Anemia

Real People, Real Results

Coach Charity’s improved pregnancy experience on a carnivore diet

May 6, 2022 No Comments

Charity is a carnivore coach, who previously was a vegetarian for over 10 years, “super super grain heavy, super bean heavy.” She was experiencing severe gut issues, and “had chronic constipation for three solid years. Every single day I dealt with this.”

She would also get hangry, very emotional and sweaty when she was hungry, as her blood sugar dropped.

Vegetarian

While Charity was a vegetarian, she “was a group fitness instructor, so I was teaching a lot of these high-intensity interval training classes” and also exercising herself at other times.

Charity now realizes that she wasn’t feeding her body properly. “Halfway through my pregnancy, I was hit with this sudden, uncontrollable craving for ice, and I don’t normally like ice!”

Pica

Charity learned that this is called pica, which is a craving for a non-food item. In her case it was ice, but in many cases it can be something harmful or toxic. “I learned that it was a symptom of anemia, so in the third trimester, when they tested my blood again, I was severely anemic.”

Her blood sugar levels were unstable, and she gained 35 pounds before giving birth.

Vegetarian Birth

“I was in early labor for five days.” After five days, she went to the hospital, but her labor had stopped “so I had to be put on pitocin to keep it going…16 hours later, on pitocin, I delivered.” Afterward, Charity hemorrhaged, and lost a lot of blood.

“That really put me behind on a lot. My milk didn’t come in for four or five days, I was super gray and sallow in the hospital, I was not able to walk around.” It would take a month for her to recover, and then she had pelvic floor issues as well.

Vegetarian Low-Carb Keto

Two years later, Charity and her husband decided to try low-carb, and then keto, but remaining vegetarian made it a challenge. After some research, she decided to eat meat again, and realized “I loved meat, and I was starving!” She gradually became completely carnivore.

Charity liked the simplicity of carnivore, and decided to stay with it. Her gut problems all resolved, after years of problems, and her blood sugar stabilized.

The Carnivore Baby

Charity’s iron levels actually rose during this pregnancy, and she only gained 20 pounds. “I felt amazing; I didn’t have that depleted feeling that I had had…my blood sugars were way more stable.” Her labor and delivery were straightforward, with three hours of early labor and then being 50% effaced at the hospital. She did not hemorrhage.

After the delivery, Charity was “up, a little sore, a little tired. It was crazy, really, the difference, my coloring, I was able to walk out of the hospital instead of in a wheelchair.”

“I couldn’t believe how vital and strong I felt, even though I had just birthed a whole human.” Her milk was normal, and she experienced no pelvic floor problems.

“It was like night and day, a completely different experience!”

Melanie put Raynaud’s syndrome into remission and improved libido on a carnivore lifestyle

December 29, 2021 No Comments

Melanie has been struggling with her health for years. Melanie says as a child, she ate the Standard American Diet, which included a lot of bread and pasta. Melanie says she always loved meat and didn’t like vegetables unless they were doused in butter. When Melanie was just sixteen years old, she started going gray, and later in her early twenties, she began to experience intense lower back pain.

When Melanie was a young adult, her mom was diagnosed with celiac disease. As a way of showing support to her mother, Melanie cut gluten from her diet and noticed she felt better. It was during this discovery that Melanie also, unfortunately, found her way to the vegetarian diet.

By the time Melanie was in her mid-forties, she was experiencing intense cognitive issues, including impaired short-term memory and difficulty walking. She sought help from a neurologist who initially thought she had multiple sclerosis (MS). However, when the doctor scanned Melanie’s brain, he didn’t find MS. He told Melanie that her brain looked great. Later, Melanie would find out she had a vitamin B12 deficiency, causing her cognitive issues. She decided to remedy her deficiency with a vegan diet.

Melanie has also struggled with anemia, or low iron, for most of her adult life. Beyond vitamin deficiencies, Melanie was also diagnosed with Reynaud’s syndrome. A condition that hinders the blood from getting to one’s fingers. The final straw for Melanie was when she was told she also had high cholesterol after a scare with what she thought at the time was a heart attack. Melanie knew she needed to make some significant changes to her health.

Melanie decided to try the carnivore diet on what happened to be her birthday in November 2019. She says her family thought she was crazy initially and that it was just another diet like the vegetarian and vegan diets she had tried. However, after some time following the carnivore diet, Melanie is no longer considered anemic, and her blood levels are normal. She is now also in remission for Reynaud’s syndrome. Melanie says she feels like she has much more energy since becoming a carnivore diet follower; she also has a higher libido and no longer gets moody when she hasn’t had something to eat for a few hours.

Today Melanie’s diet consists of a lot of beef. Melanie says at the beginning of her carnivore journey, she ate a lot of eggs but has since cut back since they caused her to get a rash. Melanie also enjoys eating organs like liver and chicken heart and will eat some dairy or grapefruit every once in a while. Melanie is very adventurous with her meat-eating and has tried eating rattlesnake and yak meat. She also describes eating a variety of different meats while living in Mexico for a month recently.

Melanie’s life has completely changed since she is no longer a vegetarian and is following the carnivore lifestyle. Melanie knows that her body has been trying to tell her for years that it doesn’t like vegetables. She says, “My body craves meat. It’s the food I need.”

