The Carnivore Diet

[Gawan]

Listening to the recent health and wellness show about the Carnivore Diet with Phil Escott I think that it would be good to have a topic of it's own about it and maybe some people would like to test it and report back. Beside getting some advices and facts about the diet itself.

Phil Escott himself has written a book ARTHRITIS - The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me, which isn't primarily about the carnivore diet. Though there are some other authors out there who wrote about it. In a quick search on Amazon Kristen Suzanne is one of many who wrote a book about it and maybe is a good starter to get an overview.

At least to my own story, I like to give it a shot since I'm more or less on an easy going Paleo Diet (with sometimes too many carbs) and after a longer time on a ketogenic diet it sounds like a good experiment. Especially considering my own health history of Diabetes, a life with almost no carbs is at least for me the best way to go when I'm looking back on my glucose levels. Anyway it sounds like fun, to do another experiment.

Here are some quotes from Kristen Suzannes book:

The Inuit, Plains Indians, Mongolians, and Masai are only a few of the more well-known meat-heavy cultures (meaning they ate a “mostly meat” diet most of the time). For the North American Plains Indians, the bison was famously the “staff of life” since prehistoric times, and they lived primarily on this and other game animals.

…

Supporting the idea that the carnivore diet is not dangerous is the fact that it’s not very different from the already popular “keto” diets that many people have been doing for years (and used for certain medical therapies, such as treating epilepsy). A ketogenic diet is a diet high in fat, adequate in protein, and low enough in carbohydrates that it forces the body to shift its metabolism to burn fats. In addition to specific medical uses, keto diets are popular with athletes and fitness enthusiasts who seek a high-muscle, low-fat body composition... which is basically all of them except powerlifters and sumo wrestlers. Most people going to a carnivore diet don’t do it with the aim at ketosis, but it’s a potential side benefit.

…

Reported Benefits of the Carnivore

Diet Let’s start with the commonly reported benefits of people eating a carnivore diet. Again, your mileage may vary. These results don’t always happen with everyone. Diet, though it plays a huge role, is only one of many factors in determining health. That said, I personally find it exciting to see these testimonials from people after they started a carnivore diet!

Improved skin, including clearing of skin tags, clearing of acne, eliminating eczema, and anti-aging effects seen on the skin as anti-inflammatory foods replace carbohydrates in the diet.

Carbohydrate cravings finally disappear. This usually happens after going through a 1-3 week transition period if the person is coming from a carbohydrate-rich diet. For people coming from a keto diet, they are already more fat-adapted and carb cravings can be eliminated much faster. Once the cravings disappear, it sticks. Plop a piece of cake in front of one of these folks, and they have no problem passing on it. Desire just isn’t there. In my case, I’d much rather have a ribeye.

Fat loss. There are countless testimonials showing people losing weight on a carnivore diet. Want to spend thirty minutes getting really inspired? Visit MeatHeals.com and browse the before-and-after carnivore diet pictures. People lose weight and gain energy. It’s effortless because they’re satisfied on the diet (meat is, after all, delicious), and cravings are controlled or non-existent. On the flip side, some people can gain weight... in a good way. If a person comes to the diet with malnourishment, it’s possible to gain some weight, maybe only temporarily, as the body rebuilds and changes from a carbohydrate-driven metabolism to a fat-adapted one. Some people therefore argue that the carnivore diet isn’t a “weight-loss” diet, but rather, that it burns fat and promotes muscle growth, making it an overall “improved body composition” diet.

Increased testosterone in men. According to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, men who ate a 10-week diet high in fat, low in fiber, saw an increase in testosterone 13% higher than the low-fat, high-fiber group. Anecdotally, Ryan Munsey, a performance coach with a degree in food science and human nutrition (ryanmunsey.com), went carnivore for 35 days and ate 2-4 pounds of meat daily. His testosterone jumped from 495 ng/ dL to 569.

