Bob

Excellent advice @Vini :)

Silly me should have read the entire thread before responding to just your initial post, @Vini Having very little fluid left in the lungs after only one week is a meaningful early win! Awesome! Your eggs, liver, and 5-MTHF supplement are already at work and bringing much positive results! Choosing the active form was a smart move (synthetic folic acid requires conversion and some individuals have issues with it). That is interesting. But you did say you were strict Lion for 3+ years. Your gut may have become sensitive to anything else (at first). You may also have inflammation or gut irritation as folate status improved, now your body is less stressed now that the severe deficiency is beginning to correct. I would take this as a lesson learned and not return to a strict lion diet. I firmly believe in eating the "rainbow" of meats on a carnivore diet to make sure you are getting everything you need when it comes to nutrients.

What you describe is a medical emergency. I'm assuming you've been to a doctor already about this if you are aware that you have severe anemia, know your hemoglobin, and know you have liquid in the lungs. Severe folate deficiency can produce megaloblastic anemia that progresses exactly this way (high-output heart failure). Your medical professionals should be able to give you high-dose folate and investigate potential contributors like B12, iron, absorption issues, etc. Are they working to stabilize you? You are correct. Muscle-meat-only is going to be low in folate. You'll never meet your RDA of folate this way. Liver is the concentrated source (beef liver is good but chicken liver is much higher. I wouldn't add 150g per day though, because yes, copper toxicity (and vitamin A toxicity) is a real concern. Other folate sources that are carnivore friendly include eggs with the yolks, cheeses, milk and yogurt, fish row or caviar, and certain shellfish. I would include these in addition to some 30g-60g of liver a few times a week. It can be viable for some people for years, but it is higher-risk and less reliably complete than broader animal-based approaches. Folate is the clearest long-term gap. However, there are individuals who live this muscle-meat only approach for years and remain stable, and most people low in folate do not develop megaloblastic anemia + high-output heart failure. And yes, there could be a genetic component that you have that others do not (for example, people with reduced MTHFR activity already convert and utilize folate less efficiently). The Lion Diet functions best as a strict elimination tool (weeks to months, sometimes longer) to identify triggers. Low folate on a pure muscle meat diet is a real issue that some people encounter after years. Mikhaila Peterson had to start incorporating liver after 5 years when she learned she was folate deficient. At the time, deficiency is not universal and many people are fine. There's just various potential roles at play here. Most importantly is your health. I would be very pro-active about getting treatment if I were you.

This could be a variety of things. But if it were kidney related, fatigue would become a problem in the later stages of chronic kidney disease, like stage 3b, 4, and 5. For the record, I am teetering on the cusp of Stage 4/5 CKD. I used to feel like crap before I started 1) my carnivore diet, and 2) supplementing vitamin D because my blood labs showed that I was very very low. These days, I usually feel just fine. Once in a while, my legs feel like lead weights, but I just push through. To rule out kidney issues, we're going to need to see that blood work, and maybe some additional labs, like.... Serum Creatinine + eGFR BUN Urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR or ACR) We can also double check electrolytes. I believe all of these are included in what is called a "Renal Panel" that either you or your doctor can order up. A CMP (Complete Metabolic Panel) usually tests for all these things too. And then it wouldn't hurt to see where your vitamin D levels currently sit.

Way to go @ol_hilly - that's impressive. The longest I've gone is 40 hours. I've recently returned to 2 meals a day, intermittent fasting. I started losing weight for some reason so I though I'd take advantage of it and ride the wave, lol. I saw a TikTok earlier of a guy who went 120 days. He was 400 lbs and dropped about 150 of it. He was just having water, vitamins, and minerals.

It's a good one for the family. They can use their choice of wrap or shell and add lettuce and tomato if they wish. You can keep it all animal products, besides the seasonings (which is what makes it mexican).

Which benefits those around you too 🤣 I've heard of women who had suffered from painful iNsAnE cRaMpS every month report that the cramps subsided or became much less severe.

Ironically I had the same breakfast/brunch over the last two mornings. 2 burger patties, 2 eggs, and 2 slices of pepper jack cheese.

Part of the problem that I think has led doctors to become what they are, to think how they think, is people in general. We're actually in the minority, being the people who were willing to give up what we loved for the sake of better health. Most people aren't like that. I was talking with a friend about a month ago, and he is pre-diabetic, has blood sugar issues, takes meds for various reasons, etc. He was telling me how his doctor said he should cut out this and that from his diet, and his response was he would rather die. Food was one of the last remaining pleasures he had left. Food is god to some people. Even my parents will try a new restaurant and then tell me about their meal and how it was mmmm mmmm mmmm good, almost as if they had some out-of-body experience, lol.

Just posted a new video on making soft tacos that work for carnivore or ketovore. I’m using Egg Life Wraps as the shell — no flour, no seed oils, and they hold up surprisingly well with a good meat filling. If you’ve been missing taco night, this is a simple way to bring it back. Have any of you tried Egg Life wraps yet? Curious what fillings you’re using. CARNIVORE FRIENDLIEST VERSION Egg Life Wraps (warmed up) for shells. McCormick Taco Seasoning (or the cleanest you can find). Sour Cream Cheese KETO OR KETOVORE VERSION: Lettuce Tomato, Pico, or Salsa (cleanest you can find). Avocado or Guacamole

The blood work will be necessary to tell for sure. I'm teetering on stage 4/5 and I have never had any physical pain. Kidney disease is usually one of those "silent" diseases. You don't know it's been taking place until all of a sudden you are sick and in the ER and told you need dialysis. If you are comfortable sharing your labs when you get them, we primarily look at creatinine, BUN, and eGFR, and whether you are spilling any protein in your urine. Carnivore itself isn't going to harm you. But it won't hurt to fast (for short periods of time) either. Welcome to the club, lol :-D You may have not had optimal kidney health, but I seriously doubt carnivore wouldn't do any damage on its own. I've been carnivore since May 2023. Diabetes, hypertension, and drugs are the biggest culprits. If you haven't watched my video on Carnivore with Chronic Kidney Disease, I explain a lot in there. I should probably make an updated version too.

Here's a recipe... https://ketogenicwoman.com/how-to-make-carnivore-mayonnaise/ That one uses basically your choice of animal fats. You can also use olive oil or avocado oil as well. The idea behind making your own would be to avoid any industrialized seed oil (canola, soybean, etc) that is common in modern commercial mayo today.

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