I've been doing a full carnivore diet since June 1st,2025 the diet includes only beef, eggs, grass fed butter, salt and water ( pretty strict and never cheated) The beef is mostly from Walmart's 75% 25% beef patties, the Walmart brand. I eat twice a day at 1PM and 8PM. I've had the keto rash since mid July 2025 and it still hasn't gotten away at all. I've dropped my fat percentage down significantly, but no change. I have also used Dandelion root tea and Bile salts pills, they have helped but never resolved the issue. Do you think this is a keto rash problem or a histamine problem? When I eat my stomach growls all night and even when I wake up.  Thank you for the help :))

God Bless,

Simon

Welcome Simon I’m glad you could join us.

Depending on what your diet was before carnivore it could be oxalate dumping. If you were a big vegetable eater in the past your body could be trying to get the oxalates out of your body. Then again it may be histamine reaction. It’s hard to say. The way to find out would be to change your source of beef. Find a butcher or store that sources its beef from local farmers if you can. While you can’t always trust the labeling, try to find beef that is labeled as organic, grass finished. Histamine intolerance comes from beef that has been aged so in your case the fresher the better. while most people don’t have any issues with eating beef from Wally World is best to remember that much of their beef is imported from other countries, especially the ground beef found in tubes. In one package of ground beef there may be a mixture of ten different cows in it. Thats not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself but it may contribute to histamine intolerance.

I wish I had better advice for you but not having any real experience with it I can only go by what I’ve read. Give it time and good luck.

Btw, be careful about reducing your fat intake as that is your only source of energy.

22 hours ago, Simon G said:

I've had the keto rash since mid July 2025 and it still hasn't gotten away at all.

So let's start by describing your symptoms. Where is the rash? Is it all over or concentrated on certain parts of your body? Does it itch?

I can understand why you might not be sure which it is, a keto rash or a histamine intolerance, since symptoms of the two can be similar.

23 hours ago, Simon G said:

I've dropped my fat percentage down significantly, but no change.

I wouldn't do this. Like @Geezy said, fat is your energy. I would still aim for 70% of your calories coming from fat and 30% coming from protein (this is acheived by basically eat 1g of fat for every 1g of protein). According to Dr. Boz, on variant of a Keto rash in an inflammation caused by little "critters" living in your skin that love glucose. If you are not eating enough fat, then your body will be working overtime to convert protein into glucose through a process called gluconeogenesis. It's as if you are eating carbs. They were initially starved when you started keto, but when you decided to lower the fat, your glucose production may have went up, and these little guys got excited and started multiplying. I'm not sure if I buy that, but she makes it make sense.

If you are actively losing weight and burning your body fat, these could actually have toxins or histamines stored in them, which are being released into your blood stream.

Again, where is the rash? Centrally located? Or all over?

Some thoughts on how to test this yourself include adding back in 50-100 carbs a day for the next 2 weeks by adding fruit. This is called an "animal-based" carnivore diet (for whatever reason, lol). But STILL EAT the eggs, steak, and whatever else you have been eating. If it's keto rash, symptoms should alleviate and you can then try again with cutting the plants out. If it's histamines I wouldn't expect any changes.

For keto rash, topical steroids will help for itching and oral antibiotics with help with inflammation.

To test for histamines, aim for the freshest meat possible, straight from the butcher. Grocery store meat will have been hung and aged for weeks before packaging. Avoid jerky, canned meats, etc.

For histamines, an antihistamine will help alleviate the itch.

So if antihistamines help, your problem leans towards histamine intolerance. If hydrocortisone cream and an antibiotic help, then it's more likely keto rash.