn't mess around with raw milk safety. And honestly, we're glad they don't. Here's what they require to have a raw milk permit: Our milk is tested for general bacteria counts twice per month at state-certified laboratories.Our farms are physically inspected every three months specifically for raw milk production safety standards.Our cows are tested twice per year for pathogens at state-certified labs.We undergo standard dairy inspections twice per year (these are separate from the raw milk inspections).**These aren't suggestions. These are legal requirements, and farms that don't meet them lose their raw milk licenses. What we do beyond these requirements: Here's where we go further than the law requires, and this is important: We test every single batch of our milk, on-site, before it goes out to customers.YES. Every. Single. Batch.We test for:TCC (Total Coliform Count) - this tells us about general sanitary conditionsSPC (Standard Plate Count) - this tells us the overall bacteria levels The state doesn't require this batch-by-batch testing. Most raw milk farms don't do it because the testing equipment is expensive and it takes time and expertise. We do it anyway because when you're trusting us with your family's health, "meeting the minimum requirements" isn't good enough for us. We also have super meticulous cleaning standards. After we started testing every batch, we were able to see how much cleaning affects milk quality. For this reason, our barns and milking parlors are much cleaner than the average barn. We have the data to know it matters... a lot. Plus we have extra hot water for cleaning. We know that matters, too. Check out our milk safety here. The real question is who can you trust in the raw milk game? Here's what I've learned about trust in the raw milk world: Any farm can talk about their safety standards when everything's going smoothly. Any farm can show you their clean barns and happy cows and tell you all the right things when you visit. But… you truly know who a farm really is by what they do when something goes wrong. Think about it. We could've ignored those two phone calls and convinced ourselves it was just the flu. We could've done the bare minimum, waited for the state's regular testing to maybe catch it, or maybe not. We could've quietly stopped using John's milk without telling anyone why. We could've sent out a vague email about "an abundance of caution" without admitting what actually happened. Instead, we: Took those two complaints seriously immediately, even when it would've been easier to dismiss them.Ordered extra testing on our own dime without being required to.Shut down production with John’s milk the moment we got a positive result.Emailed every potentially affected customer.Voluntarily reported to the state before they found it themselves. Are being completely transparent with you right now, even though it's embarrassing and painful and might make customers lose trust and go somewhere else.I'm not telling you this to pat ourselves on the back. I'm telling you this because this is what you should demand from any farm you're considering. Not perfection, no farm can guarantee perfection, and any farm that claims they can is lying. But you deserve a farm that will tell you the truth and do the right thing when problems happen. Questions you should ask ANY raw dairy farm:If you're shopping around for a raw milk source, here are the questions you should be asking:"Do you do any testing beyond what the state requires?"If they say no, that's not necessarily a dealbreaker. Plenty of farms only do state-required testing and produce perfectly safe milk. But if they say yes, ask them to explain exactly what they test for and how often. Farms that go the extra mile will be proud to tell you about it in detail."Can I see your most recent state inspection report?"By law, these are public records. A good farm will show you without hesitation. If they dodge this question or get defensive, walk away."How do you track which farm or batch milk comes from?"If they have multiple farms or multiple days of production, they need a tracking system. Our colored stickers might seem simple, but that simple system saved us in this situation. If they can't tell you how they'd trace a problem back to its source, that's a problem."Have you ever had to recall or stop production? What happened?"I wish I could tell you we've never had issues, but that would be dishonest. We had an issue a few years ago with RB51, a child was hospitalized from it. It was caused by the VACCINE strain of brucellosis. This is why we no longer allow cows in our herds who have been vaccinated for brucellosis. What matters is how farms handle those situations. When it comes to food, it's not a matter of IF but WHEN with food safety. According to the CDC 1.5 million people are become ill from Campylobacter on a yearly basis. Most of these cases come from raw or undercooked poultry or raw poultry juices. So where do we go from here? Well, John's farm is under quarantine until we get two consecutive clean tests. The first round of retesting was Thursday the 8th and the results came back negative on 1/14. And then there's another test that was taken Monday 1/12 and the results from that test was also negative. He's checking the milking equipment, the cleaning protocols, the cow health, the water sources, everything. We're not cutting corners. We're not rushing this. We're doing it right, even if it takes months. In the meantime, your orders will keep coming from our three other farms. Same quality, same safety standards, same farmers who care deeply about what they're producing. Check those blue, green and orange stickers, that's your assurance of exactly where your milk is coming from. We're also reviewing our protocols across all four farms. Could we test more frequently? Should we upgrade equipment? Are there additional safety measures we should implement? We're asking ourselves hard questions and we're willing to invest whatever it takes to prevent this from happening again.Why are we telling you all of this? I debated whether to write this post. Part of me wanted to handle this quietly, just contact the affected customers and move on. It would be easier. Less risky. Less embarrassing. But that's not who we are, and more importantly, that's not what you deserve. You deserve to know. You deserve to know everything about your food, in good times and in bad. We're heartbroken this happened. Truly. But we're also rolling up our sleeves and doing everything right. We hope that we can earn back your trust. Because at the end of the day, trust isn't built by being perfect, it's built by being honest, being thorough, and doing the right thing even when it's hard.I know you probably have questions. Here are the most common ones we have been getting:Q: Should I be worried about the milk I already drank?A: If you drank milk from John's farm in the affected timeframe and you're feeling fine, you're almost certainly fine. The milk, whether in glass or plastic, would have had a white label on it with a date between 1/16-1/22. Plus, we directly emailed anyone who could have gotten that milk… so you would know.Q: How do I know if I’m sick because of Campylobacter?A. Campylobacter symptoms typically appear within 2-5 days. And symptoms can last up to 7 days. If you do develop symptoms (diarrhea, cramping, fever), hydrate, rest and nourish your body with bone broth, sourdough toast, bland foods (like a BRAT diet - bananas, rice, apples, and toast). Most cases resolve on their own.Q: How did this happen if you test every batch?A: That's exactly why we're investigating John’s cleaning protocols and farming standards. We're reviewing the timing of tests, storage protocols, everything. Once we know, we'll implement changes to help prevent something like this from happening again.Q: Will you use John’s farm’s milk in the future?A: If the milk is clean and the problem is resolved, yes we will. We will require two consecutive clean tests at least a week apart. And, we’ll need to identify and address the root cause. We won't rush this. Safety first, always.Q: Are you changing your safety protocols?A: We're reviewing everything right now. If we identify improvements we can make, we'll make them immediately across all farms. You can view our milk safety and protocols here: https://millersbiofarm.com/mil... The bottom lineWe believe raw milk should come from a place where questions are welcomed, testing is routine, and honesty isn’t conditional. We believe in the benefits of raw milk and all its wonderful properties. Raw milk is honestly incredible for your body when you think about what's actually in it. It's a complete, living food packed with natural enzymes, vitamins, healthy fatty acids, and powerful immune-boosting compounds like immunoglobulins that work with your body exactly as nature intended. Raw milk keeps all those beneficial bacteria that are amazing for your digestion and gut health. You're getting natural antimicrobials and probiotics that actively support your immune system and help your body thrive. It's basically the difference between drinking something truly alive and nourishing versus something that's been processed into a pale imitation of real milk. When you drink raw milk, you're getting all the goodness that's meant to be there, nothing destroyed, nothing missing, just pure nutrition the way it was designed to fuel and protect your body. *UPDATE 2/01/26 John's herd has now had 2 negatives and the milk is safe to use again so we are integrating his milk back into our production again. I'd love to hear from you. Comment below to share your thoughts with our community (no account required). Or, contact us to keep it private 😊 References: https://www.cdc.gov/campylobac...

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