Vegan & vegetarian recovery

Real People, Real Results​

James recovers from veganism on the carnivore diet

James is from Bermuda and is recovering from a vegan diet. He grew up eating the SAD diet and says, “I was a pretty chunky kid.”

James gained a lot more weight at university “from drinking and eating the wrong things.” He became a vegetarian after contracting a Salmonella infection from eating chicken at a restaurant.

When James graduated and moved back home to Bermuda in 2014, he met the woman who is now his wife. She suggested they follow a vegan diet, which they did. They both saw their health improve initially, which James now believes was because “I got off all the processed garbage that I had been eating.” That was a good start, but he wanted a specific plan.

James and his wife watched all the vegan propaganda movies, and “bought into the whole agenda… we were very strict.” But, the good times would end soon: “It was about the fifth year my health went off the cliff.” James began experiencing brain fog and body pain; a lot of fibromyalgia, and his gums were bleeding profusely. He developed severe anxiety and depression and found his memory getting worse.

He says he was “Was losing weight rapidly, and got down to 127 pounds, at 6’ 2” which is severely emaciated…My condition deteriorated. I started to notice my skin was cracking, my nails were cracking, and my hair was falling out. I got severe constipation and ended up with blood in my stools right before the pandemic.”

James lost his job because the company knew he couldn’t work any longer. “So, I had no job, no insurance, I was bleeding every time I went to the bathroom, I was severely depressed and anxious, and… had no idea how to get out.” His diet was failing, but he didn’t realize it yet.

James doubled down on his vegan diet, making smoothies with chia seeds, kale, spinach, and fruit three times a day. He started passing out, had more blood in his stool and ended up in the ER. He began finally questioning if plants were harming him and then found Joe Rogan’s podcast with Dr. Baker. He says, “We as humans evolved eating meat, and I’ve got to put this behind me and realize that I had been duped.”

James “began to go the keto route,” lowering his oxalate consumption and slowly working his way toward being a carnivore. “My brain fog started to lift after a couple of days… It wasn’t until I went fully carnivore…that I saw the full benefits.” All of his symptoms, except some of his tinnitus, cleared up on the carnivore diet. He is regaining weight and rebuilding muscle.

“Now with this diet, my stools have never been better; I’m satiated; I don’t feel like I need to snack at all; the food I’m eating is sustaining me, and I can fast if I need to. Unbelievable difference!”

James urges, “If you’re vegan, please realize that it will catch up with you.”

Claire overcame anorexia nervosa and depression on a low-carb diet

Growing up in France, Claire ate the typical French diet rich in saturated fat and protein. A dancer, she was naturally thin like her fellow ballerinas-in-training. Constant comparisons as to who was the slimmest, however, led Claire to develop body-image issues, and as she entered her teenage years, she started to restrict her eating. Her parents were in the dark concerning her struggles, and after experiencing a traumatic incident at the age of 16, her eating disorder got worse and developed into full-blown Anorexia Nervosa.

As the years passed by, Claire became a prisoner to her tyrannical eating disorder. At 5’ 7”, her weight would go on to drop to a life-threatening 69 pounds. She became so frail she had to use a wheelchair, and at one point, even lost the fat from her optical nerves and went blind for months. Her hair fell out, her teeth fell out, and her heart rate was always hovering below 40. In 2017, she got the flu and died on the table for several minutes. At 33 years old, Claire was desperate beyond measure, and started looking for alternative ways to try and conquer Anorexia.

When she came across the carnivore diet, she was intrigued by its simplicity. She started with a low-fat option, but still didn’t feel very well. Then, in July of 2021, Claire was unable to go swimming with her family when on vacation because she was freezing cold—even though it was the middle of the summertime. In her sadness, she became resolved to give the carnivore diet a real try, and booked a coaching session with one of the Revero coaches online. They encouraged Claire to think about eating meat and fat like taking medicine, and if she committed to it fully, her body would heal—fast.

“I was so scared, but from one day to another I only ate fatty meat…it was a life changer.” Claire started off with easy-to-digest ground beef. She also drank raw egg yolks and snacked on butter—sometimes up to several sticks a day! “I was eating fat all the time, and my body handled it fantastically…It was like body happiness…I couldn’t stop! Since the moment I started eating this way, I was not able to restrict anymore…I have to eat when I’m hungry—my body is so happy with it!”

