Category: Success Stories

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Mark gives credit to his carnivore diet for his quick recovery after a biking accident.

On Saturday June 6, 2020 I had a mountain bike crash that knocked me out and put me in the hospital.  I had no broken bones and the only other injury was a cut on my left cheek which required four stitches.  My diet is meat based, with about 90% of my total calories coming from animal products with 0% coming from seed oils and processed food.  I’m 49 and have been active my entire life moving from baseball and football as kid to bike racing, hockey, cross country/trail running as a teenager, all of which I’m still participating in.  Weightlifting has been part of my program since age 12 and meat has been the foundation of my diet forever.  In the last few years as my wife and I became aware of the Carnivore diet (thanks to Dr. Baker) the grains and inflammatory junk has mainly been removed.

I’ve attached photos showing me hours after the crash, in the hospital, to eight days after the crash hiking with my wife.  My recovery was remarkable and I give full credit to the meat based way of eating and being physically active.  Family and friends have been astonished by my recovery and I’ve been spreading the word.  I actually posted an Instagram story of a collage of these pics with the caption “You don’t recover from this injury over 8 days with kale smoothies”.  Please feel free to share my story.  Your platform reaches many people and hopefully my story will push someone to meat based WOE or give them a reason to stick with carnivore. 
Mark
Mark
Mark
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Lee’s fibromyalgia, anxiety and depression symptoms have cleared up on a carnivore diet.

I am 71. I’ve been on keto and carnivore for 2 months and I can’t remember feeling this good. 
I was raised on meat, potatoes and vegetables. Then I ate vegetarian, and vegan. The vegan diet was hard for me and I never felt good. 
Depression, anxiety, and back injuries were constant during my adult life. Latter I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia.  I also developed ovarian cysts, so ovaries were removed when I was forty, and I had to get used to very low estrogen. 
When I started eating keto and carnivore I QUICKLY noticed a difference because depression and anxiety vanished. It’s hard to describe how I feel, so I’ll just say I feel wonderful. The fibromyalgia has gone and hopefully with time, my back will heal. It’s only been a month on carnivore. 
I urge you to try carnivore. I wish I had always been on this diet. 
Now I know plant toxins are real because of the oxalates my body has stored in all my organs, bones, glands and tissues. I’m experiencing oxalate dumping, but I still feel better on carnivore than any plant based diet. No more vegetable oils, tofu or nuts and seeds. I’ve always loved eating meat and now I don’t feel bad about it. Meat heals.

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Sara has experienced relief from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome and anxiety, her hair is growing in thicker, her skin is clearer and she has lost weight on a carnivore diet.

 

I wanted to leave this here for anyone who is interested in hearing my story. If I can help just one person feel the pain relief I have then its worth sharing.

About a year and a half ago I was injured from a incorrect IV poke that led to a IV infultration in my left arm. Within a month later I was diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. About a month after that it quickly spread down my left leg then eventually to my entire body. Even though I consider myself pretty unlucky for developing this horrible disease I’m truly blessed to have been properly diagnosed so quickly. I went through tons of doctors, all offering different treatments or just simply saying they didn’t know how to help me. Most of the options pushed my way were the typical pain medications which I was always apprehensive to start using due to a family history of addiction. I eventually was prescribed gabapentin while slightly giving me pain relief… this quickly gave me memory loss and suicidal thoughts- a horrible side effect of the drug. I realized what was happening and took myself off it right away. I then switched to amitriptyline. This helped me a decent amount for a few months to at least keep my pain flairs under control and not as severe. Unfortunately I had fast weight gain even though I had been eating a ketogenic diet for over 2 years at that point and eventually it stopped working as well but I continued taking it. During this time I went to a doctor in NJ who specialized in CRPS and under his care had a series of Stella Ganglian Nerve Blocks. This gave me pretty decent relief for about 3 months. In December I got pregnant and I came off the amitriptyline because the risks didn’t outweigh the benefits I was receiving. I was miserable with pain flairs during the 12 short weeks I was pregnant – unfortunately I miscarried and it sent my body into a horrible, long flair.

