Gabriel is 24 years old and has noticed his heart rate has stabilized since following the carnivore diet. Previously, he had been following the standard American diet, and regularly consumed junk food at fast food.
“I was generally eating a lot of carbs,” he recalls. “I would have cereal and eggs in the morning, and meat and potatoes, junk food, or a big bowl of pasta for lunch and dinner.” Gabriel began to notice he would feel sick after a carb-heavy meal. “I started to realize that every time I was eating a lot of carbs, I was just feeling ill and my heart started to pound and was very fast. I had brain fog and just had trouble concentrating.”
In addition, Gabriel suffered from digestive issues that seemed to worsen as he consumed more carbohydrates. “It was very painful”, he says, “so I naturally started to reduce the amount of carbs I was eating. I initially thought it was junk food, so I stopped going to fast food restaurants.” But he later realized it wasn’t just fast food causing his discomfort. “I realized that any high-carb food, whether it was whole grains or fruits, I was feeling ill after eating them.”
Gabriel began to suspect he was on his way to becoming diabetic, so he decided to switch to an animal-based diet to see if his symptoms improved. “Now, 80-90% of my calories come from meat,” Gabriel explains. “I’m not in ketosis, as I still stabilize my blood glucose with some sugar from small amounts of fruit and honey.” (Ketosis is a metabolic state that occurs when the body burns fat for energy instead of glucose, and is typically present for those consuming little to no carbs, such as a carnivore or keto diet.) For breakfast, he has eggs and bacon, and for lunch he has red meat, fish, chicken, or organ meats. For dinner, he’ll have a similar type of meal and includes some spices and sauces.
“I really enjoy it,” he says. “I realized that when I was eating meat, my heart was no longer pounding in my chest and I’m able to concentrate better after I eat. I just don’t feel ill any more.” Gabriel notes that increasing his meat intake so much at the beginning of his journey was scary at first. He started to look for more information online and realized it was possible to eat a lot of meat and feel much better and healthier than he had been on a standard American diet.
“I have great health now,” Gabriel says of the carnivore diet. “It has been a life-changing experience for me. I’m very grateful for the carnivore community and I hope that more people like me will realize that you can have a huge impact on your health based on what you eat. I hope people realize that a high carbohydrate diet may be the source of discomfort that people may be experiencing.”
Gabriel says he is very grateful to be eating a diet of 80-90% meat, and no longer has a racing heart or digestive issues. “It has been a huge relief for me!”
