Hi Marianne. I think it is a thing that tends to be forgotten that one WOE does not fit all, it should be stressed more often. How it is all so individual what works. As to the need for reinstating a few carbs, it is that in some cases the body actually needs carbs in addition to protein and fat in order to work optimally. There are those who experience the carnivore WOE causing them issues that reinstating a few vegetables might very well resolve. Carbs are not equal. So when I say carbs I am not thinking about grains, sugars or starches, but vegetables, nuts, berries and some fruit (avocado, cherry tomatoes, cucumber or bell peppers). Some people think about all carbs as sugar regardless and make no distinction, but I think they are much more complex than that, in the benefits they can provide for some.
Furthermore, although I am well aware of the electrolyte issues people tend to have on a carnivore WOE or keto, the argument that people feel better when reinstating a few carbs on carnivore (whilst still keeping well below keto limits) because those few carbs causes water retention doesn’t seem right to me. As one of the benefits of keto is having no water retention, that was certainly one of the first benefits of keto I became aware of, and was so pleasantly surprised by.
In the end, in this world of confounding science and confirmation bias, we have to become better at listening to our bodies, we have to really stop and listen. And there’s no shame in changing direction on the health path, if there are some very obvious signs pointing a different way than where we were headed.