I struggled for a few months on nothing but high potency CBD which has actually been one of the best non addictive pain relief remedies I have ever come across – however its short lived relief of only a few hours and was very expensive to buy made it not a great option for me long term all the time. I was desperate for pain relief so I made an appointment to schedule more nerve blocks with my Dr in NJ (I live halfway across the country btw thanks to being a military spouse). Unfortunately before I could get on a flight out there, COVID-19 happened and I was left with canceling my appointment, restricted from travel, and my procedure deemed non-essential. At this point I was extremely desperate. 

Two years earlier I had dabbled a little in the Carnivore Diet due to my long time practice of Keto in our house and my love of nutritional science. I tried it for about a month and then went back to Keto because I liked my freedom of eating a variety of things and it managed my endometriosis just fine even though I felt really great during that month. Well about 6 months ago I decided to give the diet another look. I already knew some foods triggered pain flairs for my CRPS and I have read hundreds of testimonials of people finding relief, remission, and regression of diseases doctors have deemed a hopeless cause on meatrx. I decided to give it my all because I had nothing else to loose. Well folks im (almost) SIX months in and I am happy to report I feel, for the 1st time in almost 2 years, I have finally gotten my life back! I will not go and say that I’m cured. Because I’m not, I still have CRPS and I always will. But I have gone from having an average NON-FLAIR pain level of 7 every day to having my average pain level being a 0-1. I have been having flairs on average 1x a month with a pain level of about 5 and it usually only lasts a day or two because I was doing something that was really straining my body. CBD oil normally helps me get that in check quickly and continue on my day. Before Carnivore my pain was flairing to a 8-10 weekly. If that benefit wasn’t good enough for me, I feel good enough now I was able to go back to work again and keep a full time job. I’m slowly starting to be able to exercise again, my anxiety has lifted, my skin is clearer, I’m losing weight, my hair is growing back thicker, and I’m no longer depressed. As of right now. I don’t see myself going back to eating Keto and certainly not a Standard American Diet. I feel too good to change what I’m doing. My CRPS is going to be apart of me for better or for worse so I want to keep doing what I can to make every day just a little bit better.

God bless!!

I pray that my story helps someone out there looking for alternative pain relief.

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Deidre’s psoriasis has cleared up, her hair is growing in thicker and she has lost weight on a carnivore diet.

Hi Shawn,
 
I’ve been 90% carnivore since June 24, 2020.  This journey has been amazing. I’ve lost 12 pounds, but more than that, my body has begun to recomposition itself.  The scale isn’t moving, but clothes that used to be snug are now hanging on me.  
 
I used to wake up sore and crackley every morning. I thought it was my age (48) and my mattress.  It was my diet.  WOW. I feel better than I have in years.  All of my psoriasis is gone.  My eyebrows and hair have thickened up.   This has been an absolute miracle. 
 
I’m so glad I started following you and made the commitment to be a full-on carnivore.  
 
The pic is from June 7th of this year (before I started carnivore) compared to today, Aug 5.
 
Deidre

 

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John improved is hypothyroidism and inflammation, eliminated his psoriasis and lost 30 lbs on a carnivore diet.

It’s 18 months to the day that I’ve been doing the Carnivore diet and I’ve never felt better!  Here are before and after pics which you can clearly see a difference!  I’ve lost about 30 pounds between these pictures. 

More than that though, I have had many other health benefits!  For about 12 years I have taken two sets of thyroid medicine for hypothyroidism.  I have eliminated one of those pills and decreased the other by over 50% since being Carnivore!  That baffles my Vegan Endocrinologist haha!  I also used to get 2-3 dry spots a year on my body called psoriasis rosea which  is a lesser form of eczema.  I have not had a single dry spot on my skin the last 18 months!  I also used to have these dry little bumps on the back of my triceps from dry skin and no matter how much lotion i used they would always be there.  I haven’t had those either in 18 months!  I used to take 400-800 mg of ibuprofen nearly daily due to back and neck pain and join pain in my knees or elbows from my workouts and two knee surgeries.  I now take no pain meds at all and never feel any of those pains since being on Carnivore!  Inflammation is down as well and i only get inflammation when i cheat and eat any sweets.  

