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Joint issues – arthritis

Real People, Real Results​

Alicea gains muscle and manages mental health on the carnivore diet

November 3, 2022 No Comments

Alicia lives in northern California. She’s 52 and struggled with eating disorders since she was 15 years old. While she was never obese, she still struggled with bulimia, binging, and purging. At one point she got down to 107 pounds, which isn’t much for her 5’ 7” frame. Alicia often thought, “If someone could just tell me what foods I should eat, I could figure this out!”

A Carb Addict

She grew up believing fats were bad and would binge on chocolate-covered nuts and vegetables, admitting that she was a carbohydrate addict. Alicia also became addicted to exercise as a way to burn off all the extra calories.

Diet Pills and Emotional Eating

Alicia did try a plant-based diet, but gained weight on it and did not stay with it. She experienced joint pain, anxiety, and depression over the years, and was “on a lot of diet pills, also, in my 30s. I think going off those caused depression too, because I was on Phentermine forever.”

In 2014, Alicia weighed 150 pounds and wanted to stop thinking about food while losing some weight. She was “keto for a while…it was helping to some degree.” However, she found that “I was using food and sugar; I was addicted to it, so any emotion that came up, I was still eating it.”

Finding Carnivore

Alicia was “in the keto space” in September 2020, and listened to the Joe Rogan podcast with Dr. Shawn Baker. She “figured I would try it, and I actually hid it from my husband for at least a week, because I thought he, or anybody, would think ‘uh oh there she goes on a crazy, you know, her eating disorders are back and this is nuts’ because I didn’t know anybody in my real life that was doing it.”

She noticed that the more she got rid of sweets, the more “the urges for all the sugar stuff goes away.” In a week or two, she thought, “Wow, there is something here!”

Healing

Alicia notes that her “recovery is so quick, it’s like ridiculous.” Her current diet is about 70% fat and 30% protein, and she maintains her weight at 145 pounds, with 18% body fat and good muscle mass. She eats two meals a day, including eggs, pork rinds, eggs, and red meat. She prefers flank steak and tri-tip over ribeye, and avoids liver.

Alicia doesn’t have any more cravings, and attributes that to “my insulin is really low and I don’t have the carbs coming in for my cycle and hormones to go nutty, and being in 12-step programs, talking my stuff out and not running to food for my emotional release.” She also has had “a lot of counseling in my past, and working on myself” and acknowledges that it did help.

Being carnivore is now part of Alicia’s identity, and she says she “doesn’t see other things as food anymore…the obsession and compulsion is completely gone; it’s amazing!”

Bjorn resolved metabolic syndrome and arthritis on the carnivore diet

November 3, 2022 No Comments

Bjorn is a 48-year-old independent filmmaker who works for some environmental non-profits. He has a passion for wilderness adventure, particularly using “the technology called the Fat Bike, you know the fat bike was invented in Alaska to ride on winter trails like the Iditarod trail, but I’ve been for the last dozen years or so exploring far and away with these things.”

Adventure Diet Junk

Bjorn started out eating the same diet that everyone else eats for this type of adventure, Snickers bars and energy blocks, constantly eating to “keep my blood sugar up” but “I just started getting fatter and fatter, sicker and sicker, and sore.” He had some lab work done and discovered he had developed metabolic syndrome.

He also developed a knee problem, which “continued to get progressively more and more achy” with accompanying noticeable swelling.

Neuro-Decolonization, aka Ancestral Diet and Fasting

Bjorn began looking for solutions, and found some information about low-carb. But he also found a Native American who gave a presentation about “Neuro-decolonization,” which he defined as “breaking the chains of colonial thinking, and it doesn’t matter if you’re Native American or white. We each have these things that we’ve been conditioned by in our contemporary society, and for him…it was a recipe to follow to break yourself of this. It was an ancestral diet and intermittent fasting.”

After learning this, Bjorn became committed to these two principles. He catches wild salmon, and hunts for Dall sheep, caribou, and moose with an occasional bear. These provide most of the meat for his diet.