Sara J healed boils, sarcopenia, and dysphoric pré-menstrual disorder on a carnivore diet

March 26, 2021 No Comments

Sara did not realize the seven years she spent eating plant-based (first as a vegetarian, then vegan, and lastly raw vegan) would do so much damage to her health. She says she now realizes she was “brain-washed.” She speaks of her government pushing a meatless diet. Sara also says she felt she needed to get into the vegetarian lifestyle because of the treatment of animals and what she was told about the effects of eating meat on the environment.

Sara had many health issues before she became plant-based and while eating plant-based. Ten years ago, she was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a debilitating inflammatory disease that caused her to be in pain daily. Sara says she initially thought vegetarianism would help her condition, but it only worsened.

Furthermore, Sara lost her menstrual cycle for almost four years as a vegan. However, she regained her cycle after adding back eggs as a vegetarian. Sara also developed anemia and eczema and suffered from poor digestion and bowel movements. Sara says she didn’t realize it at the time, but she could not build muscle, even while training. Her skin was also very dull, and Sara was experiencing hair loss. She says it was “hard to see my body falling apart” and struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts.

Sara didn’t realize she was damaging her body. She tried to heal her body and followed what others told her she should do. Sara says the only thing that saved her while she was plant-based was that she also fasted. She would fast for up to twenty-one days and often felt terrific benefits from her fasts. However, she would often break her fast with fruit and other high-sugar foods, almost instantly losing whatever gains she received.

It wasn’t until a year ago a fellow vegan friend, who also has a youtube channel, began to share about his conversion to the carnivore diet. At that point, Sara began to open her eyes to what a plant-based diet was doing to her health. She realized what her body needed and craved was meat. Furthermore, she began to research and realized that many of the things she was told about the treatment of animals and how eating meat affects the earth are not true.

With the guidance of her friend, Sara jumped into the carnivore diet. When asked how she has healed, she says, “healing is a process,” but her eczema immediately cleared, and her digestion improved. The inflammation from her ankylosing spondylitis was also significantly reduced. She was also able to gain muscle, and her moods vastly improved. She says she no longer struggles with depression, and her suicidal thoughts are gone. She even says her hair and teeth are much healthier, and her skin is glowing and no longer dry.

Sara says she didn’t realize her body needed meat all along. She didn’t know that following “fake news” meant putting her life in danger. Today, Sara feels like she has been “reborn from the ashes.” She is thankful to be a part of the Carnivore.Diet community and says becoming a carnivore diet follower has completely changed her life.

Carla heals Hashimoto’s and is off all thyroid meds on a Carnivore lifestyle

March 20, 2021 1 Comment

Carla has never been a person who ate the Standard American Diet. Growing up in the 1970s, her mom experimented with eating vegetarian throughout her childhood and teen years. Later in her twenties and thirties, Carla said she continued to eat what most people consider healthy. She ate a lot of chicken and vegetables. She even joked with her husband when they married that she didn’t know how to cook a steak and never tried because she ate so much chicken.

Carla had her fourth child at thirty-seven and said she experienced a very rough recovery. Her hands and wrists began to hurt so much that she struggled to hold her new baby. Around the same time, her mom was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease. Her mom’s doctor explained that the disease was hereditary and that Carla and her siblings, who were experiencing various symptoms, needed to give up gluten.

Carla says initially giving up gluten helped her body. She even went on to have two more children. However, she replaced gluten with other high-carb foods such as rice, corn, and potatoes. The catalyst for her health problems occurred in 2012 when her adopted son died at two years old. Carla says the stress of the grief and loss caused her adrenals to go haywire. She began losing her hair, and her menstrual cycles became very heavy.

At that point, a functional doctor she worked with suggested she stick to an elimination diet. She was allowed to eat meat, sweet potatoes, rice, and lots of vegetables. Carla says though she lost weight, her energy tanked. She brought her bloodwork to a friend who is a nurse. Her friend was shocked that Carla had not been officially diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease. Carla then fired her previous doctor and began working with her friend to balance her thyroid.

Carla began taking medication specifically for her thyroid and was starting to feel better. Then around the age of fifty, her body began to go through menopause, and her hormones tanked. She started looking into the Autoimmune Protocol Diet (AIP). She says she went all in on the AIP diet, which includes a lot of fruits and vegetables and a small amount of meat. Still, she did not feel well.

At the end of 2017, her son heard Dr. Shawn Baker on the Joe Rogan podcast, and she began to learn about the carnivore diet. Her son had been suffering from food allergies and migraines since the age of four. When he started the carnivore diet, Carla thought it sounded crazy and couldn’t believe he was only eating meat. However, within a few months, he went off all his medications.

Carla began experimenting with the carnivore diet in early 2018 and, that summer jumped fully in. She credits listening to Kelly Hogan and Jordan and Mikayla Peterson as wonderful sources of information. Carla says her first month of living the carnivore lifestyle was tough. She experienced leg cramps and very intense sugar cravings. However, after the first initial month, Hashimoto’s symptoms she had been experiencing decreased, and she gained enough energy to run a 10K race.

Carla says after approximately eight to nine months of living a carnivore life, she cut her thyroid medications in half. A few months after that, she cut her pills into quarters. Carla’s husband also started following the carnivore diet in early 2019 after seeing how well Carla and her son were feeling.