• Reduction of pain and incidence of migraine headaches.
• Reduced joint aches and injuries with lowered inflammation.
• Improvement in allergies This applies to both food allergies (because of the eliminative nature of the carnivore diet and the healing that takes place) and seasonal allergies.
• Increased libido.
• Simplicity. It’s a simple diet that is easy to start and quite effortless to maintain. There are no complicated recipes to follow and much less time is spent in the grocery store and kitchen.
• Improved digestion and less time in the bathroom trying to poop for long periods of time. Some people report dramatic improvements (life-changing) in their digestive disorders as a result of no longer eating irritating foods.
• Improved sleep with many reports of needing less sleep.
• Improved cognition and focus.
• Strength gains and improved recovery time. Athletes have experienced gains in strength and quicker recovery from protein and nutrient-rich foods like beef and a reduction in inflammatory foods.
• Easier muscle maintenance. Some people have reduced the intensiveness of workouts while eating carnivore, yet find they’re able to maintain muscle and have great definition. (I’ve found personal joy in this one, as we travel abroad without access to a gym.)
• Feeling better mentally, with dramatic mood improvement. People report depression going away. They’re empowered, and they feel happy and strong. Confidence in abundance as they experience high performance.

The question arises. How to start it and how to do it? Kristen speaks also about ketu-flu symptoms once you switch over, but that it maybe is easier when you are eating already less carbs.

Ease Into It Slowly

One way to reduce the severity of the keto-flu symptoms, as well as just the mental adjustment, is simply ease into it gradually. Instead of going cold-turkey, start by making all breakfasts carnivore.

After a week, make all breakfasts and lunches carnivore. Wait another week and make all breakfasts, lunches, and dinners carnivore. This is just a sample; obviously, there are other schedules and ways to ease into it slowly. Feel free to get creative. Another way might be to start cutting out refined carbs from all meals first. Then, swapping grains with fruit and vegetables. Then, moving to all meat, etc.

Personally, I’m a cold-turkey kind of gal. Once I hear about something, I seek the benefits and experience immediately. It becomes an intense upfront learning curve, but I like that. Going cold-turkey was great for me, but I made sure to have enough meat and cheese in the house at all times. Start on a Weekend or Vacation You might prefer to start a carnivore diet during a time when you don’t have to work or don’t have intense obligations for other things. This could mean on the weekend, or better yet, on a long weekend away from work. This way, if there are keto-flu symptoms, they’re easier to tolerate.

On the other hand, some people might prefer the distractions of work.

The main thing I'm mainly concerned about is about losing weight again, but with eventually enough proteins this may not happen.

Anyway, I most likely start next weekend with it and give it a shot, but first some bad carbs need to be eaten, because once they are somewhere stored and I know that they exist it is hard to resist .

 

[Chrissy]

I really enjoyed that radio show and want to say thank you for having it. I think the all meat diet is a worthy experiment if you are having issues. I've been following the diet for about 2 months now. I seem to be carb sensitive and have been slowly gaining weight on a paleo diet. I went keto back in the spring, but even that wouldn't take the weight off. I was also having hormonal issues and experiencing signs of menopause. I'm sort of young for that and decided I needed a reset with my diet. I didn't experience keto flu, but it took me about 2 weeks to have my digestive system adapt. I ended up losing 14 pounds during that time which probably was not very healthy. I had to experiment with different digestive enzymes, but after a month, it worked itself out and also my monthly cycle went back to normal. My original plan was to do it for a month and slowly incorporate the vegetables that I never had a problem with before. What I am finding is that I have reactions now to food I never considered I was sensitive to. It's also not the normal reaction like stiffness in the joints, it's an immediate headache. I decided to stop testing for now and just keep with eating only meat. My weight is slowly coming down, but more importantly, I find I have more energy and my depression has lifted.

 

[genero81]

Listening to the recent health and wellness show about the Carnivore Diet with Phil Escott I think that it would be good to have a topic of it's own about it and maybe some people would like to test it and report back. Beside getting some advices and facts about the diet itself.

Yes, thanks for starting this. I had thought of doing so myself. I'm on day seven already. I feel fantastic. The transition was rougher than I anticipated being already low carb. Especially day four. However, I did my "Body by Science' workout that morning so that may have contributed. It was very much like transitioning to keto. Tired, hungry with a constant mild headache. After I got up the next day and got moving, I felt reborn. I have been sleeping slightly less as well since the transition, getting up earlier.