This has been the best for me in so many ways!  Also I have had 4 full blood panel physicals and nothing abnormal.  My total cholesterol ratio is actually better than pre-carnivore!  I take no supplements and people are surprised when they ask me what other supplements or vitamins I take when I say I taken nothing!  The only reason you need a supplement is because you are deficient somewhere.  No deficiency when eating meat!!  

Thanks Dr Baker you are an inspiration and your book is amazing!

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Nathan improved his severe depression, skin, sleep, acid reflux and lost 80 lbs on a carnivore diet.

I’ve had severe depression my entire life and tried every treatment imaginable, including Electroconvulsive Therapy(Shock treatments). Nothing worked really, I found my mood was the same on and off the medications, and I had to deal with the horrible side effects of the meds. And Shock treatments just left me with a horrible memory. And I’ll tell you another thing too… It left me with a horrible memory… (lame joke) 
Anyways, in 2019 I was hospitalized for suicidal depression because I just couldn’t take it anymore, and I realized I wouldn’t last another year if I didn’t do something. I had been following Jordan Peterson for quite some time, listening to his talks, and stumbled across his interview with Joe Rogan. They were talking about how the Carnivore Diet fixed his depression. He mentioned his daughter Mikhaila and how much it helped her. So I watched Joe’s interview with Mikhaila Peterson, and began following her. Which inevitably led me to Dr Shawn Baker, who I learned so much of the technical, ‘sciencey’ aspect of Carnivore from.

It took about 2 months of strict carnivore before I noticed a drastic difference in my mood. Instead of going through each day thinking about how much I wanted to be dead, or even thinking about how to kill myself, I was catching myself laughing and smiling again FOR NO REASON!!!
It hit me one day… This is what life is like without depression caused by chronic inflammation!
It’s wonderful to see and feel the difference. I’ve been able to devote more time to pursuing my voice acting career. And I’ve lost around 80 lbs, down from 290+.

Thank you Dr. Shawn Baker(@shawnbaker1967), Dr. Ken Berry(@kenberry.md), Professor Peterson(@jordan.b.peterson), Mikhaila Peterson(@mikhailapeterson), you’ve helped a lot of people, including me.
 
Height: 6’3″
Lifestyle changes: Have been strict carnivore for 8 months, was morbidly obese, but did the diet mainly for depression.
Diet: Beef, Pork, Chicken, Eggs, Salt, Water
Fast: Only eats when hungry(1-2 meals a day). Does not count calories or grams of anything, or stick to any eating schedule.
Exercise: Just walking. Gym soon as they open.
Time on diet: 8 months
 
Health Problems Resolved:
– Severe Depression has disappeared
– Lost 80lbs
– Skin problems & Dandruff are gone
– Feeling weak and shaky when hungry gone
– Sleeping much better
– Acid Reflux and digestion problems which I was convinced would kill me one day have vanished completely.
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Dawn reversed her osteoarthritis and menopause symptoms, came off her medications and lost weight on a carnivore diet.

I have always struggled with my weight. At aged nine I was put on a 1000 calories a day diet; the first
of many attempts to be a healthy weight. In my twenties I was told I had a binge eating disorder and
that I should never try to restrict what I ate as this would lead to more bingeing. Apart from a brief
period when I was about 30 years old I had weighed between 210lbs and 270lbs.