Today Carla mostly eats beef, bone broth, seafood, and coffee. She has experimented with adding foods, such as avocados, but doesn’t see herself genuinely returning to her previous ways of eating. She says her advice for anyone looking to get started is to “give it six weeks and go all in.” She says she is proud that she has shared her story with others and has been credited by other women for showing them something that has changed their life.

Rhonda cured anaemia and reduced menopause symptoms on the carnivore diet

February 21, 2021 No Comments

Rhonda grew up on a family farm, eating organically raised and wild game. When she became a mother, she started eating a lot more carbohydrates to stretch her budget, turning her diet for the worse. “I can remember so many times of that constant yo-yo of the coffee and then the carb crash and then the coffee high and the carb crash. I remember just being exhausted all the time.”

Stressful Work, Bad Diet

“I was also working as a trauma consultant, attending tragedies a lot, and doing crisis intervention in communities. With that happening, I wasn’t able to take care of my health at all. For over 10 years my diet was absolutely terrible.”

After tragedy came to visit Rhonda, when her adoptive father passed away, she began working on improving her health.

Bodybuilding

She entered a bodybuilding competition at age 47, to force herself to work on health. The bodybuilding diets were very strict, but helped her meet some health goals. Her weight would fluctuate 25-30 pounds between competitions though.

She heard about the ketogenic diet, which was an improvement over her previous carb-heavy diet. Rhonda began to be worried about her health, and stopped bodybuilding competitions at age 50. She immediately went on a fully ketogenic diet.

Becoming Carnivore

After hearing about the carnivore diet, she said “When I saw that, I said ‘Yeah, that would work perfectly for my life.” Rhonda went on the carnivore diet herself, and saw her bloating go away immediately. “I liked right away what I was feeling. I started sleeping better, and I found a calmness that helped me go to a place that I needed to go.”

Rhonda found that she appreciated the simplicity of the carnivore diet, saying “When you live in the world of measuring and weighing all of your food, for so long on a bodybuilding diet, to get to carnivore and just eat satiating food that brought peace within my body, was brand new to me. It’s such a relief to not even have to think about what I’m consuming.”

Rhonda had been anemic her whole life, struggling to keep her iron levels out of the red. For the first time, her iron went up to normal. This provided her with “high energy, all the time, every day.”

Reversing Aging

“The skin around my eyes has softened, wrinkles went away, I have less gray hair than I had, I don’t sunburn…It’s great to be anti-aging at this age.”

“Tonight we’re having a moose/burger combination. I eat all the meats, all the fish, all the seafood, and all the dairy without complications. For the first time in my life, my weight is stable. I’m sitting at 131 this morning, and that’s where it’s been for 11 months now.”

Rhonda Recommends Carnivore

“It’s been a fun ride! It’s been super exciting to test yourself, see what happens, see what next levels of healing you can actually achieve. I would highly recommend it.”

Trudi healed her severe anemia on a carnivore diet

January 8, 2021 No Comments

Trudi struggled with her physical and mental health for most of her life. She suffered from chronic inflammation, which eventually led to acute pancreatitis and landed her in the hospital. She was severely anemic and had to supplement with iron tablets to be able to function.

“I was always overly emotional,” Trudi shares with Revero coach Amber. “As an adult, I had to establish coping mechanisms to keep my emotions in check. However, there was always a cloud over me, which contributed to me gaining weight.” Trudi describes her anxiety as a constant struggle that loomed over her life. She reached her highest weight of 306 pounds and underwent gastric bypass surgery. “It was just a temporary fix,” Trudi says of the surgery, and she struggled to get her weight below 200 pounds.

Trudi’s inflammation increased in her forties, resulting in arthritis and sciatic nerve pain. She also developed IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), making it harder for her to enjoy an active lifestyle. Switching to a vegan diet worsened her anemia, and her energy levels dropped so low that she could no longer climb stairs.

“I wondered why nothing was working,” she recalls. “I was doing all the right things and fasting, but there I was in the hospital with pancreatitis. It was crazy and frustrating!” Trudi remembers feeling bloated and sick most of the time. She constantly tried different diets and protocols, but nothing worked for long.

After a weight loss stall on keto, Trudi committed to a meat-based diet during World Carnivore Month in January. “I noticed the other foods I was eating didn’t give me the satiety that meat did.” Trudi enjoys intermittent fasting and chooses a large ribeye with butter for her main meal or a stack of burger patties and cheddar cheese. For variety, she’ll include bacon, sausage, and eggs.

Trudi has witnessed some incredible changes since switching to a carnivore diet. Most notably, she is free from all symptoms of anemia and has the energy to work out at the gym several days a week with no back or joint pain. “There was so much inflammation that I didn’t even know I was carrying!”

Focusing on nutrient-dense meat has helped Trudi shed 70 pounds, and her body can absorb iron better, healing her chronic anemia. Her IBS and bloating are gone, too! “I’m happy not to be making three meals a day, and I’m not constantly worrying about food 24/7!”

Perhaps most importantly, Trudi enjoys a true sense of mental clarity and emotional stability. Her anxiety is gone, and she can focus on other priorities now that she is in better health. “I finally have control over my emotions,” she reveals. “I can separate what is important to me. I get up in the morning and feel good about being alive!”

