95% or 100% canivore?

(Jim) #1

Hey,

After doing a 10-day fast, I decided to try out the carnivore diet, and it has been a blast. I have been following it “clean” for about 30 days now and I’m loving it, much better than when I did keto, which was also amazing. Now, I have a question about my 95% carnivore diet and whether it would be better to go the full 100%.

Every day, I’m eating only grass-fed beef and fresh salmon. I add a little mustard without any additives or carbs to my beef for taste. I always bake my salmon in the oven with some fresh-pressed olive oil from Crete, and I also eat some seaweed jelly I make from real seaweed. Outside of that, I’m very strict and honestly loving it.

I don’t have any autoimmune diseases (that I know of) and I’m just doing this to feel healthy and heal my gut. I don’t drink alcohol, consume caffeine, or use anything else that’s harmful.

What’s your take on this way of eating? Am I missing something because I add a few other things?

(Joey) #2

Take this take from an opinionated stranger on the internet…

Nope. You’re not missing anything. It’s working for you - which is clearly what matters. :vulcan_salute:

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #3

Yep, thats what Dr Berry would say, if it’s not causing a problem leave it in your diet.
Many consider themselves 100% even when including things like coffee etc. Personally my problem is opening myself up to temptaion … one notch of chocolate leads to a whole sherry triffle lol

#4

Do whatever works for you, that is the important thing. If you are very curious and it’s not a pain, you can try 100% carnivore, no one knows what would happen there but if you are quite fine with your woe anyway, I don’t think you should change.

As @Pjam says, if a little something is a trigger, that’s one thing. But if you are fine with your really super innocent looking extras (in my eyes but I always have a toe out of carnivore and often go off keto so you shouldn’t listen to me I suppose)…

I never wanted badges, I consulted with my own body and tried to listen to it :upside_down_face: Now I have a very good idea about what works for me.

(Alec) #5

I’ve been nearly 100% carni for 2.5 years now, and my conclusion is that it is much more important to stay “nearly 100% carni” and be there for life than to strain for an absolute 100% carni diet, and risk falling off.

My recommendation is to be as close to 100% as you can that you can comfortably stay on for the long term… meaning small compromises are just fine as long as they are not causing health issues as far as you can tell.

(Jim) #6

@Alecmcq @Shinita @Pjam @SomeGuy

Thank you all for the great replies :wink: I’ll stay the way I’m eating now and will experiment in the future with some small changes to see if it works better. It’s good to hear that it doesn’t really matter that much and that I can experiment.

(Alec) #7

You most certainly can. However, my advice is that if you have lots of weight to lose, you should try to be as close to 100% carni as you can for a decent amount of time (6 months?). My experience is that lazy keto did not work for me for weight loss and long term maintenance. I needed a good period of being close to 100% carni to get my body used to what I was now asking it to do.

But once it learnt, adding in some small non-carni stuff did not seem to bother me at all. BUT, we must always be vigilant not to let the small compromises turn into large ones. Carbs/plants are not good for you. Any that you take in compromises your health in some way.

#8

I like experiments :slight_smile: I am curious and there are always new things to learn about myself but sometimes I can go stricter when it’s just a short experiment (even if I feel some loss, the thrill of the experiment balances it out so my hedonist self is fine) and that may change me in good direction and show me that I don’t need something so much, after all.

That’s not true for everyone though. Some people even try out carnivore for a long time and go back to normal keto as that works loads better. There is no diet good for everyone.
I know my body is happy with only animal cabs but it doesn’t mean it couldn’t handle some plant ones - I just need to be careful with amounts and frequency, maybe type and shouldn’t add it willy-nilly. As it clearly doesn’t make anything better except my enjoyment level. For me. Others may need some, physically.

