Are vitamins necessary on carnivore?


(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #41

My opinion is that ‘sweet’ serves no useful purpose and the sooner lost the better. I also happen to agree with @ctviggen that if a particular substance does no harm - to be determined honestly not by wishful thinking - go ahead and consume it. Even when it serves no useful purpose.


#42

Even providing joy and variety other items can’t are useful purposes but there are more basic ones.
Sometimes I am quite hungry but can’t eat my normal food, only desserts. Or worse.
(When I started keto, I needed very much sweets to keep my carbs low enough and my nutrients high enough but well, that was vegetarian carbier keto, not my current carnivore-ish.)

I still do my best to avoid sweeteners if somewhat comfortably possible, it’s not allowed on my carnivore-ish but sometimes I feel they are the lesser… not evil but not right. They aren’t food…
So they are used only when I consider them unavoidable without making myself miserable and I use them in moderation.

But sometimes I wonder. I so easily eat 5g sugar on carnivore… What is my problem with 2g erythritol or xylitol…? Basically nothing but I always wanted to minimize my sugar/sweetener consumption. It started on high-carb, I really ate a ton and very much sweets but oh my god, never ate as much sugar as the average person!!! That’s creepy!
And now I may sit around 20g erythritol (sometimes xylitol) a week. Or less. I don’t track it and I have very different weeks. Still a huge amount but I am working on it. And it’s harmless. It is! I do much worse things :smiley: And I eat way more sugar on my strictest carnivore :smiley: (I just can’t skip dairy totally… Too tiny variety remains.) Yeah, that thought surely doesn’t help…
I stopped wanting sweet things actually, I usually eat desserts when I need it. And they may provide zero joy BUT I can eat them and it stops my hunger, it’s good.

I don’t go and eat the tastiest item in my house right now (Williams pear) because tastiness is overrated and sweetness isn’t needed. I don’t want it and it can’t provide me nutrients and can’t satiate me. My egg pudding or dessert pancake can and they potentially use a tiny sweetener. The egg pudding is very nice using only sugar - lactose in the cream - and flavorings, though. And mascarpone+coffee filled pancakes don’t need sweetening either. So yep, I can avoid sweeteners if I use enough sugar… Is that better I wonder? Sometimes not as they add much unnecessary fat and calories and it matters to me.

Everyone of us should consider and decide for themselves what to do. It’s often complicated.

More ontopic… I believe my food should be enough (of course, it’s not so simple, maybe Fangs eat enough good meat to have everything, it doesn’t mean my little meat and eggs will be just as good for my mysterious individual needs on my on/off woe. multiple factors are different) but more like I can’t supplement things, I always was bad at it, I forget, it annoys me, it doesn’t happen. I research a bit and try to eat well, that’s it. I only take Epsom salt when I get cramps. Sadly, I can’t avoid that, it happens sometimes and it’s always magnesium problem, at least taking some always solved it.

But I easily can imagine that others have higher needs regarding some micronutrient and they can’t get it from their food…


#43

I drank litres of diet soda per day, and had done so for about 15 years.

I’ve given up in the past but it’s always been a struggle, and once my willpower breaks, it creeps back up to being litres and litres.

I forced myself to cut down to 2 litres in late 2019, and through willpower I cut it down to 600ml during the first lockdown.

I started carnivore with the same fears you had - I knew it was frowned upon, but I couldn’t give it up, so it was either do carnivore and include it or not do carnivore at all.

Within a few days, I remember thinking, “I don’t think I like this,” - and that was the end. I haven’t had any now in 9 or so months, and I don’t miss it at all.

I’m not saying that’ll happen to you, but I thought you might find my story interesting. I had no intention of stopping; it wasn’t something I was looking to be ‘solved’. Seems bizarre now that I even drank it.


(Bob M) #44

I’m “carnivore adjacent”, meaning I eat some carnivore meals. Some days, nothing but meat or maybe a bit of dairy at times. Other days, I might have more salads, particularly if I have to eat at a restaurant. Although we had “Taco Tuesday (on a Sunday)” yesterday, and I had fresh salsa, guacamole, sour cream, and pickled jalapenos.

But I supplement. Currently, vitamin D, zinc, selenium, magnesium. I try to dose these infrequently, eg, a few times a week at most. Other than vitamin D, which I do daily unless I’m fasting.

Also tried some B vitamins to lower my homocysteine level. I didn’t like the vitamin I was taking, though, nor did I find any benefit I could perceive (though did not get another test).