Within three months, Claire was able to gain 20 pounds and come off all of her anti-depression medication—in close collaboration with her doctor, of course! Now, 39 years old and with a full head of hair, Claire is up to 110 pounds. Instead of being wheelchair-bound and blind, she is able to jump on the trampoline with her son, and work all day in her job as an engineer. All of her blood markers are excellent as well, leaving her doctors amazed.

Any lingering concerns about her weight have vanished, and Claire is miraculously unbothered by the scale.“The carnivore diet is not about weight loss, it’s about weight optimization. So, if it brings me to gain twenty more pounds or thirty more pounds—it’s possible—I don’t have any trouble with it. I want to feel satiated all the time and I want to be able to think clearly and I don’t want to restrict…I’m eating amazing food, I’m doing some movement, I’m sleeping well, so the weight will be what it has to be.”

KasumiKriss recovers from veganism on the carnivore diet

Kasumi was a top-tier soccer player in the Netherlands when she became vegan in 2014. Within months, aching joints and declining energy levels sidelined her soccer career.

She “got convinced by YouTube videos to try a vegan diet” to help with a skin condition when she was 23 years old. “In the first two weeks I did see some improvement, but I actually think back now that was because I eliminated all processed foods.” This may be the reason why many people initially benefit from vegan diets, though they lose health later.

Kasumi stayed on the vegan diet, “whole-food plant-based” for four years, and “it was really in the end of the second year that I really started seeing my health deteriorate. I couldn’t do soccer anymore, my joints were aching, everything I wanted to do I couldn’t do anymore when it came to physical activity. I did train a lot in the gym, but my muscles wouldn’t grow anymore.” She tried a raw vegan diet also but lost her period for four months as a result.

“After a year or so, I started to see my health decline. I couldn’t run as fast anymore…everytime I wanted to do something, or kick a ball in a certain way, it just wouldn’t go the same like I used to. At some point I really started to feel my joints aching. I never had issues with that, even though all the types of sports that I always used to do in my life…Injuries started to come, and I would be so extremely exhausted after matches as well, and I just couldn’t keep up. I went from really the best player on my team to someone who couldn’t even keep up with the other girls.”

Kasumi began to notice that she was even afraid to walk up stairs because she felt weak and thought she might “break something.” Her body shape suffered as well: “When I went vegan, all my feminine curves just went away, my boobs shrank, my hips disappeared, and I started to look more boyish.”

Kasumi listened to some Michaela Peterson videos, and “I decided in 2018 to try some eggs again; try a little bit of butter again, and I instantly noticed a difference. So I also ate some chicken again and then added back beef into my diet, and it was just in a couple of days I felt so much better mentally, so much more stable right away, and I really thought ‘the vegan diet is probably not the way to go’ so I completely dropped it.”

Kasumi started eating more meat after learning about the keto and carnivore diets. She continued to see improvements.

“I’ve been on this diet now for four years, and I’ve only seen improvements. It’s never went downhill from that anymore…physically, mentally, everything just keeps on getting better…hitting new PRs with weight lifting is so much more easy now.” Kasumi is “stunned and amazed, still today, and so grateful for the way I feel right now.”

Jon heals from gut issues, fatigue, and arthritis

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.

Ex-Plant Eater Josie Defeats Ulcerative Colitis

When Josie stumbled across a PETA tent at the tender age of 13, she was so moved by their content that she became a vegan overnight. Fast forward ten years later, and her health was going downhill—fast. After being admitted to the hospital multiple times, she was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis—a painful inflammatory disease of the digestive tract.The next four years she desperately tried to find a cure within the parameters of a vegan diet, but it eluded her. Finally—after years of suffering—she started to wonder if the vegan diet she so ardently believed in might be the problem.

Initially diagnosed with diverticulitis in her early twenties, Josie’s symptoms manifested as blood in her stool, fatigue, urgent diarrhea multiple times a day, and a constant low-grade fever. Six months after that, she found herself hospitalized with potassium levels so low—that had she waited even one more day—the doctor said she could have died. Josie was put on prednisone, which helped keep her symptoms at bay, but as she continued to tinker with her plant-based diet to heal herself—a flare-up would inevitably follow.

