Susan always considered herself to be a person who prioritized her health. Susan always ate whole foods and had been gluten-free for many years. Susan says she loves vegetables, especially sweet potatoes, spinach, beets, and broccoli, and spent most of her life eating a “mostly vegetarian” diet.
Fourteen years ago, Susan developed rheumatoid arthritis. Susan says she never thought her arthritis had anything to do with her diet other than her doctor telling her, “don’t eat red meat.” Besides her rheumatoid arthritis, Susan struggled with her Achilles tendon to the point where she struggled to walk. She also had many issues with her gastrointestinal system, and she thought she might even have stomach cancer.
Susan joined a community online for people with rheumatoid arthritis. She says a woman in the community shared she was going to experiment with the carnivore diet. Susan and other community members advised the woman not to eat only meat. They all thought eating meat-based would make the woman’s rheumatoid arthritis worse. To Susan and the rest of the community’s surprise, after five weeks, the woman’s pain from arthritis was gone, and within three months, Susan says, “she was glowing and thriving.”
Susan privately messaged the woman, and she responded by giving Susan several names and resources to look up, including Dr. Shawn Baker. Susan decided to transition to an all-meat diet starting on November 23rd, 2018. Initially, she was going to give herself one week to transition slowly. However, Susan began to realize she felt better after eating meat and worse after eating vegetables. And so, four days into her transition, she became fully meat-based.
Susan says within just a few days, the inflammation from her Achilles tendon was gone. She also noticed she no longer felt bloated or struggled with her gut. And just like the woman who introduced her to the carnivore diet, her rheumatoid arthritis was soon gone. Susan says she had a bit of a “honeymoon” phase with the carnivore diet; then she experienced severe oxalate dumping symptoms from all the years of eating high oxalate vegetables. Susan struggled with intense cramping in her feet and legs. However, she was able to power through the dumping phase with supplements like magnesium.
Today, Susan says she eats mostly beef because it makes her feel the best. She states before finding the carnivore way of eating, she had never had a ribeye. Now Susan eats ribeye for dinner almost every day. She also eats some fish and dairy. Susan describes she struggled to tolerate dairy while following a vegetable-based diet but has found her body can now tolerate it since she is meat-based. Susan says she doesn’t eat pork or shellfish because of her faith, though she wishes she could eat shrimp some days.
After seeing her results, Susan says she has convinced her husband to eat a 90% carnivore diet. Susan’s advice for anyone looking to try the carnivore way of eating is to “give it thirty days.” She is thankful to the woman in her rheumatoid arthritis group who introduced her to this lifestyle. She says she plans to message her soon to thank her for helping her regain her health!