(Marianne) #45

True and true.


(Marianne) #46

I’m glad for you. I think it’s just better not having any, all around.

When I finish what I’ve purchased, I’m going to try going back to just water (and minor coffee). I did that for a long time, but then my husband was enjoying having a diet soda occasionally and we had it in the house, so I started. It hasn’t awoken any demons, and it is a treat once a day after I’ve accomplished something physical, usually. We’ll see…


#47

you are ok on your chicken wings and a tad of hot sauce.
many carnivores eat rotisserie chicken.

key to your chicken made for you or bought packaged made for us is watch ‘big additives’ like big sugar content…as in buying BBQ sauced chicken cause that sauce will mostly like be very sugar heavy so we avoid that kinda stuff.

Splenda, fake sweeteners. I would wean yourself down off that crap. Thing is it ‘truly keeps your sugar taste’ alive and might not be ‘right in your face making ya crave’ but to keep that sugar taste all the time while you start carnivore most times isn’t smart in that it can be a catalyst to drag you out later into wanting more sugar taste in your life. Dropping that sugar, real or fake sweeteners really is that kind of thing carnivores do need to drop…so wean off if and when you can is best and later…later if you wanna try some again, try a tad and you might find you never needed it at all ya know. I can taste a sugar molecule a mile away HAHA and in truth I don’t like sugar anymore, UNTIL I get that taste and mind game going and yea I could sugar binge easily if I didn’t keep me in check being off sugar intake…but that is me…we all walk a different path but I have, absolutely have to be an abstainer in the sugar taste dept. vs. any type of moderation and including it in any way in my eating. Plus fake sweeteners, even those marked natural really are ‘just sugar’ ya know.

coffee is ok…unless you think it is hurting you in some way. many try dropping coffee later and when they do they find they feel better, function better and more and then some say, hey no difference and I wanna keep my coffee…so coffee is up to you and personal drink choice.

and diet soda…omg to me SODA is the most useless and nasty and crap poison ick to our bodies and to me isn’t even a ‘food product’ that I consider healthy in any fashion…so asking ME about soda is not good cause I am super biased against it LOL Cereal and Soda…worst 2 ‘pretend foods’ on the market to me HAHA

Plus diet soda was the factor with the aspartame in it that gave me massive issues with heart for PVC troubles…what a train wreck time that was but when I stopped the diet pepsi I basically cured my PVCs down to a manageable level and on carnivore, I walked away from all the crazy of those heart issue times I had…never would go back to diet soda if ya offered me 10 mil LOL Plus most carnivores say once off any diet soda for a longer time…when you take a sip again it tastes like fake chemical poison crap so…only way to discover it is to drop it a longer time, let your tastes change and then try it again and most say wow…nasty stuff.

longer and longer on carnivore plan our thoughts of what ‘is food and real drink’ becomes really a big thing…I see people eating all kinds of things and think OMG THAT IS NOT food, not even close to any nutritional value…makes me sad in a way ya know but I can’t fix the world but I can handle me and how I wanna roll with my food choices. :slight_smile:


(Marianne) #48

Thank you.

I will still have wings about once a week, but if I want a chicken, I am going to make a roaster from now on. At least I’ll know it’s okay to eat.

I appreciate your honest opinion; I really do. And, you are right. I enjoy having a diet pop or Splenda in my coffee because it tastes “sweet” and is delicious. Probably dancing with the devil.

Please, tell me how you really feel!

:laughing::rofl::joy:

Seriously, again, I know you are right. And I know I’ll get back there again. I’ll enjoy what I have left and call it a day. I’m happy for you that you don’t indulge and that it was so restorative to you.


#49

yea, just think on things cause remember one big thing that carnivore plan is ALL about…elimination menu to find the real you :slight_smile: Only way to do that is drop the ‘worst offenders’ and put that effort into the most delish meat meals ya love, eating 1/2 a monster roaster chicken and enjoying every darn bite ya know…keep an eye on ‘those extras’ that are kinda what this whole ‘elimination’ is all about to gain real benefits from the plan :slight_smile: Just think on how to roll forward and if you need small crutches for a bit, sure, we all needed to handle this big change and you will…just tho put more focus on those meat meals and make those spectacular truly and think…drink water…water is a key on this plan for sure—water pfffttt to me before, now I love love love my water


(Marianne) #50

Yes. I will be bummed to give up my sweetener and pop; that in itself I guess should be pretty telling. :pleading_face:

On a positive side, I was so happy (and relieved) to learn that I am not actually overeating, and that it’s okay. I was feeling very guilty about it. I eat enough for me and continue to look forward to my meal every night. I still find this WOE so delicious. And, I continue to lose weight gradually, which is always a nice surprise.

