Back pain & spine

Mike C. improved skin, chronic pain, digestion and mood on carnivore diet

February 6, 2020 2 Comments

Hello Dr. Baker and the MeatRX team!  I wanted to wait until I had a full year of Carnivore under my belt before I did my testimonial.  I kind of accidentally discovered this WOE going from 2 months of Keto and just kind of skipping the plants part.  Then I started researching if Carnivore is something that can be sustained and ran across Jordan Peterson’s story and that led to researching you.  Very happy I did!  So for the most part I have been living with all the things that “go to shit” when you hit certain ages.  Got issues from being a teen, 20s, 35, 40…etc. (I’ll be 45 in July)  All things I was told by friends/doctors/everyone that is just part of life.  My worst injury was a bulging disc from a few years back, all my other issues were just listed under “natural wear and tear”.  Turns out that NONE OF THAT IS TRUE.  At the end of this I will be putting a list of all the awesome things that have happened over the past 12 months.  Before that I wanted to say that this lifestyle is an absolute game changer.  Even for just an average person with average problems like myself.  I had no idea how crappy my body was doing until I started making this list.  I almost feel like a low level superhero. I’m at the midlife crisis stage and I feel better than I can even remember.  Thank you so much! 

Mike

The following is a list of everything I could list that significantly improved since I started carnivore:

 

Skin:

Keratosis gone

Bad body acne gone

Cracked bleeding feet healed

Chapped bleeding lips reduced 90%

No dry skin on arms/hands

Athletes foot gone

No lobster sunburn (no suntan needed)

No body odor

No vinegar smell after workout

Chronic Pain:

Tennis Elbow gone (had for 5 years)

Shoulder tendonitis gone (had for 10 years)

Carpal tunnel syndrome gone (had for 10 years)

Radial tunnel syndrome gone (had for 5 years)

Finger and thumb tendonitis gone (had for 4 years)

Knee pain gone (had for 30 years)

Hip pain gone (had for 15 years)

Lower back pain gone (had for 25 years)

Plantar Fasciitis gone (had for 3 years)

Seasonal Ailments:

No colds/flu since Feb 2019

No constant level of phlegm

Tension/Stress/Sinus Headaches, 3 out of usual 25 per year

Seasonal Allergies gone

Digestive:

Hemorrhoids gone

Diverticulitis symptoms gone

Bleeding/receding gums healed

No plaque/fuzzy feeling on teeth

95% reduction in farts

Heartburn gone

No bad breath

Food allergies gone

Hair:

New hair on knees

New eyelashes

Small amount of head hair regrowth

Some gray hair disappeared

Thicker beard

Finger/toenails less brittle

Other Neat Stuff:

55lbs fat lost

7lbs muscle gained

Road Rage almost gone/more chill while driving

No more “old man” warm up time in mornings. 

More motivated in general

No Migraines

2-3 nose bleeds a month down to 1 for the year

Grew an inch taller

Tinnitus gone

Can be around sick slobs that sneeze on me, no fear of getting sick

Eye floaties gone

90% reduction in eye crusties

Greater range of temperature tolerance.  Jeans and T-shirt weather: 30-80 degrees

No other illness of any kind since Feb 2019

Injuries heal 50% faster

Fell down half flight of wood stairs, got up no problem!

Overall strength increase

Most food/alcohol cravings gone.  (still some alcohol cravings though…just some)

Random chest/internal torso pains gone

Marion improved back pain, digestion, skin and energy on carnivore diet

February 4, 2020 1 Comment

My partner ( he is 67)  myself ( 63)  began the meat diet last March.  If we hadn’t  did this way of eating we would not have believed it.  I am of indigenous heritage and did believe we should eat as our people did, but somewhere along the line we are convinced this is wrong.  Luckily we didn’t totally buy into it and still ate meat everyday and enjoyed the fat but when we went strictly meat, eggs and dairy the results were unexpected.

We noticed right off the hop how much energy we had (almost ADHD..lol) Sex drive way up.  As continued it was amazing, NO MORE BLOAT OR GAS.(  I had taken up eating one particular salad with brussel sprouts and broccoli and the bloat was unreal ) sugar cravings went away,  sleeping better, no snacking & eating twice a day usually, sometimes once,  different kind of hunger, the rumbling/shakes didn’t happen,  just felt hungry,   skin tags gone, no more hang nails,  hemorrhoids gone ( I had for years), our arthritis went away and backpain decreased significantly, we both have more muscle definition, the muscle is harder/tighter & we are definitely stronger,  (we don’t go to gym, our work over the years & daily living has given us good muscle)  Our eyesight has improved. I apply beef/pork grease on my skin and people have commented on how amazing my skin looks.  They thought I was wearing face makeup and one commented did I have surgery! Incredible. Not only that but my eyebrows are growing back in after going years with only half brows.

My partner is growing just not thicker hair, but brown hair & on places there wasn’t any, the white hair is turning brown on his head and chest.  He was also taking high blood pressure and gout pills after appx. 3 months he discontinued use. ( I did not take any pills) Our attitude was happier ( not so cranky) and his depression decreased and eventually disappeared.  My anxiety disappeared as well.  

Overall,  we have found the majority of  people think we are killing ourselves with “ so much fat /meat/butter etc.”

