Bob

Congrats and welcome.
I can only speak for me personally. I have had bouts with constipation but most of the time it has been the lack of fats. I have adjusted proteins up and down trying to hit protein targets for muscle gains. In some of those times I concentrated on hitting protein targets to the point I sort of lost any and all forms of fat to protein ratios. This led to some constipation issues for me. Once I upped my fat content to a higher fat/moderate protein approach the bathroom issues sort of fixed themselves.
Carnivore can exploit out individualism as it does not affect everyone the same nor at the same rate. The healing starts quickly for most every one but the total adjustments can vary. Sometimes the variance is by the personal health or the dietary habits, but mostly a combination of the two.
After the individualism part of carnivore the most important thing to remember is that the carnivore approach is much more about what is not being eaten more so than the foods being eaten. I don't see anything wrong with eating vegetables or fruits but vegetables and fruits were never meant to be chemically treated so they can be shipped all over the country/all over the world year around. Vegetables and fruits can be used to supplement the diet on occasion but I don't feel like they should be a staple of a diet nor should the percentages be very high at all.
I believe a person has to figure out which approach works best for them and strict carnivore, which works for me, may not work for everyone. It also may be best to ease into the change vs. going strict carnivore all at once.
Good luck. This is a great place to research as well as ask questions.
Scott

Hi Sosa,
My health was poor when I started as well. I opted to up my protein and gradually remove the carbohydrates. The last thing to go was honey in my coffee. On carnivore my body seemed to be having absorption problems so I opted for supplements. As my health improved and I healed I dont seem to need them as much. All the best to you, I hope things get better fir you too as you heal.

Hello! I am a 20 year old suffering from GI issues and looking to heal with the carnivore diet.
I never had major gut issues (that’s the thing- I THOUGHT I didn’t, but on the carnivore you notice so many symptoms fading away that you just thought were a normal part of life) but things got quite bad after an eating disorder that I had from age 16-19.
Around a year ago I was seeking to fix my health, more so focused on tonsil stones. I read about the carnivore diet, and decided to try it. I noticed many symptoms fading away, bloating, congestion, tonsil stones! Though I was losing more weight + hair and my skin had a grey tinge. Constipation began on the carnivore diet (also -I began taking iron tablets at the same time as I had been diagnosed with anemia) I only managed about 4 weeks, and I started getting severe cravings for orange/lemon. I also thought the red meat + fat was too heavy for me as I was having gastritis symptoms.
Since then I’ve had many phases: at first it was quasi carnivore/keto, lamb + select vegetables + cabbage juice for gastritis. I had a phase where I began to be afraid of the red meat, and I was eating pretty much potatoes + coconut oil. This was a bad time, as my muscles began wasting away. I probably had protein deficiency. I had phases where I was eating 100g liver a day! In between all this every so often I would have major binges on sugar. I sort of got back to eating a little bit of meat + vegetable, and I was feeling a bit better. I was adding in rice and oats and different things to try and fix the constipation.
I started to pay attention to my nutrients, and so I would add things in to try and cover gaps (I wasn’t hitting calcium, magnesium, Vit E, etc). I started eating whole jars of almondbutter, whole bars of dark chocolate…all the while still eating my meat. I eventually started eating tons of fibre, didn’t bother to add it in slowly. I was taking tons of different supplements, tons of laxatives. Did colonoscopy prep x2 + high doses of miralax for weeks + enemas + every other laxative you can imagine. Literal insanity.
At this point I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore. I think my body is just overwhelmed, my organs are all probably tired. My BMI is 15. I want to go back to carnivore because everything else just seems to complicated. Above all I just need to give my body some stability.
Carnivore is a little scary though. For some reason I keep getting afraid (the microbiome will starve! saturated fat + red meat will cause constipation!) I did a micro biome test and I have bacteroides overgrowth + low levels of good bacteria. The recommendation is to lower animal products + fat and increase plant diversity. It seems impossible though. I’m reacting to everything, and I need protein and nutrients, but getting them from plants is not so easy.
Carnivore just makes sense. Why does all inflammation go away? Tonsil stones + cavities even with ‘healthy' fruits and carbs. Majority of people who eat a regular 'healthy' diet are riddled with mental issues, disease as they age, fatigue, poor digestion. It’s ’natural' to get acne, need fillings in teeth etc. I believe most people are living in a state of low grade inflammation which overtime starts to damage them. I think I need to give it another shot, but really exhaust every little adjustment I could possibly make before saying it’s not for me. Keeping plants just complicates things.
Anyways…I’m excited to be a part of this community! How wonderful it is to be able to support each other and find like-minded people ☺️

Hello, I'm Jason. I have been on carnivore for one month and am looking for some motivation. For now I am going to read and learn but my total loss has been about 30 pounds.

