First 6 days on carnivore diet

(Adrian) #1

I decided to start carnivore diet for first time as i heard it had wonderful effects and its good for losing fat. 2nd day i started to get pain in one of my legs and now the 2nd each day. Today i discovered that a web spider vein came up. I never had problems with veins but my family has problems with varicose veins and my mum has to go to get injection every 6 months. I’m worried that this diet is making this worse for me. I’m 26 male btw what do you guys think? thanks

(Robin) #2

Welcome, Adrian!
You may get feedback from someone who has experienced that. It doesn’t sound familiar to me, but you never know!

And it’s tempting to wonder if keto is behind a new issue, like yours… especially in the beginning. But it’s just as likely to be unrelated and would have happened anyway.
I’ll be anxious to hear other’s thoughts and to find out how you’re doing, in general.
Glad you’re here.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #3

Welcome to the forums!

If your legs are cramping, get more salt, and perhaps some potassium and magnesium. Magnesium citrate works well.

If your body is used to getting magnesium from green vegetables, it is easy to get too little when switching to an all-meat diet. You might want to supplement magnesium for a while, just in case.

Be aware that when insulin drops (the desired consequence of cutting out carbohydrates), the kidneys excrete sodium more readily, hence the advice to get more salt. You will find that it is easier to keep the other electrolytes in balance when sodium intake is in the right range.

Be advised that the advice from long-term carnivores to newbies who encounter problems is always, “Eat more meat.” Any time you feel hungry, cook some meat and start eating. If you don’t finish, put the leftover portion away for your next meal. Listen to your body, and if it tells you it needs more, then give it more. Also, eat three meals a day, and don’t try to fast or limit your food intake.

There is an adaptation period to the carnivore diet, even for people who are already eating low-carb/keto. If you really find the adaptation to be harder then you want to deal with, you might try eating some carbohydrate (keep it less than 20 g/day, however), and once you are adapted to a keto diet, then you can proceed back to full carnivore. Do what works.

You can get reliable information from ZIOH (Zeroing in on Health) and in lectures by Amber O’Hearn and Georgia Ede. Amber O’Hearn is a very knowledgeable citizen-scientist, and Georgia Ede is a psychiatrist. Both are long-term carnivores who came to the diet for various health reasons.

There are two other carnivores I know of on YouTube, Kelly Hogan and Anthony Chaffee. They tend to be a bit “rah-rah” for my taste, but their information is solid. Chafee is a neurosurgeon and former rugby player, and Kelly Hogan has a fascinating story in her own right.

#4

Welcome mate, right place to come to for advice…from the experts on here of which I am not!

But I can give broad advice and what worked for me.

But need more info friend…all you’ve done is reveal your age, sex and mother’s varicose vein problem. No offense.

We’d probaly need your med history especially blood work, but if you are 26 that’s probaly not something you’ve done before.
Probably need weight, height, any chronic illnesses, current medications, exercise/work ethic and any other diets you may have tried in your time. That may sound intrusive, but it’ll give a guide.

(Marianne) #5

That’s my feeling as well, given that carnivore seemed to be the only thing different than what you normally do. I’m leaning more toward bizarre coincidence than cause/effect.

I gravitate more toward carnivore/zc just because it’s easier. Don’t be afraid of a few low carb veggies, however, if you choose. I think if you keep the total carbs well under 20g/day, you are basically carnivore anyway.

Good luck to you. I hope you enjoy your new way of eating, experience many health benefits and maybe decide to stick with it long term. I watch a lot of tv (cooking/baking shows, “Best Thing I Ever Ate,” etc.), and the stuff we Americans (in particular) eat, it’s just beyond belief. Delicious - I’m sure - but good for you? is it real food? NO WAY!!! No wonder most everyone here is fat and unhealthy.

(Brian) #6

What is the context of you’re going carnivore? Were you standard American diet right up until carnivore? Or did you lean more towards low-carb, then keto, then into carnivore?

The body has a lot of adjusting to do with major changes. Just going from SAD to keto took me several months to get my body used to ketosis.

Just wondered.

(Ethan) #7

This theme is often missed by many. When you make too many changes at once, you can’t know which change caused the effect you got—good or bad. Make few drastic changes to your diet at once. Measure the effects. Make tweaks when you have a good thing going.

(Geoffrey) #9

Good for you now take control of your health.