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 ☺️

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.

Edited September 19, 2025Sep 19 by Copper

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