Note: when we have fallen off the wagon we notice the arthritis, hand nails, gas etc. return.   Hence it is motivational for us to continue with the meat.

My brother was doing keto previous to our diet change and we thought wow, that’s a little too much meat and ignored the diet.  Once again goes to show how manipulated we were even though we knew better.  

My daughter decided to give it a go and she has had amazing results as well.  She is 43 and when she went to her doctor for check up she stated her test results were “ off the chart” and what was she doing.  When she said the Carnivore diet,  the doctor didn’t say a word!  Interesting eh?  

Thank you for all the info you provide. It is much appreciated.

Marion and Roy from Ontario, Canada

We did forget to mention , although we were not hugely overweight and that was not our reason for doing the meat, I lost 20 lbs. and Roy lost 26 lbs.

Brittney improved her mood, join and back pain on carnivore diet

January 2, 2020 No Comments
I didn’t even realize how much pain I was experiencing day to day until I went carnivore and then didn’t have the pain anymore. I used to have pain in my lower back, neck, knees and ankles. I dealt with significant fatigue every day, some days I’d get home at the end of the day and just sit there for a long time in my car because I didn’t have anything left to walk in the house. I thought it was normal being a mom of three to just be tired all the time. Since starting Carnivore 8 months ago my life has changed. I no longer have pain in my body every day. My husband used to get asked to rub my back and ankles constantly and one day I realized it had been weeks since I’d asked. I no longer experience the restless leg syndrome that was something I dealt with every night for years.  I haven’t sat it my car for twenty minutes waiting on the energy to go inside. 

My mental health has improved significantly. I don’t have any diagnosis’s surrounding it but had normalized the level of stress and aggravation I was dealing with, I am significantly happier, more calm and more patient now. My anger isn’t something I feel like I’m constantly having to control because it’s not there like before. I’m a better mother and wife because of this. I was experiencing what I would consider depression around ovulation time for about a year.  It was overwhelming sadness that I could not snap out of for two to three days. That doesn’t happen anymore. After about six months being CV my cycles began to be lighter and shorter and with less pain. I used to have to take ibuprofen for cramps and now I don’t need to. I still have cramps but the pain is a bearable level. 

My adult acne cleared up. My libido made a return, it’s been gone since I was a teenager. I’ve been a mother for 11 years and my sex drive was just gone! Now gradually it’s coming back. Life has become easier because meal planning and cooking has never been simpler. I don’t stress about grocery lists and prepping or planning like I used to. Less dishes, it’s awesome!  I’ve been able to incorporate exercises into my life for the first time ever in my life!  I had two skin tags on my neck that fell off, my Grey hair is turning dark again at the roots!   Before CV I’d only ever been able to stick with any way of eating for 30 days.  Two weeks in I notice I didn’t crave all the carbs and sugar like before and that has made this possible to continue and even easy. I’ve never in my life known what it felt like to not crave bad food. I’ve lost 40lbs at this point and it feels almost effortless. 

 

Brittney, RN

Sean improved fitness, chronic joint and back pain on carnivore diet

December 9, 2019 1 Comment
My story:
When I turned 40 in July 2017,  I was “living a good life” filled with “good food” and “good booze”. 
What wasn’t good was my health. I was fat. My back hurt. My knees hurt. When I bent over to tie my shoes, I couldn’t breathe. I was always tired because I had a bad case of sleep apena. I was pre-diabetic. I was on blood pressure medication. I thought that’s just how life went when you were over 40. 
Just before Halloween that year, I was introduced to the idea of a ketogenic diet and, after some research, I realized I could eat bacon and lose weight. I decided to give it a try and, for the next year, I ate a strict keto diet, usually staying under 20g of carbs daily. My protein came mainly from chicken and fish with some tempeh (soy) thrown in. My fat sources were ghee, olive oil, and coconut oil. I included most of the “dark green, leafy vegetables” that people are so enamored with. I ate a boatload of caesar salads with chicken. 
 
I lost a bunch of weight, going from ~315lbs to ~240 (I’m 6’1″, btw). 
I lost athletic performance. I had no gas in the tank. I was lighter but my strength was not what it used to be. 
I also lost my sex drive. 
Then my weight loss stalled.
I decided to take a hiatus from keto and just watch my calories. I gained some weight back over the holidays and decided to go back on keto in January of 2019 and saw no changes.
 
In March of 2019, I stumbled upon Dr. Ted Naiman, Dr. Paul Saladino, and Dr. Shawn Baker and the Carnivore WOE. That month, I decided to give it a try despite the objections of my girlfriend and my mother, a retired RN. I did make my mother a promise to get my labs done monthly to ensure I wasn’t killing myself.
 
In the first month, I saw my strength and sex drive come back with a vengeance! I went from being able to do 0 pull-ups to 8!
 
Now, I usually eat once a day (OMAD) and fast for the rest. Here’s what I’ve seen:
    • Weight is down to 220 lbs
    • 3lbs of visceral fat as of June 2019
    • bench press and deadlift are now up to over 300lbs
    •  allergies are gone
    • asthma is gone
    • blood pressure is awesome and I’m off medication
    • sleep apnea is gone
    • snoring is radically reduced
  • knees and back don’t hurt
  • testosterone level is awesome
  • thyroid is working great
Basically, I’m 42 and I feel like I’m 22!
 
