Brett reversed GERD, no longer suffers from joint and neck pain on a carnivore lifestyle

Brett has been self-conscious about his body and his weight for many years of his life. Brett says as a kid, he ate the “healthier” version of the Standard American Diet. His diet included lots of fruits and grains, and while he was a slender child and teen, he still had a bit of a stomach.

When Brett entered college and started eating more chicken nuggets and pizza, he quickly gained thirty pounds. Brett says he didn’t like being overweight, so he did what most Americans do, monitored his eating, and became more active. That worked until Brett graduated college and moved to New Orleans, where he performed a desk job and fell back into old habits.

Brett says he weighed around 185 pounds at 5’6”. One day he struggled to get out of bed and decided he had had enough. He began researching diets and found the Atkins diet (before it was heavily processed). From the Atkins diet, Brett transitioned to the paleo diet. Around this time, Brett moved overseas and said he was living his best, most active life. He was eating well and regularly exercised with cycling and workouts like P90x.

Brett and his wife moved back to the states. Brett went to a restaurant shortly after returning to the states and said he could immediately smell the vegetable oils in the restaurant. Brett says he and his wife also became very sensitive to the corn syrup in American foods after living abroad.

Brett continued his paleo lifestyle in America but gained ten pounds in just one month. In 2020, during the covid lockdown, Brett again fell into old habits. He stopped exercising and started spending more time snacking due to stress. Brett developed intense GERD and almost lost his life because of it. Brett was drinking coffee one day and said the acid felt like it went into his lungs. He instantly started coughing and choking. He soon passed out, and his wife had to perform the Heimlich maneuver.

Brett knew he needed to make changes. He had heard of the carnivore diet and decided to listen to the three-hour Joe Rogan podcast feature Jordan Peterson. Brett says the very next day, he started his carnivore diet journey– that was six months ago.

Brett says he had some issues with diarrhea at the beginning of his journey, but after a few weeks, his bowels worked themselves out. Brett says he went from taking antacids every two hours to weaning himself off within a week of starting the carnivore diet. Brett also says his cravings and hunger disappeared within a few days, and he could easily transition to two meals daily. He even found the energy to start exercising, mainly walking, again.

Brett says at the beginning of his carnivore journey, he ate a lot of bacon but now only eats it occasionally. He has found his body prefers beef. Brett also does not eat dairy, as he has seen through experimentation that his body reacts to it. Brett still drinks coffee and says he added in beef liver because his body has started to crave it.

Brett says the carnivore diet has been very sustainable, and he loves how straightforward the diet is to follow. Brett appreciates the carnivore community and looks forward to where his zero-carb lifestyle will take him.