Hey everyone, sorry for the delay!
Jordan’s Zero-Carb Update:
Anyway, like I said last week, Dad started the carnivore diet. I told him I thought it could take up to a month for the doom-y mornings to get better. I don’t say “doom-y” lightly. I mean waking up and having all your worries flood in plus more, feeling overwhelmed, wanting to hide your head under the covers and go back to sleep. This doesn’t even describe it well enough. doom-y like there’s something deeply wrong and there’s no way to fix it.
For those of you who don’t know, Dad and I had extremely severe depression/anxiety. We managed to get most of it under control with the extremely strict original diet. No cheating. AT ALL. I would say it worked better for me than for dad mood-wise. It fixed his autoimmune symptoms, he lost 50 pounds, got rid of his snoring and GERD, so it helped, but it wasn’t good enough to completely remove the anxiety-ridden mornings. And anxiety-ridden is putting it mildly. He was experiencing a doom-y feeling in the mornings that would slowly fade by the evenings. No way to live really.
Anyway he went from eating meat and greens to only eating meat and felt better in TWO days. TWO. DAYS.
What’s only eating meat mean? It means chicken, beef, salt, and water or sparkling water. That’s it. I stick to beef because I think it makes me feel better, but he’s doing chicken too.
Now he’s not all the way better. He’s waking up doom free, at about a 7/10 according to him. But that’s an incredible improvement. Doom is not a nice feeling to wake up to. And it’s only been eleven days. He saw improvement in 2. Even I’m surprised at how fast it was. I’m assuming it was this quick because he had already cut 99% of the problem foods.
He’s shocked. He keeps saying, “Can that REALLY have been carbs? Like.. REALLY?” And yep folks, somehow it’s the carbs. So that’s fantastic news. I’m over the moon. He did improve mentally with the old diet. He went off meds, and stopped napping, and is much clearer in his thinking. But the anxiety didn’t go away. It’s been so stressful watching him improve physically but not all the way mentally for the last 3 years. Plus then he shot to fame and there’s been extra stress so it’s been hard to tell what’s life and what’s diet. Turns out the anxiety was diet! So that’s great.
Here’s a video. Couldn’t upload it here, too big.
I was over there Tuesday and he was smiling, playing with the baby, and happier than I’ve seen him in years. Thank GOD. I’ve been torturing him with my diet for almost 3 years and it’s helped but that stupid horrible anxiety was so hard to get rid of. And it seems to be fading out extremely quickly! Success. FUCK YOU WORLD – WE WON.
Anyway. I’m pretty stoked.
Wow, happy baby and grandpa!! It doesn’t get much better than that.
I am curious how your hips and ankle are doing with this diet? Have your inflammation and pain in those joints improved? I was diagnosed with a hip that needs replacing and spinal stenosis but I don’t trust the doctor’s diagnosis.
I’m starting a keto diet based mostly on the stories of your dad: from the book and podcasts. It’s been only a couple of days and I really do not feel much different physically BUT there is this thin veneer of accomplishment and pride after every day which is quite comfortable. Returning from pubs and live music completely sober is also quite a change.
I wish your whole family all the best; you are on a good track and you deserve every inch of it.
Thats awesome to read. I’m on day 5 and looking around like a stunned animal wondering where all the discomfort, aches, pains and crappy feelings went. I hadnt even realised they were there, I was so used to them. I’m noticing the absence of things that I had not being noticing the presence of! Sounds weird, feels weird. But good.
I had the same experience. I think your body get’s used to some pain and blocks it out. It took me a month to realize I wasn’t itchy anymore. It had been there for so long I hadn’t thought about it. Good luck!
Does anyone find that constipation is a problem with an all meat diet?
A normal digestive tract is about 7 metres of intestines.
A high protein meat diet will slow down the passage of food and you will likely experience a bout of constipation. If you are allergic to red meat you will have diarrhea. The whole thing is problematic.
RonW, unless you have personally done it, it would be best for you not to comment. It is a testiment to the power of advertising to see how many people are brainwashed by the cult of fiber. Your cult is killing humanity whilst claiming to save it. Be the apex predator your genetic heritage demands, not the chattle your corporate masters manipulate you to be. You were born free. Your culture has made you a slave.
A common mistake: did Mikhaila mention portion sizes?
Nobody said “high protein”, they only mentioned protein. They may actually be eating less protein than a typical westerner but oh, how people are quick to label a “high protein” diet.
True, there’s definitely a hell of a lot of fat in this diet, not just protein. I’m going to post about the fat to meat ratio that we’re eating soon, and meal portions. I find that if I eat lean cuts it upsets my digestion (diarrhea). If I eat too fatty cuts (more than 2 ribs) it upsets my digestion (diarrhea). If I eat something like ribeye I have no problems. Or I can mix leaner cuts with fat and I’ll be fine. I usually err on the side of more fat than less fat. There’s definitely been no problem with constipation.
Have you tried digestive aids such as bromelain, apple cider vinegar, or lipase (for fat absorption)?
Ron, with respect, you don’t know what you are talking about. Going low or zero carb will make you much more regular. The only thing that will bung you up is cheating. I’ve been nearly zero carb for over a year and have never come close to constipation. Far from it actually.
The rule of thumb for zero carb diets is that if you ‘re constipated, eat more fat, and if you have diarrhea, eat more lean. Most people have no problems going.
anyone with your father’s workload and pressure would be under enormous stress. So ketogenic diet does make you sleep better. But long term you will get very depleted in essential nutrients and also up you cancer risk enormously without fruit and vegetables. I can’t for the life of me see how nuts, fruits or vegetables can ‘contribute’ to anxiety. I hope once your father feels better he will introduce foods back in his diet. Adding orthorexia to anxiety is not going to be beneficial long term. Is there any scientists or dieticians who are working with you guys to help you to pinpoint what your reactions to food are being caused by? My concern as a human for another is that your gut biome is going to be seriously depleted and therefore your immunity too. I’m worried for your father with his workload and his mental health. How can eating a foods humans were designed to forage be ‘bad’ for anyone? I’d like to see him at least try some crossover studies and introduce foods back. He’s too thin IMO, but seriously I wish you guys all he best in your quest, just hope your bodies don’t eat all your muscle and calcium up and leave you worse off. At least get some bone scans done soon. All the best to you.
Exactly…. humans are omnivores, not solely carnivores or vegans, and that’s how we evolved. This internet experiment is so unscientific it should be viewed as an anecdotal fad. You bet it’s dangerous and illogical.
If you’re interested in learning about zero carb diets, there are lots of groups on Facebook. The ones with people who have been doing this for 9, 10+ years are Zero Carb Health and Zeroing In On Health. All your concerns are thoroughly addressed in those groups.
I think these people are trolls. It is best not to feed them.
I am Spartacus,
Appreciate you mentioning the Zero Carb Health website. A lot of interesting info on ZC. Just getting into this program, looks great!!
TY, Gracchus
“Orthorexia” is a funny way of spelling “put every single one of her autoimmune diseases as well as treatment resistant depression into complete remission.”
Anyway, there are things in plant foods that are absolutely bad for certain people. Plants can’t run away like animals can–instead, they have developed pretty sophisticated antinutrients to ward off predators. Oxalates, lectins, and salicylates are a few examples.
http://www.diagnosisdiet.com/food/vegetables/#i11
+1 for what Spartacus said. I am a member of both groups. Although I’ve only been zero carb for 56 days, I’ve already noticed many improvements. Dropping close to 20 pounds is another bonus.
P.S. Check out http://www.zerocarbhealth.com as well.
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