Sylvia has been experimenting with her diet for the majority of her life. Her father was a rancher, so she says her diet was mainly meat-based as a child. As an adult, she started trying various diets, including vegetarian, pescatarian, low-carbohydrate, and finally, the ketogenic diet.
Health Issues in Sylvia’s Twenties: Gut Health and Rheumatoid Arthritis
Sylvia began to have issues with her gut health in her twenties. She speculates that taking ibuprofen (which has been linked to gut damage) for a year after a car accident caused her to have issues with her gut.
Sylvia was also diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in her late twenties, although she said the condition didn’t become a massive issue and affected her life until she turned thirty-four.
Discovering the Paleolithic Ketogenic Diet
Sylvia followed the conventional keto diet for many years. She says she ate a lot of vegetables and dairy on the diet and knew her body was inflamed. Sylvia also became active in the keto community and attended several low-carb conventions.
At one of these conventions, she listened to Dr. Zsofia Clemens speak about the paleolithic ketogenic diet. This particular diet is meat-based and is especially beneficial for those with autoimmune diseases and gut health issues, as it also includes consuming high amounts of fat and organ meats.
Healing Benefits of the Diet: Rheumatoid Arthritis, Leaky Gut, and Sleep
Sylvia decided to give the diet a try. She cut out dairy, nuts, vegetables, tea, coffee, and other highly inflammatory foods from her diet. She explains that the diet consisted of approximately eighty percent of the calories from animal fat, mostly tallow and lard, which she tracked on an app on her phone. Within ten days of following the paleolithic ketogenic diet, Sylvia says her rheumatoid arthritis was eighty percent healed.
Sylvia also says the diet healed her leaky gut and chronic constipation. She says her bowel movements are now very regular, and she does not suffer from bloating. Sylvia also says her sleep “is perfect.” She attributes this change to eliminating coffee (mainly caffeine) from her diet, as she occasionally consumes decaf coffee, especially when she fasts.
Sylvia’s Diet Today: Mostly Meat-based with Some Experimentation
Today, Sylvia eats two meals a day, and her diet consists primarily of beef, pork, and eggs, with some chicken and fish added in from time to time. Sylvia says she has experimented with adding some other foods back in.
Sylvia tried adding in fruit but found she didn’t want it. She also experimented with coffee which made her feel instantly inflamed. However, she has found her body can tolerate homemade sauerkraut.
Sylvia has also been experimenting with fasting. She says the most extended fast she has completed was ten days, though she has found five days to be her personal “sweet spot.”
Sylvia’s Coaching Philosophy: Changing Your Relationship with Food
Sylvia is grateful she could heal her body and gut with a meat-based diet. Sylvia shares her diet and lifestyle online through a blog and is now a coach for MeatRx. She says her coaching philosophy is that to have success, you need to “change your relationship with food.” She says that relationship change will also impact your life and help you develop discipline, which you can use in other areas of your life.
