Astrid has been dealing with health concerns as far back as her infancy. She describes her mother telling her she was a very colicky baby. Astrid also often became sick as a child and dealt with severe constipation. Even as a young person, she thought the answer to all her problems was the much popular at the time vegetarian diet, but as her life progressed, she continued to develop more and more issues with her health.
In her twenties, Astrid developed mercury toxicity from the dental work she had received. Unfortunately, she was not diagnosed with the condition until she was forty-three, and her health vastly deteriorated during the more than twenty years she was exposed. Astrid was also diagnosed with Lyme Disease, which she says exasperated her metal toxicity issues even more. Add to that, Astrid also suffered from chronic fatigue and depression. She says there came a point when her family was the only reason she felt she needed to keep living.
Astrid says her first introduction to nutrition came through her son, who was also colicky as an infant. She says he was in pain every day, and she researched what she could do to find relief for her child. At that point, she learned about the human body’s nutritional needs and how many people have food intolerances.
From her research, Astrid began feeding her son almond milk instead of cow’s milk and experimenting with other foods he was eating. After a while, she started noticing that eating meat seemed to help her son, who even craved meat at a very young age. At that point, Astrid began to understand why she had struggled with so many health ailments while being a vegetarian. And while she started adding meat back for a time, she wasn’t quite ready to completely change her lifestyle.
In 2010, Astrid began following the GAPS diet– which primarily focused on gut health through meat, bone broth, soft-cooked vegetables, and honey. Astrid found some relief, but she continued to struggle with her health. A friend recommended the carnivore diet, and Astrid said initially, she didn’t want to hear about it. Over time, her heart began to soften towards the crazy diet, and she began to wonder if it could help her body heal.
Astrid said at first, she had no plans to follow the diet long-term. She tried the carnivore diet for a few days and noticed within a week, she felt better. Astrid then decided to continue the diet for two months, which turned to six months, then one year, and then two years. Astrid says she was feeling better and better as she continued with the diet.
After one year on a diet, she experimented with adding vegetables and berries, but almost immediately, her body reacted. She says she now knows that “this (the carnivore diet) is my life.” Today, Astrid eats a lot of beef, pork, chicken, and duck. She does eat some eggs and organs, but she’s found that she can’t tolerate butter or ghee because of her medical history.
Astrid says she has become 98% healed on the carnivore diet. Astrid still struggles with some depression, but she knows she is feeling better today than she even thought she could. She says at sixty-eight years old, she knows she is much more vital than many people her age. Her advice to anyone looking to try this diet is to “never give up.” She also says she is living proof that there is a “light at the end of the darkness.”
