The Viagra diet: Forget those little blue diamonds, I'm 62 and have a sex drive of a 20-year-old - here's how I did it without pills

There comes a clip successful a man's beingness erstwhile helium reluctantly admits decision implicit his dada bod, accepts his aches and pains and waves a bittersweet farewell to his enactment drive.

Not successful Phil Escott's case.

The begetter of three, 62, refused to judge the 'manopause'. Seeing different men his property succumb to value gain, erectile dysfunction and chronic pain, he instead made a extremist - and arguable - alteration to his diet.

In the process, helium has mislaid a whopping 40kg (88lbs oregon 6.3st) and he's chasing Detta, his spouse of 19 years, astir the chamber astir daily.

'I'm 62 and present person the enactment thrust of a 20-year-old, and it's purely down to what I eat,' my person Phil tells me.

Phil is pursuing what is commonly known arsenic the carnivore fare - but successful his lawsuit I similar to telephone it the 'Viagra diet' due to the fact that of the transformative effect it's had connected his virility and libido. For the uninitiated, the carnivore fare eliminates all vegetables, fruit, legumes, nuts and seeds and includes lone carnal products.

Think nutrient - particularly reddish nutrient - arsenic good arsenic eggs and, occasionally, dairy

Forget the impervious being successful the pudding, it's the macromolecule that Phil has to convey for his caller assemblage - and roaring enactment drive.

When the instrumentalist was successful his precocious forties, helium tipped the scales astatine astir 110kg (242lbs, oregon 17.3st), which was clinically obese for his tallness of 177cm (5'10).

Phil tried assorted diets implicit the decades, including vegetarianism, veganism and keto - a benignant of low-carb, high-fat fad diet. With each antithetic attack helium would suffer a fewer kilos present and determination but didn't spot immoderate existent changes.

His value continued to fluctuate - and to marque matters worse, Phil was suffering myriad wellness issues. He would aftermath up successful agony with crippling arthritis, his hands and assemblage searing successful pain, which forced him to springiness up his beloved passionateness of drumming. This affected his income due to the fact that helium made wealth from gigs.

But it was his lacklustre emotion beingness with his woman Detta, 52, a registered nurse, that depressed him the most. 

'I'd ever been rather randy arsenic a young man, but that tendency started to peter retired successful my forties. My vigor levels were low,' helium tells me.

'The much assemblage abdominous I enactment on, the little funny I was successful sex.

'I hated my assemblage and I didn't person overmuch confidence. I was embarrassed of my antheral boobs and had nary energy. The past happening I wanted to bash was leap into bed. It was much of a pathetic shuffle.'

In summation to his debased libido, Phil, who hails from the English municipality of Skelmersdale, was besides dealing with a drawstring of wellness issues that was affecting his quality of life, including a fatty liver with cysts, kidney stones, psoriasis, IBS, slump and psoriatic arthritis, which is the achy swelling of joints.

'People deliberation arthritis is conscionable creaky joints, but no, I couldn't adjacent get disconnected the sofa,' helium recalls.

'It's a horrific systemic inflammation that near maine successful suicidal symptom conscionable sitting determination connected the sofa without moving. I was 40kg overweight and heading for disaster.'

And here's the shocking thing: Phil thought helium had a steadfast diet. In fact, connected paper, helium couldn't person been healthier.

'I'd been a arrogant vegetarian for astir of my big life, switching to veganism successful my thirties, past a earthy vegan [diet], surviving connected juices and fruit,' helium says.

'All that did was marque maine suffer musculus and gave maine encephalon fog and kidney stones, which I judge were caused by oxalates successful each the leafy greens I was eating.'

But Phil, who practised yoga and meditation astatine the time, thought helium was surviving a clean-living, clean-eating spiritual life.

'I believed it was "unholy" to devour meat. I was 100 per cent plant-based, twice-daily caller juices and tons of legumes. I thought I was superiorly steadfast and adjacent wrote books astir eating a purely plant-based diet,' helium explains.

Yet, contempt owning a gym and moving retired astir days, the value piled connected and his wellness took a downturn successful 2010, leaving him incapable to play the drums. He could hardly locomotion due to the fact that of his symptom - and that was erstwhile things turned southbound successful the bedroom.

Phil tried the keto diet, which dilatory reintroduced nutrient into his diet, and portion helium saw results with value loss, his wellness issues remained.

It wasn't until helium work a publication by Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride called Gut and Psychology Syndrome that promoted a mostly carnivore fare to halt inflammation that Phil decided to destruct each plant-based foods from his diet.

Pretty soon, his fare consisted solely of nutrient for breakfast, luncheon and dinner.

'I realised the days I wasn't eating veg I felt better, truthful I gradually stopped eating them entirely. My regular nutrient intake was fatty nutrient with tallow for luncheon and meal and I instantly I felt better,' helium says.

Phil believes it was the 'harmful pesticides and earthy toxins' successful effect and vegetables that were causing his inflammation and gut issues.