Trudi is thrilled to be a member of the Revero community and hopes that more people will hear about the many benefits of a carnivore diet. “It’s so important for all of us to take ownership of our bodies and minds and become our own experts,” Trudi asserts. “People need to know that this way of eating exists because it can greatly improve their quality of life!”

Laura healed her allergies, asthma, GI issues on a carnivore diet

December 24, 2020 8 Comments

I was raised with a typical german diet: sugar cereal or toast for breakfast, pasta, rice or potatoes for lunch, cake or cookies as an evening snack, bread for dinner. Really high in carbohydrates, sugar, low in protein and nutrients. My typical day consisted of 4-5 meals. Because of my active childhood I always had a athletic/normal body. I ate this type of foods till I moved out from my parents home. I went to university and after one year I felt really uncomfortable in my body. In this time I ate not really healthy. At this point I wanted to change something.

First fitness diet

Going back I remember my health and fitness beginnings in 2017. Started with bodybuilding and ate a typical „fitness diet“, consisted of rice, potatoes, chicken, vegetables and low fat dairy products. Following my fitness story in the first time, my diet consisted mainly of high protein food, low fat products and sugar replacement stuff. Along my way I explored the topic of different diets and researched a lot about how food can differently effects our bodies, because I suffered with digestive issues, asthma and allergies.

After reading books, studies and articles, I decided to go paleo, with a lot of whole, unprocessed foods, fresh fruit and vegetables no wheat, no dairy, no sugar replacement and no high protein fake sweets. Since than, I lived a paleo based diet and felt better than with the diet before, because of the high ‚fake foods‘ content, I’m consuming in this ‚normal‘ German diet.

In 2018 I achieved my best physique by competing in different bodybuilding fitness shows. In this period of time I ate a high protein and moderate fat, but low till no carb diet. My physique, mental clarity and overall well-being improved week by week. In this time I recognized, that our bodies don‘t need that much carbohydrates and food intake like we think.

In the fitness industry there are a lot of myths, according to ‚a healthy diet‘. After my bodybuilding competitions I increased the amount of carbohydrate intake and other foods, which I had eliminate during the bodybuilding diet. The months after it were terrible. After a period of time, I recognized some changes in my gut health.

I felt not good after consuming certain kind of foods. The most day I felt like crap. I suffered from bloatings, cramps and gut issues nearly everyday. My skin was aweful and my mood too. 3 years I had a really challenging time, which was marked by numerous health issues, especially GI issues, strong asthma, allergies. The Paleo diet helped me to reduce some of my symptoms. Along my journey I reached my highest weight in July 2019, after one year of bulking. My bodyweight was at 77kg. I hold this weight till the end of 2019.

In this time I felt wrong in my body and wanted to change something. Since I am young, I am a really athletic person. As a child I was outside everyday, did a lot of different sports and loved being active. So for me it was disconcerting, seeing my body is this physique.

I research a lot according to different fat loss diets. From my bodybuilding prep I know, that cutting carbs will be helpful. On 20.04.2020 I started my keto journey. Coming from a moderate carb but very low fat diet, it was completely different to my previously way of eating.

From keto to carnivore

Some of my health issues improved after the transition time by eating a high fat diet. Especially my energy levels increased, my skin got better, I felt energize and overall better. Since I am 10 years old I suffer from strong asthma and seasonal allergies. This year my symptoms were as bad as never before. I know, that many diseases can be fix with the right diet. Since Covid-19 came around, I used that time at home to research, how I can improve my health and fix my symptoms.

My health definitely improved by the ketogenic diet, so I decided that I will continue this way of eating with some changes. Because of the fact, that I ate a lot of vegetables, nuts and seeds my gut developed some issues again, according to the big variety of food sources you can use in a ketogenic diet. For me personally, thats one of the main negative thing in a ketogenic diet. So I decided to make a change and going back to a completely natural way of eating.

In the first step, I eliminated all inflammatory foods, like nuts, avocado and eggs in my daily meals. I read a lot of studies and articles, according to the carnivore diet, which should has healing qualities. I decided to give it a try. I started with a 30 day experiment. In the first month I tried different meat sources, egg yolks, ribs, wings …etc. I ate 3 smaler meals per day. Everything I ate and how I felt was written down in my carnivore journal, where I documented my experiences along the way. After this time I felt so awesome, that I decided to continue this way of eating. Along the way I found out what works the best for me.

Current diet

Now I’m on the carnivore diet since 6 months. The baseline of my current diet is 99% beef: organic grass fed ground beef, ribeye, skirt steak, flank steak…I reduced my meals from 4-5 to only 2 meals a day. In the first months I try to figure out what works the best for me. I realised, that dairy or eggs don’t feel good on my body. So I limited that completely. Because of my lactose intolerance, I had’nt eat dairy before. So it was’nt a big deal. In the first month I eat chicken and pork too, but after a while I felt not as great as only eating beef.

I eat when I’m hungry and stop, when I’m satiated. Typically my day starts with my mineal drink ( water + salt) immediatly after wake up.

After my morning walk I eat after a 18-20h fast my first meal. Mostly it’s organic ground beef. My next meal is in the afternoon at 13 -14 pm. In between I work, go outside and do workouts. For this second meal, I eat a steak. Since I’m doing the carnivore diet I don’t track or count macros. This is something completely new to me, because I track and count macros since the beginning of my fitness journey. Definitely this is for me like a new freedom.

