Up until going carnivore, I had IBS for as long as I can remember. It seemed like literally everything I ate made me feel bloated. I have sometimes prevented myself from going to social functions or dating because of the amount of gas my body would generate, especially if I ate foods that were particularly carby. Whenever I felt that happening, I had to find ways to get away from people to get some sort of release (the smells were horrible too – I wanted to get checked for SIBO) and it was so often that the whole concept was annoying and frustrating.
Originally, I was introduced to keto through a friend who was trying to lose weight and had great success with it. At that point, I only knew of the weight loss benefits, but research taught me all of the other good benefits that come from keto. My friend mentioned that he had very little, if any gas, on keto and hearing that piqued my interest. I didn’t want to lose weight, but I was willing to try something new to get a remedy for my bodily functions. Eventually, I switched and had decent success with keto and was loving it. There were a few times that I cheated and ate like I used to, but I immediately regretted it. I realized how much worse I felt eating the old way.
Further research led me to a community on Reddit called Zero Carb (r/zerocarb). At first, I thought these people were nuts. Where’s the fiber? Do they not get constipated all of the time? Coming from a healthcare background with an interest in nutrition, this was startling. I read over numerous threads just to see what these people were saying and to my surprise, constipation wasn’t an issue. In fact, there were anecdotes of people getting their Crohn’s & Hirschsprung diseases under control, or essentially cured as well as anecdotes of mental health issues getting better, of which I have mild ones. The next step was giving this a test run.
The first try wasn’t too bad, but the lack of variety (only because I hate cooking) was difficult for me. I stayed with keto, but started trying to introduce more meat into my diet and learning to cook (or just learning easier ways). Through trial and error and persistence, I’ve now gotten to where I eat 90-95% carnivore and it’s definitely the best I’ve ever felt.
I rarely have gas, I don’t get bloated, I have more energy without spikes or crashes, my head feels clearer, I sleep better – I feel like a new person. I understand this way of eating would be difficult for most people, but WOW has it been a game changer. I could never go back to the old way.
I only wish I’d started this sooner.