Dr Anthony Chaffee, a registered aesculapian doc and advocator for the carnivore diet, who sees patients successful his backstage signifier successful Perth, isn't amazed to perceive this.

'It's not uncommon astatine each for men, and women, to regain their enactment thrust connected the carnivore diet,' helium tells me.

'I saw a 72-year-old antheral diligent precocious who tripled his testosterone levels successful conscionable a fewer months by eating meat; helium told maine helium felt similar a teenage lad again.'

Dr Chaffee, who has been nominated for a relation successful Trump's Make America Healthy Again run with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., says that contempt cholesterin being vilified, it really has galore benefits - and 1 of them is that it is simply a precursor to your enactment hormones.

'Carnitine, which is recovered lone successful nutrient and carnal products, increases the fig of testosterone receptors connected your cells, making the levels you person much active,' helium says.

'This tin normalise the ratio of estrogen and testosterone successful some men and women, and progesterone arsenic well. Typically, we spot adjacent older men rise their levels people by 30 to 40 per cent successful arsenic small arsenic 3 months.'

But the carnivore fare - wide regarded arsenic a fad fare oregon adjacent a 'troll diet' designed to rile up vegetarians - has been slammed by wellness experts. 

Dietitian Hayley Stathis calls it 'ridiculous' and says she would ne'er urge it. She adds that, contrary to claims it reduces inflammation, it really makes it worse.

'The carnivore fare is simply a ridiculous thought and an highly dogmatic attack that I would ne'er counsel anyone to follow,' she says.

'Without vegetables and fruits, radical aren't getting capable fibre which causes issues with digestion and gut microbiome.

'The fare lacks antioxidants and has been shown successful galore studies to beforehand inflammation, summation the occurrence of kidney stones, gout and immoderate cancers.'

Phil says this hasn't been his experience. Not lone did his value stabilise, helium claims his inflammation disappeared and helium is nary longer successful pain.

However, helium believes that it wasn't eating nutrient that stopped his inflammation, but alternatively cutting retired each vegetables.

Phil claims helium hasn't seen a doc since 2012, has travel disconnected each his medicine medication, and insists his humor tests amusement mean parameters - contempt a flimsy emergence successful LDL cholesterol, which helium claims is 'healthy'.

Not so, according to nutritionist and workout scientist Amelia Phillips, who explains the carnivore fare tin dramatically summation LDL cholesterin and triglycerides to a unsafe level.

'This tin summation bosom illness hazard and considering bosom illness is the fig 1 slayer of Australians, knowing wherever your hazard levels beryllium is precise important earlier embarking connected carnivore diet,' she says.

But the fig 1 question Phil gets erstwhile helium tells radical of his meat-only fare is not astir his heart, but his bowel movements.

'People presume I person constipation with lone eating meat, but my toilet habits person ne'er been truthful regular. I spell erstwhile successful the greeting and I americium done. I don't request to wonderment astir the buying centre looking astir for a toilet for an exigency poo astatine McDonald's,' helium says.

Phil has a son, Tom, 35, from a erstwhile marriage, arsenic good arsenic 2 children with Detta, girl Amelia, 16, and Peter, nine. All 3 are present mostly carnivore - but his youngest is peculiarly enthusiastic astir it.

'I spell to schoolhouse for parents' evenings and each they accidental Peter is amazing, aces each class, is truthful diversion - and we judge it's each down to his diet,' Phil says.

'I'm 62, the missus is 52, we are expected to person defective kids astatine our age, but the much carnivore you go, the amended the kids get, successful my opinion.'

Phil is specified a strong believer successful the carnivore diet, and truthful renowned successful the alternate fare space, that helium now offers one-on-one consultations online.

He is besides the laminitis of the 100% Carnivore and Beyond Facebook radical that has 20,000 members, and appears connected Dr Chaffee's Zoom meetings for his How to Carnivore 'school'.

And portion Phil - and Detta - reap the benefits of his higher enactment drive, Phil says helium feels atrocious for azygous women his property who are 'left stranded' with unhealthy men with flagging libidos.

'I speech to pistillate friends my property - they can't find a antheral who doesn't person a large belly and dada bod, and astir of them can't get it up,' helium tells me.

'I'm the lone idiosyncratic I cognize my property who has a level tummy and a immense enactment thrust and it's effortless.

'I utilized to imagination of abs, and worked hard successful the gym to get them, but it ne'er happened until I started eating [only] meat.

'It doesn't substance however overmuch clip you walk astatine the gym, 99 per cent of the occupation is successful the kitchen.'

But dietitian Hayley urges radical to usage communal consciousness erstwhile it comes to nutrition

'If thing is excessively utmost and cuts retired full nutrient groups similar vegetables, past debar it astatine each costs,' she warns.

Phil, however, is determined to enactment carnivore.

'I judge that radical should marque their ain choices with what they eat, but the thought that someway eating nutrient is atrocious for the situation oregon unspiritual has got to go.'

• If you program connected making immoderate large dietary oregon wellness changes, it's important to consult a GP for aesculapian proposal beforehand