Did anyone try the carnivore diet?

[hopelessgirl]

So. Giving recovery one last try I'm going to try the carnivore diet and see if that helps my depression. Did anyone here try it?

 

[Sanva]

just my personal opinion but i don't think that's a good idea. a lot of experts consider the carnivore diet to be unhealthy since you need the vitamins that come from fruit and vegetables. imo it's better to just eat a balanced diet. i don't even know why they say you have to cut out vegetables since most vegetables have basically no calories?
good luck if you try it, I hope it works.

 

[OrcWitch]

I did it for 5 weeks and then I quit. I wasn't serious about it or expecting to stick to it, I wanted to see what would happen. I ate organs in order to get vitamin C. Eventually I was craving a salad and orange juice really badly and that was the day I decided I had enough.

Positives:
-It was the nicest my skin has looked since my late teens. My complexion looked very good.
-Full all the time
-lost a few pounds

Negatives:
-rotated between diarrhea and constipation with nothing between
-eating became so boring and I got tired of food
-keto flu sucks

 

[WoAiGou]

Meat is not good for your health, have you tried whole food plant based? Even a diet centered around vegan meal replacements (soylent, huel, jimmyjoy etc) will be way way better for your physical and mental well being than a carnivore diet. Your diet needs to be complete and balanced (all macro-carbs, fats, proteins and micro-vitamins and minerals), you will be deficient from a carnivore diet. Plus your diet would be fueled with the sufferings of animals who were filled with disease and stress hormones before being killed.

 

[Mixo]

Whatever you do, if you try this diet, do NOT listen to any people advocating to eat raw meat.

 

[settheory]

sorry if i'm rude but carnivore diet and keto diet and such are abominations of western-style food mis- and overconsumption and agricultural subsidies.

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

I love eating meat but even I couldn't do this since I also rely on eating lots of things like pasta, bread, rice, potatoes, sunflower seeds, corn…

 

[Shu]

Meat is not good for your health, have you tried whole food plant based? Even a diet centered around vegan meal replacements (soylent, huel, jimmyjoy etc) will be way way better for your physical and mental well being than a carnivore diet. Your diet needs to be complete and balanced (all macro-carbs, fats, proteins and micro-vitamins and minerals), you will be deficient from a carnivore diet. Plus your diet would be fueled with the sufferings of animals who were filled with disease and stress hormones before being killed.

Nuh uh! You're wrong! Vegan diet will cause malnutrition. ;)

 

[Live Free or Die]

Modern humans have been around for a few hundred thousand years. Only in the last 100 years have we began eating processed man made foods. Do you know how rare it was for the early humans to find edible plants? What do you think they ate? Lol. What do you think the hundred of thousand years of evolution did to our actual dietary needs? Look at the amount of health problems created by our diet in the last 100 years.

 

[miserableforever]

So. Giving recovery one last try I'm going to try the carnivore diet and see if that helps my depression. Did anyone here try it?

I have not. Lifelong vegan here. Not really by choice either, it just so happened that I can't tolerate the texture and flavor of animal things.
Let us know how it goes for you, I find that attempt very interesting.

 

[WaterHemlock]

As a child, from about 5 to 10, we mostly ate wild game and fish with very little else in way of fruits or veggies. (We didn't get food stamps but my stepfather was an accomplished poacher)
I wound up with gout as a child from this diet and I never noticed it helpful for depression.
If you're looking for food based solutions I'd be more inclined to an anti-inflammatory diet.

 

[gottago222]

Whatever you do, if you try this diet, do NOT listen to any people advocating to eat raw meat.

hahaha ive eaten plenty of raw meat, eggs and fish and here i am... but i only eat it in private to not gross the fam out


my experience on 80% carnivore - body feels really healthy but i am still mentally ill :) brain fog went away tho. also my stomach never hurts anymore when i used to have chronic stomach pains, would vomit monthly. now i have some iron stomach
i eat mostly fatty meat, dairy, organs, fruits, minimal vegetables, minimal rice and bread, and when im baking i choose recipes with lots of butter and reduce sugar by half

 

[hopelessgirl]

Thank you for your answers. I'll let you know how it goes. My status right now is that I'm suicidal every day, feeling no joy and sleeping 14 hours a day.

 

[whatevs]

Jordan Peterson (or whoever that's pushing this) is full of shit with this carnivore diet fad. Makes 0 sense, humans are actually more suited to vegetables, legumes and fruits than meat. Meat should be 10% of our diet. Just observe what intact tribes eat.