Summary of the symptoms which I could fix with the carnivore diet:

GI issues, leaky gut, digestive problems
after bodybuilding competition session I had huge troubles
felt worse after each meal ( at this time I eat 6 meals a day)
daily bloatings, cramps, constipation
improvements on keto since I reduced inflammatory night shade plants (potatoes, tomatoes etc.)
most improvements on carnivore since I totally removed plants, nuts & seeds
no bloatings (I remeber my first entry in my carnivore journal: I feel amazing! No bloatings at all the whole day)
no cramps after eating, no constipation
strong daily headaches

According to my health situation in April 2020 I dealt with strong headaches daily.
My workout endurance decreased because I couldn’t do any exercises with jumping, overhead, etc.

I’ve been totally slacking off nearly everyday even in my keto time, which I started in May, the daily headaches didnt go away after reseaching on todays point of view I ate a lot inflammatory plants, nuts and seeds removing this food from my diet I felt the first improvements my mind cleared up, the strong headaches reduced day by day I got my drive and focus back the best thing I felt mental clarity.

Allergies, food intolerances

Since 2017 my seasonal allergies are really bad in the spring/summer months I have itchy, red eyes, I cant wear my contact lenses, my nose gets blocked this year the symptoms were so bad… couldnt breathe deeply and in combination with my asthma I dealed with painful breaths. In the transition time to keto this symptoms didnt go away, because of all inflammatory plants, nuts & seed after I went to do carnivore and only eat meat all symptoms were GONE!

Strong Asthma

Because of my active lifestyle and my love to sport, that was the hardest part. I woke up and could’nt breathe deeply. When I get upstairs I was unable to breathe slowly. My workout performance decreased. In this time I used my inhaler 3 times a day and took asthma pills.

I went keto in April 2020, but the symptoms did’nt go away. I was searching for another methods to naturally heal my symptoms. After my 30 day carnivore experiment I felt the first improvements. I continued this way of eating and after 2 months I was completely off from my asthma pills.

After 3 months I could breathe deeply without any problems. Last week I did an intervall running training, the first time I ran without breaks. I couldnt describe how that feeling was… I was overwhelmed, because I could never breathe deeply and run wirhout breaks since years.

Now after 6 months I can’t describe how good my health is. I’m off from all asthma medicaments and inhalers. I can breathe deeply. The first time since years, without any issues even when I’m doing sport. My allergies, strong headaches, GI issues and digestive problems are ALL gone.

I got my athletic body back, went from 77kg (169,8 lbs) down to 57kg (125,6 lbs) = 44,2 lbs. This way of eating totally saved my life.

Krissy eliminated chronic pain on carnivore diet

March 28, 2020 3 Comments

Hi I’m Krissy. Let me give you a little bit of background first: I always had an interest in health from the time I was young when I worked as a lifeguard, swam, and was very active. I originally wanted to become a doctor to help others with their health so my first degree was in Biology.

Starting my own private practice

I discovered the importance of nutrition for health in my last year of my biology degree and took a nutrition course. I fell in love with nutrition science and physiology and decided to go back to school to study nutrition. I got my Bachelors of Science in Applied Human Nutrition and became registered as a Dietitian in 2009. I was also a certified personal trainer and started my own private practice/private training studio after this where I worked with clients looking for fat loss and building muscle, as well as fitness athletes.

Normal diet not working

I was always considered healthy, fit, and active. I followed the recommended “balanced diet” with lots of variety and the common nutritious foods but had to make modifications due to having IBS such as cutting out dairy and gluten. I was very conscious of making healthy choices based on the nutrition guidelines I learned in school.

We watched "Vegucated" and "Earthlings" and like many others I was terrified into believing animal products were bad for long-term health.

Going vegan with my husband

My husband Dwayne and I love learning about health so one day he started watching the documentary “Forks Over Knives” and decided he wanted to give a plant-based diet a try. I was not convinced at first because a plant-based diet was not a common practice when I studied nutrition and I wanted to be objective. Then we watched “Vegucated” and “Earthlings” and like many others I was terrified into believing animal products were bad for long-term health. I did some research at that time based on the resources provided in these documentaries and decided to join my husband. I didn’t realize at the time how one sided this research was however. I took a course in plant-based nutrition and was determined to prove it was possible to thrive on a vegan diet.

The health decline

I felt great in my first year as a vegan. We now know this as the “vegan honeymoon phase”. Maybe it’s because I thought I was doing the best thing for my health, the environment and the animals. But it was after my first year that my health started to decline.

Issues on the vegan diet

I discovered I had low iron and vitamin D. I also developed chronic fatigue and chronic pain, was diagnosed with interstitial cystitis started to get skin issues and eczema patches for the first time in my life, my hormones were out of whack which was affecting my mood and cycles, my digestion was awful even though I wasn’t consuming gluten and I soaked everything, and I developed anxiety and mild depression. I also slowly started to gain weight when I had never struggled with my weight in the past.

The wrong solution

I started to see a naturopath who prescribed me natural supplements in addition to the iron and vitamin D I was now taking. I also took B12, a multivitamin, and plant-based omega-3 oil all while following a balanced whole foods plant-based diet. Of course all of the vegans tell me “I didn’t do it right” but if anyone researched hard enough on how to, it was me! After-all I was determined to make it work because I was also coaching vegan clients and made a whole business around plant-based diets and challenges. I was known as an expert in the industry and had a big social media following so of course I wanted to make this work.

