Hi All, I decided to give zero carb a try. I do want to include eggs and flavorings that don’t have carbs (like wing sauce, for example) so not pure carnivore.
I was wondering if there are any side effects I need to watch out for? Also, how about electrolyte needs? Do they change on zero carb?
I assume you are already in ketosis.
Are you in need of an elimination diet to diagnose issues, or just having fun?
And that last part is the magic for me. If you don’t go completely clean, how will you know what is bothering you? I would prefer you did 28 days of pure Carnivore (no dairy, no eggs even). And then once a week, try a food.
What struck me was how AMAZING I felt on pure carnivory. And how SHITTY I felt the instant I ate stuff I thought was okay.
Also, there are layers. In the beginning, I tolerated avocado when I tested it, but months later I noticed it was causing weight gain (1lb per avocado, overnight). All inflammation.
So, my answer is “It depends”. But I would certainly want to go COMPLETELY clean. It is just not that far. And if you do OMAD, and find foods you enjoy, I love it. (Bacon!)
And it is only 28 days. I just helped someone break through and it was about removing all of those “Keto” foods they enjoyed. Mostly the nut flours.
Now, if you see no difference after 28 days. You’re probably fine, you will notice when you add things back in. Do them slowly, one food at a time. Give it 3-5 days to react.
I would also say NO to artificial sweeteners. Because they are evil and maintain our addictions, but could be messing with you.
I think electrolytes are the same. I Struggled with cramps on SAD, on KETO and on Carnivore. Eating Liver and taking Vitamin K2 seems to help.
Should you take vitamins… Well, the capsules can be made from rice… It’s always something.
Keep us posted on WHATEVER you decide to do. Make a strict food log. And warm salted water can be your best friend…
You have given me a lot to think about. It will take me a bit to formulate a reply.
Tomatoes and Potatoes have only been in our diets for 500 years.
And recently modified on top of that…
In Italy, Dr. Gundry mentions that the tomatoes are SKINNED and SEEDED then COOKED to DEATH to destroy the lectins… Much like beans are!!! (But not here!)
Also, in Macedonia they make Ajvar (Red Pepper paste). They boil, skin and SEED the bell peppers, then mash this stuff up, and cook it again… Another Nightshade, BTW…
Something else I learned. When you eat something, and your nose runs? This is your body producing EXCESS MUCUS to help line your stomach and got, because it is sensing a TOXIN.
I pay close attention to my body now AS I eat. It is trying to tell us a lot if we would just listen.
Finally, my BP goes up if I eat something I should not. About 20 points, could be more, almost immediately. Again, this is an inflammation marker. Then the migraine later or the next day or 2 days later (for peanuts)…
Very interesting. I’ve had this nearly all my life, and regularly, most meals. I will say I haven’t noticed it as much on keto, but, I do remember a nose run the other day. Wonder what that was… I’ll start paying attention.
Lnk to more info please. This is starting to happen to me a lot lately, and while not ZC/carnivore leafy greens and cauliflower are my primary sources of carbs.
Have you seen this thread? There’s a carnivore video at post 9 that I found really interesting. The section on fiber and plant toxins specifically. I’ve heard this before and it totally makes sense and this video does a great job of presenting it. Animals have the ability to run and fight as a means of defense; plants can’t move, so their defense mechanism is via toxins.
As weird as it sounds, tomatoes give me a backache. I used to eat them and never connected any of it. After not having eaten them for a while because of carbs I ate a raw tomato or two. The next day I had an awful backache. Eliminating the tomatoes cut the issue. Fast forward a few months a friend cooked an awesome soup (pork and bison it rocked) and I had a good helping that night. The next day I felt fine so had a bowl of leftover soup on day 2. I woke up before dawn on day 3 in serious pain. I checked with her later that day and she had chopped up cherry tomatoes in the soup. Haven’t touched them since.
Needless to say, I think this SUCKS! I love tomatoes but I love not being in pain more so they are gone.
First, there is no way, I have watched a thousand videos, and this is one thing, I have over 100 tagged but a quick search and I don’t find the tag in my list…
Second, a quick google search the top listing is:
Third, having attended LCD and drank from the firehose, with numerous conversations with others, I could not place the exact location of this information. But it was a talk about inflammation and such.
Finally, it could have even been Dr. Gundry! This is the highest probability. I have also plowed through about 30 books on Audible/kindle. This is one of those things that clicked when I heard/read it, and I pay attention to it.
