Sternum Pain

EczemaNoMore · October 20, 2023

Started carnivore a few days ago and decided last night to just do lion diet. May go back to carnivore.

In any case, had 2 ground beef patties (10 oz) and some beef tallow for lunch and I’m suffering from severe sternum pain/tightness. I have had issues with fatty meals in the past but this is really severe. Any thoughts or solutions? Thanks!

Edited October 20, 2023 by EczemaNoMore

Bob · October 21, 2023

Welcome Frank. Are you okay now?

For possible non diet related possibilities, look over this list here... https://www.healthline.com/health/sternum-pain

The last one is a doozy, so if you also are experiencing any of the following, you may want to seek medical care.

Pain or discomfort in your upper body, including your arms, shoulder, and jaw.
Shortness of breath, trouble breathing.
Fatigue.
Lightheadedness or dizziness.
Racing heart.
Significant cold sweat.
Chest tightness.
Nausea.

You be the judge. I certainly don't want to scare you or give you anxiety, but I would hate to blow this off as nothing if it were actually serious.

Now if it is diet related, some thoughts that come to mind are...

1) Your stomach PH levels need to adjust because you were previously eating a bunch of fatty meat.

2) Gerd, acid reflux

3) Gallbladder, Bile Production. Your gall bladder stores bile produced by the liver to assist with fat digestion. If you are not used to eating a bunch of fatty meat, this organ needs to wake up and ramp up its bile storage and output.

It's normal to have digestive issues for the first month as you adapt to this new way of eating. Your body learns to produce more bile. The microbiome changes, etc.

I see that you posted this yesterday. I didn't have a chance to get online yesterday. So I am curious how long did the pain last? And are you okay now?

EczemaNoMore · October 21, 2023

Yes I’m fine now - I think I have low stomach acid or lox bile production so have a hard time digesting fat. I hope this will improve as I continue on carnivore. Also often get anxious after I eat meat which is weird. I think my blood pressure drops as blood goes to my stomach ..,

Qapla · October 21, 2023

On 10/20/2023 at 4:13 PM, EczemaNoMore said:

Started carnivore a few days ago and decided last night to just do lion diet

I will have to admit, when I hear the term "lion diet" I always think of having to eat all the meat raw ... after all, lions do not cook their food.

Bob · October 22, 2023

51 minutes ago, EczemaNoMore said:

Yes I’m fine now

Good. I'm glad to hear it.

51 minutes ago, EczemaNoMore said:

I hope this will improve as I continue on carnivore.

Yes, it should. You can always back up to keto/ketvore and gradually increase your meat consumption and decrease your veggie consumption to help you ease into it.

53 minutes ago, EczemaNoMore said:

Also often get anxious after I eat meat which is weird.

You're probably worried about stomach or sternum pain, which is understandable. I don't know how many meals a day you are eating, but you could also try reducing your portion sizes and adding a meal, so that you are still consuming the same amount of food just more spread out.

Bob · October 22, 2023

20 minutes ago, Qapla said:

I will have to admit, when I hear the term "lion diet" I always think of having to eat all the meat raw ... after all, lions do not cook their food.

The Lion Diet is a term coined by Mikhaila Peterson, daughter of Jordan Peterson. It's the ultimate elimination diet, where you only eat ruminant animals (beef, elk, lamb, etc) with salt and only drink water. She had to get that strict in order to cure/reverse/stop several of her chronic autoimmune conditions.

https://liondiet.com/

There are some carnivores into the raw meat thing. That's a no-thank-you from me though, lol.