Trying all kinds of approaches

I didn’t eat processed vegan foods or junk. I ate a lot of avocados, chickpeas, lentils, vegetables, low sugar fruits, nuts and seeds, gluten-free whole grains, coconut oil, nutritional yeast, and drank only water and tea. I did not restrict calories and I prepared all of my meals at home. I also tried a variety of different eating protocols including high carb low fat, lower carb higher fat. I tried supplementing with pea and rice protein in my green smoothie. I even used a vegan coach to help me. I felt like I was constantly eating in order to make sure I was meeting my needs.

Including some animal products

It was after my 2nd year as a vegan my naturopath suggested I add in some animal products so I tried adding eggs back in and did this for another year, then tried adding fish back in a did this for another year, and finally dairy back in for my 3rd year as a vegetarian. So just to be clear I was vegan for 2 years and vegetarian for 3 more for 5 years total. At this point I was still supplementing and ate vegan meals weekly because I still believed it was the healthiest choice and I was determined to go back to veganism after my deficiencies resolved.

Life got hard

Unfortunately they did not and my symptoms kept getting worse and worse to the point I didn’t want to get out of bed in the morning. I couldn’t work out anymore and I had to stop coaching clients during this time because I didn’t know how I was going to help others if I couldn’t help myself.

I've now been carnivore since May 2019 and feel like it's the easiest WOE I've ever followed. I have zero cravings and am happy with eating fatty ribeyes every night.

A taste of meat

One summer evening 2 years ago Dwayne was grilling burgers (he only lasted 6 weeks as a vegan by the way) and I had the overwhelming feeling to eat one for the first time in years, so I did. I felt so amazing afterwards and had so much energy I decided to add meat back into my diet because I knew my body was telling me something. It only took a few months for my iron levels to shoot up and I stopped supplementing. My digestion also got a lot better.

Getting better on keto

While many of my symptoms had improved once I added meat back into my diet I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and interstitial cystitis after seeking answers and treatment from literally every alternative health practitioner out there. I did several elimination diets after getting my diagnosis and kept discovering more and more triggers that would flare up my symptoms. We have done keto diets in the past and I was determined to lose the 30lbs I had slowly put on over the past few years so in January last year I decided to try a clean keto diet with intermittent fasting (basically fatty meat & veggies). After 3 months my symptoms started to get better (mainly my energy) and I lost 20 lbs.

Following my crazy husband (again)

During this time Dwayne started doing the carnivore diet and I thought he was nuts. He kept sending me videos and research though and told me it was basically the most extreme (and accurate) elimination diet out there. I watched him do it for a few months while I kept eating my veggies and he was seeing amazing results. I decided I couldn’t say anything against it until I tried it myself and had the goal of doing it for 1 month as an elimination diet and adding foods back in.

Rapid changes

Within a few weeks my brain fog totally went away, my stomach was no longer bloated, and I had amazing energy. After the month my chronic pain was 95% gone and my eczema disappeared. I did try to add foods back in one at a time starting with avocados and then sauerkraut and my homemade sugar-free coconut yogurt but all of my symptoms came back. I was feeling so good on carnivore I decided to keep doing it until I felt like it was time to play around again. I lost 10 more lbs by the time summer came and looked and felt 10 years younger.

I’ve tried playing around with adding some things back in like blueberries and some other low-sugar fruits and vegetables here and there but symptoms always come back. I’ve now been carnivore since May 2019 and feel like it’s the easiest WOE I’ve ever followed. I have zero cravings and am happy with eating fatty ribeyes every night.

Dwayne and I have joined forces and started a social media account called @ourinfinitehealth dedicated to helping others interested in the carnivore WOE. Follow us for free content for us and other successful carnivores.

All of my benefits in a row

Fibromyalgia and chronic pain symptoms 95% gone (still have a little chronic neck pain)
Chronic fatigue gone
Interstitial cystitis gone
Eczema gone
IBS gone
Anxiety & depression gone
Stress levels and mood stabilized
Hormones (cycles) balanced
Food cravings & addictions gone
Body weight & fat stabilized (lost 20 lbs and at my happy spot)
Able to workout again

As someone who saw the negative effects of making more plant-based choices first hand I just could not recommend the new food guide that prioritized carbohydrates and does not emphasize the importance of fat or animal foods.

Getting to know our history

In our extensive research of the keto and carnivore WOE we’ve learned a lot about anti-nutrients and their role in chronic inflammation and autoimmune conditions. I was also shocked to learn about the history of nutrition recommendations by following the research of Nina Teicolz & Gary Taubes, and how there is a huge plant-based agenda behind our current recommendations from listening to the experience of Gary Fettke and Tim Noakes. As someone who saw the negative effects of making more plant-based choices first hand I just could not recommend the new food guide that prioritized carbohydrates and does not emphasize the importance of fat or animal foods.

Resigning as a dietitian

I also felt very limited in sharing my story as a dietitian in fear of getting reprimanded even though a high saturated fat keto and carnivore diet has literally changed my and Dwayne’s lives and reversed disease in many others. I wasn’t currently practicing as a dietitian anyway and didn’t feel like my registration was serving me anymore so I decided to resign. Afterall I’ve still had 10 years of nutritional coaching experience with clients and all of my knowledge or my nutrition degree couldn’t be taken away.

