Carnivore fatigue symptoms?

#21

Just as a comparison I’ll give you me as an example.

177cm male 170lbs %11 BF (slightly less lean than my avi that I would say is 9% for reference)

On a low carb regular diet I would have a daily intake of something like 2,800kcals when doing light-moderate exercise, hiking/walking trails not weight lifting.

When I switched to 90-100% carnivore zero carb I am now consuming 3,800 - 4,800kcals and maintaining the same body composition. I am amazed by this every day and not sure how it’s even possible but it’s happening.

If you’re anything like me I would greatly increase your calories. Add the fact you are weight lifting often you are most definitely not eating enough if you are only eating 2,500kcals.

When I have nothing but lean meat and my fat intake is low I literally have spoon full after spoon full of coconut oil (30-60g depending on how much fat I want to get too). It’s not the most ideal but it will do the job in a punch and is easy to stomach.

#22

I would be weary of supplementing any vitamin C if he is already having diarrhea. I’m on day 24 zero carb with exception of up to 20g somedays (bacon has some trace sugar and beef liver has some glycogen) I tried 1 vitamin C capsule on two separate days and the following day I nearly $heeei* myself in public both times no exaggerating.

Because of covid no public washrooms were open except finally one at a Wendy’s that was literally covered in poop with flies buzzing around the bowl. It was still the most beautiful toilet I have every laid eyes on.

(Robin) #23

Good catch, I hadn’t even noticed there was C in this. I don’t take C otherwise, so it must be ok for me. But good call for @Ishimura. That’s one more reason it could be part of the problem if he is taking it.

Also… love your Wendy’s story. Good description of the most beautiful toilet your ever laid eyes on. LOL

I added more to my post, btw. I somehow hit send before I meant to.

#24

I was diagnosed with exercise induced asthma when I was 15. Still have it and deal with it every day. It was not until covid times I decided to stock up on some supplements that show promise in preventing/mitigating symptoms if one was to catch the bug that I discovered NAC. I had it for a long time in the cabinet and when I reached for my D3 I saw it and was reminded of it. I took one for the hell of it and had the best sleep I’ve had in 15 years, woke up supercharged with energy. Been taking it daily and my breathing has dramatically improved.

It’s worth looking into for your asthma.

#25

I have the same question.

You have another thread in which you stated you had been eating a quart of ice cream daily before starting zero carbs. That’s not even SAD — more like abuse of your body. ZC after that sounds like quite a shock to what you and your microbiome were used to.

Why not just eat a more moderate keto diet, with a variety of animal protein, vegetables and even fruit, and see how you feel, as @Hallie also suggests? Or gradually add back the most nutrient rich veggies or fruit one at a time to see which make you feel better vs. worse?

Another thought. Chronic diarrhea will almost surely cause mineral losses beyond just magnesium so I would think stopping the diarrhea is a priority.

#26

100% healing and 100% mental faith of change is what ZC is about and one must GO ALL in and no cheat days, no extra tons of supps you have no idea that could be affecting what? Plus we are ALL individuals with diff med issues and bodies so we can’t ever give a perfect timeline ever about our healing and change.

Thing is if you want carnivore than GO ALL in and remember your detox issues aren’t just thru your adaption issue times and your healing time might not line up with what we want and desire :slight_smile:

Lifestyle for it all. Nothing ever will change that on this plan. Alot of us walked thru alot of changes in our journeys and some way faster than another but even into year 2, 3, and more do we find even BETTER changes. It won’t ever and can not ever be considered a short term, easy change with miracles everyone hopes it can be for each of us.

just a public service announcement on this lifestyle :slight_smile: You gotta want it, believe in why you are doing it, let your body change you and guide you and go all in longer term…simple as that and not many can ever handle this lifestyle. I get it, but for those who put in the time and effort and walk thru the issues and learn from long term carnivores, so worth it!

(Robin) #27

Preach it!

#28

LOL

time only shows truths but as one must work thru that crazy time and can’t deal or sees issues? who can ever say? IF I JUST did the plan correctly and just did the time would it all be different?

well no one knows unless one does it :shushing_face:

so…key is many have done it right…so :thinking: but many have done this lifestyle OH so wrong?

but again, it can be a path to right if we detour and don’t get the right alignment cause all of us are OH so diff. ya know.

be what it is for each of us is all it boils down to and the work, change and research we all will do for our own health forward movement issues I guess.

Hey WE ALL been there :kissing_smiling_eyes: It can be a hard journey for many of us trying for changes, not a doubt in my mind on that one!