Four years later, a death in the family coupled with the sense of an impending hospitalization forced Josie to reckon with the idea that perhaps veganism wasn’t for her anymore. Throughout the years, her doctors rarely discussed her diet. Ironically, one actually told her to steer clear of meat and dairy—reinforcing her preconceived notion that they were bad for her health. Within a month—one month—of reintroducing animal products to her diet, her ulcerative colitis symptoms disappeared. Now, healthy and brimming with vitality at the age of 27, she extols the virtues of an animal-based diet on social media, happily sharing her story of transformation—and sounding the alarm bell to anyone considering a vegan diet.

Never the type to criticize those who ate meat around her—Josie admits it was still a bit uncomfortable telling her family and friends she was no longer a vegan. “It was hard in that sense because it was kind of admitting to everybody that I was wrong, because including animal products in my diet again healed my colitis.” Josie says her family and friends were understanding and compassionate, and any hate she receives these days is from vegans who are unhappy with her newfound message of “meat heals.”

Another incredible side effect that Josie experienced on the carnivore diet? She says her mental acuity and self-esteem are through the roof. When asked if she would ever consider being vegan again, her answer is an unequivocal “No!”

“Seeing the way that my life-threatening autoimmune disorder has reversed itself…and every other health issue that I’ve had has completely turned around…I can only determine that this is my natural diet.” She hopes her story will be able to help others who may be going through similar health struggles. “People who shared their ex-vegan story…it helped me when I was considering not being vegan anymore. That was what made me want to share my story.”

Article by Jennifer McDowell

Tessa going carnivore helped take me from the brink of death to a thriving, joyous life

Tessa describes being so chronically ill her doctors didn’t know what to do with her. Tessa has a history of eating disorders but says for most of her adult life, she didn’t struggle with eating. Tessa ate copious amounts of food but couldn’t seem to gain weight. Tessa says she experimented with the vegetarian diet, vegan (including raw vegan), five meals a day, three meals a day– but nothing worked. For several years her weight hovered around a mere ninety pounds.

Tessa had severe digestion issues. She describes taking antibiotics for a sinus infection over a decade ago. After the antibiotics, she struggled to digest food and was often bloated and gassy. Tessa also had severe depression and debilitating anxiety. She had multiple panic attacks per week and described struggling to get off the floor some evenings. Tessa also lost her period for an entire decade, developed bells palsy, or numbness, in her face, severe brain fog, poor libido, and exercise intolerance. Tessa says, “my health was in shambles.”

Since Tessa had become a mystery to her western doctors, she sought alternative medicine. There she was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease and a genetic disorder that makes it difficult for her body to detox naturally. She also discovered she has macrocytic anemia, which makes it very difficult for her body to absorb B vitamins.

Tessa then began to see a naturopath doctor. When Tessa described her then-vegetarian diet to the doctor, she was told, “you need to eat meat.” Tessa says initially, she didn’t take her new doctor’s advice well, but she was desperate. Her doctor recommended the book “Nourishing Traditions” by Sally Fallon. Tessa read the book, and the day she finished it, she ate salmon.

Over the next few months, Tessa began following the ketogenic diet and eating more meat. She started to explore the carnivore diet in March 2018. Tessa says she has dabbled with the diet for over a year, committing for a few months at a time. She even gave it up in the summer of 2019 after listening to outside influences, but she couldn’t deny how good the diet made her feel. In October 2019, Tessa fully committed to the carnivore lifestyle.

Tessa’s period returned in June 2020, and she is no longer considered anemic. Tessa says her digestion has greatly improved, her depression and anxiety are almost non-existent, and her energy is “off the chains.” Tessa has also been able to gain weight, including muscle, and says she gets comments from people all the time telling her she looks so much more healthy.

Today Tessa says she is a nose-to-tail carnivore diet follower. She typically eats one meal daily, which works best for her digestion. Tessa says she drinks coffee in the morning and mineral water throughout the day. After a workout session in the afternoon, she usually eats a rare steak, which she has found has the best source of B vitamins. However, Tessa says she will eat dark chicken meat from time to time, or pork, bacon, and fish. Tessa doesn’t eat dairy but loves ghee and has found a love for coconut oil after discovering it also seems to aid her digestion.