Wishing the best for him/for you,
Do your best and hopefully the burrito is not the long term answer.
Good luck.
Scott

Now they want to remove his remaining toes. Trying to convince him its his diet and bad advice. Wish him and me luck. We finished a talk as he was heading out to buy a burrito.

YES! I also reevaluate everything!

That feeling of being duped.... that's exactly how I felt/feel about the way I ate for the first 4.5 decades of my life. It actually irritates me that the things I did in the name of being "healthy" were all lies. It makes me pause and reevaluate everything.

Welcome Mrs_newmann86,
I'm pretty new here too but I'm not new to carnivore. I'm quite certain that carnivore will completely reverse all of your concerns.
I've never had a sweet tooth but regardless, if you eat a bunch of meat, you won't crave food.
I was a big chip eater but I haven't eaten any in years. I've come to realize that eating them was fun...associated with relaxing, watching TV and I later learned that junk food was created to make us addicted it. I absolutely HATE being manipulated and once I found that I had been duped, it was easy to say no.
I don't know what drives you, but find it and get rid of the sugar. Cancer feeds on sugar...that's a good inspiration!
Good luck!

Welcome! From what I understand results may vary depending on your state of health when you begin. I'm at month 6 and am slowly losing the weight having reached many of my goals like those on your list as well as some unexpected recovery from issues I didn't even know I had. There have been a number of recovery and healing plateaus for me and that's OK because it took me years to get in this condition. It gets better and better. All the best to you.

Welcome.
The results will be very individualistic. We don't all respond the same, especially the same rates.
In general, as Bob said, most can expect weight loss and for most it is accelerated compared to other "diets". Glucose and blood pressure numbers normally drop as we get away from the sugars and the inflammatory foods we have always eaten.
As Bob said, cholesterol can do any number of things. Most are using carbs and sugars for energy, coupled with a statin, the cholesterol numbers can be driven down. Once on carnivore the body switches to primarily fat for energy, dabbles in and out of the lower ends of ketosis, and the ketones in the body increase.
The two positives from ketones is sustained energy (for most) and the brain fog/brain clarity a lot of people talk about. During this time the body is using fat as energy in an accelerated weight so at any given time there could be more 'fat/cholesterol' in the bloodstream. Cholesterol numbers could go up but once on carnivore and fat adaptive it is not the 'big-bad-scary LDL' we have been programmed to believe.
Good luck. And welcome. I'm about 18 months in now and it was one of the better decisions I ever made ( making it sound like I made a decision with some facts and research and look smart but not so much, I stumbled upon it as nothing more than a weight loss hack. Then all these metabolic improvements started and within weeks I was healing but I totally stumbled upon the rewards. The good Lord looks after drunks and fools-and I quit drinking over 20 years ago so that sort of narrows it down, LOL)
Scott

Welcome aboard! Could you elaborate on some of these concerns.
Without more context, you should see a reduction in weight, reduction in blood pressure, reduction and eventual elimination of brain fog, eventual increase in sustained energy (not supernatural Mario-eats-a-mushroom type energy), and cholesterol is a bit unpredictable. Might go up, down, stay the same, but for very valid reasons we don't believe any change in cholesterol to be of any real concern at all.

That was an interesting comment and ensuing discussion for sure. I eat a proper human diet now (mostly carnivore) because I have lost weight and reversed several of my chronic conditions. This is a choice and a sacrifice that I am happy to make, but at the same time YES I miss eating whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and however much I wanted. A life of pizza, mexican food, candy, and beer was most enjoyable. But it came with consequences, most of which I have been able to reverse and correct course by ditching ultra processed food and the mass consumption of plants.
It's not the first time I've been called a liar. I recently made a comment on a Dr. Idz video that I reversed my decade of being an ulcerative colitis sufferer, am drug free, and that even the biopsy comes back negative for UC. There were people who commented that I was a "Liar" and others that were even so bold as to say my carnivore diet would make my UC worse, lol.
Some people just won't listen to truth, even when it stares them in the face.

