I have managed to get myself down to 8 total carbs per day. Planning at staying with this amount until I hit goal weight in about 3 weeks from now. Is this low level of carbs safe for this long? My blood glucose has not even fallen below 80mgdl, so I am assuming it’s fine, but I wanted to ask the Keto Veterans to confirm I am not doing something bad…?
Thanks
If you feel fine and get all your essential nutrients, I don’t see why it would be a problem. Carbs aren’t essential. Some people do need more, even much more but I suppose they feel the problem… If one doesn’t have a good feedback from their body, that may be trickier…? But quite many eats close to zero carb for years so it’s not too low for humans in general, for sure. I definitely wouldn’t be worried if I managed to keep my carbs below 3g 
That is my lowest but I used to eat much more eggs and dairy to stay there, now I will change these things. My body is happy with extreme low so I don’t expect any problem but I am an optimistic one with good genes and a good enough feedback from my body…
There’s no essential carbs. There’s plenty of very healthy people eating zero carbs.
Carbs serve no nutritional purpose, you’ll be fine.
I have been zero carb for the last 125 days and all I’ve seen has been massive improvement.
There is no evidence to suggest that human beings require any dietary carbohydrate at all, and plenty of evidence to suggest that a carbohydrate-free diet is perfectly healthy.
Given that the essential amino and fatty acids and the vitamins were all discovered more than a century ago, it is a pretty safe bet that if there were such a thing as an essential carbohydrate, it would have been discovered already.
You’re good to go. I’ve been doing carnivore 97% of the time since the early spring. If I get any carbs at all, it’s just trace amounts you might find in eggs or seafood. You could eat like this forever and only derive good things from it.
I am seeing a pattern that whenever I go under 15 grams a day I for the most part stop sleeping. I have been at 15g daily carbs for about a month now, prior to that I was eating 20g for the past 3 months. Insomnia seems to not be an issue until I go under 15grams a day. I see this same insomnia issue tends to be quite common amongst those on Carnivore. My magnesium/electrolyte intake is at maximum and cannot be raised any more.
Has anyone found any other ways to combat the insomnia issue on Carnivore? Is it something you adapt to, or is it a constant issue over time?
Been carnivore for 20 months and have never had a problem getting to sleep. I have, however, regularly woken up at 5.30am and had an insatiable desire to go for a run.
There are no essential carbohydrates and many people I am familiar with and a couple I know in real life thrive on a totally carnivore diet. Whilst there are a few carbs in some meats and fish, they are regarded as incidental.
You would be safe without eating carbohydrate again, ever.
Just out of curiosity? Those of you who have been on Carnivore for extended periods of time (like longer than 4 months), what happens with your blood sugar when you guys eat a piece of cake or have a bowl of ice-cream? Does your blood glucose skyrocket to diabetic levels, or does your insulin do a pretty good job of keeping your post meal blood sugar in the normal range? I doubt this is something you guys do very often, but somebody has to know.
Though you definitely didn’t ask me with my on/off style, it’s very noticeable for me that the longer I keep my (non-animal net) carbs extreme low, the better I handle carbs. If I had a carni week, I can eat lots of sugar (and lots of fat and protein with them but I couldn’t avoit that if I tried, they are basic) and I feel nearly as well as on carnivore (sometimes exactly but the type of carbs matter a lot*). (If I continue eating like that, I get sugar poisoned but it takes a somewhat long time, I crave carnivore and bounce back way earlier). My body gets more rest from carbs and can handle more, I suppose. But not everyone is like this, to put it lightly. I even read some persuasive articles about never to shock our body with high-carb right out of keto, it was very logical, I just don’t seem to function like that.
No idea what my BS does but I don’t even care, it’s my body’s job to keep it in the right range all the time and it does just that, at least I don’t notice it wouldn’t. Except maybe if I do something insane (like eating sugar alone. like very sweet fruits) but I don’t do that anymore.
*The type of the carby item matters A LOT. I met some ice cream that made even my high-carber SO a bit unwell… My body responds worst to overprocessed sugary things too. Hence I avoid those. It wouldn’t do me ANY good. Bad idea. I have way better food so I keep my curiosity in check.
Ice cream is best when it’s carnivore (or at least keto, I do adore bananas… I used it in my dairy free ice cream in the past. whipped cream substitutes it well enough) if you ask me Ice cream is ALL about being cold, yolks and dairy, after all. At least IMO 
So… You need to figure out things for yourself. We aren’t the same (even I am not the same I was years ago) and different carby dishes may have a very different effect on us. I may handle one kind of sugary ice cream and not another. I know this because a relative often offers some to us and I am curious and even rebellious there so I tried it sometimes. Well, did in the past, I don’t do it anymore, it just doesn’t worth it. I lose absolutely nothing with avoidance, in the contrary.
I know many carnivores get sick if they just eat a tiny plant… No wonder as people who can handle keto level carbs just fine tend not to restrict themselves as much as carnivore demands. At least I have read that many times that carnivores very often do it out of necessity. But I saw that from ketoers a lot too. And I have read about ketoers going off and getting quite sick - though some can jump back into high-carb without getting sugar poisoned (at least not to the level to stop). So, individual as usual.
I wake up at 5:30 too but my only desire is to drink coffee asap. I don’t even run to the coffee maker.
But you do you, boo.
I woke up at 5am, read in my bed for a while and slept more 
I never ever have energy in the morning, I am a zombie on my best days.
I hid my coffee but I surely went to make tea first I have found some nice ones that works well with cream, it helps with my coffee quitting plan a lot!
When I have a sleepless night it’s from to too much energy. Because of carnivore my energy levels are much higher and if I don’t work it off during the day then I won’t sleep much that evening. But, it doesn’t seem to really affect me the next day.
Sorry, that just doesn’t happen. I’m carnivore and will never touch sugar again. I’m very dedicated to my lifestyle of eating.
The question is whether you are awakening refreshed, even though sleeping less, or whether you can’t get enough sleep to waken refreshed. I submit that the former is not a problem. The latter is something to address.
I’m not sure why someone on a carnivore diet would ever want to do such a thing, but let’s think about it: after a sufficient time with low or non-existent carb intake, the pancreas dispenses with its store of pre-made insulin. This means that the first-phase insulin release that carb-burners experience does not occur, so serum glucose rises until the pancreas can mobilise and secrete enough insulin to deal with the excess glucose. On an oral glucose tolerance test, this gives the erroneous impression of faulty glucose control. Ben Bikman says that it only takes the pancreas about 24 hours to restore its store of pre-made insulin, so as to be able to provide a first-phase response again. Of course, if we do not bother our bodies with such a high glucose load, the issue is irrelevant.
You’re giving too much credit to the number. 8, 10, 20, 40 for most it wouldn’t matter. You not eating enough to make carbs your main energy source and therefor relying on fat as your main fuel source is what’s doing everything.
As a sleep tracker (and every other thing) there was definitely a huge sleep improvement when my carbs came up when I started doing TKD/CKD. My REM sleep used to be terrible, and Deep sleep was near non-existent.
When your body shows you it doesn’t like what you’re doing, don’t do that. There’s always a time and a place to ignore that, but most of the time, listen.
About 90lbs. I am not yet at my desired weight and I still have some fat I would like to lose, but my body has decided it wants to slow the fat loss to a crawl for the last few months. But that is ok with me. I am feeling so flippin fantastic from eating carnivore that I am just fine where I am.
For me, the biggest benefit of carnivore is the ease of maintenance: I am never hungry, I never fast, I eat a lot of meat until I am stuffed.