 

[Red]

Best thing to do is to avoid sugar and grains/starches - these basically immediately convert to sugar in the body, increasing insulin resistance and promoting inflammation in the body, leading to arterial plaque and further inflammation in the brain.
Animal proteins, nuts, fruit and veggies are the way to go… backed by consistent science, not funded by skewed motivations to promote agricultural goals. Grains are used to fatten cattle in the same quantities as professionals recommend for humans to lose weight?! It doesn't make sense!
We weren't ever meant to consume grains and sugars beyond fruits, which are balanced out by fibre…
Lots of meat, beans, nuts and eggs and plenty of vegetables, with fruit as nature's candy!
Avoid processed food as much as possible as the more processed you get, the further away from nature you get.
And plenty of water!
Simples

 

[noname223]

Jordan Peterson (or whoever that's pushing this) is full of shit with this carnivore diet fad. Makes 0 sense, humans are actually more suited to vegetables, legumes and fruits than meat. Meat should be 10% of our diet. Just observe what intact tribes eat.

Yeah i wanted also to talk about Jordan Peterson. He swears this would help a lot. I don't really believe in it. But I absolutely don't have enough knwoledge to evaluate it. I rather tried like 30 different medication till something decreased my depression.

 

[Foresight]

I really like some of Jordan Peterson's work but he's not an expert in nutrition. His daughter is mentally ill and took him down that road. His wife ended up with a rare cancer that's linked to high meat consumption. I'm surprised he's still pushing this diet when his wife almost died.

I most definitely think good nutrition, exercise, and taking care of your body will improve depression. I don't think this diet will do any good.

 

[ThriveOrDie]

I agree that maybe an anti inflammatory diet would be better and I would add dopamine rich foods or supplements

 

[motel rooms]

humans are actually more suited to vegetables, legumes and fruits than meat. Meat should be 10% of our diet. Just observe what intact tribes eat.

But hunter-gatherers have always eaten plenty of meat. They don't hunt for vegetables. We're omnivores, just like dogs, pigs, foxes, bears, mice, raccoons & many species of birds (even chickens aren't exclusive herbivores).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter-gatherer#Modern_hunter-gatherer_groups

 

[whatevs]

But hunter-gatherers have always eaten plenty of meat. They don't hunt for vegetables. We're omnivores, just like dogs, pigs, foxes, bears, mice, raccoons & many species of birds (even chickens aren't exclusive herbivores).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter-gatherer#Modern_hunter-gatherer_groups

While looking for evidence to argue against your point I found conflicting evidence. I was looking for longevity-diets, and while Okinawa seems to fit the bill for my "low meat" endorsement, Hong Kong as a country has the largest age expectancy and it's said to eat 50% of meat.

I think what can be said is that we don't necessarily need a lot of meat to be healthy and that the ethical and ecological implications of meat consumption should be considered, but that obviously humans have evolved eating meat and we love it. The vegan talking point about meat being unhealthy has always been nonsensical.

 

[Ethereal Knight]

I've been on carnivore diet for three years now, and it definitely helped to stabilize my mood and reduce my depressive symptoms.
I do it coupled with OMAD (one meal a day, which is a form of intermittent fasting also sometimes called 23:1). I do my one huge meal at morning and then fast for 22 or 23 hours. In my case, I'd call it more like intermitent feasting than intermitent fasting, as my one meal is huge and I don't feel hunger "forever" after eating it

I'm not a doctor and this is not medical advice. I'll simply share my experience with the carnivore diet and some tips I learned along the way.

1) Know the basics: Eat meat. Not too little. Mostly fat.

2) If you're a woman, avoid OMAD. I think meal frequency is a little bit different for women, as they are more sensitive to restrictions (any restrictions, be it meal-time restrictions, calorie restriction, even macronutrient restrictions), so I think that 2 or 3 meals a day is way better than OMAD, for women, as long as they don't eat too close to bedtime. This is not sexism, it's just that women's body work slightly different from men's.

3) pay attention to your sleep. if your sleep quality is low try to pull back the time of the last meal to see if the sleep quality improves. I personally had the most restorative sleep when I only eat during morning, as I felt that eating in the afternoon made my sleep worse, but everyone is different and paying attention to how you feel is the most important thing.)

