Frank was a little overweight as a child, and wanted to lose it. He became interested in health in middle and high school. He cut out grains, and by his senior year was following a strict paleo diet. He says “I felt amazing and worked out before and after school, always maintaining a lean physique.”
Frank Finds Veganism: What Could Go Wrong?
Frank learned about veganism and was told meat had a harmful impact on climate change. He gradually cut meat from his diet. His health steadily declined, and he dropped out of community college, welding classes, liberal arts school, and almost university.
Fitness Losses, Hormones, and Brain effects
Frank lost a lot of strength and weight while experiencing extreme irritability, fatigue, and brain fog. His testosterone levels dropped, and he lost interest in sex and didn’t care.
In 2016, at 121lbs, he was admitted into Johns Hopkins Eating Disorder Unit for 10 weeks with a diagnosis of anorexia, though he was never intentionally losing weight. Frank says “I never had body dysmorphia but I was merely doing what I thought was right and the Plant-Based Agenda was so ingrained in me I could not let it go.”
Psych Ward Food
Frank had a bad experience there, forced to eat a high-carbohydrate diet with a lot of grains. He left 40lbs heavier, and felt the doctors did the right thing. He says “in actuality, they just gave me different problems to deal with. I was extremely carb dependent after leaving the unit and could not function without fruit and starch. I lost half of the weight I gained in four months.”
Lyme Disease, IV Antibiotics, and More Problems
In March of 2018, Frank was diagnosed with Chronic Lyme Disease by a naturopathic doctor. After 10 weeks of IV antibiotic treatment, Frank was down to 121 lbs again. He researched obsessively on keto, went on coconut and avocado binges, and kept protein moderate because of the fear surrounding gluconeogenesis and gout.
Still Avoiding Beef
Frank says that “The protein I did eat came mostly from eggs, chicken liver and sardines. At this point I still believed cows were killing the planet, and I pretty much avoided it. I continued to struggle to put on weight no matter how much fat I ate. It was normal for me to lose 8-12 pounds in my sleep and spend the entire day regaining it.”
Found the Carnivore Diet on Joe Rogan
In July of 2018, he saw Dr. Shawn Baker on Joe Rogan’s podcast but was resistant to the idea of the carnivore diet. After a month of still barely hanging on, he says “I had to go strict carnivore out of sheer desperation. I began my first month of carnivore on August 29th, 2018 and put on 15lbs.”
No More Plants: Success!
Frank stopped eating plants completely in 2019 and now eats meat, both raw and cooked. Franks says “I have learned a lot from my experimentation with carnivore and so happy I stuck with it. I don’t see myself leaving this way of eating anytime soon now that I have adapted to it. Overall, it has helped me to recover from severe malnutrition, gain weight, increase testosterone, heal my gut, eliminate my brain fog, and improve strength and energy levels. Looking at my blood results, you can even see the number of Lyme parasites diminish as I ate more meat and less carbs. It’s insane.”