In 2013, at the age of 42, I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in both my feet. Six months later it had
also started in both hands. I questioned how ‘wear and tear’ could start simultaneously in both hands
and both feet, but I saw three consultants who all confirmed that I had osteoarthritis and not
rheumatoid arthritis. Over the next few months I was given cortisol injections and an increasing
number of pain killers. By October 2014 I was on 8 Paracetamol, 8 Tramadol and 6 Naproxen a day
and Amitriptyline at night to help me sleep. I had to stop taking the Naproxen after two years as it
caused a stomach ulcer so they changed me onto Gabapentin instead (9 a day). Despite all of these
pain killers I could barely walk a hundred metres with a stick and I needed special cutlery as I
couldn’t grip.

The first step on my journey to health came in September 2017 when my partner decided to go ‘gluten
free’ to help his stomach problems. For convenience I did the same, not expecting any difference in
my own health. Within a couple of weeks I noticed that the food cravings, which I had always had,
seemed to have ceased. I was amazed as I had always believed that it was part of me.

At the beginning of 2018 we saw Jordan Peterson being interviewed. I bought his book for my
partner’s birthday and we read about Mikhaila’s health conditions and how they had been helped by
an elimination diet. Then I saw both Jordan and Mikhaila on Joe Rogan’s podcast. The before and
after pictures of Mikhaila were staggering. I also found other carnivores on YouTube such as Amber
O’Hearn and Dr Shawn Baker. Their videos showed me that this diet was sustainable long term and
that I would not be alone on my journey. I had nothing to lose so I decided to give it a go, not
expecting any change in my own health as mine was not the same type of arthritis as Mikhaila’s.

At first I started on meat, eggs and green veg before dropping the veg and just having meat and eggs. I
went fully carnivore on 12 th June 2018. On 1 st July my mother in law had a party for her 80 th birthday
and, for the first time in five years, I left my stick at home. A few days later we had a day out in
Whitby and I walked much farther than I could have done before. By the middle of July I was walking
several miles without any pain. I bought a pair of hiking boots at the beginning of August and we
were able to return to our old hobby of hiking on the coast near where we live. We have a route of
about six miles which we started doing almost every morning. The first week in September we had a
walking holiday in the Lake District in northwest England. I was able to hike all day just like I did
before I got the arthritis. It felt like an absolute miracle.

During that summer, I started to wean myself off the pain killers. This was awful!! I had been taking
the Tramadol for almost five years and coming off them was not a pleasant experience. I couldn’t
sleep and my whole body twitched terribly. I probably weaned myself off too quickly, but they were
capsules so I could cut them in half. Not too bad when you go from 8 a day to 7, but when you go
from 3 to 2 it’s a big jump. I took it a little more slowly coming off the Gabapentin (and I hadn’t been

on them so long) so that was a little easier. Finally I came off the Paracetamol and by the end of
September I was finally on no medication. When I told my doctor that I no longer needed my repeat
prescription because I was no longer in pain she was astounded; saying that she had “never heard of
such a thing”. Strangely she didn’t really seem very interested in how I had done this nor did she think
I should return to see the consultant who had diagnosed the arthritis.

One of the most striking side effects of the diet was my weight loss. Between May 2018 when I
started the elimination diet and December 2018 I lost 70lbs. I am a mature student and started the diet
while on my summer vacation from university. When I went back in September, people I knew
literally walked past me without recognising me. The two photographs I have included were taken in
July and December 2018 (just 5 months apart!).

Before starting on the carnivore diet I had also been suffering from menopausal symptoms, including
hot flushes and tinnitus. These started around the same time as my arthritis and I do believe that there
may be some link between the menopause and osteoarthritis. I have found books from the 1950s
which refer to menopausal arthritis and Dr Blake Donaldson’s book Strong Medicine describes how
he used a low card/carnivore diet to treat menopausal arthritis. I had tried several different hormone
replacement therapies but to no avail. Since going carnivore I have had no menopausal symptoms at
all; the hot flushes disappeared and after a few weeks I noticed that I didn’t have tinnitus any more.