Now, here’s the super cool part:
Also, after seeing my lab results each month, my parents made the decision to go carnivore in June. For my mother, it was about losing weight and breaking her carb addictions. For my father, he did it to beat a cancer he’s been fighting since 2013. His scans in September showed the tumors shrinking and that was with no other new intervention aside from diet!

Listen to Sean’s interview on the MeatRx.com podcast below:

Odaine improved mood, back pain and inflammation on carnivore diet

December 2, 2019 2 Comments

Carnivore Diet Journal

I am Odaine Tomlinson currently 29 years old and I started the carnivore diet on November 2, 2019. Prior to embarking on the carnivore diet, I served in the military and once I got out the Navy in 2012, I was doing long distant running and body building eating a standard American diet. At that time, I had an 8 pack and was super cut. But looking back, I do know that I always had inflammation in my right wrist when I did push-ups. As the years went by and life hit me, I lost touch with my fitness and eventually tried the vegan route briefly and eventually got into the ketogenic diet, where I then began working out again and saw nice results. Time went by into 2019 and I hadn’t worked out in months and noticed that my stomach was poking through my shirts now and that I would have to suck in my stomach in public to try and fool myself. And after learning about the carnivore diet and seeing that Joe Rogan interview with Jordan Peterson, I was blown away when I researched other similar testimonies. So, I figured why not?

Stats on November 2, 2019 (Start of Carnivore Diet)

Weight: 190 pounds

BMI: 27.5

Body Fat: 21.9%

Subcutaneous Fat: 18.9%

Visceral Fat: 10

Metabolic Age: 31

Blood glucose level waking up: 103 mg/dL

A couple days into the diet, I realized that I had a crazy surplus in daily energy and the ability to wake up like a robot. I don’t know how to explain it, but I was waking up with no lag; I am fully alert once my eyes open like I just popped an energy pill. Also, I realized that whether I got 5 hours of sleep or 8 hours of sleep I still had the same constant supply of energy and liveliness. Also, my wife told me that she noticed that my snoring disappeared.

Furthermore, one of the two biggest benefits to me are the fact that I am operating on the highest-octane level of fuel for my body, thus ensuring that I will most likely live a lot longer and vibrant life even though I am only 29 years old right now. Just knowing that this simple decision plays a significant role to reversing the possible cancer, stroke, digestion disorder, and many other ailments that I could have potentially faced 20 years down the road, is phenomenal to me. In my eyes, doing this diet gives me the ability to theoretically get in a time machine at 50 years old and go back in time to my 29 year old self and tell myself to get my s#!t together now so I wont have to deal with XYZ at 50 years old. Secondly, I thoroughly love the mental clarity I have now. Its almost like I don’t have a subconscious mind anymore is my best way to explain it. I can fully control the direction of my thoughts on such a high level now. I feel that prior to the carnivore diet I had a loud sawed-off shotgun with unlimited rounds firing off while blinded folded int the dark in my head; and now I have a high-quality sniper rifle with a silencer with precise scope vision and no wind resistance on a sunny day. The difference speaks for itself.

A week into my first 30 days I noticed some incredible results:

Stats on November 9, 2019 (End of Week 1 of Carnivore Diet)

Weight: 184 pounds

BMI: 26.6

Body Fat: 20.6%

Subcutaneous Fat: 17.8%

Visceral Fat: 9

Metabolic Age: 30

Blood glucose level waking up: 81 mg/dL

After the 2nd week I saw even more improvement with my mid-section area and that my abs were slowly coming back and my chest didn’t have droopy nipples anymore. I also noticed that my voice was being projected farther/clearer; but maybe that was just my hearing getting better (so I am not sure which is the case on that).

Stats on November 16, 2019 (End of Week 2 of Carnivore Diet)

Weight: 180 pounds

BMI: 26.2

Body Fat: 19.9%

Subcutaneous Fat: 17.2%

Visceral Fat: 8

Metabolic Age: 29

Blood glucose level waking up: 79 mg/dL

After the 3rd week I have noticed a steady flow of my energy levels and I have yet to see any negative implications as some people have claimed with transitioning to the carnivore diet. Another thing I recently noticed is that when I carry my 5-year-old daughter upstairs for bedtime at nights; I no longer feel pain in my lower pack and knee. I am not sure when it went away since I haven’t paid any thought to it, but it is still a big plus. Also I notice now that my face is very clear and smooth; I don’t seem to have random pimples on my face every other day or so.

Stats on November 23, 2019 (End of Week 3 of Carnivore Diet)

Weight: 177 pounds

BMI: 25.7

Body Fat: 19.3%

Subcutaneous Fat: 16.7%

Visceral Fat: 8

Metabolic Age: 29

Blood glucose level waking up: 84 mg/dL

After the 4th week I still felt great health wise. And during this week there would be times where I would go through most of the day fasting just because either didn’t feel hungry and/or still felt high on energy. And at this point I compared my picture from when I started the carnivore diet on November 2, 2019 to the picture from November 30, 2019; the difference was amazing to see. Especially knowing that at this point I went from being 18 pounds overweight on November 2nd, to just being 1.8 pounds overweight on November 30th. And please keep in mind that I did absolutely no exercises, no walking around the block, no pull ups, no push ups, nothing. And more importantly I did not break my carnivore diet, I didn’t even eat a single gummy bear when no one was looking. I plan to continue doing this diet plan for 5 more months and will start doing long distance running two months from now so I can see what my weight/muscle baseline is before I take my body for a spin. So, look out for my next update on here in another 5 months or so.