I was so excited about how I was feeling on Tuesday that I was talking to my boss about it at work. I guess it was infectious because he started on it yesterday! I warned him about the transition period.

I have been wondering if it's okay to still consume coconut oil?

 

[dugdeep]

I'd dabbled with the idea of going full carnivore for awhile, but the interview with Phil Escott inspired me to take the plunge.

I'm on day 6 at the moment, and things are going pretty well. The biggest issue with transition has been digestion - feeling a bit of nausea after meals (although that's something I often feel) and at one point I woke up at 2 am with indigestion/heartburn. I've started taking betaine HCl with meals, which seems to be helping. In the bathroom things have been a little... looser than usual, but that seems to be sorting itself out (thank god - I don't need a Mikhaila Peterson 6 weeks of bathroom badness, thank you!). I've also been rather low energy and tired at points, but overall this doesn't seem nearly as bad as the keto flu I had back when I first transitioned to keto.

Cravings have been minimal. There were a few moments of wanting some carbs (chocolate, mostly) but they were relatively easy to resist, maybe because I was already relatively low-carb before transitioning. I've still been doing butter coffee in the morning and plan on keeping that unless I find I need to troubleshoot. I was thinking that probably meant I wasn't doing a true carnivore diet (if that's even a thing), but looking through Phil's facebook group it seems that there's actually a lot of variation within what they're calling carnivore. Seems a number of them, including Phil, are including eggs and dairy. I've still been doing a variety of meats, not the strict 'beef and salt' diet the Petersons are doing.

Like Chrissy, I've been paleo-ish for the last couple of years, after being keto for a number of years before that, but found I've gained a lot of weight in the last 6-8 months. It didn't seem like anything had really changed, so I'm not sure what it was that lead to the weight gain. I suspect it was just a slow creep of increasing carbs into the diet, even though I was still relatively low. I've never really figured out my carb tolerance using a ketone meter or anything, but I suspect it's quite low.

As for transitioning, I just jumped right in. I didn't find I needed to decrease anything slowly, and just woke up one day and thought "OK, I'm carnivore now". Since my breakfast has always been carnivore anyway, and I don't tend to eat lunch, it's really only been dinner that I've had to change.

 

[theos]

I've been doing it too and I would say I'm at about week two?? There wasn't much of a transition period for me. Frankly, I'm just glad to be eating regularly again after a period of prolonged/intermittent fasting. This is actually what I did when we all first started keto years ago and the only carbs I ate were onions and mushrooms. That's when I felt my best and lost weight. I also happened to eat primarily beef and lamb with eggs at that time. So back to the drawing board.

I have been wondering if it's okay to still consume coconut oil?

Most of the hardcore carnivores avoid the coconut oil because it's not an animal product. Some people have a problem with it. I guess it depends on how strict you want to be. I always thought that it tasted fine to me but did nothing as far as satiety, contrary to what a lot of paleo/keto types say. I'm all about the tallow.

Here's a link to the big carnivore group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/zioh2/

And if y'all are into podcasts there's lots of good stuff with Dr. Shawn Baker (has a book coming out early next year) and researcher Amber O'Hearn on YouTube.

This is a good one.

 

[Starshine]

I was wondering about opening the thread too! Thank you Gawan.
I kept on looking for it after listening to the show and decided to switch on Monday, so it's been four days now.
The transition was easy as I already eat low-carb/paleo/keto most of the time. It felt really intuitive to do so. I've always been much of a carnivore.

Georgia Ede's talk made me realize how plants actually defend themselves through this lecture:

Really entertaining to listen to her, really scientific in her approach, I like her humor too. Her website presents a great dose of information concerning food and diet which I will dig into especially regarding fiber, dairy and vegetables.

There's a book on the subject which seems interesting from the synopsis and reviews:

The Plant Paradox: The Hidden Dangers in ""Healthy"" Foods That Cause Disease and Weight Gain
April 25, 2017 by Dr. Steven R Gundry M.D.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/006242713X/ref=rdr_ext_tmb

What I can report so far is that I have no cravings at all. I eat probably as much meat as before, and I feel great about not having to eat the vegetables. I notice and listen faster when I'm full. Normally I tend to overeat and have digestion issues afterward, I may feel sleepy or just too full. It seems to me like it's actually eating vegetables that heighten cravings for sweets. Now when I am done, I am done. The fat stops overeating real quick. There is mental clarity all day long, better focus, motivation, and mood. No flatulence, no dental plaque, my teeth feel clean. I don't get as hungry expecting the next meal. It's changing my relationship to food in general. I will pay more attention to the whole digestion and as Phil said, already think 'today I'd eat beef'.

