Autoimmune issues

Real People, Real Results​

Martin improves ankylosing spondylitis and psoriasis on the carnivore diet

January 11, 2023 2 Comments

I was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis and Fiber Myalgia towards the end of last year. I also suffered from psoriasis and IBS. After battling with body pain in the latter half of 2021 the doctors came up with those diagnoses.

On October 31st, 2021 my back flared up and by November my back was so bad I couldn’t walk properly. I got TPI injections (trigger point injections) to help deal with the pain. And in December the body went into full inflammation… there was barely a joint or part of my body that didn’t hurt. The fire in my skin over parts of my body raged for days and then weeks. It didn’t matter if I was moving or staying still, I just hurt all the time.

The MRI didn’t uncover anything worth noting.

January came with the first diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis. I tested positive for HLA B27. In the next few weeks, I got the next diagnosis of fibromyalgia.

They suggested Mycophenolate which is an immune suppressant medication and a high dose of vitamin K.

The next few days I researched both diagnoses and the medication. It was now mid-February. Everything I could grab off the web… podcasts… YouTube… there wasn’t a document I didn’t brush against but I got bogged down. The same message kept echoing in my mind, you’re done. Your dreams of retirement holidays, playing hockey or riding my motorcycle… all seem impossible now. I might be able to postpone the main event of the diagnosis but this might be the best I am.

On one of my YouTube marathons, I stumbled upon a TedX talk about a woman that had her knee and hip replaced by age seventeen because of an autoimmune illness. At around 20ish she tried the “carnivore” diet and within a relatively short period of time, she recovered from a lot of the pain and joint discomfort. She also was able to stop her medication for depression and anxiety. And a host of other amazingly positive things. I listened to Dr. Sawn Baker, Dr. Ken Barry, Dr. Anthony Chaffee, and Dr. Paul Saladino these guys I listen to and started to learn more about the carnivore diet and its pros and cons.

March 3rd, I went all in.

Recovery is like a stock market graph going up. With every climb, there is also a slide backwards.

Day 18. I woke up and my system was quiet. Nothing, no pressure to go. No heartburn… it was eerie. I made notes so as to remember this moment. My pain level was about 7 which feels crazy low from the 10s I was rolling in for 4 months previous.

By April, the pain level was 4/5.

90 days:

· No more IBS. Suffered for 40+ years

· Cleared 95% of my psoriasis which I had since 10.

· Lost 35lbs

· Played my first hockey game.


Now 220 days in…

Marcel manages psoriatic arthritis on the carnivore diet

January 6, 2023 No Comments

Here’s my story and my relation with the carnivore diet.

So I’ve been struggling with psoriasis for 17 years and Psoriatic arthritis for almost 5 years. After the PA diagnosis, I struggled with a lot of other health issues like sleep apnea, B12 shortage, and a fast build-up of lactic acid in my muscles. 

So, the last 4 years I’ve been taking medication, an TNF alpha blocker. No more psoriasis and no inflammation of the joints. However, always tired, muscle cramps. Just struggling with the symptoms of an autoimmune disease.

Well, 10 weeks ago my son got sick, and I arranged something with my work, to work from home and take care of my son. That week I felt just fine and that week I took my PA medication.

The next day I became ill, I got a fever and a sore throat. I got a throat infection, and as result an huge psoriasis flare up. I was covered from my scalp to the bottom
of my feet. Feeling utterly hopeless and tired of being sick, I just went searching for possible solutions. Being an Advanced Nurse Practitioner in Training, being sick does not compute with the way I want to live. And there I stubble on the Joe Rogan podcast… and wow. Could this carnivore diet be the solution?

I talked it over with my girlfriend, and I started it for one month… 9 weeks later (with 2 cheat days on Christmas… with regrets of some minor inflammation) these are the results. See for yourself.

Coach Evan reverses ankylosing spondylitis on low-carb diet

November 30, 2022 No Comments

Ever since Evan was young, he had an insatiable hunger that caused him binge eat, in addition to his other daily struggles of ADHD, OCD, brain fog and fatigue. When he turned eleven—embarrassed by his heavy frame—he decided to go on a diet. Following the conventional wisdom at the time, he started eating a low-calorie/low-fat diet, full of lots of “healthy” whole grains, seed oils and tofu. He lost 30 pounds, but describes his body composition as “skinny fat ” at the time. He also couldn’t help noticing that he was a lot weaker than his fellow classmates. Using sheer willpower alone, Evan struggled with yo-yo dieting and calorie counting throughout high school, but it wasn’t until he entered college that the real trouble began.

“Out of nowhere,” Evan says, “I became incredibly depressed, anxious and suicidal.” He tried exercising daily to combat his negative feelings, but saw zero improvement. Exasperated, he turned his focus to his diet, and in his research experienced the cognitive dissonance that goes along with learning that animal fat is an important part of the human diet, while also simultaneously being the main driver of heart attacks and cancer. In the end, the “experts” won out, and Evan persisted in following their low-fat/high carb recommendations—to no avail. “I just felt worse and worse—I wasn’t getting better at all.”