(Jim) #9

I’m a 6 pack fitness guy. Don’t need to lose weight, just maintaining and gaining muscle. That’s the fun thing about Canivore, no more pumps. Every muscle that I have is actually mine haha

(Geoffrey) #11

Well I I think what you’re doing is absolutely horrible and the carnivore gods will struck you down. You should be beaten with a wet noodle until you repent of your sins. :rage::stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:
Like everyone else says, you do you man.
It’s all about what you need and what your body can tolerate. There is no set standard or rule book we have to follow. All we have are guidelines in which we start with a fundamental foundation. Then we build our journey upon that foundation into what’s best for each of us as individuals.
In my journey I was about 98-99% carnivore most of the time. I never cheated nor strayed. Now that I have lost all of the weight I intend to lose and my body has been healed of nearly everything that was wrong with it I feel like I can stray a little with things that don’t affect me. I’m still probably 95% carnivore but I love jalapeño’s and hot peppers and my body tolerates them well. So the other day I decided I wanted a treat so I smoked up a bunch of jalapeño poppers stuffed with crawfish, two kinds of cheese m, a little clean Cajun seasoning and wrapped wrapped in bacon. I won’t eat those on any kind of regular basis but it’s nice to indulge occasionally.

(Robin) #12

I got a little rush just reading bout those stuffed jalapeños!

(Jamie Henry Brown) #13

Professor Bart Kay recently said in a livestream that he felt way better doing 100% strict carnivore rather than 95%.

He did say it’s hard to stay committed to that form of carnivore though.

You’re eating our proper human diet so you it makes sense you’ll feel the best.

You’re missing nothing. Everything you eat has all the nutrition we need and in the most bioavailable form. You don’t need to eat organs, by the way.

(Megan) #14

Did he say what foods made up that 5%? He’s probably correct about it being harder to be 100% for many people. I drink coffee and sometimes I have a bit of zero sugar hot chocolate powder in my greek yoghurt and cream. If I ever give those 2 things up I’ll report back here re any changes I notice :crazy_face:

#15

Good question!
And of course, it’s individual, 95% may work for one better than 100, it is totally individual that what extras work - and how much is 5%? 5% of what, volume, grams, macros? I am always uncertain about this.
I think we should try out things and decide for ourselves.

#16

I’m definitely heading into carnivore territory if it includes dairy. Can’t face or see any need to give up my cheese or double cream. Mind you I did have a tablespoon of baked beans with my buttery scrambled egg this morning so maybe not. If I was at home I wouldn’t have had any but they were there so I did :pig:

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #17

The cream and cheese is from an animal so Carnivore IMO. Some people can’t tolerate them though. Personally I enjoy them too. The baked beans maybe just fall outside lol.
I’m probably about 95-98%, coffee being my guilty pleasure.
I also do something considered ancestral by Dr Berry, for about 1 week in September I eat a little fruit and nuts … can’t say I feel any better for it mind you.

#18

That is so relatable :smiley: Even after nearly 1.5 decades on low-carb (not each and every day but very close), I like to taste flavorful things my SO cooks… And it’s fine if it’s little and occasional. Some people need to be stricter but I don’t think it matters so much in my case - and anyway, it’s not like I have a choice, my personality is against “depriving” myself from something I don’t need but well, I want to taste it :stuck_out_tongue:

I minimize (still eat) cheese and cream but there are many other dairy items I love and pretty much need. Take them away and I will go off keto too. Quark is superb for my fat minimalization anyway, it’s a staple for me.
But I don’t even do full carnivore ever so it’s a moot point to restrict carnivore more.

You already get your nutrients from animal food, fruit and nuts are just for joy for me. And it’s not like I can resist fruit… Especially in fruit seasons and there is 2 at the moment. I don’t eat them every day (once I had 2 weeks of proper carnivore. to me. yeah, there was coffee, tea and spice but that’s carnivore enough to me. carnivore-ish when I eat a pickle or stew with a tiny onion) and usually it’s tiny but still…
I start to think I just want something juicy at this point (when I eat more than minimal fruit). The taste is amazing, yes but the texture and juiciness pull me in and make me want to eat more. But vegs are too expensive and usually not juicy enough (and they are carby too and I am glad I barely ever want any). Carnivore items are either crunchy (yay!) but dry or juicy but soft or neither. Sigh.