My oral health is improving, I tended to have bad breath in the morning, and this morning I woke up and it felt like the sensation of oil onto teeth. Breath is much better. I wonder if the nature of saliva is changing since there's no plaque forming on my teeth. I thought it was due to smoking before bed sometimes, but eh, surprise.
I woke up immediately light-headed which is rare since I take melatonin and that makes me groggy, apart from the fact that waking up is a slow process to me, normally.

Considering how it's going, I have no problem continuing the experiment. I'm adding Kristen Suzannes book on my list, thanks for sharing.

 

[theos]

Just found this site today: Just Meat. It contains a bunch of links to videos, articles, books (also old books that can be downloaded as a PDF) on carnivory.

 

[Skyalmian]

CARNIVORE DIET :: EAT MORE MEAT, MOSTLY BEEF

The carnivore way of eating has enormous health benefits for many people. It's not appropriate to call the carnivore diet a "diet" because the word diet implies that it's a temporary event. Nobody is searching Google for "carnivore way of eating," they're all searching for "carnivore diet." And sometimes "cavemen diet" or "meat diet." So here we are. I'm glad you found this post.

Anyone who has embraced this way of eating can tell you there will probably be some social challenges along the way. As it turns out, there are plenty of overweight and unhealthy people LOVE to give advice about diet and nutrition. They're not being malicious, they simply don't know what they don't know.

Every one of us had our "first day" hearing about the carnivore diet / way of eating and I have found it useful to assume most people in the world simply haven't had their first day yet.

I have the link to this page saved in my Notes app in my phone so I can copy/paste it into a text message or email when I find someone who would like to be educated. It's a great time-saver for me, so give it a try if you find yourself talking about your food choices on a regular basis.

This is a living page and I'll continue to add links to carnivore diet articles and related topics as I discover them. I have done my best to organize the links in a coherent format with subjects and headings that should make sense. When in doubt, use the Search bar in the lower right corner of this web page to search for keywords. If you have something to add, please post it in the comments.

See also: Meat Heals, @SBakerMD (World Carnivore Tribe), @KetoCarnivore.

 

[Harmony99]

Another excellent interview on SOTT. Phill Escott provided some insights on his reason for choosing
Meat as a major part of his diet. My take was his advice to eat your last full meal before 5 pm. I believe that as we grow older, we should look at eating earlier and having some fruit,tea and light meal if we still have to eat before bed time. We can also learn from the Japanese by reducing our portion each time we eat. To ensure we are getting nutrition and not only pleasure.
The biggest benefactor of the Vegetarians diets are the producers of seeds for super profits. Most of these plant cannot grow on their own.

 

[Keyhole]

I did pretty much 100% carnivore for around 1 year in 2014-15, and felt relatively good whilst on it.

I have been experimenting with it for a week or two. I have not been 100% every day - have had a bit of coconut oil here and there, and on avocado on one of the days. Overall, I feel as though it was easy to transition to this diet because I was very low carb naturally these past few years. Yesterday, I had very strong cravings for a little bit of veg, so cooked up red cabbage and spring greens.

This is the approach I think I will take : listen to the body and do what it asks of me. Most of the time, I can sustain a 100% animal based diet, and occasionally I will have the odd bit of vegetable when I crave it. This seems to be a sound approach - I think.

That being said, it may be worth chucking all veggies out of the house and powering through the cravings - perhaps they will naturally fade away by themselves.

