On day 6 of the 30-day burger experiment, Dr. Mike ate all 20 patties in one sitting to see if he'd get the so-called meat sweats, and instead spent the next several hours with a hot face and no appetite. What he was demonstrating, on camera, is protein induced thermogenesis: the extra work your body does to digest and process protein. This is day 6 of 30 — days 1 through 29 are covered here on the blog, and day 30 only exists in the film.
What happened on day 6?
Every other day of the protocol, Dr. Mike split the load: 12 burgers for lunch and 8 for dinner, per the film (F05). On day 6 he changed the protocol on purpose. The film shows him eating all 20 burger patties in one sitting instead of splitting them, specifically to test whether he’d get the meat sweats (F27).
He didn’t get them. What he got instead was a face that stayed hot for three to four hours afterward and no appetite to speak of (F27). This is day 6 of the 30-day series; the earlier days are covered in day 1, and what actually happens by day 30 is something I’m not going to spoil here — that’s in the film alone.
What is protein induced thermogenesis?
Protein induced thermogenesis is the energy your body spends digesting, absorbing and processing protein — it’s part of what nutrition researchers call the thermic effect of food. On camera, Dr. Mike frames it in plain terms while he’s uncomfortable: digesting a large amount of meat is metabolically taxing, and his body was running warmer while it worked through 20 patties at once (F27).
Split across the day, the same 20 patties landed differently on his system. Eaten all at once, the film suggests the load was concentrated enough that his body’s processing response was more obvious and more physically uncomfortable to sit through.
He ate all 20 in one sitting to test for meat sweats. He didn't get sweat. He got a hot face for hours.
Why was Dr. Mike sweating through day six?
The film shows Dr. Mike describing the popular idea of ‘meat sweats’ — visible sweating some people report after eating a lot of meat — and noting that it can reportedly happen with as little as 8 ounces for some people, though he’s clear there isn’t much research behind that number (F40). He’s also clear it’s a claim, not something he’s citing a study for.
What the film actually shows on day 6 wasn’t sweat — it was a hot face for three to four hours after the 20-patty sitting, with no other symptom (F27). Around this same point in the protocol he logged his first headache in roughly a year or two (F24), and later noted orthostatic hypotension — the dizzy feeling when standing up too fast — starting on day six as well (F25). None of these are labeled as caused by any single mechanism on camera; they’re logged as what happened.
What did the crew see?
The crew watched Dr. Mike eat all 20 patties back to back rather than across two meals, then sat with him through the hours afterward while he described his face staying warm (F27). It’s a different visual than most days in the film, where he’s eating in two sessions and talking through routine numbers.
If you want the full run of what the crew filmed across day 1 through day 29, that’s the blog series; day 30 — including the last bloodwork draw — is only in the film, which runs on Amazon.
What does the evidence say about the thermic effect of food?
The evidence says diet-induced thermogenesis — the energy cost of digesting food — runs about 5-15% of daily energy expenditure, and it’s highest after protein and lowest after fat, per a review by Westerterp (Westerterp, 2004). That’s a general physiology review, not a measurement of Dr. Mike specifically, and it notes individual variation.
Separately, self-reported symptom patterns from people starting low-carb or ketogenic eating — headache, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, GI upset — tend to cluster in the first week and mostly resolve within weeks, according to a qualitative analysis of online forum posts (Bostock, Kirkby and Taylor, 2020). That study is about self-reported forum posts, not lab-confirmed diagnoses, and it isn’t about a 600-burger protocol specifically. I’ve written more about the headache side of this here.
What has Jim seen with high-protein athletes?
In my experience, high-protein eaters — especially strength athletes loading a lot of meat in one sitting — report the same kind of warm, sluggish feeling Dr. Mike described on day 6, without necessarily sweating visibly. It tracks with what people call feeling ‘meat drunk’: heavy, warm, wanting to sit still rather than move.
I’ve also seen plenty of people who eat the exact same volume and feel nothing unusual at all. Individual results vary, and that’s true of digestion as much as anything else in this experiment.
How does day 6 fit into the bigger picture?
Day 6 is one data point in a 30-day protocol, and Dr. Mike was still logging symptoms, sleep and hydration daily throughout. If you want the mechanics of how the whole 30 days were structured, including the weekly burger orders and the daily split, that’s covered in the day 1 post.
What day 6 shows is one deliberate deviation from routine, and what happened when he made it. It’s a small moment in a much longer story about what was measured before, during and after — and that story doesn’t resolve until day 30, on camera.
Frequently asked questions
What is protein induced thermogenesis?
It's the energy your body spends digesting and processing protein, part of what's called the thermic effect of food. Reviews describe it as generally the largest thermic response compared to fat or carbohydrate.
Did Dr. Mike get the meat sweats on day 6?
No. The film shows him eating all 20 burgers in one sitting specifically to test for it, and instead his face stayed hot for three to four hours with no visible sweating.
Is there real research on meat sweats?
Not much specific to that term. Dr. Mike says on camera that some people report it after as little as 8 ounces of meat, but he's clear that research on the phenomenon itself is thin.
Does the evidence support protein burning more energy to digest?
A general physiology review found diet-induced thermogenesis runs about 5-15% of daily energy expenditure and is typically highest after protein, lowest after fat, though it's not specific to a 600-burger protocol.
Where can I watch what happens on day 30?
Day 30, including the final bloodwork draw, is only shown in the film itself, not in this blog series.
The Bottom Line
Day 6 was a small experiment inside the bigger one: change the eating pattern, watch what the body does. It didn’t produce meat sweats, but it produced a headache, a hot face for hours, and the first sign of orthostatic hypotension in the protocol. None of that tells you what his bloodwork looked like — that story is saved for the film, on purpose.
Watch The Keto Project on Amazon, and read the day-by-day account in 600 Burgers in 30 Days.
Sources
- Westerterp 2004, Diet induced thermogenesis
- Bostock, Kirkby and Taylor 2020, Consumer Reports of Keto Flu
This article is for information only and is not medical advice. Individual results vary. Speak to a qualified clinician before changing how you eat.
The whole experiment is in the film. 600 burgers, 30 days, every blood test — and the ending we never post.
Watch The Keto Project on Amazon