Weird stuff I was taught as a dietitian

Looking back there were so many things I didn’t understand. I remember doing a clinical case study in school and I was marked down for the meal plan I made for my patient because it was “too healthy” in fear that he wouldn’t comply. This patient was sick and in the hospital with a serious condition clearly caused by a poor diet. Of course I didn’t want to question my instructor though because she was the “expert”. My father, a type 2 diabetic, was in the hospital for a month recently and they kept serving his juice and high carbohydrate foods even though he expressed his concern. I understand that we can’t expect people to change overnight but it doesn’t help when we mislead people into believing their comfort foods are healthy and even serve them in the hospital.

I understand that we can't expect people to change overnight but it doesn't help when we mislead people into believing their comfort foods are healthy and even serve them in the hospital.

Moderation, actually extreme?

Instead “a balanced diet” is always promoted and ‘everything in moderation’ but that is the most confusing term for people. It basically teaches people they can have anything they want as long as it’s not all the time. But does that mean you can still have it daily? What if some of us need to be a little more extreme with our diets because we have extreme conditions and don’t want to resort to something even more extreme like taking medication long-term, surgery, or suffering in misery.

Government ignoring the science

If you look at Health Canada’s guidelines even artificial sweeteners are still considered safe and we are still taught to limit saturated fats even though the new research shows there actually isn’t enough science to prove this. Nutrition science is largely based on epidemiological studies (food records) which we know are unreliable, but Dieticians cannot recommend anything that does not have any studies backing it, so it’s very difficult to go against the grain. I’ve always been very objective in my beliefs and would rather experience for myself then wait for new guidelines to come out that I now know are driven by a corporate agenda or for research years later.

Katya improved digestion, bladder and kidney pain on a carnivore diet

March 21, 2020 3 Comments

My name is Katya.

Basically I was a Raw Vegan and pioneer of the lifestyle in Australia some 20 years ago. I opened the first Raw and living foods cafe, way ahead of its time, then went on to teach classes, programs and run retreats.

I have a background in digestive health, prior to opening my own raw food cafe, lectured at Hippocrates Health Food Institute on cleansing, detoxing and was also resident colonic therapist for a period of time. In 1974 I had a vegetarian bf and at that time the only vegetarian ‘fake meats on the market were Sanitarium soy based dried kibble, and canned products.

I had periods of vegetarian and veganism before going raw vegan in 2000. Throughout the first 12 months, I felt and looked fantastic.

The end of the next year, I began to get anemic. I have a strong constitution, from my Russian father;s side, yet my reserves of iron, in particular, had now diminished.

I began to get mildly anxious for no reason well into the third year. The anemia progressed into the 3rd year until I had to see a doctor. II was so pale, lost weight, had shortness of brerath on walking a few metres, was so fatigued and weak.

I finally had to go to a doctor. .My iron levels were under 7. The doctor was shocked. and adamant I eat meat. I had to have immediate iron injections, as I refused to eat meat. So I ate eggs for periods of time, and then went back to eating raw vegan as if it never happened.

Then superoods’ came to the rescue promoted by David Wolfe. AFA, green barley powder, spirulina. I thought that would solve all my iron problems as the labels said it was high in iron.. unfortunately not bio available heme iron.

In 2012 I went fruitarian for 3 years and thats when I really struck problems. It was good at for the first 8-12 months, then I began to get more pin hole cavities. Lots of them. I would get them filled and more would come. Towards the end of fruitarianism, my teeth were so sensitive it hurt when I ate food, I lost two upper molars, as they had become weak and slightly looser in my gums and infections set in. It was a nightmare, as I refused root canals and had them extracted instead.

In 2015 gut and sleep problems began to happen, leaky gut, continual bloating, then more anxiety, brain fog and finally an auto immune disorder – fibromyalgia.

Two months short of of 62, after 20 plus years identifying and immersing myself in the world of raw veganism, I really hit the wall. I was still looking good on the outside, yet what was taking place on the inside could no longer be ignored.

The signs became more obvious, pointing to a deterioration of my skeleton, a breaking down of my kidneys, my immune system, my nervous system, my digestion, and my blood sugar regulation. I was almost Type 2 diabetic.

I never went into raw veganism for an ‘ethical’ belief I held. In fact, initially, health issues weren’t my driving force either.

For me, rejuvenation was the fuel firing the search and exploration of protocols, which repaired, renewed and rejuvenated the body, mind and spirit.

I ignored many red flags during my vegan years, yet I was successfully programmed and veganism had become my identity. Towards the end stage of veganism, I began salivating at the smell of roast chickens in clear plastic roteserie bags at the supermarkets. Yet my vegan brainswashed mind would tell me. ” Its a body bag, dont pick it up.”

I shut down my body’s intelligent feedback system to eat animal foods. I had ignored it/over rode the signals for years, the intense vegan programming had taken over and I suffered the consequences I craving eggs more frequently every few weeks. Finally I had a dark night of the soul, at 62. A complete breakdown. My immune system crashed. I had 3 bouts of food poisoning within 6 months. and it was horrendous.

