Here are my new thoughts about the carnivore diet since Dad’s improvement
1. If you are quite sick (by quite sick I mean you have an autoimmune disorder or autoimmune symptoms, or mental health issues) – going straight carnivore might save you a lot of pain and suffering. I went extremely low carb and basically fixed my issues and dad’s, and my husbands, but basically, everything we reintroduced made us incredibly sick, and the last 3 years have been hard. Not as hard as being really ill, but quite emotional, and quite frustrating. I never lost hope that food was the answer (and it is), but it was difficult. If you’re really ill, you might want to start with: meat and water and salt for at least 30 days. Then see how you feel, and decide what to do next. You need to get healthy before you can start listening to your body and learning what you need. I really believe all meat can do that the quickest. 30 days isn’t much if a time commitment to solve something seemingly unsolvable.
Obviously, there are no scientific studies on an all meat diet, not really anyway. You’re not going to be able to go to a doctor and have them tell you it’s a good idea. They’ll probably tell you you’ll die. Who knows. Everyone will judge you. Everyone judges you when you stop eating gluten or dairy, try not eating vegetables and see what kind of judgment you get.
But it’s only a month, and man is it effective. Then you can reintroduce different plants (I’d probably start with berries and greens I guess), wait a couple of days and see how you feel. But I think this is the fastest way to stop suffering. You can do step by step elimination – gluten, dairy, sugar, soy, etc. But honestly, fuck being sick. Get rid of it fast. Who cares about the foods you like.
2. If your only symptom is weight gain or problems gaining weight, I also think the easiest thing to do is to go carnivore and see how you feel. But this seems to be less of a complicated issue than mental health and autoimmune problems. Going low carb should help you lose or gain weight anyway.
3. I’ve been worried about suggesting an all meat diet to people (for obvious reasons). All I can tell you for sure is: I feel great, Dad is getting better, mom’s arthritis is gone, and it seems to be extremely effective for basically any health problem. Check out meatheals.com to see a ton of testimonies. There are no studies to back this up, so going the science route isn’t going to help. Maybe in the future, there will be. I believe there’s a company in Hungary testing out the meat diet to treat autoimmune disease so hopefully those studies will be available asap. I’m not worried about cholesterol. I was worried about dying from the multiple autoimmune disorders I had. I was worried about suicide from the depression that runs in my family. I was worried about my mom eventually needing her knees replaced. I was worried about my skin basically falling off my face. Idgaf about cholesterol, and I don’t think there’s enough evidence anywhere to claim any health problems related to eating meat. (Feel absolutely free to comment below with links to articles that show what your concerns are.) Being sick is horrible. Being alive is amazing. Not being exhausted all the time, not trying to cover up acne, not being miserable, bloated, overweight, arthritic, angry, and hopeless is awesome. Not waking up and laying in bed waiting for the doom to envelope you is unlike anything I’ve experienced before. You can try it out and go back if you want, but if you’re suffering, what is there to lose?
4. For those of you who have had only moderate success with removing things from your diet, I see absolutely no downside (except socially) to eating meat for a month.
5. All this being said, I do believe you can solve most (and some people may be able to solve all) of your food problems going low carb. I’m going to write a post roughly outline what I believe are the worst foods to the least damaging foods. Cutting out the top ones will improve you. I’m just starting to believe that carnivore might be best for really sick people.
Thanks for the support. It’s so nice to hear from people who have managed to fix their anxiety. Going the food route is a hard road, and you get a lot of flack for it. So good for you guys. Keep it up. And if it’s not working, try carnivore. Good luck to everyone.
Also, I will post more testimonies, if yours isn’t up, it will be.
More soon!
Hey there, ^^
After listening to Joe Rogan’s Podcast with Jordan Peterson, I got very curious and decided to read this blog. I can’t believe all the positive feedback this has gotten.(As in how effective this diet really is) I want to give it a try but I’m curious what a typical day looks like. For example: What does your average day look like? Do you eat mulitple times a day like you would with a regular diet. Or do you only eat once a day etc. I’ve been reading the comments on this blog to find more information on this but I can’t seem to find an answer.
