Mark improved joint pain, hypertension and gained muscle on carnivore diet

Hi, my name is Mark, aka The Carnivore Grandpa. I would like to start by thanking carnivore.diet for inviting me to share my story. Thank you for all you do.

I am 56 year old husband, father, and grandfather. Married to the love of my life for 36 yrs, father of six wonderful children, and Grandfather of 12. They are all my whole world, and my greatest movtivation for staying healthy. My wife and I live in Northern Ontario, in what I think is one of the most beautiful places on earth.

I grew up on a farm and was physically active and fit when I was younger. I am 5’10, when I graduated high school I was 155 pounds. Two years later I married my highschool sweetheart and we began our life together. Graduated collage as a Registered Nurse. During my training we had minimal teaching on nutrition other then to refer to the Canada food guide.

At the age of 24 I was advised by my doctor to change professions due to joint pain which he believed was brought on by shiftwork. At this point I had gained alot of weight due to poor eating habits. I felt miserable, tired, no energy, and achy joints.

Ironically, I started more labour intensive work and was able to lose some weight and began to feel better. As the years went by and I got older and continued to eat whatever I wanted gaining and loosing weight sporadically, in spite of this I remained in realitively good health, I thought…

At 35 I had reached my heaviest weight yet at 205 pounds. I put on the weight and could no longer take it off. After a visit to my doctor I was told I had high cholesterol and needed to make some changes. I was sent to a dietition who told me to cut back on red meat and fats but that I could eat all the pasta and starches I wanted to fill me up.

I was informed the I needed to increase my fibre in the form of fruits and vegtables. I now know this was terrible advice. However, it was what the dietition had been taught and the misinformation continues.

A few years later with my cholesterol levels increasing I was also diagnosed with high blood pressure. At this time I was still eating from the food guide, but decided I should include some weights to try and help get this under control. In spite of adding 20 to 30 mins of exercise a day it did absaloutely nothing to change my health or my body composition.

By this time I was also experiencing increased achey joints and had also developed occasional gout. I was still suffering from fatigue and fluctuating moods and energy levels. I was on a roller coaster. I now know that at this point I was extremely metobolically unhealthy. It was a wake up call.

In 2017 my wife and I discover the ketogenic diet through Dr. Ken Berry. We jumped on the keto train and have never looked back. I lost 45 pounds, most of my joint pain, and my energy increased. My toes although still stiff did not ache from gout. I felt like a new man. I went to my doctor for my annual check up and after taking my blook pressure she asked me what I had been doing as my blood pressure had dropped substantially.

I informed her I was on the ketogenic way of life, and she was extremely supportive. I was sent for my bloodwork and my lipid panels were much better. NO MEDICATIONS NEEDED! In hind sight I wish I had consumed more protein as to prevent lean muscle loss on keto. I felt good but I felt I was a little too thin, I felt I had lost to much lean muscle mass. I know there is some contradiction out there about this, I can only share from my own experience.

After a year on keto I began to become interested in what was called the carnivore way of eating. I decided to try it for a month, seemed extreme but I was open and intrigued and not afraid of a paradym shift. As I was only eating 20 carbs a day on keto, I thought removing those last 20 and switch to meat and animal by products couldn’t hurt.

After a month on carnivore I noticed the rest of my joint pain and the stiffness in my toes disappeared. I also noticed that I was putting on some muscle, and felt my body compasition was changing and become more define without added exercise! I was motivated! I made the decision to continue for 6 months.

I again went in for a check up as we have been monitoring since starting keto every 6 months. After taking my blood pressure my doctor asked me, okay what are you doing now. I hesitantly explained my new way of eating as a carnivore. My doctor who was pleasently suprised and happy to inform me my blood pressure was in the low normals. She then proceeded to grab a lab requisition and enthusastically began checking off all the things she wanted my blood tested. We were both thrilled to see the all my bloodwork came back excellent.

Due to my excellent lab work and how great I was feeling I decided to remain on carnivore as a way of life. I have been on eating carnivore since May of 2018. During the first year of carnivore, aside from my physical job as a builder/carpenter, I didnt do much extra exercise.

In the last six months I have begun to incorporate some dumbell weight training and I have seen some fantastic results, unlike when I was eating all the food groups and had added exercise where I saw no results.

To date; I have decided to up my exercise regine to see how far I can take this. I want to encourage those who are reading my story, if a 56 year old Grandpa of 12 can do this and see such wonderful results so can you. I highly recommend this way of eating, it has been a game changer for me.