4) Don't eat cuts that are too lean. This has to do with the first tip. Carnivore diet is so satiating, that many people end up under-eating as a result, which has really bad consequences. Eating lean cuts may lead to an involuntary calorie deficit, this is not good nor sustainable long-term, so increasing the dietary fat and the amount of food or the number of meals makes the diet more enjoyable, more sustainable, and also reduces the risk of having your hormones messed by chronic under-eating, which can causes a lot of things, from hunger and cravings to mood, energy and sleep alterations, to hair loss, so basically make sure you're eating enough food with enough fat - for example, two pounds of meat a day is a good start, or one pound of meat and one pound of whole eggs.
You can fry your meat in tallow, lard, butter or even coconut oil if the cut is too lean or if you feel like you're undereating and need to increase calories.
If you don't have good enough digestion, then do more meals a day, smaller meals, so you can get used to digest fat and protein.

5) Don't under-eat. I know I said this before, but just to be sure, if you start to feel tired, low-mood, fatigued or irritable, maybe it's time to increase the calorie intake somehow.

6) Follow closely people like Judy Cho, dr. Shawn Baker, dr. Georgia Ede, Rubio Fuerte, Amber O'Hearn, dr. Nadir Ali, dr. Benjamin Bikman, Dr. Sean O'Mara, dr. Jason Fung, dr. Robert Cywes, dr. Ken D Berry, dr. Pran Yoganathan and others like them on youtube / instagram / podcast app / facebook / telegram, or read their books, as they usually have great information and experience to share.

7) Prefer ruminants if you have enough finantial resources to afford it. Most people don't get satiated by eating chicken. Pork is more satiating but it's still a mono-gastric animal, with lots of linoleic acid and less favorable omega 6:3 ratio. It's still better than the standard western diet, but not as ideal as ruminants. Don't worry it the ruminant is grain or grass fed, as both as incredibly nutritions and the differences between them are minimal (the grass-fed just have a little bit more of omega 3 and more vitamin E, but not worth the extra price. the grass-fed is only worth the extra price when it comes to sustainability and environmental concerns, but not for its extra nutrients.)

8) Fish oil (EPA & DHA, omega 3 fatty acids supplements) has antidepressants properties, when used in high dosages. The problem is finding high quality fish oil supplements, as many are contaminated with pollutants and heavy metal, unfortunately. Another problem is that they can be fairly expensive. But otherwise, they're recommended by people like Stephen Ilardi (author of The Depression Cure, and speaker at the TED talk "Depression is a disease of civilization" - https://tlc.ku.edu/elements) to treat depression, they recommend brands that give you 1000 mg of EPA and 500 mg of DHA per day (this amount has been shown to decrease depressive symptoms and improve mood). If you decide to take them, take them with your meal, as they are better digested when coupled with fat. As always, you should talk to your doctor before considering any supplement.

9) Even if the carnivore diet is not for you, please consider removing seed oils from your life forever. They are one of the main sorces of inflammation in the western diet, as they cause a omega 6 overconsumption and excess oxidative stress. This includes things like soybean oil, corn oil, canola oil, sunflower oil etc... Seed oils are literally the worst "food" on earth. Removing them helps not only to treat depression, but also conditions like migraines, diabetes and insulin resistance, obesity, metabolic syndrome etc...
Even vegans usually agree that seed oils are toxic. When carnivores and vegans agree on one topic, you can see that there is something there.

10) Most carnivores supplement magnesium. It's very common. Our soils have been depleted, so magnesium is unfortunately hard to get through food only. One could argue that avocados, dark chocolate and some nuts have magnesium, and it's true, but the recommended daily amount is still high and difficulty to meet. Usually carnivores supplement between 220 and 300mg of magnesium daily. The glycinate version is particular helpful for improving sleep quality, the malate version is particular helpful for fibromyalgia. Avoid oxide and chloride, these are the worst forms of magnesium, these are the ones that give magnesium the fame of laxative and are usually not worth the price.

11) Replacing electrolytes is essential in any very-low-carb diets, especially when fasting. It doesn't need to be fancy: lite salt can do the job, as it has sodium and potassium. When fasting, some people mix a little bit of lite salt in water or put it below their tongue to replace sodium and potassium. When not fasting, they're not as important, as long as you salt your food.

12) Check your vitamin D levels with your doctor. This is a vitamin we get by exposing our skin to sunlight and it also has antidepressant and mood enhancing properties.