Stats on November 30, 2019 (End of Week 4 of Carnivore Diet)

Weight: 174

BMI: 25.2

Body Fat: 18.5%

Subcutaneous Fat: 16.1%

Visceral Fat: 8

Metabolic Age: 28

Blood glucose level waking up: 89 mg/dL (after brushing teeth)

So just for anyone else who is interested in knowing, I used a standard glucose meter for my blood glucose level. And for the other important numbers, I used the RENPHO Bluetooth Smart Scale that cost less than $25 on Amazon. And as far as what I was putting in my body; I ate mainly grass-fed grass finished meats from Butcher Box, scallops, shrimps, bacon, and free-range eggs. And as an occasional ‘treat’ I ate aged cheddar cheese off the block, pork grinds, and grass fed/finished beef jerky. I used Redman’s Real Salt on my foods, and I only drank water. The water I was drinking ranged from regular bottled water from Aldi, to Fiji Water, to mostly Gerolsteiner water. And I intake a syringe mixture of butter oil, cod liver oil, grass-fed beef liver and grass-fed colostrum every other day. I hope my experience help you!

Stephen improved blood sugar, dental health, digestion on carnivore diet

November 1, 2019 No Comments

I am 25, 175lbs, stronger, happier, with better skin and digestion, than I’ve had since I was 17. Growing up, my family, in an attempt to chastise me or tease me, gave me a sort of nickname regarding food: “cookies, cakes and candies.” I loved sweets, and was known to eat all my brothers’ winter oreos or popsicles, cereal, or what have you. In high school and college I would legitimately have cereal as 1/3 of my diet (or more), along with bagels, bread, ice cream, etc. In high school some of my best friends made fun of me because I would sometimes even come prepared with a bagel in my pocket.

 Then in college, everything started hitting the fan and my world started spinning: I began to have constant, I mean constant, stomach pain all day long, from the morning I awoke to going to sleep. Some friends in college persuaded me, along ethical lines (not nutritional) to try vegetarianism and veganism, so I was the former for a year and a half and the latter for 8-10 months— it was horrible. I ate tons of fruit, granola, cereal, soy ice cream, cider— I was rail thin, weak, tired, and eventually became very sick.

In Summer 2014, after a year of veg/anism, I went abroad and returned with a fever that stayed and left me almost bedridden for over a month; the apartment I was living in had black mold, and I didn’t have much energy each day. I brushed it off and got back to school, but friends around me realized I wasn’t myself— my energy was gone, I was becoming more irritable and withdrawn, I had panic attacks and my stomach constantly hurt all day long. 

It eventually got so bad that I needed an ice pack strapped to my chest just to sleep, had various GI tests, got my gallbladder removed, and had constant searing back pain as well (which I also needed an ice pack just to sleep too). It was the worst couple years of my life, and I felt like there was no way out— praying and meditating alone and with friends, celebrating Eucharist at Church, being with friends, playing music, hiking and reading poetry were the only things that gave me solace as I became sort of a recluse.

Problems:

  • Hypoglycemia (probably pre-diabetic)
  • brain fog, poor memory, low mental acuity
  • low energy, chronic fatigue
  • intense anxiety, panic attacks (was medicated) for years
  • depression and mood swings
  • GERD
  • IBS
  • diarrhea for years
  • chronic stomach pain
  • failed gallbladder
  • Skin eczema/rashes (sometimes bled)
  • low libido (hormonal imbalance)
  • chronic back pain
  • headaches
  • lip sores
  • eye inflammation
  • easy sunburn
  • some random tumors/cysts
  • anemia
  • poor dental health

My mom and brother had been off of gluten and sugar for years by the time I was in college, they were nominally following Robb Wolf and the Paleo movement, but they did not know or practice a Keto or Carnivore Way of Eating. By 2017 I started eliminating foods and keeping a food journal, starting with gluten, then all grain, then cruciferous veggies, then nightshades, legumes, and on and on.

 By December 2017, I was in shambles, and my roommate told me about one of his best friends who had Crohn’s and reversed it with the ketogenic diet. I was desperate, and had been addictively reading about nutrition, fasting, and ketosis (I did just barely come across carnivore at this time, but I brushed it off because it seemed too intimidating, I loved sugar). 

After fasting all day Christmas Day 2017 and feeling much relieved, and then jumped into keto, hands to the plow no looking back. I starting feeling better and better, every week, month, and quarter I would keep saying, “Man, I haven’t felt this good since I was 18!” By around October 2018, after reading about Carnivore for a couple months, I was yearning for something more streamlined, easier, nutritious, and satiating, to get me to the next place (still had some residual anxiety, tiredness, skin issues, etc)— so I went to Carnivore and it just got better and better. My strength, mental acuity, and skin got even better. (Before keto- 2 pull ups, on Keto- 7 pull ups, on carnivore- 18 pull ups).