Tell us about your diet. Many people start off on a carnivore diet and see their trigs improve. But then after some time they come across doctors, communities, and individuals who are all about the fat, overemphasizing it's value, and encouraging you to add loads of fat to anything and everything. People will stop grilling their ribeye's because they might lose precious rendered fat as it drips onto the catch tray or charcoal below.
Overdoing the fat can raise the trigs a little. There is a balance here. That grilled ribeye was just fine.
Other important factors is making sure to be fasted 14 hours before the blood draw. Lipids are highly variable, especially trigs. When you eat, they will rise. They may even carry over to the next day until they are broken down and utilized.
ON THE FLIP SIDE.... trigs can climb if you are rapidly losing weight or have health issues. My trigs are high because of kidney disease. HDL and trigs reciprocally relate to one another. When one goes up, the other goes down.
Since blood glucose has gone up, maybe you are not getting enough fat and gluconeogensis is taking place.
These are just ideas/avenues/rabbit holes worth exploring.

Way out of my wheelhouse on this one but really interested in the replies.

My triglycerides were 159 when I started. They dropped to 71 and stayed there for 6 years. Last year they were 99 and this year 148. Glucose 158 down to 81 now 109. HDL 34 up to 79 now 55. I am extremely strict. I've had 2 heart attacks so my motivation is very high.

Welcome to Carnivore Talk.
I’m not quite understanding your comment “The last two years it has been reverting to numbers on my blood work”. Are you saying that your blood work numbers are reverting to what they were before you became a carnivore?

Welcome. Congrats on 8 years. I'm just a beginner at 18 months. I too have seen a number of metabolic improvements as well as no longer needing medications for an autoimmune disease (NMO-SD).
Without prying, which numbers? Strict carnivore? Other changes?
I don't see myself moving away from carnivore but interested in your question as I have not heard of or read many that have issues after such a long time (especially relating the numbers to carnivore).
Again, welcome.
Scott

Hi, I've been carnivore for almost 8 years. I have corrected a lot of metabolic problems. The last two years it has been reverting to numbers on my blood work that worry me and I don't know why. So I thought I would join and try to get some answers from the group.

Welcome, and congrats on your and your wife's progresses.
We are in similar boats. I lost 30-31 pounds in 31-32 days to get started and after 18 months I am around 95 pounds lost. My wife has started and stopped a couple different times and started off with 7-8lbs the first couple weeks and then sort of planed off with not much showing on the scale.
The first rule of thumb is not to use the scale as a measuring device. (listen to what I say, not what I do, because I can't help myself, LOL) Sometimes the weight will stay the same but the body composition will change. As my weight dropped I could go a week or so with no change in the scale, bouncing up and down a couple three pounds but at the same time I would have to cinch up my belt a notch or two. The scale said one thing but my pants were a tad bit baggier.
Secondly, sometimes the weight falls off fast and the metabolic changes come after some time. And the reverse can be true as well. The weight sort of hangs out while the body is healing.
Everyone handles dairy differently. Some frown upon it while eating carnivore and others it is no big deal. I still drink milk on occasion, not a ton but some a couple three times per week. For me, as an individual if my weight were falling, both on the scale and in composition, it was like a glass of milk would put the breaks on the fall and send me into what most call a 'stall'. I'm not opposed to dairy, and I still drink it, but I have found that for me milk is a weight loss killer.
It could be a combination of things. I'd say ditch the milk for a stretch and see if that is the issue, especially if the milk is early in the morning when the 'dawn effect' is in play with blood glucose. The milk (sugars) will push that glucose level up and then the insulin response creates insulin resistance over time. Battling insulin resistance can be an uphill battle is so many things that affect our health, weight loss being one of the primary ones.
Good luck. Keep pushing.
Scott