 

[luc]

We are also joining the bandwagon. I often felt so crappy and cranky lately after eating, sometimes for over a day - seems to be some inflammation going on, possibly related to carbs or some things I don't take well. It seems that my sensitivity has even become stronger over the last weeks

It seems that there really are individual differences when it comes to diet, and worse yet, these things seem to change and shift!! Perhaps there is much more going on than "I'm allergic to XY" or "I can only take X amounts of carbs"? For one thing, the body/mind is a complex, interconnected system, so I guess you cannot always pin it down; it all interacts in complex ways. Also, psychological/"mind" stuff may be deeply interwoven with all of this in ways that defy simple causality or overly simplistic explanations. In other words, perhaps there is some kind of spiritual dimension to it that plays itself out on an individual level? I mean, if we talk about the "optimal diet" - optimal for what? What are our goals? What do we want to achieve? Where are we at in our lives and what kind of energy do we want to spend and when? Etc. So it seems our "optimal diets" are also a function of our current state of mind, aspirations and life situations, which obviously can change - and so do our dietary needs...?

Anyway, we are on day 2 and our plan for now is to go for various meats, plus butter and occasional dairy (like goat cheese). We also won't give up coffee for now, though I found my coffee cravings to be reduced. We also plan to do exceptions such as when we are eating with family and friends, because frankly, being less strict with diet is such an improvement in "life quality" in these kinds of situations. Perhaps this doesn't work out so well, but let's see.

 

[maiko]

As Luc said above we are giving it a try. Why put it off? I would otherwise wait for the "perfect moment" to start (no family gatherings ahead, no birthdays, etc.) The plan is to go carnivore in our daily life but not to stress ourselves when we have to be somewhere where a bit of adaptation is needed due to the social context (like having a salad with your steak ).

I will have to keep a close eye on how I feel because my last blood test two months back showed that I have low level of protein. I started taking apple cider vinegar with my main meal like a week ago and that already seems to improve things as I feel way less tired. I will also try the Betaine HCl and see how that works for me.

Nevertheless, I am now looking for a new doctor (the last one just told me to start my day on a protein bar) and get another test done in a month or two to avoid complications.
As it is only day two it is hard to tell anything, but I am amazed that so far it is relatively easy to switch from eating very well and varied (including chocolate) to eating just meat. I love eating and cooking so much that I am always prone to cravings when I think I am denying myself something diet wise. We will see.

 

[Starshine]

Here is the pinned post from the Facebook group World Carnivore Tribe, nice introduction, how to begin, feedbacks and resources. I guess having Quinton plasma would be great(awesome?) as an electrolyte supplement :