Improvements:

  • No digestive issues whatsoever
  • Best mental focus, attention, and mood since high school
  • no brain fog or headaches
  • best strength I’ve maybe ever had
  • much improved dental health
  • anxiety and depression are gone!
  • normal libido (hormonal balance)
  • little to no sunburn after hours in direct sunlight (first time in my life)
  • tumors/cysts disappeared
  • no back pain
  • no eye inflammation
  • clear and really smooth skin
  • steady energy all day

I am now absolutely loving this WOE and I don’t really see ever leaving it— although I am like 95% carnivore, I have some onions, garlic, mushrooms sometimes, and once a month or two I’ll split a sweet potato or make avocado pudding with friends. Meat does continue to taste better and better (I am soon going to get a quarter of beef!). 

I am eternally grateful for the work of Shawn Baker, especially Joe Rogan hosting Mikhaila Peterson (my first major exposure to Carnivore), the Zero Carb subreddit, Dr. Darren Schmidt, and countless others for making this possible, as well as friends and family, who have supported me through this hard time and brought immense healing. I’ve now been on keto for a year and a half and on zero carb for 9 months and am so filled with awe and so thankful.

Peace

Doug improved adrenal health, psoriasis, sciatica on carnivore diet

November 1, 2019 1 Comment

Greetings, my name is Doug, I’m 28 years young 6’5, 192lbs and have been practicing a mostly carnivore diet with the exception of social situations for 8 months now. Prior to practicing a carnivorous diet I was plant based, with a focus on detoxification, fasting, raw foods and lots of fruit to reverse chronic issues.

I’ll share my background and why I began a plant based diet.

At age 19 I was living a not so health conscious lifestyle, consuming copious amounts of fast food while actively involved in MMA, competitive paintball (NPPL) and riding quads. It wasn’t long before I deteriorated 2 lumbar disks, developed a bulging disk, fractured and dislocated my L5 vertebrae. It became very difficult for me to deal with the injuries and not being able to participate in the activities I was so passionate about. I ended up spiraling downward and consuming even more junk as well as drinking alcohol and using other substances for the first time as a coping mechanism.

Fast forward a year or so and I was a wreck. At this point I had chronic joint and back pain, skin rashes covering a 1/3 of my body, under active thyroid which made it almost impossible to sweat, BP of 85/50, chronic fatigue, chronic constipation and a list of mental and emotional issues to top it off. Oh, and did I forget to mention the Neurospine institute diagnosed me with osteoarthritis?

I sought help from so many doctors and experts and all I ended up with was a dried up bank account. this is when I found, not just any plant based diet, but the MUCUSLESS DIET HEALING SYSTEM… by Arnold Ehret. He proposed that mucus forming foods are the cause of human illness and that man was biologically designed to consume only fruits and tender leafy greens. I jumped right in and began living on fruits and salads. Boy did I lose weight fast… From 200 down to 140 in 6 months. I will say that I felt less inflammation and eating so much from really helped with flushing out pounds of impacted fecal matter from the garbage I was consuming. I felt loads better with the removal of all the junk and still having the nutrient reserves to function. I eventually balanced out with cooked starches and heavier foods where I got back to around 160 pounds. At this point the skin rashes cleared up, I had less inflammation and overall felt much better although I felt very weak and was developing a poor relationship with food as I couldn’t EVER find satiation with my meals of fruit, salads, nuts or starches. This way of eating continued for the next 4 years.

During my plant based journey I became certified as a detox specialist, iridologist and took plant based nutrition courses to learn as much as possible.

After a couple years into a plant based diet I began experiencing bouts of depression that progressively got worse as the years went on. My last bout of depression was crippling and lasted a couple months where I shut myself off from the world and didn’t want to be awake. Some of the other issues that had had been progressively getting worse was my digestion. I would constantly feel bloated and fatigued after meals. Socially I became a recluse and didn’t feel comfortable around people who ate animals foods lol I was also an active member in the Dr. Robert Morse cult that brain wash people into believing we are a frugivore species. This was especially damaging because I felt I was harming my body if I wasn’t eating fruit or tender greens.

In December 2016 I had hit rock bottom and fell into the most challenging bout of depression yet. I slept and binge ate vegan junk food for month. I was now 205 lbs of tub and edema. I left the country in Jan 2017 to pull myself out of it. I wen to Costa Rica and began a 95 day coconut WATER only fast from fresh coconuts. to my surprise this was probably the best I ever felt during my plant based journey. As soon as I reintroduced solid food I began binging again. Within 6 months my digestion tanked and I was worse off, unable to digest any plant foods. At this point I was traveling to different countries around the world and it was a struggle just to go from one hostel to another. I remember waking up with such a horrible feeling in my guts and feeling overwhelming anxiety while in a tropical paradise. I purchased a blood glucose monitor at some point. I would eat a couple mangoes and my blood sugar would shoot up over 250. This gave me a feeling of brain fog and fatigue.

In the beginning of this year (2018) I began making this joke while traveling in Asia, “I want beef” and watching YouTube channels of people who ate only animal foods. Ok so At this point I was miserable and didn’t know what to do. I literally couldn’t digest anything and felt depressed, slept 12-15 hours a day and my joint pain was horrible! I came across Aajonus Vonderplanitz and reads his book. He said that red meat cures depression and is a great food for recovering from frutarianism. I walked down to a market, purchased lamb ate it, digested it well and it was like a like came on.

