Good old stan, im copying and pasting this from my research. These are not my words. I would like to hear what you guys think? Im going to try it because it looks so damn easy in comparison to my meal plans over the last 10years. Looking forward to the discussion.


“Performance-based nutritional framework that starts with a solid foundation of highly bioavailable micronutrients which supports a structure of easily digestible macronutrients that can be adjusted specifically to meet your body’s demands.”
Two key foods in Stan’s approach to eating are steak and rice. Stan stresses the fact that consuming ground meat (“hamburger”) is not the same as a steak. Beef labeled as “ground meat” is usually assembled from all the odds and ends of the cows and scraps left over from portioning out steaks and roasts. Don’t confuse “ground meat” with “ground sirloin” or “ground round.” The latter two are from a single cut of meat, not multiple ones as is the case with ground meat.
Essentially, steak versus ground hamburger boils down to this -- they’re two different qualities of beef and since you should only be focusing on the “best” kind of calories, ground meat (even though it is beef) is not an acceptable substitute for steak.
For the most part, that’s it for your protein and carbs.
Stan then fills in the gaps with some additional easily digestible foods to address micronutrient needs. Among these “other foods” are:

  • Eggs
  • Oranges or orange juice
  • Carrots
  • Cooked veggies (low-gas veggies)

Note: The Vertical Diet recommends consuming LOW GAS vegetables (butternut squash, carrots, celery, parsley, zucchini, cucumber, bell pepper, eggplant, spinach, small steamed potato) instead. But not so much that you’re building your diet on these foods, just enough to fulfill your micronutrient requirements.


If you are a high-performing athlete that consumes a lot of carbs, this can lead to a lot of bloating in Stan’s eyes, which slows you down and limits performance. Due to this, he is against the consumption of very starchy, slow-digesting carbs that are hard to digest, including:

  • Wheat (pasta, pizza, bread, etc.)
  • Brown rice (phytic acid)
  • Beans (lectins)
  • High raffinose vegetables (broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower)


The Vertical Diet can be viewed as a form of a low-FODMAP diet. FODMAP stands for fermentable oligo-, di-, and monosaccharide and polyol. High FODMAP foods include:

  • Artichoke
  • Asparagus
  • Baked beans
  • Bananas, ripe
  • Beetroot, fresh
  • Black bean
  • Broccoli
  • Onions
  • Garlic

The list goes on, but essentially low-FODMAP diets are used to combat irritable bowel syndrome and other disorders of the digestive system through avoidance of high FODMAP foods, which contain difficult to digest carbohydrates.


Listen to enough of Stan’s talks about the Vertical diet, and you’ll hear time and again that he promotes the idea of a narrow “horizontal”, that is only consuming a limited number of other foods outside of steak and rice to satisfy micronutrient needs. Remember from the graphic up top, this includes:

  • Sweet potato
  • Chicken broth
  • Spinach
  • Carrot
  • Eggs
  • Oranges
  • Red Bell Pepper

Once you’ve gotten “enough” of these to satisfy micronutrient needs, everything else from your diet (“going vertical”) comes from increasing portions of steak and rice. The thinking is that rice is easy to eat in great quantities without filling you up too much.