Results!

He experienced weight loss, and his knee began to hurt less. He found himself more clear-headed, and two years later when he repeated his blood work, he had reversed all of the abnormal markers.

Meat-Fueled Adventures

Bjorn finds that his extreme adventures are much easier with his new diet, and his partner is now on board too. “We did a pretty hardcore trip last winter, and it really felt like we were clicking on a new formula for how we fuel ourselves on these trips… It used to be we’d have a cereal breakfast in the morning, and by 10 or 11 opening up the snack bag and eating all day, and now just go all the way till 3 or 4 in the afternoon, physical exertion, working hard, never feeling those hunger pains.”

After morning coffee, they have a snack of smoked salmon at 4, then travel the rest of the day and make one big meat meal at the end of the day!

Natives and Food Choices

Bjorn’s work includes making documentaries about Native Alaska communities, and he has noted “the quality of life from having that connection to your food resource, to be able to go hunt the walrus, seal, caribou and whale.”

He sees that with “50 years of garbage diet” for the Natives, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease rates are “skyrocketing.”

Lycia and Family Heal On Carnivore Lifestyle

September 22, 2022 No Comments

Lycia lives in New Port Richey Florida, where she lives with her husband and her 49 year old mentally handicapped son. She was raised on a farm, eating fresh beef and vegetables. As she gained weight, she decided to join a gym. “The trainer we were working with convinced us that the low-fat diet was the way to go, so we did do that, which was basically hungry and never satisfied.”

As she got older, 13 years ago, her doctor convinced her that at her age, she should be on a statin drug, despite not having elevated cholesterol. This combination set her up for a major decline.

“Having a handicapped son is very stressful, our life is everyday stress…but I got into severe depression, couldn’t understand why, I had really no reason to be depressed. To the point that she kept upping my medication, until she said ‘there’s no more I can do for you; the next step is a psychiatrist’ so I come home obviously more depressed.”

Spiral Into Symptoms

Lycia developed severe anxiety as well, requiring additional medication. She also started developing eczema, arthritis in her thumbs “to the point that I had to use braces every day to sleep in them; I couldn’t use a pen to write, or hold anything.” Sciatica was added to her list of symptoms, as were severe dry skin, losing her hair, and terrible brain fog. “ I couldn’t stay focused; I couldn’t carry on a conversation, my train of thought, and I gave up most of my friends.” Her blood pressure also started to rise.

Ditching Statins, Choosing Carnivore

After meeting a man at a plant sale and hearing his story of getting off statins, “I finally threw the statins in the trash. The difference in three days, in my brain fog, I couldn’t believe it.” This made Lycia study more, and she joined some Facebook groups for statins, and she saw a video linked about Dr. Ken Berry, then one about the carnivore diet. She decided to do the carnivore diet, and began the next day.

Carnivore Results

Lycia’s hair has stopped falling out, and is starting to grow back. Her skin is healthier, with less bruising and tearing than it was before. Her eczema is gone, as is her thumb pain. She no longer needs to use her braces, and has returned to normal use. Her sciatica is “99% normal,” and she takes no medications other than her bioidentical hormones. It took a year for all of her improvement.

Her husband “was taking prescription meds for acid reflux, he is now off of that…he was on a statin also and he quit. For both of us the brain fog improved, but once we started carnivore it’s just escalated to feeling like I was 60 again, or 55 or something.”

Lycia and her family all eat twice per day. She eats eggs, bacon, ground meat, beef ribeyes, and homemade beef bone broth.

“This way of eating, to me, has been an absolute miracle!”

Jon heals from gut issues, fatigue, and arthritis

August 3, 2022 1 Comment

I was a raw vegan/fruitarian for 7 years. I was actually an influencer in that community and offered health consultations helping people heal chronic degenerative diseases using a fruitarian diet and now do the same thing but now recommending an animal-based diet/carnivore. I’ve actually helped many in the short term heal cancer, arthritis, skin conditions, etc. But I watched the same people including myself start to degenerate trying to maintain this diet in the long term. I’m a certified detoxification specialist and online iridologist.