After years of declining health, a defeated Evan began binge drinking and eating candy to deal with his frustrations. He eventually was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis—an autoimmune condition that runs in his family that affects the spine. He would go on to gain 40 pounds, and when hospitalized with bruises all over his body, nausea, diarrhea and night sweats, his doctors told him that his symptoms were most likely psychosomatic.

Finally, in 2020, one of his friends—who happened to be on the carnivore diet—invited him over for a steak. After eating it, Evan was surprised by how satiated he felt, and ended up not eating for the rest of the day. He woke up the next morning still feeling full, so he decided to give the carnivore diet a try. After the first week, Evan had lost ten pounds, and while he didn’t feel great—he didn’t feel terrible either. “Within the next two weeks, all of a sudden my depression and my anxiety had vanished, my Ankylosing Spondylitis had gotten 90% better, the numbness in my hands was gone, my bruising started going away, my asthma went away, my heartburn went away, my digestive issues went away…my libido came back—pretty much everything you can think of went away within two or three weeks.” He also noticed a remarkable improvement in his ADHD and OCD symptoms. “My whole outlook on life is a lot different: I’m a lot more motivated, a lot more friendly, outgoing, happy. So, pretty much, everything for me has changed.” His friends and family all agree. “I’m not the same beaten down person that I was before.”

Darby manages graves’ disease and type 1 diabetes on low-carb diet

November 26, 2022 No Comments

Darby grew up being plagued by every kind of allergy imaginable. At 5 years old, he was diagnosed with hundreds—from trees to weeds to bee stings and everything in between. At 11, he needed reconstructive sinus surgery due to the many sinus infections over the years, and later had to have his tonsils out as well. As the years passed, the allergy shots helped a bit, but his health problems inhibited his ability to engage in the sports he loved. Fast forward to 2013, and Darby begins to experience heart palpitations, which are dismissed by doctors, as they advised him simply to “stay away from caffeine.”

In 2015, he was hospitalized with a heart attack, and two weeks later with another one again. This time, his doctor was wise enough to check his thyroid panel. He was diagnosed with Graves’ disease, and was given more medication to manage yet another health condition. He was able to feel a bit better and add a few pounds to his underweight frame, but in January of this year there was even more crushing news. Darby was diagnosed with Type-1 Diabetes. In his mid-thirties, his mind was filled with dread as to what could possibly come next. In a moment of sheer desperation, he prayed for an answer. Not long after, he found Shawn Baker and the Revero community.

“Behold, I was messing around YouTube and I stumbled upon you and Dr. Ken Berry initially, so I started watching video after video…and realized that maybe my issue had been plant material this entire time. What is it that is causing my body to attack itself? Is it the oxalates? Is it the lectins?”

In March, Darby slowly transitioned to the carnivore diet, and after two weeks, he didn’t need to take insulin anymore. By mid-April, he was able to come off his Graves’ disease medication, and this past October his labs revealed his thyroid hormone levels were completely normal. Now, he’s able to do things he’s only dreamed of; running, lifting weights, and carrying his daughter on his shoulders for hours at Disney World. He’s also free from the allergies and sinus infections that have haunted him his whole life.

“It’s absolutely amazing. It completely blew my mind, and—it’s strangely satisfying. I do not have a craving to eat anything but meat anymore.”

Darby started off doing a strict version of the carnivore diet—his meals consisting of red meat, salt and water. He has since branched out to add pork, eggs, and chicken, but he’s planning to go back to a stricter approach soon, as he believes that was one of the reasons for his rapid recovery.


“I can’t say how truly thankful I am—from the bottom of my heart—for what [Shawn Baker] and people like Ken Berry and Anthony Chaffee do on a daily basis to try and help people, because it really, truly is amazing. It’s a miracle—like nothing I’ve ever seen. I was told that, you can’t cure this. This is what you’re going to be for the rest of your life… If it wasn’t for you…I would have never known. I would have just stayed being sick on the SAD diet and getting sicker.”

As far as Darby’s concerned, he has a new lease on life, and when asked whether this diet is worth the risks, he says “Bring it on!”

 

Kat heals from ulcerative colitis, asthma, and Lyme disease on the carnivore diet

October 12, 2022 No Comments

Kat’s battle for her health has been a fierce one, and she has fought bravely her whole life to find relief from the crippling asthma and ulcerative colitis that has plagued her since she was a baby. “I had ulcerative colitis from day one, ear infections, and asthma. Back in the day—they just really didn’t know any better—they gave me round after round of antibiotics, and then they gave my mother access to steroid injections; so she gave me an injection every month for the first couple years of my life.”

At the same time, Kat says she was born to be an athlete, and by the time they invented rescue inhalers, you could find her running happily on the track—inhaler in hand. Still, the years were filled with trips back and forth to the hospital for both her ulcerative colitis and asthma. “I just remember—from the time I can remember—being on the toilet in tears… just all by myself and my parents are helpless…they don’t know what to do. It was really hard—but I persevered and I just kept going. I was very much into sports. I had a horse; I rode. I played tennis, I rode my bike and I just relied on the medications to keep me going.”

