Meet Paul Saladino, also known as the "Carnivore MD," who recently posted a video titled, "Here's how I poop" for his 1.3 million Instagram followers. In the post and the video he urges his followers not to use toilet paper because it's "filled with hormone disrupting compounds." So, he says, he avoids toilet paper in order to "protect" his "hormonal health." Here's his full post:
Here's how I poop…💩
Believe it or not, most toilet paper, paper towels, and all paper products are filled with hormone disrupting compounds…
Now I know this sounds extreme, but if you have health and hormone issues this is definitely something to consider…
Knowledge is power. The more you know, the more you can make intentional decisions about these things that may be contributing to health issues…
And as always, if you're thriving [sic], don't change a thing! đź’Ş
Welcome to #theremembering 🏹
Paul Saladino is part of the "ancestral living" or "paleo" movement—what Glossy calls "alpha-male 'bromeopathy'"—which includes meat-loving, weight-lifting, anus-sunning, sunscreen-eschewing, supplement-hawking wellness influencers like Pete Evans, Joe Rogan, JP Sears, and Brian Johnson (aka "Liver King"), who was recently exposed as a steroid user. Fast Company explains that this "bro science" movement popularizes questionable (and [pre]historically inaccurate) "health" practices while making a whole lot of cash:
The combined health and wellness industry is currently worth upwards of $1 trillion, and there is a fortune to be made in selling a "solution" to the modern world. Foods that might have been available before the dawn of the agrarian era 3,000 years ago hold particular appeal—such as plates of unseasoned meat—as do workouts using minimal equipment. But the packaged food and supplement industries have definitely gotten in the game: Products such as beef bars,ground organ meats, beef tallow capsules, and beef tallow sunscreen all employ the term "ancestral" in their marketing materials. The tag "ancestral living" on TikTok has more than 23 million views. Johnson told GQ in May that his retail business was pulling in more than $100 million a year. Along his journey to the top of the algorithms, Liver King propped up a network of wellness personalities, including a doctor named Paul Saladino, who tout similar messages. Inevitably, there's going to be a new He-Man wellness guru stepping in.
Others have written critically about this movement, so if you want to learn more, check out the rest of the Glossy article here, the Fast Company here, this piece by Matthew Remski, and Episode 29 of Conspirituality Podcast, which covers "Bro Science," particularly focusing on how it perpetuates toxic masculinity:
Bro Science is junk science spewed by men who believe their charisma is a substitute for training. It brags, mocks, overreaches. It's self-serving and self-interested. It can carry hints of toxic masculinity: entitlement, unearned confidence, no qualms about taking up space, repressing emotion or hiding it behind humour or grandiosity. It preaches individualism and self-sufficiency from the lonely triumph of Bro.
I can actually get behind Paul Saladino's desire for us to stop using toilet paper, and to use bidets instead—but not because I fear toilet paper might be damaging my hormonal health. Rather, bidets are much more environmentally friendly, so switching from toilet paper to bidets makes a lot of sense. If the movement stopped at advocating for bidets, that would be one thing, but they don't. In my opinion, much of the rest of the "ancestral living" movement—particularly the part that's full of toxic masculinity, pseudoscience, conspiracy theories, and even white supremacy and alt-right ideologies—should be flushed down the toilet.
