Long-time vegetarian for about 9 years (heavier on fiber, whole grains, and nut/seed fat), but not against eating meat, just avoided it at home due to “ethical and sustainability” concerns (yes, I bought into the propaganda).
About 4 years in, I noticed some subtle, but consistent itches/rashes on some small areas of my skin shortly after eating, they would not heal or go away.
The symptoms would worsen over the next 5 years, causing me to cover up full-time due to the unsightly sores/rashes/tears/psoriasis/swelling all over my limbs/finger/face/back/body.
I was not able to work out/train/sweat without intense itching and pain, and stopped working out altogether years ago.
My pro-vegan and fitness GP Dr did his best, and ended up only prescribing me steroid/antibiotic creams to manage the symptoms, referring me to an allergy specialist, who after his tests, eventually added immuno-suppressants and anti-biotics (due to staph infections from the exposed skin tears), and more steroid/antibiotic creams.
2 years ago, at 5’6″, 155 lbs, I attempted a cleaner diet, removing processed foods and the meds, and focusing on whole plant foods, which steadily decreased my weight 10 lbs to 145 lbs. My symptoms remained.
I began practising meditative breathing (Wim Hof method), intensely hot/cold showers, and intermittent fasting. This provided great relief from my symptoms, but did not heal them. My weight steadily decreased another 10 lbs to 135 lbs.
Eventually, I sought a Naturopath with experience in resolving skin inflammation and auto-immune issues. He basically gave me a long list of foods to avoid, and to my surprise, they were all vegetables! Specifically, soy, brassicaes, nightshades, and starches.
I went hard and said, I’ll just eat eggs and quinoa… for a month, see what happens.
Low and behold, all my symptoms went away. Unfortunately, I was still not able to discern or find any reasoning for the change.
I would experiment for a year further, cycling between getting intense flareups, and healing.
Eventually, as an avid listener/viewer of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, I saw/heard Dr. Shawn Baker talking about the Carnivore diet, human history with it, and his arguments for them. What he said piqued my interest, seemed reasonable, and I began to add meat back into my diet on a consistent basis. My symptoms continued to persist though, as I was still experimenting with various vegetables/foods.
After 6 months of a whole food diet of meat/plants (still avoiding vegetables noted above) with some success, I decided to just cut out vegetables entirely. During that time, I was listening to Dr. Shawn Baker on various podcasts/outlets, and especially the conversations between himself with Zack, and their guests’s on the Human Performance Outliers (HPO) podcast.
It’s been 2 months since I started eating a beef/bacon/egg, salt, and water focused carnivore diet (I still eat about 10% in berries/fruit).
My wounds are healed, I’m itch/rash/psoriasis free with no auto-immune symptoms, I get better sleep, require less sleep, have more energy than ever, and my mood/attitude/thoughts/productivity has greatly improved.
I can train again without any issues, I heal faster (I think?), and I can wear tshirts/shorts again (or go shirtless), also, I dropped another steady 9 lbs to about 126 lbs (highschool weight), which I have since increased to 131 lbs by just eating way more meat and building my muscle in the gym.
Simply put, #meatheals.
Thank you, Dr. Shawn Baker.
