Even though the mainstream paradigm is the complete opposite, we continue hearing incredible stories of recoveries from chronic diseases by going carnivore. That said, there are some things you can do well and some things that aren’t ideal.
Here are my Don’ts of Carnivore Diet:
1. DON’T QUIT YOUR MEDICATION ALL AT ONCE
If you have a chronic condition such as autoimmunity or diabetes and taking medication for it, don’t just quit it, and jump into the carnivore diet. Your body will need time to adjust, to rebuild your body, to store up all the nutrients.
Depending how long you were on the standard American diet, it can take anywhere from six weeks to a few months, or even a year to restore your health. Different bodies have different degrees of damage. If you were using drugs to get through the day, don’t dump them just yet; take a phased approach. Transition to the carnivore diet in stages, plan for a long journey. As your health improves, you should go back to your doctor, run some tests, and then decide if tapering off the medication is appropriate. I know, I know, most allopathic doctors won’t have any idea about this way of eating, but…I can’t stress enough how important the phased approach is, if you are dealing with chronic conditions.
2. DON’T QUIT TOO EARLY
One month of Carnivore Diet isn’t enough to know whether it works or not. Maybe you will get some results if you are in your twenties, but everybody past 40 years old, need to plan it to be a long journey, three months at the minimum. There is a lot more wear and tear on the older bodies and a lot more years of eating wrong foods. You need to give your body adequate amount of time to adapt and replenish.
3. DON’T GIVE UP BECAUSE YOU WON’T EAT ORGAN MEATS
I am sure by now you saw somebody eating raw liver from five different camera angles… and if you are turned off, I totally understand. You don’t have to eat raw liver to be successful on carnivore diet. Liver doesn’t have to become part of your menu on week one of the carnivore diet. Instead, eat your favorite meats to satiety, and with time your palate will change, and you may enjoy beef liver.There are also alternatives such as desiccated organs in capsules, and there are more nutrients in muscle meats than we are led to believe.
Here is my video about Vitamin C in meat:
4. DON’T GIVE UP BECAUSE YOU ATE SOMETHING NON-CARNIVORE
It’s not the end of the world, if you eat some berries or took a bite of food your kid insisted on feeding you. Nothing is lost here unless you let it. If you immediately think you failed on the diet because you ate some fruit or had tea or coffee, next thing that happens is you binge eat everything you weren’t supposed to, and after that, you promise yourself that you will start all over again tomorrow. It’s a mental trap, I have been there myself. Don’t give up, finish your coffee or whatever noncarnivore food and get back in the saddle.
Here is a link to the video version of this blog:
5. DON’T NEED KETOSIS TO BE CARNIVORE
While it often happens that you will be in low grade ketosis on carnivore diet, it is not a must. If you tried ketogenic diet, and didn’t like to be in ketosis, either your body wasn’t thriving or it was just too much work to eat that much fat, you don’t have to deal with the same issues on the carnivore diet.
6. DON’T BE RELIGIOUS ABOUT THE DIET
Carnivore Diet is here to heal you, it should not become a cult like thing. And if your fellow carnivore decides to be 90% carnivore that’s fine, that’s what works for them. The point of carnivore diet is to eat evolutionarily appropriate foods that optimize your health. For some people strict carnivore diet is the only way to go, and for others adding back of some benign fruit and vegetable may be optimal. If you thrive health wise by adding some carbs, we are good in carnivore community.
On the carnivore diet, you will eat variety of meats to satiety, and if ketosis happens it happens. There are some conditions that will particularly benefit from being in deep ketosis, but this isn’t a required to be on carnivore diet.
FINAL THOUGHTS
However, you arrived at the Carnivore Diet, know it has a tremendous healing potential. What’s even more exciting, you get to customize it to your individual needs. The objective of the carnivore community is to get you to health, that is it.
Big City Mom