Tessa advocates the carnivore lifestyle and has even documented her health journey on YouTube through her channel. Tessa thanks Shawn Baker and the carnivore community for spreading the word about this incredible diet. Tessa says, “because of this amazing diet, I’ve got my life back.”

Yasmeen thanks to Carnivore after 7.5 years of being vegan, reversed skin, IBS and fibromyalgia

Yasmeen struggled for years with an eating disorder and malnutrition before deciding to follow the vegan diet for seven and half years– sending her body into a downward spiral. Yasmeen says she tried all types of veganism: fruitarian, raw, juicing– nothing worked. Her body kept suffering more and more.

Yasmeen says she met with a culture of gaslighting and guilting in the vegan community. Yasmeen had fibromyalgia, bloating, fatigue, and anemia. Instead of offering support, her vegan community told her she was “detoxing.” Yasmeen says she kept thinking, “I feel horrible, but I must be getting better.”

Yasmeen’s body was deteriorating quickly. She began to develop welts and sores on her tongue, and her doctors couldn’t determine what was causing the issue. Yasmeen also says her skin and gums were gray and looked very sickly. Yasmeen started seeing stories online of vegan deterioration. At that point, she began connecting the dots between her condition and diet.

Yasmee dreamed of raising animals like goats on a farm and said, “I knew my diet wasn’t sustainable.” One day she woke up and said, “I just knew I needed blood.” She decided to do a little experiment. She was craving eggs, which she hadn’t had in years. She ate two eggs in what she thought would be the grossest way possible–raw. She felt her “silly craving” would disappear once she tried to eat a raw egg. To her surprise, she says the eggs tasted incredibly creamy and delicious. Yasmeen says she doesn’t know what happened, but the moment she ate the eggs, her brain “zinged” back to life.

At this point, Yasmeen started questioning her vegan lifestyle. She had never consumed liver before but suddenly craved raw liver. Once she tried liver, she says it was like eating candy– she couldn’t stop eating it. Yasmeen also tried eating steak but says her body swelled. She would later learn her body was trying to dump oxalates, causing the swelling.

Initially, Yasmeen started her carnivore journey by eating many eggs and organs. She then started testing other foods to see how her body would react. She says, “the further I went, the better I got.” Today Yasmeen says a typical day consists of yogurt, eggs, and burgers. Yasmeen has also added in-season stone fruits to her diet, which she says helps with her microbiome.

Yasmeen healed her fibromyalgia, bloating, iron deficiency, and fatigue following the carnivore diet. She says she later learned that the sores on her tongue were caused by an imbalance in her gut, which the carnivore diet cured.

Yasmeen has also had some surprising side effects from adopting a carnivore lifestyle. She says she is now very fertile, and her body has recomposed itself so that she now has a more womanly figure. Yasmeen also says her gums, once gray, turned a healthy red just a few days into her carnivore diet journey, and her skin looks much more healthy and vibrant. She also says her nervous system was once frazzled and now feels like she is emotionally in a much better place.

Yasmeen knows now the vegan diet was detrimental to her health and says she will never put her body through veganism again. Yasmeen plans to follow the carnivore way of eating for the rest of her life. She says, “I know now that there is something that works.”

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

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.”

 

Hui healed from anorexia and veganism on a carnivore diet

Hui is training to get her MD and Ph.D. and says you would think she would know a thing or two about eating. Through her education, Hui has been studying how the brain drives humans to eat and stop eating. Her Ph.D. research focuses on neuroendocrine control of acute hunger, satiety, and the body’s long-term energy balance. And so, Hui spends a lot of time studying the effects of various nutrition paths.


Hui says, “you’d think someone like me would know to nourish myself well.” Unfortunately, Hui followed a vegan diet for ethical reasons from 2013 to 2019. She says, “my health suffered tremendously.” While following the vegan diet, she didn’t recognize many warning signs of being malnourished. Hui almost immediately stopped menstruating once she started the vegan diet. She says, “ I stupidly did not take the warning signs seriously.”