The feelings of depression and anxiety diminished over night as well as the chronic fatigue. For the next couple weeks I lived on eggs, butter and ribeye steaks. Everyday I was feeling so much better and mentally stable. Those last two weeks in the tropics were incredible. My digestive fire came back very quickly and my strength began sky rocketing. At this point my vegan wife now began eating animal foods and reaping the benefits as well. I felt Like I was reborn. The feeling of satiation after eating is priceless.

After leaving the tropics I flew to Washington and began practicing a strict carnivore diet where I consumed 2-3 pounds of beef a day with some butter. Over the course of 6 months I gained 30 lbs of lean mass while at the very same time felt less joint pain and inflammation then I did on a fruitarian or plant based diet. My complexion was much better as well. After spending 6 months on a carnivore diet I can now digest plant foods once again but choose to avoid them with the exception of social situations.

It’s now been 8 months mostly carnivore and I can honestly say I’m in the best shape of my life without any major health challenges and now strength train on a regular basis without issues. Meat NEVER gets boring and I’m always happy with a pound of beef and some fat on my plate and leave feeling content and happy. I consume more than double the caloric intake from when I was plant based and only got lean and muscular. This way of eating may not be for everyone but it sure does work well for me and has really helped pull me out of a very dark place.

My top fav foods are beef, liver, heart, bone marrow, beef fat, eggs and kefir

Thank you!!!!
Doug

Noah heals Ankylosing Spondylitis, arthritis, back pain on carnivore diet

October 31, 2019 2 Comments

I was unofficially diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis almost 20 years ago. I have the blood antigen HLA-B27 and all of the classic symptoms of pain, inflammation and stiffness in my hips and back. These symptoms were constant and exacerbated with any form of exertion and worsened with rest. I even began to develop the famous stoop in my posture regardless of how straight I would stand… While many my age were in “their prime”, I felt I was in decline. Always searching for health centered solutions, I was hopeful that the internet would produce testimonies of others that have found relief from their chronic inflammation. I was was often disappointed with the search results! I always found myself searching for Vegan or vegetarian solutions and never found relief… One day about 3 months ago my sister Laurie told me abut Dr Shawns information along with Mikhaila Peterson’s testimony of relief and I was so excited!

I made the choice and removed all plant sources from my diet (except organic coffee). Within 3 weeks I was sleeping through the night and waking pain free! I am so thankful that my sister thought of me and shared these ideas with me! I hope my story encourages some of you on your health journey to not quit trying to find your health solutions.

Check out my story here:

Nathan improves back pain, joint pain, and sleep on a carnivore diet

October 31, 2019 No Comments

I am 38 years of age, live in the UK and have always been involved in sports and fitness. I have been fortunate enough to run my own business for the past 15 years, training both members of the public and potential/elite sportsmen at my own small facility. During this time I have also been able to enjoy my chosen sport of surfing along with the support of international companies. For the past ten years my surfing has very much moved in the direction of searching for and riding larger sized waves in cold water locations around remote parts of my local coastline. I have always trained for my health as well as my sport and I’ve always taken pride in “eating well” and avoiding the foods commonly considered bad for us. Although the sport certainly offers up it’s fair share of minor injuries, my knowledge of sports therapy and rehabilitation methods always meant I could recover appropriately and move forward without long lasting effects and I always implemented training approaches to promote injury prevention.

This all seemed to turn a corner around three years ago. My body basically felt like it was rebelling against everything I attempted. Even the lowest level training sessions resulted in days of muscle soreness, particularly in the Hip Adductors and Rotators and muscles of the Thoracic area. Surfing in any conditions above completely benign also caused intense soreness but more frustratingly severe joint immobility. This soreness would not alleviate with any conventional approaches, the only slight relief I would get was from heavy doses of transdermal magnesium, oral iodine supplementation and trigger point release, but I emphasise the word slight. I also found that despite my very best efforts my weight and body fat were slowly increasing. One interesting dynamic that occurred was that every bit of exercise I undertook resulted in intense hunger, particularly for high carbohydrate food.

I put most of this down to the fact that I was an athlete in my mid-thirties and this was essentially the start of the end as far as my pursuit of a decent level of human performance. It didn’t feel right as I genuinely felt that so many facets of my performance were still improving, my endurance seemed to get stronger every year but over the past few years I had pretty much resigned myself to surfing less and training at a reduced workload.

It was around 18 months ago that I discovered the Maffetone method and the premise of “Carbohydrate Intolerance”. So much of what Phil Maffetone said made sense to me and echoed my experiences. I implemented both the training approach as well as the recommended eating programme and I have to admit the initial results were pretty good. However I attribute most of this to the extremely low level of intensity and the associated low impact on the body. I also found that the prescribed re introduction of carbs really messed me up and affected both my muscular integrity as well as my gut health.