Links for Shawn Baker content:
Twitter:
Dr Shawn Baker (@SBakerMD) | Twitter
Instagram:
Shawn Baker MD (@shawnbaker1967) • Instagram photos and videos
YouTube:
Shawn Baker
One of our fellow moderators,Travis Stathams, was recently interviewed by the New York Post on the carnivorous diet! Check it out here!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/worldcarnivoretribe/permalink/285182508909067/
****
Welcome to the pinned post. Here will be some great resources and tools to help you along your carnivorous journey.
In the comments below is a quick infographic to reference whats allowed and whats not allowed.
RULES AND GUIDELINES:
If these cannot be followed a warning will be issued. If the problem persists you will be removed from the group. We do not want to remove anyone, but we ask you to respect our guidelines in order to keep this a fun and peaceful place.
1. Be respectful. This means no name calling, no attacking, no unnecessary remarks, etc. While its okay to disagree lets be adults here.
2. No anti vegan posts. This means no meme's or jokes against the vegan community. We are here to gather data and promote a carnivorous lifestyle. Lets be peaceful and respect others way of living even if it go against our beliefs.
3. No obscene progress pics. While showing off your transformation is great. We will not allow risqué photos that reveal too much of yourself. Keep it clean.
***
I have some FAQs that i compiled together from another group I am in. I was given permission to use it here by the group admin:
The FAQ's were written by the wonderful Esmée La Fleur who has been a carnivore for a long time. Shes very experienced and knowledgeable on this subject so I figured I should share this wealth of knowledge to you all.
Check out her website that is dedicated to Carnivorous eating:
Www.zerocarbzen.com
What foods are included on a Zero Carb diet?
Your primary focus should be on fatty meat, especially beef or another red meat like lamb. Pork, chicken, fish, and eggs, Low Carb dairy products like heavy whipping cream and hard cheeses, salt, pepper, and seasonings. But it is important to understand that some or all of these other Zero Carb foods may not be compatible with your body (causing inflammation), and they may prevent weight loss if that is your goal.
If you chose to grab a carnivorous 'snack food' make sure to check the ingredients. A lot of jerkies, sausages, and other cured meats usually have wheat and syrups added to them. Therefore its best to shy away from 'snack food' and opt for the real deal. Some pork rind brands only contain pork rinds and salt which is completely fine, but is suboptimal as all 'snack foods'. Jerky can be made at home with a dehydrator which is a pretty optimal snack if its made with approved items on the list. Theres various recipes found on the web for this.
Many carnivorous folks like to eat fast food beef patties. For the most part this is fine in a pinch. However many get added cheese. The link below will provide further explanation why getting cheese may be a bad idea:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/163527891074530/permalink/176802906413695/
Should I be concerned with counting macronutrient ratios?
No. Especially not in the beginning. The best thing to do is to start simply by eating fatty meat. None of the successful long term Zero Carb-ers counted or tracked anything. They just ate fatty meat to satiety. If you chose fatty cuts of meat, you will automatically be eating a macronutrient ratio of about 70% fat and 30% protein by CALORIES, and you will be eating a 1:1 fat:protein ratio by GRAMS (that is 1 gm of fat to 1 gm of protein). We encourage you to try this for 30 days and see how you feel before making any adjustments. Unless you are unable to obtain fatty meat, you should not need to add extra fat to your meat. However, if getting fat meat is a problem where you live, then you might need to add some butter or other fat to equal this 1:1 fat:protein GRAMS ratio.
Do I need to be concerned with ketosis?
No, not unless you have epilepsy, cancer, or another major health problem that requires a strict ketogenic diet. There are no magic macronutrient ratios that will produce nutritional ketosis. Some people, due to severe metabolic damage, need to limit protein (75 gm) considerably to stay in ketosis, while others can eat surprisingly large amounts of protein (150 gm) and still remain in nutritional ketosis. Many people come to the Zero Carb way of eating from a Low Carb or Ketogenic diet background, and they have been taught that they need to add lots of fat to achieve a fat percentage of 70% or higher. Again, unless you have a serious medical condition that requires deep ketosis, adding a lot of fat to achieve a high fat percentage by calories can be very counter-productive for many people, especially if you want to lose weight. Being in ketosis does not automatically equal weight loss. Being in ketosis simply means that you are burning fat for energy. The question is: Are you burning dietary fat or body fat? If you are obese and seeking to lose excess body fat, you obviously want to be burning body fat for energy. But eating too much dietary fat can actually prevent this from happening. In that case, you want to eat as much protein as you can handle metabolically without raising fasting blood glucose above 90 mmol/L (100-150 gm of protein is a safe place to start = 1.0-1.5 lbs of meat), and only eat enough fat to feel satisfied. This is why we recommend fatty meat without extra added dietary fat in the beginning of your Zero Carb journey. If you are of normal weight and are just seeking to maintain your current weight, then you will likely need to eat more dietary fat. So, in that case you would need to either 1) eat even fattier meat; or 2) add extra fat like butter as needed.