(Sama Hoole) #29

I eat up to 350 grams of fat a day, and I rarely get issues with diarrhea. I find the biggest culprit is rendered fat, but for good measure, I also add in Betaine HCL before meals.

#30

yes rendered is going against our guts for alot of us, so agree with that.

regular ol’ fatty meat…like a ribeye steak is not the same as sucking down fat from butter, or adding bacon grease to cook.

feel ya on that.

If D comes, eat leaner, if TOO hard to pass comes, eat fattier for changing up the guts and we must also allow alot of time for the guts to heal.

I was 73/27 all in burger meat til that killed me.
then I was 80/20 burger meat til that was nasty.

now I am 93/7 burger meat mostly with some 90/10 in it cause that rendered burger meat in my burgers are nailing me nasty so we change, bob and weave and learn our bodies on our meats and extra like adding bacon fat or bought lard or butter to our foods.

(Marianne) #31

Do you mix this per gallon or metric equivalent?

(Marianne) #32

I had the same reaction! :laughing: I guess it’s all relative.

(Marianne) #33

This brought up a question I have had. I switched to carnivore in Feb. I eat a lot of natural fat in our meat and food choices. I’ve noticed, however, that unlike when I was eating very low carb (<15), I get ravenous during the day and can be hungry after a meal of two good sized pieces of meat for dinner (?). Do you know why this is?

#34

I’m grateful for the insight, thoughts, and well wishes throughout this thread. Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond.

Action items:

  • Supplementing with coconut fat by the spoonful sounds reasonable. +/- NAC for sleep.
  • Understand the diet will require fine tuning as Fangs pointed out
  • Consider Betaine HCL for high protein meals to aid digestion (thanks Sama, I liked your bulking thread.)

Unfortunately fatty meat where I am is highly priced even at Costco. Local farms are more expensive than that. Stockpiling meat is not feasible for me. Hence the tri-tip and chicken thighs as the economically lowest cost highest fat combo. I was going through pounds of ground meat a day but that became intolerable from both taste and GI upset.

For my background - throughout graduate school I ate mostly meat/veggies, was gluten free, and the only unhealthy aspect was the ice cream. Interestingly ice cream did not upset my stomach and it was the only way to prevent myself from losing weight with the exercise and a genetically high metabolism. I ditched the ice cream voluntarily when autoimmune issues (eczema/anti-TPO antibodies) appeared. I was on a modified keto for a year or two without improvement in fatigue, diarrhea, eczema, anti-TPO… I also tried low-FODMAP for months and then the low inflammatory diet The Plan by Recitas for six months with minimal improvement. I found the conflicting information about diets frustrating.

That’s when I shifted to carnivore as an attempt to mitigate the auto-immune/inflammation issues which are my main concern. I was interested in what Baker/Saladino reported about vegetables/fruits being inflammatory for people.

I did ZC for several months straight (I think 5) and lost 20 lbs despite eating several pounds of meat daily. It was the weight loss, random diarrhea, random reemergence of eczema, and social/lifestyle interference that stopped me from strict ZC. But I did notice I was doing better than on all prior diets.

Thanks again for the encouragement and for suggestions on how to combat the GI symptoms.

#35

What should I use to cook lean beef if not stuff like tallow or butter?

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #36

Long-term carnivores eat quite a bit. The advice I’ve read is to eat three full meals a day, and not worry about how much food you are eating. Carnivore seems to be as much different from keto, as keto is from the standard American diet.

(Marianne) #37

Thank you. I was getting worried about how much food I seem to require. I am committed to keto/carnivore, but I still get concerned sometimes about gaining weight.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #38

The long-term carnivores I’ve met, and those whom I’ve seen on-line, are by no means overweight, and they are certainly not obese.

(Bob M) #39

I guess that…depends? Especially since many people come from high carb then go to carnivore, I’ve seen people who were still obese. Whether they would remain that way is a different story.

The problem I have with people advocating carnivore is that if anyone has negative comments about it, those people always seem to be doing something wrong. They didn’t wait long enough. They’re not eating enough. They aren’t doing it right. The person is blamed, not the diet.

The idea that many some people aren’t destined for carnivore never seems to appear.

Sound familiar?

#40

NAC helped me sleep indirectly because I was able to breath through my nose sufficiently where as in the past I could not. The most notable symptom of my case of asthma is excessive mucus production making breathing properly difficult. Reducing the excess mucus > breathing better > increased oxygen > better sleep > better quality of life.