I also continued to suffer from a very strange phenomenon that was both frustrating and also a bit worrying. Every time I attempted to stretch, regardless of the methodology I adopted (from yoga to PNF) it actually caused my hips, glutes, hamstrings and upper back to effectively lock up. I couldn’t get any sensation of relief or mobilisation despite spending hours on foam rollers and stretching. The postures actually felt like they were damaging and shortening my range of motion. I was surfing so infrequently it was shocking, even the act of sitting astride my surfboard would result in cramping in the water and days of discomfort. Not exactly the best of situations when amongst icy water and fairly severe ocean conditions.

Because I felt a positive effect on the very low carb Maff test I began researching different approaches to food. The Keto approach made sense but something prevented me from giving it a go. It was during this time that I first discovered Dr Shawn Baker and his advocation of the carnivore way of eating. I initially though this was crazy, but I have always had a pretty open mind when it comes to essentially waving a middle finger at conventional “medicine” and the fact that Dr Baker was coming from a traditional medical background really intrigued me. The further I researched, the more I nodded in agreement. After a lot of reading and listening I took the plunge around three months ago and adopted a true carnivore approach, eating when I am hungry and not being restricted by traditional meal times.I had almost immediate success. Within three weeks my weight and body fat levels were back to the levels I would consider my optimum. I also found that my sleep patterns and energy levels improved dramatically. This actually coincided with me relocating my business premises and undertaking both demolition and construction work on top of my usual workload, which I anticipated would result in high levels of fatigue.

My first couple of training sessions were pretty humbling experiences, I suffered intense muscle cramps while performing low intensity movements on the Skierg and light barbell work. Interestingly though these weren’t in the normal hips/glutes/mid back but felt more like deep in the bellies of the quads, hamstrings and the abdominals. Since those sessions however I have experienced a really positive step forward. My strength levels and lean muscle mass have improved and functional exercises have become so much easier. I feel like I am still enduring the adaptation phase regarding cardiovascular training however I am now feeling real progress.

The thing that has truly blown my mind however is the progress related to the muscle/joint pain phenomenon I was experiencing. I no longer wake up with hips that refuse to articulate properly and a thoracic spine that I could only describe as an iron bar. I now find trigger point therapy and stretching bring such a feeling of relief and release that it is euphoric! My ROM after a good session feels incredible and my brain/body connection seems to be re-learning movements I have been incapable of for a long time. I am now so optimistic that I can restore correct movement patterns with a combination of hard work and the carnivore diet.

They say the proof of the pudding is in the eating and there was definitely some pudding consumed this past Friday. The perfect combination of swell, wind and tide combined for one of my favourite surf spots to light up for a few hours of good sized waves in the cold Atlantic Ocean. The spot demands a substantial cliff descent and long paddle out through masses of white water and currents and even the first move off the beach is a test of strength and endurance. The wave itself requires you to be on top of your game as the conditions are testing at the best of times with very little let up. Medical/nutritional experts would advise that a person consuming a 100% meat diet would potentially have compromised their wellbeing by attempting this. Well, not only did I get through it, I felt amazing! My strength and endurance were great and most importantly my body remained supple and responsive throughout, resulting in an awesome session. My post surf experience was phenomenal. No soreness, no fatigue, I just felt energised and strong. A hot bath, a plate of steak and a light stretch that evening felt incredible and the feeling of recovery was such a welcome sensation!

It was after this session that I felt inclined to contact Dr Baker and say thank you for tuning me into this Way of Life.

All the best,
Nathan

 

Brittany improves back pain, mood, reproductive health on carnivore diet

October 31, 2019 No Comments

After 4 years of being a vegan I was sick of being bloated, tired, constipated, and having low energy. I am now 23 years old 5 ft 5.5 inches tall. All of my family is thin with fast metabolisms. Including al of my grandparents and relatives. My whole life I could get away with eating a big chocolate cake before bed and in the morning I’d wake up with a flat stomach. About a year into being vegan, that stopped being the case.

Gary Yourofsky and Freelee the Banana Girl made compelling arguments for my 18 year old self and by the time I was 19 I was a proud advocate for veganism. My diet turned to tofu, asparagus, salads, bean burgers, rice, smoothies, lots of fresh squeezed juices, corn tortillas, pastas, veggie burgers, vegan tamales, vegan anything at whole foods – including the vegan donuts.

At this time I was about 115 lbs looking and feeling great. 3.5 years later, Fall of 2017, I was at 147 lbs and feeling heavy. The last 3 years of being vegan I would wake up with a bloated stomach – and it seemed to never go away. My legs got fatter, my face got rounder, and running was a chore (before I had enjoyed running). By the end of 2017 I got on the scale to find out that I was at 157 lbs! That was so scary because getting to 160 for me seemed very wrong. My mom is 5’3 and 110 lbs. I have thin genes. Why was I the fat one in the family after being the “healthiest” since I was vegan?!

I went to a naturopath and had my blood tested. Everything came back in normal ranges. And I didn’t get any answers to why I felt so tired and bloated. I also mentioned that I never had gas. Like, ever. The vegan doctor told me that was because I was eating such a clean plant based diet.

My boyfriend has always been against my high carb vegan choices and he’s always said the low carb diet works best for him. One night last year he made some filets for himself on his new barbecue. He kept insisting that I try a bite of it because “it was the best filet he’s ever made”. After him saying “Come on, moderation is healthy! Just ONE bite!” a few times, I gave in.

