Carnivore Diet Experiment

Just over three weeks ago, I decided to bite the bullet and try the Carnivore Diet...yes, just as it sounds...you. only. eat. meat! No veggies, no fruits...just salt and meat. However, I am continuing to take several supplements. There are some who do an even stricter version called the Lion's Diet (ruminant animals only), but I'm including poultry and seafood, at least initially, for variety...and sanity. There is quite a bit of anecdotal evidence online that this diet can be beneficial for those with autoimmunity, but of course, it is not mainstream and there is not a lot of research (more on that later). However, as I often do, I decided to experiment to see how this diet affects me. Thirty days is my goal, at which point I will re-evaluate whether to continue. I'm at 3.5 weeks and counting. The days are getting easier. The first couple of weeks were certainly the most difficult, mainly due to extreme moodiness. I felt very depressed and irritable. Diarrhea also plagued me and continues to some...whether this is due to oxalate dumping, fat/protein ratio or something else....I'm not sure. I do believe, though, that because I have done keto for a long time, I probably had an easier time adjusting to the fat digestion and metabolic flexibility required to do Carnivore.

My expectations for this diet were not high, as I figured that most of the benefits that people get from doing Carnevore, I was already getting through other tweaks in my diet. For example, I am very careful about minimizing plant toxins, including lectins and oxalates. And, I already avoid many of the inflammatory foods, such as legumes, grains and dairy. After 3.5 weeks in, as expected, there have been no major shifts, but potentially some small improvements. At 4 weeks, I will get labs run and will see if there are any shifts in bloodwork. Here are a few things I've noticed so far:

• Eating is boring! I guess I've always enjoyed my fruits and veggies, and I no longer look forward to eating, beyond satiety. This has been the hardest thing about this diet so far. Oh, and force feeding myself organs is rough! I continue to eat a small serving of organ meat daily for the nutrients.

• Significant depression and moodiness the first couple weeks.

• Diarrhea the first couple weeks.

• My body is working less to digest food! This has been the biggest win...less bloating, less GI discomfort and less post-meal fatigue. I hope this translates into gut healing. I've been working to heal gut permeability for three years now. As Hippocrates said, "All disease begins in the gut" from which I infer that healing then begins in the gut, as well.

• Better sleep...my Oura scores have never been this optimal.

• Less urge to snack. I get hungry, but usually not "starving" or hangry, anymore. I hope this means my blood sugar is more stable.

• Low blood sugar and high ketones.

• Energy is more steady throughout the day. I'm not getting boosts of energy to workout though, which makes exercise more difficult. Normally, I would say, I benefit from some carbs around workouts so strict Carnivore and energy for exercise may not be in the cards for me.

Because I like to base my healthcare decisions on science, I did some research before starting this diet. The carnivore diet has historical roots in traditional societies and indigenous cultures, such as the Inuit and the Maasai, who primarily consumed animal products. The idea of ancestral eating makes sense to me since it incorporates eating patterns that humans evolved with and are thus are more likely to be optimal than the engineered diets of the modern world. The Carnivore Diet is low in carbohydrates, high in protein, and rich in saturated fats, which is why many on this diet also get benefits of being in ketosis (as long as protein isn't over consumed!). Some of the anecdotal benefits of the diet include weight loss, reduced inflammation, improved mental health, and improvement in autoimmune symptoms, particularly IBS and IBD. This diet isn't without risks, which is important to consider....long term studies are limited and the long term health implications as well as the effects on the microbiome are not known. I would certainly not suggest or recommend that anyone take this diet on without the help and advice of a medical professional. Interestingly, though, there are many cases of individuals who are thriving on this diet 10+ years out.

So, what does the limited research tell us about the efficacy of the Carnivore Diet?

There is a decent amount of research on low carbohydrate and ketogenic diets, but not much on Carnivore Diet, specifically. In fact, I found only one study of interest with a large sample size (although the study has limitations in that it was all self reported). However, I still found it quite interesting. This study looked at over 2,000 survey respondents following the Carnivore Diet and found that satisfaction with diet and health improvements were common (95% of the respondents!). Benefits noted included improvements in various medical conditions, BMI and diabetes, with few adverse effects reported (however, LDL-cholesterol was elevated in some...how to interpret this can be controversial, based on experts I have listened to). Since I am interested in autoimmune disease, I noted that 36% resolved, 53% improved and 11% had no change in autoimmunity. I was actually blown away by the changes in a variety of things detailed in table 3 of the study. Hopefully, this diet will get more research attention in the future. In the meantime, I'm working on my "n" of 1 study.