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What! Carnivore?

Last time I said that I would tell you about my experiment with a carnivore diet.

First off, what is a carnivore diet? To some people it is an extreme dietary fad, whilst for others it is the ultimate elimination diet.

Those who’ve been diagnosed with a food intolerance may have followed an elimination diet to identify which food group/food item was causing their symptoms and discomfort.

This picture off the internet gives an idea of what a carnivore diet could be.

The reason the carnivore diet is the ultimate elimination diet is that one eats only food from animals. It can be just beef, salt and water in its purest form (also called the Lion Diet), whilst the more relaxed approaches include poultry, eggs, fish and dairy, and even some vegetables (which are treated like condiments).

How did I end up eating just meat for 3 months?

Like most people, I had gradually been gaining weight over the past 20-odd years, not helped by long days at work, irregular eating patterns and eating ready meals, rather than cooking from scratch. All of it made me a prime candidate for diabetes.

In June 2017, I signed up for the I QUIT SUGAR programme, which provided meal plans and set me on my way to an improved diet. The programme meant eliminating all added sugar from meals, and resulted in 10 kg weight loss over the course of a year. Around the same time I joined a gym doing resistance training to increase my muscle mass, given that muscle burns more calories than fat tissue.

Then in August 2018, I discovered the low carb (LCHF) way of eating. I started concentrating on eating real food and removed high-carb, highly processed food from my diet, replacing them with low-carb vegetables and healthy fats. The fat provides energy and satiety as one tends to eat significantly less with the LCHF way of eating. (The fear of fat for health reasons will be the topic of a future post).

One of the benefits of the LCHF way of eating is that my non-fasting blood sugar level is now roughly the same as the fasting reference value the NHS uses. Thus, if I had been pre-diabetic before LCHF, I am sure I’m definitely not anymore.

I lost another 5 kg of weight in the first year of LCHF and then got stuck with my weight ossilating by ±2kg around my “set point”. I am sure things weren’t helped by the gym being closed during lockdown and by the dark outside over the long Northern Hemisphere winter.

This then lead me to my 3-month long carnivore experiment.

The experiment

As I was already eating a low carb diet, I didn’t suffer from the carb withdrawal symptoms experienced by most people coming to carnivore from the standard, recommended diet.

During the first month, I ate all the animal foods listed below, and kept on drinking coffee.

During the second month, I stopped eating dairy and eggs and stopped drinking coffee. And surprisingly, it seems like I am not actually addicted to coffee, as I didn’t suffer the typical withdrawal symptoms.

The third month was slightly more tricky. I started preparing 3 or 4 different types of meat to give some variety to my plate. Interestingly, when I told people that I only ate meat, the most common comment was that it must be so boring, which was the case when I didn’t eat cheese or eggs during the last two months.

The result of my experiment was another 3 kg weight loss, and a definite change in body shape. I put this down to the higher protein intake (topic of the next post) and increased use of my fat stores.

Foods to eat on a carnivore diet

Animal meat: beef, chicken or turkey, lamb, pork, etc.

Organ meats

Fish: salmon, mackerel, sardines, crab, lobster, herring, etc.

Other animal products: eggs, lard and fat from animals, bone marrow, etc.

Dairy products: double cream, hard cheese, butter or ghee

Water

Many people add salt and other seasonings and drink coffee and tea.

Benefits of carnivore diet

Many people find that they have lots more energy when they reduce their intake of carbohydrates. People following low carb diets make more efficient use of the body’s fat stores, providing a constant source of energy which doesn’t depend on the timing of the next meal. With a carnivore diet, the body has even more reason to use the body’s fat stores, which brings us to the next benefit of the carnivore diet: weight loss.

Anecdotally people also report improved mood and focus, as well as reduced inflammation.

In the world of human carnivores there are amazing stories of people who’ve improved their mental health by following a carnivore diet.

Thus, it seems like weight loss isn’t the only benefit of a carnivore diet.

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Introduction

Do you want to lead a healthier life? If yes, that’s excellent news! Because I would like to help you with that!

My name is Annette de Lange, and I currently live in Woodbridge, near Ipswich, in Suffolk in the UK.

Until 2010 I considered myself to be healthy – this despite chronic sinisitus, which gave my laryngitis several times a year. My knees ached going up and down stairs, I was on medication for an irregular heart beat (despite the cardiologist not finding any physical cause for it), and most of all, I was tired, even though I didn’t realise it, because that was my normal.

I ate my 5 a day, but I didn’t know about how crops are manipulated to increase crop yields and that the food is subsequently processed to increase shelf-life. What was the sad thruth is that at cellular level my body wasn’t getting the nutrients I needed for a healthy life.

That all changed when I found whole-food nutritional supplements. The sinisitus and achy knees are gone and I haven’t had laryngistis for some time. I also don’t need the medication anymore, because I have since discovered that a calcium deficiency may cause issues with nerve function, affecting the functioning of the heart: I had started taking KalMag because my mother had osteoporosis and I wanted to reduce my risk of it. Then, about 6 months after I started taking the supplements, I woke up one morning and realised that I hadn’t felt tired for weeks! This thanks to a plant lipid & sterol supplement.

When I changed jobs a few years ago and moved to a new area I went to an “introductory” appointment at my new GP, and they didn’t find any of the common chronic diseases people my age tend to suffer from. In 2015 I removed sugar from my diet and I had another set of amazing health improvements: weight loss, improved sleep and loss of swelling around my ankles. Recent blood tests were all well within the normal range. Not bad for a 57 year old female!

The changes in my personal health led to me to wanting to know more about how the food we eat help or hinder our health and wellbeing. I did a nutrition course and learned a lot about why the human body needs both macro- and micronutrients, and how protein, healthy fats and limited carbohydrates from fresh fruit and vegetables, together with vitamins and minerals, work together to maintain a healthy mind and body.

I’m so glad that I’m healthy and feeling great. We human beings were not meant to be sick and unhealthy and on medication. We only need to feed our cells by eating real food, and supplementing when required!

I look forward to discussing health & wellbeing with those looking to improve their health.

In my next post I’ll tell you about my recent experiment with a carnivore diet…