In her 30’s, Kat discovered that if she took enough supplements, she could mitigate some of her symptoms without as many drugs, but that came with the hefty price tag of $500 dollars a month. In her 40’s she came across the keto diet which helped her successfully lose 30 pounds, but flare ups and rescue inhalers were still the norm.

On top of all of this, she received a Lyme’s Disease diagnosis in 2008, which complicated matters even further. Throughout all of this time, she never stopped searching—regularly listening to health podcasts and reading the latest books. When she started to hear about the carnivore diet, she mentioned it to her functional medical doctor at the time, and he said she should give it a shot.

“When I met you guys for the first time, it was my 60th birthday—it was May 7th of 2020. I’ll never forget it—that [membership to Revero] was the gift I gave myself for my birthday. Oh my gosh… it’s unbelievable what happened to me.” After a day or two on the carnivore diet, Kat says she was able to take what she considers to be the first full breath of her entire life. “Literally within the first week of eliminating plants, I was breathing and it was remarkable…the colitis cleared up—it still leaves me speechless sometimes to think about what happened just by getting rid of foods!” In the past, mosquito bites would leave painful welts that lasted for weeks, and would also activate her Lyme’s symptoms. A month and a half after going carnivore, she was swarmed with bites. They cleared up after a few days, and there was no adverse Lyme’s reaction. Now off all medications, Kat is incandescently happy to be free from the health problems of the past.“I honestly can say right now I have nothing wrong—and I cannot believe I’m saying that—it’s nothing short of miraculous!”

Emily healed from connective tissue disease, GERD, and fatigue on the carnivore diet

October 9, 2022 No Comments

Three years ago, Emily was simply looking for a way to lose weight before her wedding. On the advice of her father, she started doing the ketogenic diet. She lost weight for the wedding, but was still generally miserable. Why? In her early teens, Emily was diagnosed with a debilitating connective tissue disease. She was on several medications to manage her chronic pain and fatigue, but after years of disappointment didn’t have a hope of getting better. Then, after becoming pregnant with her first daughter, Emily says her body began craving meat—only meat—so much so that she was dreaming of sausages and ground beef at night!

“I was like…I wonder if it would be okay…if I just give in and just eat meat because my body wants it…and that’s when I found [Shawn Baker!] Here was this crazy guy that said it was okay, so I dug into the research and I was like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna give it a go—and never looked back since.”

Following her cravings with no intention of curing anything, Emily was amazed at what happened next. “I had no clue it would help my health! Basically, as the days went by—after I had just started to eat meat—I thought, ‘What the heck! Here I am fat and pregnant, with all these disorders, and I woke up and I had a really good day. I was like, ‘Wow, this is great! I will probably crash out tomorrow.’ But tomorrow, I had a good day—the next day I had a good day. I noticed my inflammation disappearing. I’m not fatigued. I’m not depressed—I’m not anxious. I’m able to put the crib together…I thought pregnancy was going to be so difficult for me with all these disorders, and as soon as I gave myself the okay and went into carnivore, I just kept waking up and having good days. I kept waiting on the other shoe to drop—and it never did!”

Now thriving and feeling well for over two years, Emily has since welcomed a second baby, and says both of her kids are in excellent health. While her children aren’t fully carnivore, they do eat a lot of meat, and it’s always served as the first course a every meal. Emily also believes their meat-first approach has contributed to the fact that her children have always been excellent sleepers.

As for the future, Emily finds true happiness in helping other people in the carnivore community as a coach with Revero online. Working with new mothers, expectant mothers, hopeful mothers, and those recovering from addiction, she adds that it’s often the best part of her week. “It’s so enjoyable because I like to see people have the same thing that happened to me. You wake up, you have a good day, you think it’s an anomaly—you think it’s a stand alone experience—and you keep waking up! I want to see people keep waking up to a good day.”

Lily healed from inflammation and digestive and skin issues on a strict carnivore diet

October 9, 2022 No Comments

I practiced strict carnivore for almost 2 years, with about 6 months of the lion diet to deal with inflammation, nervous system inflammation, chronic digestive issues, and horrible skin issues. This was from about mid-2018 to early 2020, which was during the filming of the HBO series The Anarchists. (Visible change in me can be witnessed from the episodes from 2018, at my worst right before carnivore, to now) Nothing was officially diagnosed but I had constant nausea, headaches, bone and joint pain, histamine reactions often, extreme fatigue, and more. Most foods made me feel sick.

I have been slowly reintroducing things but still don’t consume gluten, soy, or any of those things with no plans to because they cause inflammation. I still don’t eat most vegetables, no legumes. Currently on a simple whole foods, meat-heavy diet but feel as good as I did on carnivore. I quit carnivore because of different digestive issues that were helped by certain simple carbs. Still very much a believer in carnivore being good for healing the body and for determining specific trigger foods.

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