Why Carnivore?
The Carnivore Diet is picking up steam lately as a cure all for all sorts of autoimmune diseases and gut issues. You can find more information on my laundry list of symptoms here, but the ones I am primarily focused on with this diet are the eczema and bowel issues in particular. However, as I think virtually every ailment I have (and almost every ailment anyone has) is stemming from overall gut health issues, I am hopeful this diet could fix everything!
Guess I Should Add My Disclaimer…I’m no doctor or expert. I’m not saying you should listen to any of my advice. I’m also not saying you should ask your doctor, because I think the large majority of them want to do nothing but slap a pill on your symptoms. However, I do urge you to use that noggin’ of yours and make up your own mind on whether you want to talk to a doctor or do your own research or whatever. Lawyers come at me.
My History Attempting to Fix All This
I have struggled for years with all my symptoms and found no apparent fix for any of them. I haven’t gone the prescription route for any of it, aside from a steroid for my ears that I barely used (after seeing my sister’s experience with her eczema). I tried a bunch of different elimination diets, none of them made a difference for me. Or even more odd, some of them would make a difference one time and not make a difference when I tried them again. I’ve gone dairy free, gluten free, alcohol free, all at various times and sometimes all together, sometimes not. I had improvement with my bowels during one stretch of a few months gluten free and dairy free. Ultimately, I couldn’t stick with it. I tried again maybe half a year later and saw no improvement at all. Nothing has worked for my eczema yet or any of the other symptoms on my list.
So What is the Carnivore Diet?
The whole idea behind the Carnivore diet is you eat nothing but meat and animal products. No veggies, no spices, no fruits, no grains, no alcohol…you get the idea. Proponents of the diet vary a bit in their standards of what is okay or not. Some do dairy, some don’t. Some add some spices, some don’t. However, most agree that if you are truly trying to heal, for the first 30 days it is best to do pure beef and water and salt. This eliminates the possibility of pretty much any possible intolerance or allergy. You can learn a lot more about the diet itself here by one of the leading authorities in the game, Dr. Paul Saladino.
My Experiment
I had finally seen enough to be encouraged to dive in after seeing so many amazing testimonials. The concept behind the diet actually makes a lot of sense to me. I know it’s something I would never stick to forever, but I am more in this to heal my leaky gut and not necessarily looking for the long term benefits some people are seeking. I then believe I can go back to enjoying the foods I love in moderation. I am not intending to go into this as hardcore as a lot of people because there is no way I’d last. I also don’t think my issues are quite as serious as say someone trying to cure Crohn’s or MS.
Disclaimer that I am quite the drinker. I don’t normally go more than a day without a pour of whiskey or a beer, and I go pretty hard most weekends. I know this is certainly not helping my gut, but it is also the hardest part for me to give up on these diets. I did do sober January this year, so it’s not impossible, but man do I miss it when it’s gone. I realize it’s going to have to take a back seat for this to work though.
Here’s the main core of my plan:
- Meat, broth, eggs, cheese, Kombucha, lemon/lime water/seltzer, tea, maybe a splash of alcohol on weekends for 30 days
- Not quitting coffee
- After 30 days reintroducing milk and fermented veggies and allowing a few more drinks, but no beer (gluten/carbs)
- After 60 days introducing fermented grains (sourdough bread)
So that’s it! Look out for my post on how week 1 goes!