During the period of heaving over the toilet bowl, crying and crying out in desperation for help, I heard loud and clear to “Go Eat Fish” so I did. and then after a few days. the message came to eat more fish, every day. Immediate improvement. I then went on to chicken. Yet the brainwashing was the hardest to unravel. I was convinced raw veganism was the healthiest diet on the planet, even with the health problems I was suffering with, I put it down to stress or detoxing…

It took me 15 months before I could eat red meat. and then things really started to improve. I took out all high oxalate plants, and went low carb, then zero carb, while my body reset itself. It was hard, as I went through a few months of intense oxalate dumping. But I pushed through and now have reversed many of the health problems I had.

My teeth are strong and firmly anchored in my gums. I have no plaque on my teeth, or sensitivity. After the incredible improvement in my dental health, just from eating meat based, I was angry for a couple of months about losing two upper molars, unnecessarily, however I’ve accepted it and am grateful that I had divine intervention to stop veganism and to change my diet.

My gut is healing wonderfully, I have reversed joint pain, I have reversed sarcopenia. Finally I am gaining weight without real exercise, just from consuming lots of fatty meats. I sleep much better, deeply. Before I was waking every to hours, with my heart racing, mind racing. Now that has stopped.

I am happier and cope with stress more easily.My body doesnt go into fight flight so easily. My physical strength has improved. No longer teetering on Type 2 diabetes. Bladder pain, kidney pain improved Less trips to the bathroom at night.

Blood sugar regulation has improved Jaw tension improved. Inflammatory allergic reactions greatly improved. the auto immune Right now I eat a meat based ancestral nose to tail diet, and now that my gut has healed dramatically, I can have the occasional small inclusions of avocado, sauerkraut, or cucmber. This is just a general overview of what happened through 2 decades of almost all raw vegan. Happy to speak with you about my experiences and how a meat based diet healed me.

Kind regards,

Katya

Listen to Katya’s interview on the Revero podcast here:

Ekaterina improved digestion, hormonal health and PCOS on carnivore diet

December 18, 2019 3 Comments

Hi!

I am Ekaterina, russian-speaking carnivore coach and live in Switzerland.

This is my story (sorry, i can’t write just in a few words).

First of all I’m an ex-vegetarian (10 years) plus ex-vegan (5.5 years).

My health wasn’t perfect since my childhood: allergies to pollen and home animals, genetic psoriasis, super sensitive gut, digestive problems always, acne (especially during vegan phase), unexplained PCOS, amenorrhea.

First serious psoriasis attack was at 15 y/o – first hormonal and school stress.

At 18 i became vegetarian and felt relative good. At 24 I got pregnant (shockingly to every body around , especially to doctors). The told me it was impossible to have health pregnancy and to give a birth. But it was a gift from heaven and my boy was born. Yes, not perfectly healthy: small, bilateral cryptorchidism, atopic dermatitis, food allergies . But he developed breastfeeding gut and quick.

After pregnancy i got very aggressive psoriasis attack, was hospitalized. Hormones, hormonal creams and so on… and in 2 years after very low calorie diet of very high lean protein (no fat) my psoriasis attacked me again… it was the first time when it appeared after sun exposure! Normally sun helps me.

So i decided to try veganism. And in the beginning during “vegan honeymoon” everything was fine for about 1-1.5 years. Psoriasis was calm, no hormones, no medicines. But after 1.5-2 years of veganism a lot of digestive problems appeared, acne blossomed everywhere on my skin, herpes appeared every month… and bloating, farting, emotional unstability, no libido, insulin tummy, quick aging… i was 26-32 y/o during my vegan story. I tried everything from vegan diet: hclf, 90-10-10, raw vegan, fruitarian, banana islands, raw till four and so on… nothing helped longterm. Psoriasis started to come back.

At one moment when i started to bleed during pooping… and felt miserable from all these gut cramps and pain… i decided to eat less frequent, and stopped at OMAD (one meal a day). It helped a lot!!! And that way i discovered ketosis 3 years ago. I started with vegan type of keto diet and quickly understood it was almost nothing to eat (thanks to soy allergy). And i started to eat fish once a week, after that cheese… during all these psychological transformations from understanding that veganism was wrong i started to learn science: anthropology, nutrition, physiology, history, quantum physics and so on… i understood the depth of stupidity of going vegan that ruins my health and health of my kid.

So keto helped. I lost a lot of vegan weight , even too much. And vegetarian keto with salads, oils, nuts, fish and cheese (and tons of supplements!) made me very thin and sick: anemia, no periods, aggressive and nervous, non-healing ulcers on my fingers, very dry skin, some digestive issues … but almost no psoriasis!

Nowadays I’ve been proud and happy carnivore almost 18 months (from june 2018). No supplements. My digestion was never better than on this WOE. My skin glows, my psoriasis is in remissions with some plaques (they appear when i eat not enough fat and too much histamine rich variants of meat and fish). I have some issues with my periods, but no PCOS on ultrasound scan! I eat mostly meat, all types if them, fish and seafood, eggs, butter and organs from time to time. I am looking younger.

And appreciate this carnivorous way of living so much! Thank to meat-eating my son is very healthy and handsome. And his some autistic symptoms disappeared. His mood is stable,productivity in school and piano playing are fantastic, his anemia has gone. He is active and happy child!

We are still going to the perfect health. And meat helps us!

Veganism was a huge mistake and missed steak!

Meat really heals!

Thank you so much for all you are doing for the world!!!

Sincerely yours

Ekaterina (or just Kate)