Today, 30th March 2020, I’ve completed 30 days of the Carnivore Diet.
When I embarked on this challenge, I was really not sure whether I could survive without vegetables. However, being on the Keto way of eating some 5½ months previously, I was eating fewer fruit and vegetables anyway. So I thought I’d give it a go and see what happens.
The first 2 weeks of the challenge I ate a variety of meat, fat, eggs and some dairy. During the next 2 weeks I found that every 5-6 days, I just fancied something sweet, so made myself a creamy cheesy pudding and ate it with berries.
My weight has remained stable - perhaps I’m now at my natural body weight of 52 kgs. I have not experienced diarrhoea nor constipation. Perhaps being on the Keto way for over 5 months adapted my excretory system. I excrete solid waste every 4-5 days (what a way to save on toilet paper at this time!). I believe that eating vegetables, which the body does not digest, creates a lot of unnecessary waste (fibre) that has to be eliminated. Eating meat does not seem to create as much waste matter. I recall those years when I had dogs and fed them on a raw meat diet. I noticed that their excrement was a lot smaller and better looking than other dogs' excrement.
Except for 1 day, I was eating one meal a day everyday, ie every 24 hours, which meant I was also practising intermittent fasting. This way of eating stemmed from being on the Keto way for over 5 months. My daily one meal usually comprised a starter of a strip of belly pork, which I cut up into pieces and fried in some fat and I would keep the fat that was rendered for a future cooking. My main course would be about 250-300 gms of beef steak, minced beef (20% fat), pork, lamb, chicken, duck. I would sometimes have salmon, liver, bacon, eggs, cod roe. All cooked in the rendered fat from the belly pork. I felt very satiated, not hungry at all to want to eat an extra meal in the 24-hour period.
I took my blood glucose and blood ketone readings once a week before eating. Both readings have been pretty stable. Blood glucose averaged 5.2 mmol/l and blood ketones averaged 1.5 mmol/l. I did not feel tired nor ill. In fact I had lots of energy. I felt that my brain functioned better and I feel healthy.
This way of eating is alien to a lot of people because it has been drummed into us that a healthy diet must comprise carbs, fruit & vegetables; that one must eat less fat and more fibre. The only way to prove that this way of eating is so misguided is to try it yourself. Try the low carb diet healthy fat diet and see the benefits you can achieve, especially if you have health issues (metabolic disorders, such as over-weight, type 2 diabetes, allergies, inflammation, heart issues, respiratory issues, dementia).
Some more benefits I have experienced with a carnivore diet:
I’m going to stick with this way of eating from now on. For me, there’s no need to join the queues in the supermarket to stock up on pasta, fruit and veg. I shop at my local butcher’s and just pop in to the small supermarket to get my stock of fish, double cream and cheese every few days. This is definitely the way forward for me.
When I embarked on this challenge, I was really not sure whether I could survive without vegetables. However, being on the Keto way of eating some 5½ months previously, I was eating fewer fruit and vegetables anyway. So I thought I’d give it a go and see what happens.
The first 2 weeks of the challenge I ate a variety of meat, fat, eggs and some dairy. During the next 2 weeks I found that every 5-6 days, I just fancied something sweet, so made myself a creamy cheesy pudding and ate it with berries.
My weight has remained stable - perhaps I’m now at my natural body weight of 52 kgs. I have not experienced diarrhoea nor constipation. Perhaps being on the Keto way for over 5 months adapted my excretory system. I excrete solid waste every 4-5 days (what a way to save on toilet paper at this time!). I believe that eating vegetables, which the body does not digest, creates a lot of unnecessary waste (fibre) that has to be eliminated. Eating meat does not seem to create as much waste matter. I recall those years when I had dogs and fed them on a raw meat diet. I noticed that their excrement was a lot smaller and better looking than other dogs' excrement.
Except for 1 day, I was eating one meal a day everyday, ie every 24 hours, which meant I was also practising intermittent fasting. This way of eating stemmed from being on the Keto way for over 5 months. My daily one meal usually comprised a starter of a strip of belly pork, which I cut up into pieces and fried in some fat and I would keep the fat that was rendered for a future cooking. My main course would be about 250-300 gms of beef steak, minced beef (20% fat), pork, lamb, chicken, duck. I would sometimes have salmon, liver, bacon, eggs, cod roe. All cooked in the rendered fat from the belly pork. I felt very satiated, not hungry at all to want to eat an extra meal in the 24-hour period.
I took my blood glucose and blood ketone readings once a week before eating. Both readings have been pretty stable. Blood glucose averaged 5.2 mmol/l and blood ketones averaged 1.5 mmol/l. I did not feel tired nor ill. In fact I had lots of energy. I felt that my brain functioned better and I feel healthy.
This way of eating is alien to a lot of people because it has been drummed into us that a healthy diet must comprise carbs, fruit & vegetables; that one must eat less fat and more fibre. The only way to prove that this way of eating is so misguided is to try it yourself. Try the low carb diet healthy fat diet and see the benefits you can achieve, especially if you have health issues (metabolic disorders, such as over-weight, type 2 diabetes, allergies, inflammation, heart issues, respiratory issues, dementia).
Some more benefits I have experienced with a carnivore diet:
- Ketosis. Eating only meat put me in ketosis. The blood readings I took averaged 1.5 mmol/l. Ketosis also suppresses hunger signals. Ketones are a very efficient fuel source for the brain and the body.
- Better digestion. A zero-fibre diet did not make me constipated nor bloated. In fact, since being on the Keto way, I hardly fart!
- Vitamin A. The body uses a large portion of dietary vitamin A to metabolise carbohydrates, and if you don’t eat carbs, your vitamin A requirements may decrease. Anyway, eating liver and offal will provide vitamin A.
- Vitamin C. It turns out that fresh beef has vitamin C -- about 16 mcg/g in grain-fed meat and 25 mcg/g in grass-fed meat. Not an awful lot, but it is there. I feel there is no great need for the vitamin C in fruit & vegetables. If necessary, I can supplement with Vitamin C tablets.
I’m going to stick with this way of eating from now on. For me, there’s no need to join the queues in the supermarket to stock up on pasta, fruit and veg. I shop at my local butcher’s and just pop in to the small supermarket to get my stock of fish, double cream and cheese every few days. This is definitely the way forward for me.
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