How much should I eat at one time?
We recommend eating when hungry and eating to satiety. Some people do best on 3 meals a day, while others do best on 2 or even 1 meal per day. Let your appetite guide you. Do not intentionally restrict calories or food intake. When you are first beginning a Zero Carb diet, you can be unusually hungry. Let your body eat. If you restrict and feel hungry, you will have cravings for non-Zero Carb foods and may go off the diet. If you eat enough fatty meat at your meal, you will not feel like snacking in between meals, and you should feel satisfied for many hours. If you feel continually hungry after eating, either 1) you are not eating enough; or 2) the meat is not fatty enough for you. Many of us who have been eating a Zero Carb diet for a while find that we average about 1.5-2.0 lbs of meat per day. Some eat more, some eat less.
Is it normal for me to feel crappy when I first adopt a Zero Carb diet?
Yes! This is what is known as the “Zero Carb Flu.” There are two main reasons that a person can feel lousy when first adopting this way of eating: 1) you are going through withdrawals from foods or other substances to which you are physically addicted; and 2) the fluid balance in your body is undergoing a drastic change. Not much can be done to minimize withdrawal symptoms; you sort of just have to grin and bear it. But with the shift in fluid balance, there are some things you can do that might be very helpful. When you first start eating a Zero Carb diet, you lose a lot of excess water, and with the elimination of this water, you also lose a lot of electrolytes: sodium, potassium, magnesium, chloride. This can make you feel tired, headachy, dizzy, nauseated, etc. The best way to remedy this problem is to take supplemental electrolytes, especially while you are going through this adaptation phase. Celtic sea salt or Himalayan rock salt will provide you with extra sodium and chloride. A great product that supplies both potassium and magnesium is on called “Ionic Potassium” my Trace Minerals Research. This is a full electrolyte formula and also includes some sodium and chloride, but probably not enough for the purpose.
If you want to increase you potassium consumption naturally on a Zero Carb diet, the only way to do that is through meaty bone broths. Beef bones with just cartilage attached will not serve the purpose here. The bones have to have meat on them because the potassium is in the meat part. The best and most affordable choices, therefore, are whole chicken or turkey parts. Cook the meaty bones covered with water in a crock pot for 24 hours, strain liquid, toss meat and bones (everything important has been cooked out of them), remove the fat, add Celitic sea salt or Himalayan rock salt and you will have a pretty good electrolyte replacement beverage.
Is it normal to experience nausea, GERD (reflux), or diarrhea on a Zero Carb diet?
Both of these symptoms are usually due to excessive fat intake. But, in some people, they can also be caused by the ingestion of certain types of fat. The best approach s to simply reduce your total fat consumption for a while to allow your digestive system a chance to learn how to handle a higher fat diet. If this does not do the trick, then you may need to remove all rendered fats (fats that are cooked out of meats and become liquid). A number of us who have been eating a Zero Carb diet for a while have found that we are simply unable to digest rendered fats. It does not matter how long we have eaten this way, they still make us severely nauseated or cause GERD (reflux) or diarrhea. Different people seem to have very different thresholds for fat. Some people cannot eat more than 65% of calories as fat, while others can easily eat 85% of calories as fat without any issue whatsoever. So, we are all unique and need to figure the balance that works best for us as individuals. A number of Zero Carb-ers have improved their ability to handle fat by doing one or more gall bladder flushes. It is something to investigate and possibly try if you have difficulty with fat digestion, but it is not universally helpful to everyone who tries it.
What is wrong with plant foods anyway?
Many plants have chemical toxins that they produce to deter herbivores from over-grazing on them. Some humans do not seem to metabolize these natural chemical toxins very well, and even the smallest amount can be detrimental.
See [Esmee's] article on Salicylates:
Salicylates
Don’t we need to eat fiber to prevent constipation?
Surprisingly, no. In fact, fiber is often the cause of constipation. On a Zero Carb diet, you will not have bowel movements as often as on a high fiber diet. Everyone is different, but the average is 1-2 times per weeks. However, some only go once ever 10 days or so. As long as you do not experience any pain or discomfort, then there is nothing wrong or abnormal happening. There is just a lot less residue on a Zero Carb diet, so not as much waste needs to be eliminated. In fact, this is one of the primary benefits noted by the military when the troops were fed a pemmican (dried meat and fat mixed together) diet. It reduced the amount of waste being produced and this was a major thing while men were confined to trenches during wartime. If you do find yourself constipated, we would suggest that you try increasing the amount of fat you are eating.
***
Matt MaierrerstedMatt Maieraier
Here's a quick (<7min) video showing how to use Track-Well for Carnivore Month. Let me know if I can make it better or do something else.

