Part 1: My Introduction to the Carnivore Diet
“Let food be thy medicine” - Hippocrates
A few months ago I roped in a dozen of my friends to try the carnivore diet. Before I dive into the results, I need to go back to the beginning. It was a dark and stormy night…..Just kidding!
Like most people I was told that eggs and red meat were bad for me so I did my best to limit them even though I craved them. Based on the general recommendations, I ate fruit, struggled to eat veggies, and loaded up on breads and pastas.
As I got older I went from using diet as a way to gain muscle to using it as a tool for disease prevention. Unfortunately, I struggled to stay motivated. My breakfast and dinner options were healthy because my wife ran the show but my afternoons were filled with processed foods.
If you can relate and you’re struggling with your diet, here’s what I learned on my journey to improve my health:
My Journey with Diets:
Over the years I have tried almost every popular diet - I’ve experimented with being vegetarian, pescatarian, and paleo. I’ve also played with intermittent fasting. Each experiment helped me make subtle changes to my diet. This typically lasted from New Years until Easter and then I’d do the “everything in moderation” diet until September, clean it up again, and then eat as much junk and sugar as I wanted from Thanksgiving to New Years Day.
This “plan” worked for years until I turned 50. At 50 I noticed my diet of sugar and junk foods that started on Thanksgiving was leaving me sore and aching by Christmas. It wasn’t too serious - low back pain, tendinitis in my elbows, shoulders, and hips, and a touch of arthritis in my right knee. I was less injury resistant in workouts and could wake up injured just from sleeping funny. This started my quest to try to improve my chronic inflammation with nutrition.
I had enough anecdotal evidence* to know that sugar (The Case Against Sugar) and processed carbs were causing my joint pain. From New Years to Easter I felt like I was 17 years old and from Thanksgiving to New Years I felt every bit of 55.
*Anecdotal evidence - Evidence based on personal observation, collected in a casual or non-systemic manner
What I Discovered:
I realized that eating for disease prevention or weight loss was too abstract and could take years to achieve. Eating to decrease inflammation and increase energy were measurable and immediate. In just one day I could feel a difference in my energy and knew my chronic inflammation would be improved in a matter of weeks. With this success I began to wonder how I could convince some of my patients to implement these changes into their diets.
4 Things I Learned:
1. Sugar is Bad
Based on recent research I learned that most experts and nutritional studies agree that sugar and processed foods are bad for your joints and your health.
2. My Body Thrives on a Paleo Diet
While I agree with experts who recommend “eating the rainbow” aka a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, strictly eating fruits and veggies doesn’t work for me. I function best eating lean meats, fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds. This looks like having a ratio of 80-90% whole foods and 10-20% less than optimal foods.
3. Sugar Takes Several Forms
Your body cannot tell the difference between cookies and candy bars vs. breads and pastas. They are all converted to glucose by the body and are not healthy carbs like fruits and veggies.
4. Food Sensitivities Exist
Every year when I ate healthy I would develop a rash on my thigh. The rash was a sign of inflammation that was visible on my skin but could be inflaming other parts of my body. I knew it was related to something I was adding or increasing during my healthy phase and I suspected nuts, scallops, or strawberries. When my son returned from college and was working to eat healthier he developed digestive issues. Food sensitivity testing showed he was sensitive to the kale he was putting into his morning smoothie. This made me wonder how many of us abandon healthy diets because they actually make us feel worse due to food sensitivities? As a result I was introduced to elimination diets, which involve eliminating foods until you discover which food(s) is irritating your body. It can also involve eliminating almost everything and adding back one food at a time. So what would be the ultimate elimination diet?
My Introduction to the Carnivore Diet:
Dr. Berry’s Approach
I came upon this video several years ago and wondered if diet was causing arthritis. Dr. Berry advocates for eating a ketogenic or carnivore diet consisting of low carbs and healthy fats to eliminate joint pain.
He recommends eliminating:
All grains including wheat, oats, and corn
Liquid dairy ( butter, ghee, and full fat cream are acceptable)
Vegetable oils
Nightshades which include tomatoes and peppers
Legumes, beans and peas.
It is not that these foods are inherently bad but that they can raise your overall inflammation. He states that the deterioration of joints is a myth and if you eat properly you can rejuvenate your joint cartilage. He encourages diet changes before signing up for surgery.
Is this true? As an orthopedic surgeon of 20+ years I have never seen joint cartilage regenerate due to diet and I do believe that joints wear out with age. However, I believe an anti-inflammatory diet can lower your body's inflammation and make your normal wear and tear asymptomatic or tolerable to some degree - although some joints are beyond hope and require surgery.
Mikhaila Peterson’s Story
Next, I was introduced to Mikhaila Peterson’s story. She believes she cured her autoimmune disease which required two joint replacement surgeries with the carnivore diet. If you’re new to the extreme carnivore diet, it involves eliminating everything but red meat and water. If after 30-90 days your symptoms are relieved, the next step is to add back one food at a time. Most people can add back the vast majority of healthy foods. Miss Peterson was unable to add back additional foods without severe symptoms and ultimately chose the carnivore diet over chronic pain.
What is the Carnivore Diet?
The Carnivore Diet is a high protein diet made up solely of animal products including meat, fish, eggs, and some dairy. Plant-based foods like fruit and vegetables are eliminated. While all meats are allowed, advocates recommend prioritizing grass-fed fatty red meats. Other items that make the list include salt and butter.
After researching the carnivore diet I was interested. I doubted many people would need or be able to maintain a long term carnivore diet. I was curious if what advocates claimed was true - would I really feel great on it? I also wondered if it could be an option for my desperate chronically inflamed patients.
The Reputation of Red Meat and Eggs
One question persisted. Were red meat and eggs bad for me?
Red meat has gotten a bad rap. Research studies that claim that red meat is unhealthy are often flawed and biased. In reality grass-fed beef is healthy and a great anti-inflammatory food. Some people will have their cholesterol go up, and many claim that this higher cholesterol in a subset of patients is worth the trade off for decreased inflammation including heart inflammation.
Eggs have also been misunderstood. Cholesterol can be found in heart plaques and in eggs. This raised concern that eggs could cause heart disease. In reality eggs are a superfood that do not cause heart disease or raise cholesterol. Unfortunately, cereal manufacturers fought to keep this information from the public and as a result, this misinformation spread.
The Experiment:
After considering the carnivore diet for a few years I was ready to take the plunge. I committed to experimenting with the carnivore diet with the intention to see if it would reduce inflammation and be hard to follow. I also decided to invite my friends to join me in this experiment.
Before I started The Real House MD I noticed many of my friends were becoming aware of the relationship between their joint pain and their diet so I emailed 25 friends proposing a 30 day trial of the carnivore diet with the videos shared above and a short questionnaire. 13 responded and said they were all in. This became the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Stay tuned for Part 2 on how our experiment went and the results we achieved.