For the last 1 1/2 years of the 7 years being vegan mostly fruitarian/raw vegan I developed major gut issues. Gi pain and digestive problems and blood sugar issues. This was also very common with my clients that were long-term vegan.

The more I continued to eat a high-fiber diet the more I continued to degenerate. Skin problems, gut pain, malnutrition, and depression.

I started having cravings for eggs and I mean intense cravings. My instincts told me to eat them and to adopt a mainly carnivore diet to heal my gut. I listened and it dramatically changed my life for the good!!! In only 3 months I can proudly say I have no more gut issues!!

I’ve been on a mainly carnivore diet for 4 months now. My muscles came back, testosterone came up. Consistent energy. Zero gut pain. No constant gas and zero bloat and no more depression!!! And I feel like the 25-year-old bull I once was at 37!!!

I will send you a pic of how skinny I got as a fruitarian 5 years ago and what I look like now on a zero fiber 90% carnivore diet. The only plant food I consume living on an island (koh Phangan) in Thailand is fresh coconut water out of Thai coconut which does not cause me any issue at all.

This photo here was when I was super emaciated at 105 lbs when I was 100% fruitarian the other pics were when I was high raw vegan towards the end of my vegan journey. I was still very skinny and underweight at 120 lbs.

My diet now is muscle meats, liver, and coconut water.

Thank you so much for doing this interview with me and im hoping to bring more awareness to people especially the fruitarians and raw vegans that are in denial like I was and have major eating disorders.

Jennifer Gains More Dense Muscle On The Carnivore Diet

June 18, 2022 1 Comment

Jennifer is a long-term care nurse and bodybuilder in Ohio, who like many of us was raised on Cheetos and Kraft singles and a standard American diet.

As a child, she experienced terrible hip pain, which later in life would be diagnosed as ankylosing spondylitis.

In her 20s, “when I was having babies and having the worst flare ups of my life, and I cut out gluten and dairy, and it went into full remission for 14 years.”

Rheumatoid Arthritis

“It was in remission for 14 years, until I got Covid.” After her first Covid infection, Jennifer got rheumatoid arthritis “full-blown.” She was prescribed methotrexate within a few days, at the highest dosage level, “which saved me…but there’s a tradeoff.”

Jennifer had to take methotrexate weekly, and says “it took me a couple of days to feel normal again after I would be dosing that. I would get mouth sores, feeling kind of ‘out of body,’ not in my body, for a few days. Just feeling not good!”

Covid Again, More AS

After getting Covid again, “the second one gave me a recurrence of the AS. It wasn’t as severe as in the past, where I was in bed and could not walk, but it was enough to make me limp and just be in constant pain.”

“I had every single symptom, textbook, of ankylosing spondylitis.” Her problems were from head to toe: “I had inflammation in my heels; it was hard to walk barefoot, very painful actually…Lots of SI joint pain, lower back stiffness, neck pain and stiffness, pubic bone pain which was new.”

Searching for Answers

Jennifer found herself “emotionally, mentally, everything was falling apart. I just started researching autoimmunity, and it just led me to carnivore…I listened for so many hours a day…then I decided to implement it, and once I did, I turned a corner so quick, and I’ve had many good days now.”

She started eating steak “every single day…lots of ground beef, careful with the eggs and pork-if I can find soy and corn free then I’ll eat those, but mostly just eating beef and butter and eliminating all of the crap.”

Improvements

Jennifer also has seen improvements in her energy “I’m able to work out longer and harder; everything is improved. She is a bodybuilder, and has found it easier to develop muscle now, saying “I was just maintaining, like busting my ass just to maintain, and since going carnivore I’ve been able to build this muscle that is, just, it’s more dense than any muscle I’ve ever had before, and I’m leaner than I’ve ever been…I crave the fat, and the more fat I eat, the leaner I get. It’s crazy!”