I have had one or two ‘flare ups’ of pain and inflammation over the past two years. These have been
when I’ve eaten something other than eggs, meat, cheese or heavy whipping cream. For instance, on
Christmas Day I had some Christmas Pudding and Brandy sauce which left me in pain for a couple of
days. Recently I used a spray weed killer and that too seemed to cause inflammation despite me
wearing gloves when I used it. Other than that I have been pain free for almost two years and I never
intend to go back to my previous life.

More recently I have been experimenting with fasting. When you eat a meat only diet you don’t need
to eat as often so fasting became easy. I have always had a large appetite, but after a concerted period
of fasting (2 or 3 40 hour fasts per week over 6 weeks) I have noticed that I have started to feel full on
less food. I had never really had that ‘full’ feeling before so it felt very strange!

I hope that my experiences will encourage others to change their lives. I will be 50 this week and I
have never felt fitter or healthier in my life. I hike, swim and exercise regularly and am looking
forward to a more energetic, pain free future.

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Waleed gained focus and energy while losing weight on a carnivore diet

Hello , my name is Waleed , I’m carnivore I started eating this way 4 months ago only animal foods and I have lost my excess weigh. I was obese, my weight was 103 KG now it is 79 KG , I experienced more focus and energy, all of that because of Shawn Baker , that’s how I heard about this way of eating , thank you.

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Steve improved his depression, anxiety, vision and has not had a seizure since starting a carnivore diet

Hi, my name is Steve. I would like to share my story in the hopes that it will be inspirational to others.
I’m 34 years young. In my 20s I was a footballer. I played 3rd & 2nd grade for Manly Marlins. I was your average young guy who loved to party & have fun. On the 29th April 2012 I was playing a game & hit my head however I continued playing & then after the game went out with my mates & got drunk. To cut a long story short, it turns out that I had a concussion & the next thing I knew I awoke in hospital after being in a coma for 2 weeks. I has suffered a hypoxic brain injury. A result I was left severely disabled. I was wheelchair bound, had brain damage, I became vision impaired, I lost a lot of weight, had a lot of trouble chewing, swallowing and talking. Worst of all I developed epilepsy and was having regular seizures which seemed to make my disabilities even worse.

Over the past 8 years I have suffererd with severe depression & anxiety. I have a fantastic team of therapists and carers & very slowly have seen some improvement.

In November 2019 my carer suggested a ketogenic diet which very swiftly changed to a carnivore diet.
Since then my depression & anxiety has gone, I cannot explain how good I feel. My eyesight has improved to the extent that I no longer need glasses, my speech has improved, I have put back on most of the weight I had lost (and gained lots of muscle tone).
I also had major trouble with my sinuses, my nose was constantly blocked or running but that has now stopped, my sinuses are clear. Best thing ever is that I have not had a seizure this whole time.

Since being plant free I have:
– more energy and feel better than ever
– recieved a positive blood test showing healthy ranges of all blood markers including normal nutrient levels. LDL was high but triglycerides were very low
– regular and health bowel motions
– recieved a great report from my councellor, saying she had never seen me in a better mental state
– recieved an amazing report from my chiropractor saying hes never seen me in better condition and does not want to touch me
– recieved a great report from my OT saying she was very pleased with the progress ive made and i had better keep doing what i am doing
– improved fine motor skills
– improved cognotive ability, i have so many great ideas for future projects
– not had a virus, cold, or allegy, in fact my nasal congestion issues have decreased massively
– felt a huge improvement to my dental hygeine. i was having massive problems before and the dentist said i would need to go back soon probably for another filling however i am not experiencing any pain or discomfort.
 
I take no supplements or medication apart from Keppra for my epilepsy, however I believe I will be able to come off that one day.
 
I believe whole heartedly in this diet, I am educating myself about it constantly and hope to have a blog to help educate others one day.
The old Steve
The new Steve
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Trudy improved her sleep, fitness, pain, and lost weight on a carnivore fasting lifestyle

Hi my name is Trudy, 59 years old, 5’7″ and weigh around 125 lbs.  At one point in my life not that long ago, I weighed over 160 lbs, was sluggish, full of inflammation, stressed and strung out.

