PENSACOLA, Fla. (WOWO) — A Florida man who says severe psoriasis once covered about 90% of his body is crediting an extremely restrictive, meat-only diet with transforming his health after decades of skin problems, chronic pain and depression.

Stephen Lashbrook, 50, of Pensacola, told Fox News Digital that he began experiencing depression when he was just four years old. Chronic pain and sleeplessness followed during his teenage years, and he was diagnosed with psoriasis in his early 20s.

Lashbrook said the skin condition eventually became so severe that nearly his entire body was affected.

“I was probably 90% covered in psoriasis,” Lashbrook told Fox News Digital. “My body was just one big, giant, itchy, flaky scab.”

He said creams, steroids and other medications failed to provide lasting relief. Doctors eventually recommended expensive, long-term injections to control the inflammation, but Lashbrook said his condition left him feeling hopeless and suicidal.

His approach changed after he watched a TED Talk featuring Mikhaila Peterson, who has publicly discussed using an extremely restrictive meat-only elimination diet to address her own health problems.

Lashbrook said he first eliminated sugar, grains, fruits and vegetables before adopting what is known as the “lion diet.”

The diet is an especially restrictive form of carnivore eating that centers on meat from ruminant animals, including beef, buffalo, lamb and goat.

Lashbrook said he officially committed to the diet on Jan. 1, 2024.

He told Fox News Digital that his itching and suicidal thoughts stopped within about a week. He said his skin began clearing within a month, while his chronic pain also subsided.

“I haven’t had one suicidal thought. I haven’t had any depression. I haven’t had any pain,” Lashbrook said. “All my skin issues cleared up.”

Lashbrook said his diet has since become even more limited. He currently eats grass-fed ground beef and steak and generally has one meal a day consisting of roughly 1.5 to 2 pounds of high-fat ground beef, which he usually cooks in an air fryer.

“I feel like I’m reverse aging,” he said.

Lashbrook emphasized that he is describing his own experience and does not believe the diet is appropriate for everyone. He also said he has not undergone follow-up blood work or seen a doctor since making the dietary change, choosing instead to judge the results by how he feels.

“Everyone’s different,” Lashbrook said. “Not everybody needs to be on a lion diet. … I’m a very specific case.”

Medical experts caution that one person’s experience does not establish an extreme carnivore diet as a treatment for psoriasis, depression or other chronic conditions.

Dr. Michael Aziz, an internist and regenerative medicine specialist in New York City, told Fox News Digital that some people may feel better after eliminating sugar and ultra-processed foods, but that does not demonstrate that a carnivore diet itself is responsible for treating a disease.

Aziz also raised concerns about the long-term nutritional consequences of eliminating plant foods, particularly the lack of dietary fiber.

He said a meat-heavy diet can contribute to constipation and kidney stones and may increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Meat- and protein-focused diets have gained increased attention in recent years as people look for ways to reduce their consumption of ultra-processed foods. But medical experts have continued to caution that the long-term health effects of extremely restrictive carnivore diets remain unclear.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has also publicly discussed following a carnivore-style diet centered on meat and fermented foods, saying it helped him lose weight and improve his mental clarity. Kennedy has acknowledged that his experience may not apply to everyone.

Lashbrook is scheduled to discuss his experience at Carni-Con, a virtual convention focused on carnivore diets. The event is scheduled for Sept. 18 through Sept. 20 and is expected to feature doctors, online creators and other advocates of meat-centered diets.

For Lashbrook, the focus remains on what he says happened after decades of struggling with psoriasis, pain and depression.

“The stories are what’s most important,” he told Fox News Digital.

“If people don’t hear that these healings are possible, they’re not going to know.”