In September of 2023, Paul Saladino, M.D., posted a video to his Instagram account, @paulsaladinomd, with the title “Raw Milk Illegal?” As he walks alongside a cow pasture, the lean and sinewy 46-year-old holds a nondescript white milk bottle. “Thirty-seven states have banned one of the most healing foods for your children: raw milk, raw dairy. This is one of the saddest realities that I’ve come across in my research and my learning,” he says.

Dr. Saladino’s “research and learning” have always been controversial. His former social handle was @carnivoremd, a reference to the carnivore diet, the contentious all-meat diet he helped popularize with his book, The Carnivore Code, which came out in 2020.

Dr. Saladino has his medical degree in psychiatry and is double board-certified in psychiatry and as a physician nutrition specialist. He mentions on his website that he is “unable to give medical advice” and also that he is “the leading authority on the science and application of the carnivore diet.”

Last year, Dr. Saladino said in social posts that he quit the carnivore diet (hence the handle change) and now eats an “animal based” diet that includes fruit, honey, and raw dairy.

As “Raw Milk Illegal?” continues, Dr. Saladino calls pasteurized milk “dead dairy” and says raw dairy can alleviate gut conditions, eczema, and sleep issues. With a string section swelling to close the clip, Dr. Saladino jumps at the viewer and says, “I’m calling on those 37 states to wake up and to allow you to be able to get raw milk and raw dairy!”