I have been a Fasting Carnivore since September 2019, and have experimented fasting off and on most of my life. I have tried many different avenues over the years including Weight Watchers, Nutri-system, Body for Life, Protein Drinks, Elimination Diets, Whole 30, whole food juicing, Paleo, then Keto.  Before Keto, I couldn’t make a weight loss stick, ever.  During my Keto journey, I was learning and growing from listening to several podcasts of Dr. Shawn Baker, Dr. Ken Berry, Dr. Jason Fung. I also found some women carnivores that inspired me, including Dr. Lisa Wiedeman, Laura Spath, Kelly Hogan, and the Strong Sistas, to try Carnivore.  I wanted to see if I could heal my back pain.

The health struggles I have had in the past include: food & environmental allergies, disordered eating, aggressive cataracts, L4-L5 compression, stenosis, sciatic pain, high blood pressure, anemia, food addictions, yo-yo weight gains, brain fog, inflammation, joint pain, oily skin, stringy hair, weak nails, and much more.

Most of my issues have resolved or significantly reduced since transitioning into the Fasting Carnivore lifestyle. A recent visit to the eye doctor was a report that my aggressive cataracts had not grown since last year. My skin, hair and nails are SO much healthier & stronger. My environmental allergies are gone. I even have my daughter’s cat living with me for the summer &  haven’t had one itchy eye or sneeze and I have had him for over a month.  I have been told I don’t look or act 59 years old.  I love adventure and working out.  I may not be a competitive athlete anymore (ok, I do dabble in running, biking, and triathlons but I don’t consider myself fast).  Even so, I love how strong & active I am today.  My grandkids and my daughters will always have my example to look back on some day.  I am SO thankful for this lifestyle and Dr. Baker’s leadership to help change people’s lives for the better.

My most recent success was a 21 day fast that I completed.  It was an experiment to reset my body and to research the effects of autophagy to see if I could improve the level of pain in my lower back.  You see I kept waking up at night to the point I could barely roll over.  

So, the 21 days included 3 day water fasting only, then the other 18 days I followed a fasting mimicking fat fast where I only ate up to 500 calories daily of bone broth and/or raw beef suet.  I had heard coaches Niti and Raymond discussing Niti’s experience with such a fast.  I had never heard of such a thing as getting to eat while fasting!! The timing with the world pandemic going on around me and the fact that I love being my own experiment, well it was just the challenge I needed. I learned something new for sure and I found out how long and how hard I could go.  I even lost 16 pounds over the course of the 21 days.

By about day 8 I was sleeping better and through out most of these 21 days my energy was out the roof.  I got SO much $^&#% done and ran, biked, or walked daily.  I had an interesting experience of a huge clean out on about day 9 which seemed crazy.  It must have been an oxalate dumping for I had not ingested enough food for what cleaned out of me. Whatever my body was holding onto, I was glad that this experiment helped recycle some old and damaged cells out of my body.  The only downer was I got a huge suet aversion by about day 18 which made the last few days tough to complete.  I substituted pork belly and more beef bone broth instead of the suet.

I biked 4 times (34-61 km each time), ran 7 times (5-12 km each time), and walked daily (2-5 km) in the fasted state.  I also did push ups and tri-cep dips on run days.  So, I lost weight, got some lower back pain relief, and a peace & calm came over me that quieted the old addictive behaviour tendencies that I had struggled with in the past.  Eating fat definitely is something I learned my body wanted me to do and I operated efficiently. I feel amazing, sleep soundly (and don’t need as much sleep) and am happier, healthier and calmer than ever before.  At the end of the 21 days, I knew I was done for my energy levels were becoming depleted and I found my workouts were harder to do and I was just feeling fatigued.

Overall, would I do it again? Maybe, and with a daily check in with a coach, I might.  Raymond helped me daily on the after noon social call, I was able to check in and bounce my experience off him daily which was a huge help & encouragement. 

The Radical Fasting Carnivore,

Trudy