Have a wonderful day everyone!
I’ve done this religiously for 7 months now. Based on my experience, but also TONS of reading more experienced people (Shawn Baker, Charles Washington, Joe/Charlene Andersen, Kelly Hogan, and MANY other long term carnivores), this is what I’d offer: just eat until you’re not hungry. If you’re not sure, eat more. It will stave off cravings at first, and those will disappear after a few weeks. Most people don’t eat enough. You just WON’T get fat on a carnivorous diet. And as far as frequency: eat a big, filling meal (beef is best, ideally just beef and water, but some do fine with eggs and pork, etc., also), then eat again when you’re hungry. Don’t ‘count’ or ‘time’ anything. I usually eat twice, around lunchtime and dinner time, but I could probably go to OMAD (one meal a day) easily. I’ve just found that my body’s hunger signals have become more natural and I simply follow them.
I’ve been able to drop ALL my lifetime allergy meds, migraine meds, I need less sleep, have much more energy, more stamina than ever, and my lifts at the gym are better than they’ve been in decades, plus many more bennies. I’m 65, and it’s been life changing. But that’s just my story, you have to decide for yourself and do the ‘N=1’ experiment. The first couple weeks are often challenging because you may still crave things, and your body has to ‘fat-adapt’ (‘keto-adapt’), which may make you cranky and tired for a bit. Also, most people have loose bowels at first as they adjust to digesting more fat and their gut biome changes its profile. But 30 days will tell you what you want to know. I’m willing to bet what on you’ll see if you stick to it.
I’m couple of weeks in. It’s all good and I feel like cravings apear if I eat something less fat that beef. I gahd couple of days of liquid bowel movement. It was gone within 3-4 days. But now I’m almost not having movement almost at all. I don’t feel worse but I wonder if it should be so or I need to step on salt or more fatty meats (that’s what I was reading)? About the salt how much on weight and in what way do you take it? I feel like salting already cooked piece of meat won’t help much or will it?
I am the first one on my family to have a diagnosed autoimmune disease; I have juvenile RA and lupus. I was diagnosed when I was 19 but my symptoms started up when I was 11. My mom took me to a homeopathic doctor who put me on an only meat and dairy diet for about 4 months and all my symptoms went away for about 3 years when the swollen joins came back. I never really thought of that until I heard your dad talk about your diet and read your blog, and now it makes sense why I felt better back then. I am on week two of the carnivore diet now, I have lost 4 pounds and my right knee looks normal (It was the size of a big grapefruit) the only side effect I have experienced so far is I am sleeping more, I am not tired but as soon as I sit or lie down I am out. Thanks for sharing your experience, I am glad this is working for you and I hope it works for me too.
i just watched your dads interview with joe rogan. a co worker recommended it bc she said it reminded me of my own story that i have shared with her. i dont have your same issues but i did go through a very arduous journey in the last handful of years and have managed to find my ideal diet and healed myself. about 6 years ago (age 25) i started experiencing many symptoms, seemingly unrelated, that i had never had to deal with ever in my life before. I always ate whatever i wanted to. i was generally a healthy female, although i suffered from anxiety, ADD, PTSD. All of a sudden i was very reactive to many things like medications, specially hormonal birth control. i had to completely stop that after being on it for many years. i started having IBS and chronic candida. i had tests done and all the doctors could tell me was it was food allergies. it was such a long list of foods i couldnt eat it was very difficult to understand and change my life. however even tho i tried so hard to avoid those foods i still had symptoms. it made no sense. i went to other doctors, nothing else seemed to be wrong with me. a few years had gone by and still i had no answered and suffered everyday. my IBS was so intense it was unbearable. major stomach cramping, bloating, constant diarrhea, leaky gut. my other symptoms were candida, acne, eczema, fatigue, brain fog, joint pain (lower back), light headed, night sweats, insomnia, hot flashes, depression, anger/aggression. i kept sinking in deeper and deeper into this symptom pit. after 4 years from when this all began i went to a naturpath doctor. She had a new idea i had never heard of before: Sulfur Intolerance. this is not allergies. it is actually about the liver not being able to metabolize sulfur. sulfur turns to