Anyone carnivore?

#1

I’ve been doing keto and I’m loving the results and the energy.
I’ve slacked things this festive period and wanted to maybe try carnivore through January just as a reset.
For those who do it, is it only meat you are waring or do you eat veg too? I’m concerned about the fibre/constipation issue!!
Also did you feel better just carnivore?
Thanks :grin:

#2

*having

(Bob M) #3

For many of us, it’s fiber that causes constipation. I’m not carnivore, but eat a low fiber diet. For instance, the only “fiber” I had for lunch was in herbs on my meat. Otherwise, I ate meat.

#4

I usually rely on Spinach, brocoli, berries . I don’t want to be relying on laxatives. But I’ll give it a go!!

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #5

Meat is very nutrient-dense, so you may find your bowel movements occurring less frequently, because there’s less waste. This is perfectly normal, and is not cause for concern. The idea that we are required to move our bowel daily was created out of whole cloth by laxative manufacturers wanting to sell product. As long as you are not straining, you are fine.

Personally, I find that my bowels react strongly to the amount of salt I am eating. Not enough, and I get constipated; too much, and things get messy. There is a sweet spot, of 4-6 g/day of sodium, which is 10-15 g/day of table salt. For me and for most forum members, fibre seems to be neutral, but some forum members react badly to it, and there are a few who feel they cannot do without it. (Needless to say, those last are not carnivore.)

(Robin) #6

The word carnivore means no plants/veggies.
But there are folks who call their diet Ketovore, and include veggies but are heavy on the meat.

I personally don’t think a month of carnivore will provide enough evidence for you to make a decision. It isn’t really a reset tool. It’s usually a commitment.

Constipation was an issue for me until I went full carnivore.
BUT… you do you. Find what works and pay attention to the signals your body provides. Keep those carbs under 20 and the rest will follow.
Good luck!

(Alec) #7

Been 12 months carnivore. I eat 99% meat, fish, eggs and dairy. I have 1% plants as condiments (very small quantities: apple sauce, horseradish sauce, mint jelly).

Constipation? I have learnt 2 things about constipation: eat enough fat, and drink lots of warm water if you do get constipated. But here’s the deal: you just don’t need to go that often on carnivore: 1 BM every 3 days is average. No problem. Why? There’s just much less waste that the body needs to get rid of. We are eating nutrient dense foods that the body really wants and can digest easily. It is what our bodies are made to digest.

BTW, I heartily encourage you to go carnivore for a bit. See how you go… you may find (like me) that there’s no going back: you start feeling so great on carnivore that you start wondering why you were told your whole life that you had to eat plants (hint: you don’t!).

#8

No, vegs aren’t carnivore at all. You may use spices but that’s it if you want to call your diet carnivore… It doesn’t mean I don’t think it’s just fine to be close to carnivore if that suits you but that’s not carnivore and probably yields different results (I think it always is different but one may not notice the differences as their body isn’t sensitive enough for that).

Oh I didn’t write in the beginning that I am not a carnivore and probably still don’t want to become one, I don’t think about it and it’s not up to me anyway, rather my body :slight_smile:
But I do plan to do as much carnivore in the next 5 months as comfortably possible (and I consider it a good idea at that point), I feel ready now, after years of flirting with it. So I have some experience with being close to carnivore. Or doing carnivore for several days… For me, this already brought big changes.

I couldn’t eat meat all the time, I love eggs and need some dairy for variation as well.
I use spices and condiments but rarely (except mustard when I eat eggs without meat or sausages), I usually have roasts and they only need a little salt.
And I personally drink tea and coffee but I want to quit the latter almost completely…

Fiber is individual. It’s not essential for the human body but some people still seem to need it.
My body couldn’t care less, it works with little, none, much just the same.
I very nearly never have constipation or diarrhea on any diet and I am super regular, not everyone is that lucky. I just can say try it if you are curious and you will see…? No one can tell if you will have problems like that.
There is less waste on carnivore indeed (especially when one overeats on carbs as I did) but that has nothing to do with constipation, I never understood why someone would mix frequency with straining?
The resulting frequency is very individual, my body never skips a day. But I went multiple times a day before. The amount changed more drastically. But if someone’s body likes to collect enough for a big one, without a noticeable problem, that works too.