:hugs:


(Carnivore for the win) #51

Straight information from the veteran carnivores. Glad you found the video useful.


(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #52

Can we be a little more specific, please. Both of these are ‘soda’, one contains a lot of crap the other contains carbonated water and a little salt.


#53

yup…eating is healing. eating resets your body back to natural and in balance and when your body does this, it gets nutritionally sound, then it will focus on losing some of the fat we don’t need on our bodies…kinda like being overweight is a symptom of a body out of whack…so you will slowly keep healing and changing…and never forget, those wonder inches and leaner meaner body changes we get without losing a darn lb. on the scale :slight_smile: I love that part of it LOL

just take your time and get a grip on how you wanna proceed and just feel good with your decisions…best any of us can do as we tackle a big change in our eating like this!


(Bob M) #54

Mmmmm…root beer. Even while high carb, I rarely had soda. As in a few times a year. But if I did have it, root beer (maybe birch beer too) and cream soda were my favorites.

When I first started one of my many Atkins trials before finally going low carb for good, I’d try to have cream soda (sweetened with splenda) and cream. High fat, low carb, fatty. But man, that caused me to want more.


#55

Some studies have found club soda to be damaging to the stomach. Others mention the gastric effects carbon dioxide can cause. But overall, having bubbles in your water is still better than drinking soda or sugary juices. Extra sodium intake that could be not needed.

Many menu plans put big value on ‘drinking fake and manmade junk’ as being a big plus in their menu plans…carnivores don’t need this crap LOL We focus on life water :slight_smile: But truly does anyone need to buy that stuff when carnivore, nope. Put the money on the meats, put the money on the most important factor, your food choices…for occasional and rare drinks we may want in our lives, sure a mixer like club soda will fit that bill for many but as a day to day drink…water is carnivore. That is our focus for our healthy lifestyle.

one can look at wanting alot of drink variations in one’s eating plan as as form of addiction actually…gotta HAVE that variety LOL

you know, dropping drinks and that desire to drink something else was kinda hard when I started carnivore, it is just truly another addiction of choice and once I went off it all, the ease of my eating lifestyle became so much calmer also.


(Marianne) #56

I mean “pop,” at least that’s what we call it here - like Diet Coke, Diet Dr. Pepper.


(Marianne) #57

So true. I have been this thin a few other times in my life, but I look so much better than I ever did when I lost this weight from conventional dieting. I don’t have saddlebags or love handles anymore - amazing to me because they always plagued me before. My neck is tightening and I don’t have a waddle anymore. I’ve lost much of the clumpy fat pads under my eyes. My stomach is as flat as it’s ever been, without a control garment (although I still have a few rolls when I sit down). It’s incredible. Down 74 lbs. of the 80 that was my ultimate goal. It’s been over 2.5 years (keto first, now carnivore since Feb.). Other than a starting weight, I’ve never weighed myself at home. I just let the changes happen and am happy in the meantime. Keto has given me a new lease on life. I love this forum and all my buddies here. :hugs:


(Marianne) #58

Funny thing happened last night. I have been having two regular coffees in the AM with HWC and half a splenda in each, and then two decaf coffees at night with the same. Delicious. Last night, I made my decaf with the cream but not the splenda. No me gusta, which told me a lot. It is evident now that I have been enjoying my coffee so much because it’s “sweet.” This morning, I didn’t put splenda in my coffee. Definitely not as enjoyable and I am not anxious to have that second cup. I will wean myself off of diet pop, too, and just drink water. These little additives seem harmless but are actually insidious.


#59

If I want a fatty acid soda that tastes like cola I titrate drops of vinegar into carbonated rain water. I find balsamic vinegar is the most convincing and refreshing. But it works with ACV and red wine (home made) vinegar as well. The acetic acid is ketone building blocks and helps reduce the dawn effect of higher blood sugar in the morning (anecdotal n=1). I’m sure the base recipe can be adjusted to taste.


#60

Ah, interesting!

I do drink carbonated mineral water - and I add salt if I feel I need it (without opening another carnivore debate!), but I’ve not experimented with anything else.

I think my migraines were heavily affected by a combination of lack of salt and too much fluid, so I am mindful of having anything that’s too easy to drink - I’m not sure my ‘stop’ mechanism works well when I enjoy the taste of something.