Also, someone on the oalates (both a guy and a gal) said that itchy eyes can be linked to oxalates (spinach and greens)…
Apologies, I did try to isolate it, I just don’t have it tagged.
Hi @CaptainKirk, thanks for your lengthy reply. The reason I wanted to try zero carb was to see if I could lose some weight. Ive been keto for almost two years and stalled after the first five months. I didn’t mind that, because I was happy with my weight.
The past year with keto has been very challenging. There are many benefits for me, but I’ve really had problems with my electrolytes. The biggest problem has been heart palpitations.
This past fall, I tried upping my calories, I tried upping my carb intake, I tried intermittent fasting, but I still wasn’t feeling that great with keto. I discovered I do seem to have some trouble with histamine intolerance. There are specific foods that do cause palpitations (plant foods, of course.) I also increased magnesium intake which also helped with the palpitations. Unfortunately, the palpitations seem to have multiple causes. I suspect there could be one major underlying cause, but I haven’t tracked that down, yet.
Anyway, after adding the extra calories, I have started gaining weight. Much of the weight I lost when I started keto is creeping back up. I figured zero carb may help.
I still have to make meals for my keto husband and daughter. By being zero carb, but not strictly carnivore, I figured that would make my life easier. Who knows, I may like it and turn into a pure carnivore over time.
Okay, that makes sense.
Then I would go carnivore.
Get to OMAD. Then skip 1…2 days of eating per week.
But that is a 3…6 month process.
Well worth it.
As you stop eating a lot of toxins, your body can re adjust and complain about things like nuts and nut flours.
Get an IgG Test from Meridian Valley labs, they run groupons. It may help, thats when I found out almonds and nuts are bad for me.
But go for it. Electrolytes… find a formula, make your own daily and drink it up. Also eating organs MAY help. Liver daily reduced my issues, stopping it and cramps are back.
Look, after 28 days you can always go back.
Just dont let the family near your bacon. Lol
Edited to add: Wow, Vasomotor rhinitis, this describes me to a tee. Thanks for the link!
No worries @CaptainKirk, the references you did post are fine. I just like to have some sciency stuff to back me up when I discuss stuff like this with DH. It took him years to realize I really should not touch gluten even if I test as non celiac. The other compounds get to me everytime. Dr. Gundry’s book explained it to him finally for me. So the topic no longer comes up and I have noticed, he is cutting way back on wheat as well.
@barefootbob, have you tried tomatoes with the seeds removed? The seeds are where the nasty stuff is, I have had an allergy to them my whole life, I stubbornly ate them anyway and always paid the price. But since learning about removing the seeds, I can eat them in salads and other recipes now. With so few veggies in the WOE, it was nice to find I could use them without suffering.
Lectins in the SKIN as well!
Seed, and skin (Special pealers are available).
Then pressure cook until obliterated, just to be safe. THEN I think I would test them!
I want to find if this works for me, as the base of a low carb rib sauce!
Question: what nutrients would I be missing if I ate beef, pork, chicken, eggs, and salmon? I’m not a liver eater, but I think I could gag down some chicken livers if I can find some good recipes.
Nutrient deficiency is my big concern about not eating any vegetables.
If it is just a trial - I do not think nutrient deficiency will become an issue.
But, I would get a full blood test before you start and another blood test at the end of the trial if you think you want to stick with it. That would give you some idea of what might be missing and needs to be supplemented.
It would also help clarify how you do the trial. Your meal planning would not just be “I can only eat meat - what tastes good and is on the menu?”. Instead, it might be (given it is a trial), “If I was going to always eat this way, what things would I eat to have good blood markers?”. That would get you to think about tolerating liver once or twice a week and maybe make you think about getting bone marrow, kidneys, brains etc.
Whatever you can’t tolerate (physically or psychologically) just skip - the blood numbers (which you may want to get quarterly for a while if you go strict Carnivore) will either be acceptable to you or, you’ll feel it is too difficult to get good numbers given the types of meat you’re willing to eat.
Amber O’Hearn has done a bunch of blogs and videos about the nutrients in meat and how you are not missing out on vitamins and minerals when carnivore. Google her to find a lot of resources.
After the last episode I’m afraid to try it. It was that bad.
Maybe when the memory of waking up in the dark wondering if I needed to go to the ER fades I might consider it.