ammonia when it is not metabolized. the sufferer actually experiences toxicity and ammonia poisoning. most of the time it caused by a genetic mutation(s) and in rare cases parasites. the easiest way to test it is by low sulfur diet for 2 weeks and supplementation. she said to take molybdenum (a mineral that helps the liver to process the sulfur) and the diet. Natural sulfur is in many foods which are actually healthy for most ppl: garlic, onions, cruciferous veggies, dairy, eggs, and legumes. other sulfur foods are, corn syrup (which i gave up long ago bc of adverse reactions) artificial sugars, cured meats, alcohol. within a few days i could tell an improvement. after the 2 weeks i was almost non-symptomatic and felt better than i ever had my whole life even. i still need to have genetic testing to confirm the sulfur mutations. but everything made sense now- finally i had the answer i was looking for. the thing about sulfur intolerance is that you have to find your tolerance level. a person cannot live without at least a small amount of sulfur in their diet. after clearing my system i am able to eat 1 sulfur food with each meal. foods i were reactive to before i could again- im sure its bc i had healed my leaky gut. sometimes i get greedy and have to much sulfur and symptoms comes back. it take 24 hours after eating the foods to get a reactive and about 48 hours for your system to clear. thats why it was so hard to figure it out before. allergic reactions are instant- sulfur intolerance is delayed bc im reacting to what happens when my body doesnt metabolize sulfur. it explains random and weird things that i have always dealt with. for one thing i could never drink a lot of alcohol- before i felt drunk i would get VERY SICK. my friends were always very worried for me- it was an issue early on when i was teenager. the first time i drank a beer i felt nothing was instantly threw it up. alcohol has a lot of sulfur that your body and instantly reject it. the first time i drank a shot of liquor i threw up in my sleep at age 14. in your dad’s interview with rogan he mentioned that you are both reactive to sulfites- which is derived from sulfur. and that when you stopped eating greens you felt better. most green veggies have sulfur- those are called cruciferous veggies (broccoli, spinach, cabbage, etc) but other veggies are still good: romaine lettuce, cucumber, tomato, zucchini/squash and others. i was wondering also if you have tried any home grown veggies with no pesticides/ chemicals. after everything i have gon through and researched about diet i am a firm believer that there is NO UNIVERSAL DIET that is good for everyone. everyone should go through their own diet experiments to see what makes them feel best. some ppl think they are healthy- until they eliminate something and they never thought they could feel so good. im very happy for you and your family for going through this very difficult journey and finding something positive in the end. although its never over and it never gets easier- we are motivated by how much better we will on our specific diets. id love to hear your feedback and an update on you and your dads diets and lab work.
IBS and autoimmune diseases are quite often caused by a condition called SIBO or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Eating a low fodmap (fermentable carbs) diet does help with symptoms and going full carnivore effectively eliminates fodmaps but instead of going so drastic and just managing symptoms you could look at ways to cure your condition. The most commonly used pharmaceuticals are rifaximin and neomycin or you could try herbal formulas containing berberine, allicin, and neem. The only diet that has ever been proven to cure SIBO is an elemental diet so you could also look at that as it does have an 80 to 90% success rate. You are compromising long term health for short term relief of your symptoms. The hardest cases of SIBO to treat are the ones where people have gone low fodmap to manage symptoms for long periods of time. When you starve the bacteria they tend to go into hibernation and develop a protective biofilm that then makes it harder to treat. Over 10% of the population has SIBO so a lot of people would experience short term relief from going carnivore. I had SIBO too but instead of managing my symptoms with diet I proactively treated it. If I went carnivore I would have experienced the same benefits you all have except it’s not a cure. I’d rather cure my condition and then eat the foods I want to eat rather than live with eating such a restrictive diet the rest of my life.
I don’t have SIBO. I was tested. And I would also prefer to eat a less restrictive diet but my problems aren’t solved as easily as taking rifaximin.
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