Keto didn’t give me benefits beyond fat adaption and some lovely recipes and keto habits (less carbs is always better if you ask my body…), carnivore is another world. But it’s me, many others have some serious issues in the first month(s) and/or even later if they do it in the wrong way and we can’t possibly know the good one right away. Maybe our body disagree with something that is a perfectly fine item or fat/protein amount/ratio for others. Even timing may matter a lot.

I never got good energy but I hope I will get it in the next months, I will focus on other factors too, not just my diet. I am hopeful as I did notice a reduction of my morning zombieness on carnivore.

Spinach… Do you heard about oxalate dumping? I never had it, thankfully but I probably didn’t have a high oxalate diet. I tried to eat spinach on keto but gave it up almost immediately, I never was a darker green leaf eater. And while I liked some other items, I used them sparingly.

(Megan) #9

Hi @Kjan2022. If you’ve slacked over the festive period re-commit to eating strictly clean keto as a reset. One month doing carnivore isn’t a reset in my opinion. When you remove all plant and plant-based foods from your diet your body has to get used to the change and (a) one month often isn’t long enough to get to the other side and (b) some of the getting used to the change might not be enjoyable. For example, I had intense watery diarrhea for at least 4 weeks when I went carnivore. Was probably closer to 6 weeks.

#10

agree with others on the board. you don’t need carnivore to reset. all ya need is back to very healthy Keto plan. Right back on the foods that work so well for you. If you want to do like Robin said above, go a heavy ketovore type menu plan then I would do just that but I wouldn’t tackle carnivore cause I would be one to think ya don’t need it if you have do so well on your current plan.

problem with 30 days carnivore is alot of those days you will be walking thru adaption and transition and detox so? you won’t find instant bliss and perfection without say, at least 3 mos. on plan and more like 6 mos. to truly see if carnivore suits you very well.

but if you want carnivore know there is adaption. could go either way into constipation or maybe the reverse as the body changes and heals and transforms. Hope you do ok on whatever you decide.

(Karen) #11

Carnivore just over 2 years. Bowel movement alternate days, sometimes daily depending on what meat or how fatty it is. I am not keen on lean meat now and always try to lookout for the fattiest meat … unless there is reduced price stuff and then i sometimes buy leaner if its all the shop has. Also eat eggs and a bit of cheddar. The odd condiment but usually just add salted butter.

No veggies at all. As @robintemplin says… just do you. I can tell you though, my daughter thought i would crave veg as i ate so much of it prior to this woe but i have honestly not missed them … no cravings, no bloating and being able to eat when and how ever much i want without counting or tracking … love it, love the freedom!

#12

Yes it happens :smiley: I was such a HUGE veggie lover, I never could do keto below 40g net carbs due to them and I still missed them and had to have off keto times all the time… And then I just lost interest.
NOT eating plant carbs is magical to me, it totally changes my desires. Forget vegs, they already was pretty much forgotten when I tried carnivore but I immediately stopped desiring sweets…! And I ate them a lot before.

But if we don’t change so suddenly, we may change gradually. I do things gradually myself… Or we may find something we like and keep that while not sticking to a woe in the end…

#13

I never craved a veg in any eating lifestyle I had. I craved all the crap :LOL love your getting your freedom for sure as I got mine ! :100:

#14

On my original keto I missed vegs, fruits and fat…
And I ate them just not as much as I wanted… I don’t have these problems on carnivore days (I write it like this as I can’t possibly know what would happen after weeks but I am eager to find out soon) as long as I chose my items well (that’s only for the fat).
I don’t even desire fruit on my off days. I like to eat them for various reasons here and there (a big part of it is mental, they are mine, they are lovely, of course I should taste them…) but I never feel the NEED and I never miss them if I don’t have them for a longer while. I felt the need and desire very seriously on my original keto, at least in the beginning.