Jennifer’s mental state improved also. “I was extremely anxious on a normal basis, and that has improved greatly with this diet. I’m just more calm. I have a calm gut for the first time in my entire life” and also notes “I’m less reactive.”

“It’s just been a miracle for me, all the way around!”

Bruno improved blood sugar, triglycerides, joint pain, stiffness on a carnivore diet

February 15, 2022 No Comments

Bruno has been struggling with his weight for most of his life. He describes struggling with a sugar and carbohydrate addiction and says by the time he was a teenager, he was obese. While in his early twenties, he suspected he had hypothyroidism. He took his concerns to his doctor, who responded, “that’s a condition for women.” Still, Bruno kept pressing his doctor to test him. His doctor finally agreed, and just as Bruno suspected, he did have hypothyroidism. He said his doctor had to call him the next day and apologize for not believing him.

Bruno describes yo-yo dieting for many years. However, by the time he was in his mid-thirties, he had reached 450 pounds and was on several medications for gout, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar. In his late thirties, Bruno started seeing a doctor who suggested a zero-carbohydrate diet that included eating meager amounts of fat. Bruno followed the diet and, in just six months, lost over 150 pounds.

However, the low amounts of fat put a lot of strain on Bruno’s heart, and he had a heart attack at the age of forty-two. Bruno ended up with three stints in his heart after his heart attack. Three years ago, Bruno discovered the carnivore diet, which was different from his zero-carb diet in that it required Bruno to eat more fat.

Bruno says his experience with the carnivore diet for a few years was like a plane skidding on a runway while trying to take off. He would stick to the diet for a while before he found himself binging on sugar and carbs. The covid pandemic made Bruno feel he needed to control his sugar and carb addictions. He knew individuals with a history of diabetes and heart problems were more likely to have complications or even die from covid, and he didn’t want to become a statistic.

Bruno had a one-on-one meeting with Dr. Shawn Baker in May 2020. Dr. Baker encouraged Bruno to persevere on his journey with the diet– even as he still struggled with gout. Bruno says his motivation helped, but then Bruno found himself falling into emotional eating after having to put his dog down in September 2020. Bruno says he tried to modify his diet but kept falling off and binge eating.

After four months of feeling out of control, Bruno says he finally accepted that modifying his diet was impossible. He needed to abstain from certain foods forever to improve his health. At that point, Bruno says his life turned, and he hasn’t looked back.

Today, Bruno is experimenting with the lion diet, a term coined by carnivore advocate Mikhaila Peterson. Bruno says he eats ruminant animals, salt, and water. Through his experimentation, Bruno has learned that his body doesn’t process pepper, an oxalate. He also says he has learned cheese and bacon are a trigger for him through this process and plans to eliminate those indefinitely.

Bruno has lost 120 pounds in eighteen months. He says his weight loss hasn’t been fast on the carnivore diet, but it is consistent. Bruno no longer struggles with gout, and his blood pressure and blood sugar are under control. He also describes losing inches from his waistline and gaining muscle mass.

Bruno plans to lose another seventy pounds and wants to continue building more muscle. Bruno has had a long health journey, but he is thankful for the awareness gained through his meat-based diet. He knows what foods work for him and says, “I am no longer controlled by food.”

Kaitlyn is off all 12 medications and lives symptom-free productive life on carnivore diet

December 29, 2021 No Comments

Before finding the carnivore way of eating, Kaitlyn had debilitating fibromyalgia. Kaitlyn says her diet for many years reflected the Standard American Diet. Kaitlyn was also diagnosed with pre-diabetes and, at just 5’2″, weighed 275 pounds, which she says she knows put a lot of stress in and of itself on her body.