While following the diet for several years, Hui’s health declined. By December 2019, Hui’s weight had plummeted to just 69.5 pounds– typically expected for a nine or ten-year-old child. Hui was hospitalized for anorexia refeeding. She said while hospitalized, the inpatient facility forced her to eat a large amount of the Standard American Diet in a short time. The high-carbohydrate and highly processed foods Hui was forced to eat while in treatment caused her to develop horrible inflammation and edema– swelling in the body’s tissues.


Hui was discharged from the hospital in January 2020 and said while the “hospital stay did restore my weight,” it did so in the “fastest and unhealthiest way possible.” After she left the hospital, Hui attempted to continue to eat the hospital-taught recovery foods, but she felt deeply repulsed by the highly unhealthy foods she was eating. Again, her signs of anorexia began to creep back, and she began to relapse. At one point, her doctors told her she needed to reenter an inpatient facility.


However, Hui’s life began to turn around when she met a rancher from Kansas. Her new friend drew her closer to understanding how cattle are raised and beef processing. She also learned about the carnivore diet, which she decided to try.


Hui immediately began to feel the positive effects of eating a meat-only diet. Hui had bloodwork taken before she was a carnivore diet follower and nine days into the diet. Her body healed so much in those nine days that her doctor no longer felt she needed to be checked into an inpatient facility.


Hui has been following the carnivore way of eating ever since and says she has no plans to look back. It saddens Hui that, to this day, eating disorder treatment facilities do not teach about proper nutrition for humans. The diet she was forced to eat while in the hospital facility did little to heal her body, unlike the carnivore diet, which has her feeling more alive than ever. Hui says thanks to the carnivore lifestyle, she is in a much better place mentally and physically and has healed herself from the damage the vegan diet caused.



Joy healed her body after 18 years of veganism on a carnivore diet

Joy spent eighteen years of her life as a vegan diet follower. During that time, Joy tried just about every version of the vegan diet possible– raw, high-carbohydrate, whole food, and even processed vegan. Even though Joy thought she was following a lifestyle that would improve her health, the vegan diet wreaked havoc on Joy’s body over time.


Joy was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, which required her to have bowel resections. A bowel resection, sometimes called a colectomy, involves surgically removing parts (sometimes all) of the bowel. Joy’s Crohn’s disease was so bad that she had bowel resection surgery three times. Joy also developed an eating disorder. And her iron levels became so low she required regular iron infusions.


Joy did not realize her actions were causing her body to suffer. Joy thought that the vegan diet would help her body heal. She says, “I tried everything to heal myself. Everything except eating animal products.” However, one day, Joy’s yoga instructor told her she had been eating meat for two years and had almost immediately healed her body.


Joy felt intrigued by the conversation and began to realize that her vegan lifestyle was causing her to suffer. When her yoga instructor gave her carnivore testimony, she said, “I listened to her, really listened.” She heard the heart and the joyfulness that was coming from her yoga instructor. It was hard for Joy to wrap her brain around the carnivore way of eating, especially after so many years of following the vegan diet. However, Joy realized that meat might be the answer she sought and desired to try the diet.


Joy started slow on the carnivore diet by eating pasture-raised eggs. She says by adding eggs, “literally overnight, I felt better!” She then added grass-fed butter, fatty fish, and liver pate. Soon after she began her carnivore journey, Joy’s body healed so much that she could practice yoga again with an enormous amount of newfound energy and without joint pain.


Joy has been following the carnivore lifestyle for four months and isn’t looking back. Her health has improved leaps and bounds since switching her diet from plants to meat. Joy didn’t realize what she needed in her diet was meat. She says she has gone “from suffering and frail to healed and strong.” Joy enjoys eating steaks, particularly ribeyes and filets, as well as bone marrow and lard.


Joy has also lost some body fat and has gained muscle along the way. She says, “I want to tell everyone! At fifty-four years young and post-menopausal, my body feels and looks better than when I was in my twenties.”


Joy is grateful to her yoga instructor, who, through her carnivore testimony, opened Joy’s eyes to the carnivore world and all it has to offer in healing. She is also grateful to the carnivore community. Joy has taken control of her health thanks to the carnivore way of eating, and she is never going back to her destructive vegan ways. Joy says, “thank you all for being such a great source of encouragement.”

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