Multifaceted Explanation Of Diet Change
This is going to be a multifaceted email to explain my previous symptoms/ailments before I changed my diet. Apologies for the long-winded email, but it’ll be worth your time reading.
Previous Diet Vs. Current Meat-Only Diet
I started following you on Twitter about 5-6 months ago. Began incorporating more eggs/various types of meat into my diet, and for the past 2-3 months, I’ve gone all meat (mostly steak, some pork) with a few cheat days, usually pizza or a hamburger with the bun.
Previously, my diet included a mix of meat, veggies, and various carbs. Nothing specific; I generally shopped and ate healthy meals and mixed in fast food, which I’ve completely eliminated the latter now and have saved a lot of money.
Celiac Disease And Suspected Colorectal Issues
I have two confirmed celiac family members, although the test never confirms; it just gives you a laundry list of items you have allergies to. One great, great family member, I believe my grandma’s grandma, died in her early 30s of a colorectal issue, which I suspect is related.
One family member is my grandmother on that side and my brother. I have never been tested myself; I always assumed that the allergies were overstated and didn’t affect me. Since I’ve switched, my digestive system, bowel movements, and all have greatly improved.
Improved Digestive System And Skin Change
I would make a smoothie in the morning prior to this diet, using frozen berries, spinach, etc., and I would constantly have diarrhea afterward, like clockwork.
I can tell this is a meat-related change because whenever I have something other than meat for dinner, the next day brings flashbacks of before. Incredible change.
I also noticed a skin change since switching over. Previously, I had a rash on the left side of my jaw that would itch and almost look like acne or chickenpox. This has since gone away but resurfaces when I go on a two-stretch of eating bad food (which the bad stretches don’t happen anymore). Thus, I’m almost certain this is also related.
Athletic Performance Improvement And Pain Reduction
I’m also an athlete who comes from a family of athletes, and we take athletic performance very seriously. I played Division 2 football and excelled on my previous diet, and since college ended, I fell out of shape due to inactivity and drinking (mainly drinking).
I started taking working out seriously again about a year ago (I just turned 27), and I am a better athlete now than I was when I was 21, going through a college system. I’m talking speed, vertical, all lifts, and the greatest change has come from my stamina, which I previously always struggled with being a fast-twitch athlete.
Related to athletics, I used to stretch constantly…I could touch my nose to my knees in a hamstring stretch but still always struggled with back issues. Just general aches and pains, so bad they kept me up at night tossing and turning.
Those aches and pains have since subsided and are no longer present…ever…and I rarely stretch now, mainly because I just don’t feel the need to. I feel like my muscles are pliable and ready at any instant for work, which I have a high sensitivity to.
I can jump in and play pickup basketball without warming up/stretching or anything of the sort without muscle, knee, or backaches, which I find truly incredible. THIS WAS NEVER THE CASE BEFORE.
Improvement In Heart Issues
I have had heart issues in the past. I’ve seen multiple cardiologists for stress tests and pre-QT. I’ve even ended up in the ER because my heartbeat was so out of whack that I nearly passed out.
It was a very scary feeling. I used to have heart palpations after I ate, which I found odd, and ironically enough, I ended up in the ER after I gorged on about 4 McChickens from McDonald’s.
These palpations are gone when I eat meat completely but arise when I eat something specifically with gluten, soy, or generally anything unhealthy, and sugar. But they are completely absent when I’m on an all-meat diet.
Concussions And Cognitive Issues
While playing football in college, I sustained two serious concussions within a two-week span, just before we really got serious about sitting concussed athletes out for an extended time.
Since then, I have struggled with cognition issues ranging from rage and anger that I could not explain to a general loss of thought and feeling cloudy. These, for the most part, have subsided, which I am eternally grateful for.
These issues were taking a serious toll on my personal life with my now-wife and at work. I feel like I am a better person now with a much more stable personality. Truly life-changing.
Personal Struggles With Anxiety And Depression
On another personal note, I have struggled with anxiety, depression, and mainly social anxiety for YEARS, and I have not told anyone except my mother about this because she revealed the same to me when I was about 13-14 years old. She could see me struggling, and she let me know she was struggling as well.
For the next 13 years of my life, I hid these issues from everyone I came across. Although it would be hard to tell that something was not off about me looking back, it had to be very obvious. I was never suicidal to the point where I would take action, but the thought lingered in my head.
I feel guilty about this, and I feel like I’ve wasted time because I was not living up to my potential personally and how I could affect a positive change in others because I was so overwhelmed with what I was going through.
I’m proud to say that my depression has subsided. I struggle to say that it is completely gone, but I know for a fact I don’t feel the same way I used to. I feel confident in myself, and I feel confided in social situations, and my self-esteem, self-worth, and relationships with others have improved 10x.
It is truly incredible. And I had been through the works of anti-anxiety meds, depression meds, etc. They numbed me, and I could tell, but they didn’t make me feel like myself.
Benefits Of A Carnivorous Diet
I now feel like a new person, which I can’t thank you enough for. I know you’re not the inventor of the carnivorous diet, but you were my engine of information for it, so for that, I thank you.
I still struggle with one thing, and that’s being stubborn. For all of the issues I’ve listed above, I was too stubborn to dig deep and really find a root cause for them.
And any fix that was thrown my way was bandaids on an open wound that never healed. I really don’t know if I would’ve seen old age without this switch, and although that sounds drastic, I believe it.
The Power Of Digging Deep
I was healthy on the outside and very physically fit but was self-destructing on the inside in every way. I gave your diet a shot, against the advice of my wife, because I was willing to try anything, but mainly, I was looking for a way to get rid of my pesky heart palpations because they were just a nuisance. I had no idea that it would lead me out of my depression and give me a better life overall.
Once again, I am truly grateful. You’re doing great work!
Thanks
PS. I have preached this to my immediate family and my wife. They are slowly adopting. I’ve also switched my dog over to eggs and meat, and he’s nine years old now and runs around like he’s 2!
