← Home / Nutrition / Casey Means / The Good Energy Plate

The Good Energy Plate

Updated July 8, 2026

Casey Means' Good Energy plate applies six food principles that work on any diet, vegan or carnivore, to avoid blood sugar spikes and crashes. Build meals from whole, unprocessed food with fibre, protein and healthy fat, and minimize added sugar, refined grains and seed oils; her stance against seed oils remains more contested than the evidence for fibre.

🍽️
Physician · Levels
Not endorsed · Based on the published work of Casey Means
Daily time
Every meal
Steps
7
Difficulty
Beginner
Sources
3
View the steps →
What it is

From Good Energy. Means argues the diet wars miss the point: a handful of principles apply whether you eat vegan or carnivore. Build meals from whole, unprocessed food; get fibre, protein, healthy fat and micronutrients in every meal; keep blood sugar steady; and minimise the three things her recipes systematically remove, namely added sugar, refined grains and industrial seed oils. She targets a lot of fibre (she aims past 50 g a day) and treats food as information for your cells, not just calories. It is about what you include, what you leave out, and how you eat.

Why it works
Whole foods come packaged with fibre and micronutrients that blunt glucose spikes and feed the gut, while ultra-processed food strips those out and drives the spike-and-crash cycle behind low energy and metabolic disease. Fibre is the single biggest dietary lever for steady glucose and a healthy microbiome. Note: her stance against seed oils is more contested in the evidence than the case for fibre and whole foods, so weight your effort toward the well-supported basics.
The evidence
Sources
Published work by Casey Means, cited straight to the source: long-form episodes, clips, peer-reviewed papers and their own writing. Select any to view it here.
1
Good Energy: the six principles of eating that apply to any diet (Dr. Casey Means)
Article
2
Fueling Good Energy and Metabolic Health (Casey Means interview, Whole30)
Article
3
Dr. Casey's Ultimate Food List (Good Energy foods, free guide)
Article
Source viewer
Loading the first source…
The protocol
Clinical strong human trials Mixed some or emerging evidence Commercial weak or unproven, sold widely Equipment / Test not an evidence claim How we grade →
Base

Build the plate from whole, unprocessed foods

Make most of every meal recognisable whole food; minimise ultra-processed products

Whole foods carry the fibre and micronutrients that processing removes; this is the foundation.

Good Energy
For this step
No product needed
Every meal

Get fibre, protein and healthy fat together

Aim for protein, a high-fibre plant portion, and a healthy fat at each meal; non-starchy veg first

This combination flattens the glucose response and keeps you full and energised.

Good Energy
For this step
No product needed
Fibre

Push fibre much higher than average

Work toward 50 g per day from beans, vegetables, seeds, berries; ramp up slowly with water

Fibre is her top lever for stable blood sugar and gut health; most people get a third of this.

Good Energy (p.284)
For this stepClinical
Whole-food fibre (seeds / psyllium)
Food first; a fibre top-up if you fall short
Leave out

Cut added sugar and refined grains

Minimise added sugars and white-flour products; read labels for hidden sugar

These are the primary drivers of glucose spikes and metabolic dysfunction.

Good Energy
For this step
No product needed
Leave out

Reduce industrial seed oils, lean on whole-food fats

Cook with olive oil, use whole-food fats (avocado, nuts, olives); reduce heavily processed oils

Her view; the whole-food-fat swap is sound even where the specific anti-seed-oil claim is debated.

Good Energy
For this step
No product needed
How you eat

Eat earlier and with attention

Front-load the day, stop eating a few hours before bed, eat without screens

Timing and mindset both affect how food is metabolised; aligns eating with the body clock.

Good Energy
For this step
No product needed
Check

Use a few markers, or a CGM, to see what works

Periodic fasting glucose, insulin, triglycerides, HDL, HbA1c; an optional CGM to learn your responses

Turns the principles into your own data; optional, see cautions on cost and disordered eating.

Good Energy / Levels
For this stepTest
Metabolic panel / CGM
Optional, see cautions
Is this for you?
Good fit if
  • Not a fit if you have a history of disordered eating (see cautions)
  • Energy crashers and label-readers
  • Anyone confused by competing diets
  • People raising fibre and cutting processed food
  • Data-minded eaters
Cautions
  • History of disordered eating: strict food lists and rules can tip into orthorexia or anxiety; the whole-food basics work without rigid restriction or any device
  • Means co-founded Levels and has a commercial interest in the CGM and testing here; for people without diabetes, evidence of clear CGM benefit is limited
  • Her anti-seed-oil position is more contested than the case for fibre and whole foods; prioritise the well-evidenced parts
  • 50 g of fibre a day is a lot; increase gradually with water to avoid GI upset, and some medical conditions need lower fibre
  • Educational only, not medical advice
Related protocols
Update history
  • July 3, 2026 Protocol published.
Get the next protocol first

New expert protocols and evidence updates, cited to the source. No spam; unsubscribe anytime.

Not medical advice. This page is for education only and is not a substitute for professional medical care. Consult a qualified clinician before changing your health routine.
Independent curation. YourProtocol.ai is an independent platform. This protocol is based on the publicly available work of Casey Means and is not created, reviewed, endorsed by, or affiliated with Casey Means or Physician · Levels.

The Good Energy Plate
Follow the steps
View steps