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Related Links
(will be updated periodically):
http://www.empiri.ca/p/eat-meat-not-too-little-mostly-fat.h…
Zero Carb Health
Shawn Bakers Website:
nequalsmany.com
Carnivorous Online Forum:
http://www.principiacarnivora.com/
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[Yas]

This is very interesting! After I made my transition to the keto diet, I ended up eating basically a diet like this one for a while because I discovered I was intolerant to so many plant foods. For me it was funny because I was mostly vegetarian for all my life before that. I used to joke saying that I probably topped my consumption of plants for this life-time . Even the most typical spices and some plants used for tea seemed to be problematic for me and it was an issue because all the people in the paleo community (including holistic physicians with knowledge about autoimmune conditions related to diet) are always recommending to eat plenty of veggies too.

For most foods, my symptoms weren't as strong as some of the testimonials we hear (mostly mild pain in joints, fatigue, headaches and brain fog), but some plants do seem to be poison for me and I don't even want to try them now, even though I'm much more tolerant at the moment.

Having said that, I still have to read more about this particular diet, but my experience is that after some time of being so intolerant and sticking to a very strict diet, I started trying things again and I seem to be tolerant to foods that triggered some symptoms before. As far as I understand this could be a signal that my gut is healed (or at least in much better conditions) and that my immune system is working better. Nevertheless, I do think there is mild inflammation going on now (I'm eating veggies everyday now and more carbs too) due to some signals in skin, energy levels, mild headaches for time to time, etc. Nothing really bad, but these are signals that make me think about what has been said in other threads about how food intolerance can sometimes be "accumulative". As if you "reset" the system by eating a diet based on mostly meat, water, salt, and some very restricted plant-based foods, you're OK for some time when you introduce things back, but the the inflammation accumulates and you start getting some of the symptoms again.

I guess that even if one decides to not be overly strict about this carnivore diet, keeping the meals as simple as posible with only some veggies/plants that we are sure to tolerate most of the time is probably a good idea for people that feel they have this kind of issues. Then, when there's an occasion to eat differently, the body isn't so stressed and probably can handle the toxins from plants better. This is also the diet that is proposed in some places as "the autoimmune diet/protocol", with many saying that after the elimination period, when they do the reintroduction of foods, they decide to stay with the "elimination diet" because they feel better with it.

Finally, as with other diet experiments, I think that it might also be the case that this isn't for everyone. Maybe there are genetic makeups that need more carbs and veggies, as has been said elsewhere. And also, I like the approach that says that if a strict diet becomes a huge concern that ends up stressing you out more than what it should, maybe it's a good idea to relax about it a little... stress is also very bad for health. Well, that's my humble opinion...

I'll read more about this and maybe give it a try too. Thanks for all the info and testimonials!

 

[maiko]

I wanted to share a quick update. This is day seven I am doing this carnivore thing. My meals consisted of broth with butter and some boring sausage (not many spices) for breakfast, some ham for a snack and roasted beef or lamb for dinner.

First insight for me, I really do love meat! Like I really enjoy eating meat and suddenly I get a much better sense of taste for it. As I like cooking I was afraid the diet would totally bore me and I would have cravings all the time. But so far it is the opposite, I enjoy the meals and miss nothing. I decided to give it a month to see how I am doing and then find a balance between the carnivore style and my normal, pretty low carb diet.

I do drink coffee and water, eat meat, butter, ghee and olive oil and use more than just salt but less spices than usual. With my normal diet I would normally eat breakfast and an early dinner, since switching to all meat I need a third small meal for lunch otherwise I feel weak and lightheaded. After the meals (that are smaller than I thought) I feel full but in a good way, not tired and bloated but sated and with a good level of energy. Funny thing is that I have really clear ideas about what kind of I meat I want to eat, normally I love pork but at the moment, when I think of eating, I think of beef, lamb or fish.

There were some side effects in the beginning, the first three nights I woke up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat and totally overheated, that is gone now and I sleep like after a good NO session, deep and recovering.

And of course the digestion got in turmoil and I must say I was happy I got to work from home during the first couple of days because when I needed a bathroom, I needed it fast.

Another observation was that for the first time in years I had no menstrual cramps to speak of. I discovered herbal oils to help me ease the pains a couple of months back but this time I forgot about them and didn’t even take painkillers, that was pretty amazing, since I a m so used to being a whining piece of pain for one or two days.

To sum this up: For me it is working pretty nicely and is much easier than any other restriction I ever introduced in my diet, I even manage to forget about the French Caramels I got for my birthday (for the moment). But I will try and figure out to find the right balance, incorporating my normal eating habits into this, because that seems more practical in the long run. Obsessing about keeping to strict diet rules was never good for me and I want to keep it as relaxed as it is at the moment where I am really feeling very good. And I will do a check up after a month to see what my protein levels and the rest say.