Guy’s background and interests
Guy is a 57-year-old man who has been married for 33 years and has three grown children. He worked as a microbiologist and chemist before transitioning to a career as a software engineer.
He enjoys playing tennis, beach volleyball, and running obstacle races in the mud. Additionally, he has played lead guitar in various 80s hair metal tribute bands, estimating that he has played over 800 shows.
Guy’s heart attack and recovery
On his 51st birthday, he suffered a widowmaker heart attack. His left anterior descending artery was completely blocked for over three hours before two stents were eventually placed in the artery while he was still experiencing the heart attack.
“When that happened to me, luckily, I recovered with very little damage to my heart, which is kind of amazing in itself, but I think collateral circulation had a lot to do with that.”
Guy’s body had already developed extra blood vessels around the blockage from frequent high-intensity training sessions doing CrossFit. The events started Guy on a learning path: “After that, I just started researching nutrition to make sure that never happened to me again.”
Guy’s nutrition research
Guy was put on statins after his heart attack and stents. He continued taking them for a few months until “I was definitely getting muscle aches and pains that I hadn’t had previously, and when I finally stopped, they actually went away.”
A few years after the heart attack, Guy also started losing his hair, saying, “After that was alopecia areata, which is basically you start losing your hair in patches, and it can… get really bad, and mine did.”
To prevent another heart attack and promote hair regrowth, he conducted extensive nutrition research and discovered the carnivore diet. “Being a voracious reader, I had no bias at that point. If I found out that being vegan would have helped, I would have taken that advice.
But the more I read, the more I did gravitate toward a meat-based diet.” He adopted the carnivore diet, and eventually, much of his hair grew back. He also decided to stop taking all medications, including statins. He is doing well and remains very active. He credits the carnivore diet for his hair regrowth and good health.
Guy’s previous diet and lifestyle
Guy was gaining a few pounds each year and said a typical meal before his heart attack would be “maybe four eggs, but only one yolk…oatmeal was a big thing. I didn’t put sugar; I was kind of already hip on not eating too much sugar.
One thing that may have done me in was I did love making my own tacos, and I would fry the tortillas in corn oil. So I’m heating oil, saturating my tortillas in oil, pretty often-it’s a favorite dish of mine. I was not eating much red meat; I was definitely eating grains and sort of a low-fat for the most part diet.”
Benefits of the carnivore diet
“Meat is kind of the ultimate elimination diet. It’s been a great journey to get the right information, and also, my hair is coming back, which is great!”
