For those of you who don't know, I started an animal-based diet at the end of April. I am an experimenter. I try all sorts of things to see how it will affect me and benefit the people I treat.
I've been watching people on the carnivore diet for years and just couldn't wrap my head around it but was also intrigued. So, I just sat on the sidelines and learned.
I once suffered from monthly menstrual migraines that would take me out. I finally got rid of those for a while but then was sick with COVID in February and they returned.
On a Monday in mid-April, I had a nasty migraine right before a class I needed to go to. I was craving steak and butter, so I cooked up an 18oz steak and put a bunch of butter on it. My migraine lessened. That has never happened. I always have to go to bed when they come. This is when I decided to try the carnivore thing.
I'm not going to lie, the social programing about red meat got to me. I would do it for a few days, get off, get back on. Finally at the end of April, I was committed.
Dr. Paul Saladino's educational YouTube page was very helpful in easing my worries about all things negative health with this diet. Dr. Shawn Baker and Dr. Anthony Chaffee are other great resources. I would go to them for research, they've done a lot more than I'm willing to publish here....
After watching Dr. Saladino's information on carbs and hormones about 2 weeks into the diet, I decided to add in some fruits, honey, and raw dairy to make sure I didn't crash my hormones. Some people do fine on just meat, some people need a little more. The beauty is experimenting with what works for you.
My Eating
A typical day of eating on this diet is burgers (Bison or Beef) and eggs, sometimes bacon or smoked salmon for breakfast. Burgers with salt and butter for lunch, sometimes burger or chicken mixed with avocado sprinkled with citrus LMNT salt. Dinner is steak, salt, and butter with the occasional fish, scallops, shrimp, or oysters. I've had squash a few times, bananas, blue berries, strawberries a few times per week. Sometimes orange juice. I still do a little Swiss-water decaf coffee with raw milk or butter and LMNT chocolate salt. Dessert I'll make homemade raw milk ice cream with honey sweetener and either vanilla bean or fruit, and that is occasionally.
The Changes
After doing some testing, my gut was a mess (I took antibiotics quite a bit as a kid and did so in February when I was sick along with ivermectin), I was being exposed to gluten even though I'm so careful, my chronic strep and EBV markers were really high, and my immune system was garbage. I am a pretty clean eater but that wasn't enough to heal my current state.
This diet has had the most notable changes of everything I've tried, including other diets, supplements, healing modalities, IVs, you name it.
My brain fog is gone, fatigue now only happens when I've earn is vs always being tired, I'm losing fat and working out less, my migraines are gone, menstrual cramps gone, energy and bloating during that time were waaaayyyy better, and I've felt a weird sense of peace. Like my nervous system is calmer. Sleep is better. And I'm on ZERO supplements.
My Qest4 scans have dramatically changed for the better. The beginning of the diet was rough, but now I have the best-looking scans I've seen yet. So many issues are clearing up now!
Important to Note
There is a transition time on this diet so if you decide you want to try it out yourself and you eat a lot of carbs, gradually reduce your carbs to avoid the keto flu.
As you stop eating plants, you'll start dumping the oxalates they store in your body. This will cause joint pain. It will go away but it isn't fun to deal with. Gradually reduce to avoid this.
Constipation happens when you don't eat enough fat. You want high fat in this diet. I use beef tallow, butter, and fatty steaks like ribeyes for my fats. Sometimes avocado.
Loose stools happen when you're not used to this much fat intake. Start low and gradually work up to prevent this.
Sleep and electrolytes can get wonky. Eat plenty of salt or buy electrolytes like LMNT to help with this.
Moving Forward
I'm really happy with the way I feel and plan to continue to eat this way and run bloodwork to see changes. I might play around with introducing fermented veggies in the future, I might not. I might occasionally eat a gluten free treat, I might now. It's so early in the process but it's been a fun experiment!
The Importance in Diet
When I started my health career back at 18 years old, I thought diet was the most important thing. Then I went through a rebellious phase where I was experimenting to see if health could be achieved without dietary changes. Maybe it was a modality or supplements that would help.
Unfortunately, I don't think there is any substitute for a good diet. We're just not adapt to eat this many grains, processed foods, or this much sugar. Our health issues in America are from mismanaged blood sugars. That will show up as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, autoimmune, and many, many other things. The best thing you can do for your health is have happy blood sugar which fasting you want between 75-86 and an A1c of 4.60-5.30.
At this point I believe to do a carnivore cleanse to build up nutrients and heal the gut for 1-3 months then add fruit, honey, raw milk, eggs slowly over the next few weeks if you feel like you need to and see how you feel. Make sure you've healed blood sugar issues before introducing these. From there, if you want to add in grains, nuts, seeds, or veggies back in, do them 3 days apart and see how you feel. Brain fog, bloating, gas, skin issues, mental health, these are great indications something is wrong.
Try it and see what you think! I'm pretty sure you'll only need my services when you're acutely ill, injured, or need nervous system balancing/stress management.
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