You said before that you also have issues with liquid fat, how do you bump your calories then? Do you use bone marrow? Animal fat cuts?
Can't digest "liquid" fat - neither animal nor vegetable
Diarrhea from too much rendered fat is a very common problem on carnivore. Our ancestors would not have eaten much, as the rendered fat would drip into the fire. Some people don’t have issues with it, but many do. It was a problem for me, especially when I first went carnivore. Now a days I find I can tolerate quite a bit. I’ve also found emulsifying it helps. I’ll cook a pound of 73/27 ground beef, then mix the drippings with half a pound of cream cheese. I “mix” it as best I can, then add one egg yolk. I alternate mixing and 15 second bursts in the microwave until it emulsifies into a thick rich beefy sauce. Let’s me get in plenty of fat in one sitting with zero digestive issues.
Knowing that I’m not the only one having that issue is a bit uplifting. I’ll give ghee a last shot by mixing it with eggs and frying with meat. If not I’ll just go with only meat and test marrow/ raw fat as dread mentioned.
Thanks!
Welcome aboard @Marcin_Wadolowski !
The biggest clue to your answer was that you had normal digestion with real whole food like steak and eggs.
Remember there’s still plenty of fat in steak, don’t just assume that because you see muscle that it’s all just proteins!
Mind your water intake and try to not drink a bit (think 30 minutes) before, during or after meals. That should help keep stomach acid undiluted.
Adding digestive enzymes or bile salts shouldn’t be seen in the same light as taking a medication like a proton pump inhibitor. One works with your body to help you do what you’re designed to do, the other hurts your body to try to cover up a symptom.
If you supplement salt, be sure to add it to solid food. Don’t just drink salt water. Ask me how I know.
If you don’t like raw fat then a sous vide might do the trick for you. My husband balks at the taste and smell of rendered fat and this posed quite a problem to my keto cooking as a lot of the more reasonably priced fatty cuts are also tough and required long cooking times to tenderize the meat. Unfortunately, that longer cooking also renders fat with all traditional cooking methods. However, the sous vide works on a completely different principal and you can have tougher cuts not only end as tender as the most delectable cuts but still be rare and have all of the fat in an unrendered state. Further even the toughest connective tissues are left tender and allows you to eat a very healthy part of the animal that is generally left for the bin.
May want to look into more Lipase rich foods that have digestive enzymes for digesting fats i.e. Lipases[5][6]…
I think the core root of your problem is a leaky gut (bone broth might seal up the leaky gut?), secondly this lead below might be one of many other factors (histamine and auto-immunity conditions) leading to your digestion, allergy and joint pain issues:
Glutamic acid is an amino acid found in both plant and animal protein sources. The body also makes glutamic acid. The most common form in the body is called glutamate. This amino acid is extremely important and acts as a chemical messenger (neurotransmitter) which excites our cells by communicating instructions for brain growth, memory, and learning. Thinking of glutamate as a stimulant helps us to understand why an overabundance of it causes symptoms of increased heart rate, flushing, and feeling wired but tired.
Most of the glutamate that we eat is bound to a protein, like chicken, which is generally easy to digest and is absorbed slowly. However, there are some foods that contain free glutamate (not bound to a protein) which is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream.
Foods that naturally contain free glutamate include:
- Bone broth
- Meat cooked over moist heat for long periods of time
- Cured meats: bacon, ham
- Matured cheeses: Parmesan, Roquefort
- Fish sauce, soy sauce, soy protein
- Mushrooms
- Ripe tomatoes
- Broccoli
- Peas
- Walnuts
- Grape juice (wine)
- Malted barley (used to make beer)
- Wheat gluten
- Dairy casein (milk protein)
- Man-made MSG
Notice that all MSG is man-made, and that’s often the problem. The other foods contained in the above list occur in nature. Most people eating moderate amounts of these foods would feel fine. But, in today’s world, man-made MSG can tip the scales, so to speak. Although research is mixed about the potential long-term effects of MSG, studies have found it to induce symptoms as common as headaches and as complex as hormone disruption.[1] [2]
If a person’s diet contains more MSG and, therefore, more free glutamate in their body, it may be difficult for them to tolerate the naturally-occurring forms of free glutamate found in other foods because their system is overloaded. …More
References:
[1] “…You’re stimulating all of the glutamate receptors. That’s why some people get explosive diarrhea, because it stimulates the…” …More
[2] ”…Note: Glutamate is interchangeable with glutamic acid, but it is chemically distinct from glutamine. The distinction is that glutamate has a hydroxyl (-OH) group, whereas glutamine has an ammonia (-NH3) group, as shown in the picture below. Read this post to learn more about glutamine. …”…More
[3] Beyond MSG: Could Hidden Sources of Glutamate Be Harming Your Health?
[4] “…The label effectively “grandfathered in” the additives so they could bypass premarket approval by the FDA (i.e., safety testing). Secondly, the video states that free glutamate occurs naturally in some foods. This is true; however, it does not mean that MSG is safe for everyone. People who are sensitive to MSG must also avoid foods with high amounts of naturally occurring free glutamate, such as soy sauce and Parmesan cheese. …” …More
- Proteases: Break down protein into small peptides and amino acids
- Lipases: Break down fat into three fatty acids plus a glycerol molecule
- Amylases: Break down carbs like starch into simple sugars
Enzymes are also made in the small intestine, including lactase, maltase and sucrase.
If the body is unable to make enough digestive enzymes, food molecules cannot be digested properly. This can lead to digestive disorders like lactose intolerance. …” …More
One other thing to be aware of[1]:
2. Are you eating low carb, LOW FAT, and high protein? Too much protein can lead to diarrhea.
Remember, a well-formulated ketogenic diet is low carb, high fat, and moderate protein. When cutting carbs, it can be tempting to increase your protein without increasing your fat, but the resulting high protein diet can lead to diarrhea (Speth, 1983). It is important to keep protein at about 10-20% of your daily energy need[1] and add ‘good fat’ for satiety[1]. More on what constitutes ‘good fats’ below. Read more on how much protein you need on a ketogenic diet
Are you choosing the right sources of dietary fat? Some oils can cause diarrhea:
While a little bit of omega-6 and omega-3 essential fats are required from our diet, more is not better. In particular, our digestive systems have a limited tolerance for vegetable and seed oils high in omega-6 fats . Early in our human research, we found out that feeding our patients a high fat diet made with soybean, corn, safflower, or sunflower oils promptly made them feel nauseated and caused diarrhea . Given that a well-formulated ketogenic diet eaten to maintain body weight provides 70-80%[1] of one’s daily energy[1] intake as fat[1], the majority of this fat intake needs to come from MONO-UNSATURATED and SATURATED sources such as olive oil, high oliec versions of safflower and sunflower, coconut oil, lard, butter, cream, and high fat cheese . …More
Here are some fats and oils that we recommend:
Footnotes: