Glenbard North's Gomez wins third state title

Gabby Gomez celebrates here title victory in the 115-pound class at the IHSA Girls' Individual Wrestling State Finals on Saturday. The state champion grappler from Glenbard North finished the season with a perfect 42-0 record after defeating Loyola Academy's Harlee Hiller in the championship match, 4-3.

Photos: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

BLOOMINGTON - Glenbard North wrestler Gabby Gomez is a beast. Nationally ranked, she rolled through the girls' 115-pound state bracket unscathed to win her third-consecutive state wrestling title after besting Loyola Academy's Harlee Hiller in the weight class finale.

Gomez opened her third visit to the IHSA tournament with a pinning Normal University's Allison Kroesch (21-13). Already up 9-2 in the second period, the Panther pinned the Pioneer at 2:45 to advance to the quarterfinal round.

In her next match, Gomez put on a mini-clinic. She scored four takedowns and collected points on two near falls in the first period on Springfield's Ella Miloncus. Up 12-3 in the second period, she casually pinned Miloncus at 2:16 after adding two points for a reversal to her match score (14-3).

Squaring off against Lincoln-Way Central's Gracie Guarino (29-1) in the quarterfinals, Gomez tallied a takedown in each of the first two periods and scored on a reversal to win her bout, 6-1.

The anticipated title match between Gomez and Harlee Hiller went the distance, but not without controversy. Hiller, a junior who won last year's 105 title and made school history as the first female wrestling state champion at Loyola Academy, was driven off the mat by Gomez into the penalty box wall six feet away. Despite a protest by the Loyola coach and after a brief recovery period, the match continued.

Hiller tied the match up at 2-all in the third period on an escape from a restart. The knot lasted a little more a minute when Gomez scored the match-winning takedown to go up 4-2. Hiller collected another escape point before the match ended at 4-3.

Gomez, a junior at North, has not lost a prep wrestling match during her career. Now 83-0, this time next year, if all goes according to plan, she could be the first Illinois high school girl to wrestle all four years without a loss.

State Championship
Match Gallery

Gabby Gomez vs Harlie Hiller
115 Division

Carnivore diet challenges norms, reveals health transformations

The carnivore diet is just one type of a low carbohydrate diet. The ketogenic diet and the Atkins diet are also considered low carbohydrate diets.

Photo: Pixabay/PEXELS

by Tim Ditman
OSF Healthcare

URBANA - Though not everyone is sold on it, Philip Ovadia, MD, isn’t shy about the carnivore diet. And the cardiothoracic surgeon at OSF HealthCare has studies and a remarkable personal experience to back it up.

“I’ve been on a carnivore diet for five years. For another two to three years prior, I was on low carbohydrate diets in general,” Dr. Ovadia recalls.

“I have lost over 100 pounds and maintained the weight loss. I reversed my prediabetes. And today as I’m approaching 50 years old, I really feel better every day than I did in my 20s and 30s.”

Dr. Ovadia says anyone can try the carnivore diet, but you should do so with guidance from a health care provider.

The carnivore diet: what (and what not) to eat

Dr. Ovadia calls the carnivore diet “our ancestral diet.” He says as long as humans have been around, meat has been a fundamental part of their diet. Ancestral humans would add plants, like fruits and vegetables, “seasonally and sporadically,” he says.

Today, the carnivore diet looks about the same. A person consumes animal products like meat, dairy and eggs but abstains from plant products and processed food. Some people are stricter than others about what they choose depending on their needs. For example, some people cut out spices and seasonings on their meat, while others use them.

Yes, Dr. Ovadia admits this diet flies in the face of advice we’ve heard since we were kids.

One, we’ve been told to incorporate fruits and vegetables into your diet.

“There are no essential nutrients that are not available in animal products,” Dr. Ovadia retorts. “The animal has eaten the fruits and vegetables. In many cases, ruminant animals like cows have multiple stomachs that are better able to digest the plant products and better able to extract the nutrients. Those nutrients end up in the animal meat.

“When you really dig into the scientific literature around fruits and vegetables, their benefit is in substituting for processed food,” which is prevalent today, Dr. Ovadia adds. “In the context of someone eating a lot of processed food, when you start eating fruits and vegetables, you see improvements in health.”

Two, we’ve heard red meat increases the risk of heart disease and cancer. Dr. Ovadia says studies have proven that false.

Dr. Ovadia also points out that the carnivore diet is just one type of a low carbohydrate diet, and those diets have been studied. The ketogenic diet and the Atkins diet are other low carbohydrate diets.

“It’s not that there are negative studies or positive studies,” on the carnivore diet, Dr. Ovadia says. “There just aren’t a lot of studies.”

Other things to know

Dr. Ovadia says studies and his own experience show the carnivore diet’s benefits: reversing or improving diabetes, obesity, autoimmune conditions, inflammatory bowel disease and mental health.

“People on the carnivore diet are often eating once or twice a day and not having snacks because they’re not hungry,” Dr. Ovadia says. “When you eat nutrient-dense animal foods, you find you’re hungry less often.”

If you have a medical condition, Dr. Ovadia stresses the need to keep in contact with a health care provider while on the carnivore diet.

“If someone with Type 2 diabetes goes on a very low carbohydrate diet, their medication may need to be adjusted. They’re not taking in carbohydrates, and their blood sugar can get low,” Dr. Ovadia warns. “I often see people with high blood pressure who are on medication that start these diets. Their blood pressure starts to get low, and their medication needs to be adjusted.”

Dr. Ovadia adds that people on the carnivore diet tend to have fewer bowel movements, but this is not usually accompanied by constipation.