Kaitlyn was put on many medications for her fibromyalgia. Her doctor told her at one point that her condition was not her fault; it was simply the lot she dealt with in life. Her doctor sent her to physical therapy, but her condition only worsened. Kaitlyn says she continued to lose the function of her hands and experienced extreme muscle fatigue and stiffness.

At just thirty-one years old, Kaitlyn lost function and developed “crab hands.” Kaitlyn was also diagnosed with kidney failure and perimenopause. Kaitlyn also says the inflammation markers in her bloodwork were “sky-high.” Kaitlyn describes her mental health suffering as her physical health kept deteriorating. Kaitlyn says she felt forced to stay in an unhealthy relationship because she could not work. Kaitlyn was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder as well as panic disorder.

Kaitlyn says she knew in her heart her doctors were wrong and wanted to take control of her health. She first changed her diet by cutting out all processed foods, which she saw very little improvement from doing. She even had a physical therapist tell her she should not focus on eating whole foods and rather eat fast food instead to save her hands from the extra work that comes from prepping whole foods.

Kaitlyn then decided to try the ketogenic diet in February 2020. Kaitlyn says she didn’t feel much better despite losing ninety pounds in seven months while following the keto diet. She was still in a lot of pain. Then Kaitlyn heard Mikhaila Peterson’s testimony on the Joe Rogan podcast. Kaitlyn said Mikhaila’s story was much like hers, so she decided to jump into the carnivore diet.

Kaitlyn says within three weeks on the carnivore diet, she felt fifty percent better. Kaitlyn started weaning herself off her medications within two weeks of beginning the carnivore diet. She went from taking twelve medications a day to just one. Kaitlyn has also slowly added in lifting weights and says when she first started the carnivore diet, she couldn’t lift any weight. Now she is lifting forty-five pounds with her arms and one hundred pounds with her glutes.

Kaitlyn also experienced some side effects from her body experiencing oxalate dumping, but today feels better than ever. Kaitlyn says she was able to get back to work within a few months of being on the diet, thus allowing her to be financially independent and escape the unhealthy relationship she was in.

Kaitlyn says today she eats mainly beef; she has been eating a ribeye every day for the last ten months and says she still isn’t sick of it. Kaitlyn found out later in her carnivore journey that she has a histamine intolerance and has cut out pork and chicken. Kaitlyn has, however, added egg yokes back into her diet recently and says the extra fat helps her, especially around the time of her period. Kaitlyn says she has also discovered beef bacon from her butcher, which she loves.


Kaitlyn has been able to gain her life back thanks to the carnivore diet. She can work full-time and support herself because she is no longer in debilitating pain or bedridden for days. Kaitlyn says she has regained her mental health and her happiness. She says, “even my worst day as a carnivore is better than my best day when I was suffering from fibromyalgia.” Kaitlyn is thankful to Mikhaila Peterson for sharing her story and is looking forward to living her life pain-free thanks to her carnivore lifestyle.

Eric healed non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, migraines, arthritis on carnivore lifestyle

December 29, 2021 No Comments

Eric has struggled with food allergies and sensitivities for most of his life. Eric tried to follow the vegetarian diet for almost ten years, but the diet wreaked havoc on his body. Over time, Eric learned he has an allergy to eggs and sensitivities to many vegetables and grains.

Eric is a farmer and does a lot of lifting and moving throughout the day. He calls his workout “farm fit.” Over the years, Eric started to develop arthritis and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, affecting his ability to do his job. Eric also developed high blood pressure and wanted to change his life.

Eric’s first introduction to a meat-based diet occurred in 2010 when he read the book “Primal Health by Michael Odent. Eric says he began understanding the benefits of eating meat and what his body needed but wasn’t ready to commit fully. He went on and off the diet for several years until this past year, he fully committed to the meat-based carnivore diet alongside his family.

Eric says he did have some transitional issues when he began the carnivore diet, mainly diarrhea. He jokes, “it took a couple of weeks to feel safe to leave my home.” Eric also noticed some changes in his sleep patterns. However, his bowels and his sleep seemed to correct themselves within two or so weeks, and he is now reaping the benefits of his meat-based lifestyle.

