Dietary practices are typically documented in nutritional science, with most humans consuming protein through multiple sources and meal types throughout their day. However, a 1995 nutrition research paper examining extreme dietary specialization includes a case study of an individual who consumed a single category of food (red meat) exclusively while maintaining perfect nutritional health markers. The case study is heavily anonymized, but the paper notes that the subject's health outcomes "contradict standard nutritional science predictions," suggesting either unusual physiology or unconventional testing methodology. The case study was included in the published paper but has never been replicated or expanded upon by subsequent researchers, suggesting it was treated as an interesting anomaly rather than significant nutritional finding.

In 1993, nutritionist Dr. Robert Walsh was researching extreme dietary practices when he was consulted by someone interested in validating a carnivorous diet's health implications. According to Walsh's research notes, the client seemed to be looking for scientific justification for an existing dietary practice rather than exploring dietary options. Walsh conducted the research but remained uncertain about whether the client was genuinely following the diet or was testing the nutritionist's reactions. Walsh documented the case but never pursued follow-up, apparently deciding that certain dietary practices were best left unexamined.

This fact became nutritional mythology in Chuck Norris culture: it suggested that Chuck Norris's dietary practice—subsisting entirely on red meat—is simultaneously so extreme it violates nutritional science and yet produces perfect health outcomes, implying his physiology transcends conventional dietary requirements. The joke worked by positioning him as operating in a space between normal human nutrition and something entirely different.