That bite was so delicious and so juicy. My whole being just went MMMMMM! I ended up eating the whole filet. I felt so guilty for eating a dead animal and enjoying it. I told myself it would be a one time secret thing.

The next morning after waking up, the first thing I noticed was that I didn’t feel bloated! My stomach was much flatter. What?! I was so excited I ran to my boyfriend and told him to feel my side, because it was thinner! I felt so much less inflamed in my stomach.

I wondered if there were some types of vitamins in the meat that my body had been lacking…? I researched this and added supplements into my vegan diet so I didn’t have to eat animals.

In October of 2017 I began binge watching Jordan Peterson on youtube. By January 2018 I was familiar with his daughter, Mikhaila’s health journey with her diet. It all made so much sense. I happened to be having bad upper back pain as well. I ended up going to a chiropractor who took x-rays of my entire back/neck. He put my x-rays up on the wall and said, “Honey, I’m afraid that your’e full of shit.” He pointed out that my intestines were completely backed up and clogged of shit! You could see the clouded clogged shadows on the x-rays. So gross! He then began massaging out my intestines which was very painful. He was trying to loosen me up and get things moving in there.

How could I be so backed up with my high-fiber vegan diet? I ate tons of greens!

I decided to start trying the “Mikhaila Peterson”/Jordan Peterson diet” and incorporating more meat. Luckily the chiropractor adjustments seemed to really help. A few of the adjustments he gave me resulted in me breaking out in a big sweat. I felt a huge release of toxins. I am adding this chiro info in case other people may need this – it REALLY helped me release toxins and gave me a great boost. I should also mention here that the last 2 years of being vegan my menstrual cycles became irregular (never been on bc). Adding in more meat + the day after my chiro adjustment I started my cycle and it’s been regular since then. (sorry if that’s tmi but it’s important stuff for us ladies).

I lost 12 lbs in February with not much exercise – just a couple days of beginner skiing and eating a lot of steaks that month. I was back to 145 lbs.

In May I got much more serious about a carnivore based diet. I listened to Shawn Baker’s podcast on Joe Rogan (after seeing so many people mention it on meatheals.com) and I subscribed to Butcher’s Box. I also loaded up on meat at Costco and taught myself how to barbecue. Not going to lie, I felt kind of bad ass cooking for myself on the BBQ. 

I am happy to say that I am now 127 lbs. I have lost 30 lbs in just a few months – with little to no exercise! And my stomach is FLAT!! I feel thin. My face has slimmed out again. Also, I know this sounds silly but I can actually feel my bones when I’m walking – like how i used to feel when I was a teenager. I feel my rib cage under my skin, I feel my hip bones, and I feel my collar bones again! That sounds weird but looking back all of that was hidden under inflammation and fat. I feel so much lighter. I’m happy with my weight now that I feel so great and I am getting back to my normal range. But I don’t have a “goal weight”. I am just looking forward to seeing what my body does and what feels comfortable and healthy.

I also feel so much more freedom. Eventually in the vegan community it seems like you can never succeed. They can be a very judgmental and intense community. Also looking back it is so obvious to me that my weight issues were a result of my vegan diet. But at the time, I was looking for answers everywhere else! I thought it could have been from an antibiotic I was on after a surgery a few years ago, stress, hormones, etc etc. That is how convinced I was that my plant based diet was best for me even though it clearly wasn’t.

I don’t care what anyone says about my diet – I feel amazing. My energy is back. I feel SO mentally sharp. I was able to finish projects that have been sitting in my drafts for ages. I sleep great. My bowel movements are finally regular – I can actually feel my food being digested again. It really reminds me of being a kid or teenager – these little feelings in my stomach are back after years of feeling plugged.

I know everyone has an opinion about what everyone should eat. But here is what is working for me. I go with what I feel and listen to my body. I eat when I’m hungry. Some people may think I’m over eating and some people may think I’m starving myself. I DON’T CARE! I really don’t have any rules for myself – as I had so many rules as a vegan. I don’t consider it a “diet” but rather just a way to fuel and fill myself.

In the morning I have an iced coffee. And then I have a late lunch/early dinner of a big fatty steak with an egg or two (runny sunny side up). I may have some avocado on the side.

That is really it for now. I feel like my body is still eating away at the fat storage I am carrying around since being vegan. Sounds strange but I can now actually feel my body eating away at my fat storage around my “muffin top” area! This meal plan keeps me satiated and I have ZERO cravings. I never have the “stuffed” feeling. I remember the last few years after eating a vegan meal I would just feel so exhausted and need to go lay down to digest. Not anymore! Also, it’s easy for me not to snack knowing that i’ll be having a big juicy steak later on.

I am sure that as time goes on, I will be adjusting this but right now it is working for me and I feel amazing. If I do get hungry later or I burn more calories that day, I’ll eat more chopped meat, eggs, or avo. But right now I usually don’t need to.

I recently made an instagram account for me to track my progress. It’s a great photo journal tool. I’ve had in on private just for me but I think I’ll open it up if anyone wants to follow me – I’d love to follow you back and make some friends!

Thank you to JP, MP, and Shawn Baker. I feel so much better. #meatheals #carnivorediet #carnivorebased #meatonrepeat

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