13) If you still feel irritable despite eating enough calories and sleeping well, it could be thiamine deficiency. In this case, eating pork, salmon, beef heart or liver should quickly fix it, as these are foods rich in thiamine. Beef and eggs are not nearly as rich in thiamine as these.

14) The adaptation period is fairly long. This discourages many people from trying carnivore or ketogenic diets, unfortunately. The first two weeks are the worst, but you're only really adapted after 8-12 weeks (about 3 months). Some people may take more time. If you're an athlete or do some competitive sport, your performance may take until 1 year to come back to its previous level, although some people report that their performance actually increased after switching to carnivore.

15) Dairy is usually more negative than positive. Most people are intolerant to eat. It can be inflammatory, especially in large quantities, which is exactly what we wanna avoid if our goal is to treat a mood disorder like depression, bipolar etc.
Also some forms of dairy can make it easy to gain weight, like butter, heavy-cream, cheese etc, as they have low satiety-per-calorie, are low protein and high energy-density. Cheese in particular can be addictive.
The high calorie content of some of these dairy products, though, can be useful if you want to increase your calories, like frying ground beef on butter or mixing cream on your drinks, for example, as it gives extra calories without giving any extra satiety.
Another good thing about dairy is that it can make the diet more enjoyable for some people. If the intent is to treat depression, though, I'd recommend to do a cleaner version of carnivore, without much dairy or herb spices.

16) Talking about herb spices, they are usually okay as long as you watch out for carbohydrates, but when it comes to treating depression, we want to reduce possible sources of inflammation, so herb spices can be tricky. They are usually not regulated and can come with gluten, mold or even the chemicals that plants itself place on them to fight predators, which can end up triggering inflammation in our guts. So basically, you can use herb spices, but pay attention to how you feel, and sometimes try to remove them for a couple of weeks to see if you feel better. If you can do a carnivore diet without these spices, then it's better. Salt or lite salt is usually enough to spice meat and eggs.

17) You don't need to chase ketosis. Don't let anyone make you scared to eat protein with the argument that "it kicks you out of ketosis". The body regulates ketosis. Some people may benefit from a higher ketone level, but generally it's unnecessary.

18) It doesn't need to be expensive. Things like eggs, liver, beef tongue, beef heart, chicken feet, organs in general, ground beef, hamburgers etc can make the diet actually more cheap than a standard western diet. Watch out for sales.

19) It is a simple way to eat.
So I'd suggest avoiding wandering too much in the supermarket. Don't perambulate or look around too much, as you may feel temptation or resentment for not being able to eat what you could otherwise. Instead, what I recommend to do inside the supermarket is: just get what you came for, and then get out.

20) Our community is great. This is one of the perks of this diet. We have a nice community.

21) Don't let anyone make you think that you need to eat organs, need to eat fruit and honey, or need to eat only grass-fed beef to do the carnivore diet. None os this is true. Most people who healed with the carnivore diet, did so without eating organs, without fruit or honey, and healed by eating plain old supermarket meat. They're good if you like them, but you don't need to have.
And yes, liver is a superfood, it has incredibly nutrient density, some people even start to crave it after they spend some weeks without eating it. But most people find its taste disgusting, so knowing that it's optional is important.
Pay special attention to conflicts of interest. People like Dave Asprey say that you should only eat grass-fed meat, but they're also selling grass-fed meat - of course they're gonna tell you to eat what they're selling. Other people, like Paul Saladino, sell over-priced desiccated organ supplements and guess what... he tells people that they "need" to eat organs. Don't listen to these people, the conflicts of interest are obvious. The people I previously suggested you to follow don't have these kinds of conflicts of interest, as far as I'm aware.

22) "Birth control pills" can make losing weight harder, and can make depression worse. I know it sounds off-topic, but it has to do with diet. Some people may get into this diet to improve depression or lose weight, while their birth control pills sabotage their efforts. I've seen the same thing happen over and over.

23) If you think the carnivore diet is dangerous or that there are very few studies on this diet, then the ketogenic diet may be best for you, as the ketogenic diet has been extensively studied on scientific literature. If you want something that has been tested carefully, then it's the ketogenic diet, not the carnivore diet. The ketogenic diets has plants, has a lot of them and a lot of fiber. Although one could argue that the inuits tested the carnivore diet for us and had success with it.