Eric says, for him, “the weight loss was quick.” Eric also noticed he could put on more muscle once he fully committed to the carnivore lifestyle, and his moods became more stable. His fatty liver disease and arthritis also disappeared; his blood pressure when he went to the doctor two weeks ago was 120/70. Eric’s doctor asked what he was doing to get his blood pressure down. Eric told him, “eating meat and salt.” His doctor responded with a quick, “don’t quit.”

Eric says he appreciates having support from his doctor. Eric also says a surprising side effect has been he no longer has an achy knee or back. He describes struggling to climb the stairs some days before committing to a carnivore lifestyle. Now aches and pains aren’t an issue at all.

Eric also seems to recover more quickly now that he is a carnivore diet follower. At forty-seven years old, Eric says he still enjoys skateboarding. A couple of months ago, Eric fell while skateboarding and injured his back. He says an injury like that usually takes him over a month to bounce back. However, his body was back to normal after only a week.

Eric says the carnivore diet is easy for him because he eats what he farms: beef and pork. He doesn’t have to shop for his meat; it’s right in front of him on his farm. After ten years as a vegetarian, Eric says he has no plans to return. He knows his body wants and needs meat. Eric plans to eat this way for the rest of his life. He says, “it just works.”

 

Matthew reversed Glaucoma, digestive disorders, and osteoarthritis on carnivore lifestyle

November 24, 2021 No Comments

Matthew, who goes by Matt, says his health wasn’t much of a concern until he turned fifty. Matt describes he used to be a smoker, but he always tried to eat somewhat healthily. His eating habits were much like the Standard American Diet; however, he always tried to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.

Matt said when he turned fifty, he began to notice his health was taking a turn. The aches and pains he had been experiencing for years seemed to worsen. Matt also developed sleep apnea and glaucoma. Matt says he began to wonder if the rest of his life would be one medical issue after another. He says, “my life began to diminish before my eyes.”

Matt decided to add walking to his daily routine. He bought a Fitbit, and while he started slow, he walked 35,000 steps in a single day at one point. Matt says he lost some weight by walking, despite still eating a Standard American Diet. Then he broke his toe while doing yard work and was forced to stop walking. Matt says he gained back all the weight he had lost and then some in just a couple of weeks of being inactive. At that point, he knew he needed to clean up his eating habits. He says, “you can’t outwalk a bad diet.”

Matt initially started with intermittent fasting. He says he started with a 16/8 schedule and slowly shortened his eating window until he got down to eating one meal a day. Matt says he then started following the paleo diet, which included a lot of vegetables and plants.

One day Matt was listening to the Joe Rogan podcast when he heard an interview with Dr. Shawn Baker. At first, he thought Dr. Baker’s all-meat diet sounded far-fetched but decided to try it. Matt says his pain went away after just a few days of eating steaks.

Months later, he was able to lose weight and eliminate his sleep apnea and his glaucoma. Additionally, Matt was dealing with the beginnings of COPD from years of smoking before the carnivore diet but no longer had any issues. Matt also says his teeth used to crack very easily, but he hasn’t had any dental problems since he started the carnivore way of eating. Even more so, he has noticed he no longer gets sunburn, even when he is in the sun for hours a day.

Matt says he is currently lifting weights for exercise and hopes to gain muscle and lose more fat. Matt still follows the one meal-a-day model on days he works but says he often eats two meals a day when he isn’t working. Most of his meals consist of beef, lamb, or eggs. Matt has found fatty cuts of meat help him feel at his best. Matt also says he tried to give up coffee but decided he was okay with drinking a cup or so of black coffee daily, and he loves snacking pork rinds.


Matt is grateful that he can now look forward to his future and his health thanks to the carnivore diet. Matt says he encourages anyone interested in the carnivore way of eating to try it. He says, “you’re going to feel so good.”

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