Good Morning My Carnivore Fam !!!!
Watching my success has motivated my wife to join me on the Carnivore Life, Thank You LORD !!!
She has now been Carnivore with me for little over 4 weeks, now let me set the table for you to assist you with your thoughts before commenting back.
She/we are NOT STRICT carnivore, we have zero plant matter in our diet but we do have some Dairy.
Example for her dairy is she places a slice of cheese on top of her eggs each morning and will add milk to her black coffee. We will also occasionally havre a yogurt with no sugars or fruit in it.
Of course no breads or any other typical carbs - IMO our only divergence on the Carnivore regimen is the dairy .
We drink loads of water and typically 1 of the no sugar LMNT drinks each day.
I have lost 21 #'s in 5 weeks but she has lost 7 #'s in 4 weeks.
I am trying to help her to keep her encouraged and motivated to remain on plan.
I thought (she refused) maybe do a 1 day water only fast to kick start her weight loss.
She is in a very sedentary work life with nearly zero physical activity. That said one of the appealing things to her was that she could lose the weight without having to workout and stuff like that.
I am prior military and am not working out but I am neturally more physically active and have told her that is why i am probably losing more than her.
The challenge to that thought process is that my step-mother saw my progress at week 2 and immediately jumped on board and has lost 15#'s in 3.5weeks and she is most certainly NOT physically active. HA HA
Of course every social media post out there is someone screaming about how much and how fast they lost weight on either Keto or Carnivore so she feels like it is just not gonna work for her.
Any thoughts or experience y'all can share will be very helpful THANK YOU ALL !!!
I have another question regarding Electrolytes but will dig into the archives more of the prior post out on the board before i post the question, it is likely already been asked.
deercamp67

Thanks for the information!

Agree with BillyGoat. I found mixing my own is botch cheaper and easier, plus I can use it as a 'table salt'.
It took a few months to work itself out but now I only salt my food, and that is not every time. If the salt does not taste good or appealing at that time I am guessing I have enough.
As mentioned, if I know tomorrow is going to be a hot day with a heavy workload outside, I do pre-hydrate with a 'salt' solution.
Great topic as it is useful information from the beginning stages of carnivore up to and after the 'adjustments'.
Scott

To answer your question up front, no I have not tried using salt pork, but have only been doing carnivore for a few months. You do sound a lot like me though. One of the things I wanted to avoid doing was taking supplements for electrolytes. I want to get to the point where I am only using food to get all my nutrients and preferably 100% carnivore. Unfortunately, I am using non-flavor LMNT once before I go to bed (though I did start off with one in the morning, too). I was getting a pretty bad case of cotton mouth after waking up the next morning. Using the LMNT at night has greatly reduced the cotton mouth for me. I also would get heart palpitations at night, but the LMNT has helped with getting rid of that.
My calves/legs still burn a bit more than they should when walking up a few flights of stairs and I am not overweight or elderly, so I think my electrolyte balance is still off. When it comes to electrolyte balance what I have heard in my short time doing this is making your own electrolytes mixes. That does seem to be the most popular. You also might want to try some food that has a bit more magnesium in it, i.e. beef liver. Though the downside to the beef liver is that it is much higher in protein than fat. An alternate to Beef Liver is ground beef that also has liver and heart in it. Finally, though I haven't tried this myself, if you can make your own bone broth that might help a bit with balancing the electrolytes.

Mostly for other reasons. I have an autoimmune disease called Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder which is basically the same as MS, just with different treatments.
The fasts help reset the autoimmune system. it switches you into autophagy which helps clean the body of older cells, it gets you into ketosis where the glucose has been depleted and the body burns fats/ketones. From the human growth hormone production goes up by four or five times the normal amounts and then stem cells increase which can help heal.
I find huge amounts of energy the second/third day into the fast and that energy lasts til a day or two afterwards. I try to fast three days one month and then a 4-5 day fast the following month.
I am no expert but I think the best connection/benefit with carnivore is that I am already fat adapted. My glucose levels are relatively low so I get into ketosis a little quicker and the ketone levels start increasing early on. Again, not an expert by any means, but I think the carnivore community gets to the benefits of fasting quicker so the first 12-16 hours the body does not have to deplete glycogen as the glucose/sugar levels are not what they would be for someone who eats sugars/carbs as a regular part of their diet.
Since carnivore (May of '24) I stopped all medicines for pain and inflammation. No more prednisone and Neurontin. My bloodwork suggests this will be my last six hour infusion. Carnivore has did me wonders and fasting give the health change a boost/kick in the pants. LOL
Scott