24) Be careful with you plan to re-introduce carbohydrates. Studies on very low carb diets showed that the reintroduction of carbs should be gradual, not abrupt, as reintroducing them abruptly, especially if it's sugar or flour, quickly increases various markers of metabolic dysfunction, like fasting triglicerydes for example. In other words, not eating carbs for a long time makes us temporarily less able to proccess them, so reintroduction has to be slow and gradual, and this diet is not the best diet for people who like to have "cheat days" or "refeed days" that include candy, flour, junk food etc.

25) Yes, LDL usually raises on the carnivore diet, sometimes dramatically. But it's usually not a problem if the rest of the tests are okay, like C reactive protein, HOMA-IR score, fasting insulin, fasting triglicerydes, waist-to-height ratio, waist circunference, calcium score etc... Talk to your doctor if you are in doubt if this is for you.

Again, talk to your doctor before making any changes in your diet. I'm not a doctor and this is not medical advice. I'm simply sharing my experience on the carnivore diet with others.

 

[Istanbulite]

Jordan Peterson tried it, think it made him worse off. I wouldn't touch it.

 

[Sherri]

Meat diet will just give you protein, have you tried magnesium and vitamin `b an d complex? It kinda gives you a boost for a few weeks, did it for me, maybe ask your pharmacist, but magnesium is very good for the brain, also almonds, and hazelnut. There is also a natural remedy called HTP5. You can get it at a natural herbal shop. Once again ask for a peofesssional experience. But all of the above helped me . Hope all goes well for you. Hugs.

 

[hopelessgirl]

I've been on carnivore diet for three years now, and it definitely helped to stabilize my mood and reduce my depressive symptoms.
I do it coupled with OMAD (one meal a day, which is a form of intermittent fasting also sometimes called 23:1). I do my one huge meal at morning and then fast for 22 or 23 hours. In my case, I'd call it more like intermitent feasting than intermitent fasting, as my one meal is huge and I don't feel hunger "forever" after eating it

I'm not a doctor and this is not medical advice. I'll simply share my experience with the carnivore diet and some tips I learned along the way.

1) Know the basics: Eat meat. Not too little. Mostly fat.

2) If you're a woman, avoid OMAD. I think meal frequency is a little bit different for women, as they are more sensitive to restrictions (any restrictions, be it meal-time restrictions, calorie restriction, even macronutrient restrictions), so I think that 2 or 3 meals a day is way better than OMAD, for women, as long as they don't eat too close to bedtime. This is not sexism, it's just that women's body work slightly different from men's.

3) pay attention to your sleep. if your sleep quality is low try to pull back the time of the last meal to see if the sleep quality improves. I personally had the most restorative sleep when I only eat during morning, as I felt that eating in the afternoon made my sleep worse, but everyone is different and paying attention to how you feel is the most important thing.)

4) Don't eat cuts that are too lean. This has to do with the first tip. Carnivore diet is so satiating, that many people end up under-eating as a result, which has really bad consequences. Eating lean cuts may lead to an involuntary calorie deficit, this is not good nor sustainable long-term, so increasing the dietary fat and the amount of food or the number of meals makes the diet more enjoyable, more sustainable, and also reduces the risk of having your hormones messed by chronic under-eating, which can causes a lot of things, from hunger and cravings to mood, energy and sleep alterations, to hair loss, so basically make sure you're eating enough food with enough fat - for example, two pounds of meat a day is a good start, or one pound of meat and one pound of whole eggs.
You can fry your meat in tallow, lard, butter or even coconut oil if the cut is too lean or if you feel like you're undereating and need to increase calories.
If you don't have good enough digestion, then do more meals a day, smaller meals, so you can get used to digest fat and protein.

5) Don't under-eat. I know I said this before, but just to be sure, if you start to feel tired, low-mood, fatigued or irritable, maybe it's time to increase the calorie intake somehow.

6) Follow closely people like Judy Cho, dr. Shawn Baker, dr. Georgia Ede, Rubio Fuerte, Amber O'Hearn, dr. Nadir Ali, dr. Benjamin Bikman, Dr. Sean O'Mara, dr. Jason Fung, dr. Robert Cywes, dr. Ken D Berry, dr. Pran Yoganathan and others like them on youtube / instagram / podcast app / facebook / telegram, or read their books, as they usually have great information and experience to share.

7) Prefer ruminants if you have enough finantial resources to afford it. Most people don't get satiated by eating chicken. Pork is more satiating but it's still a mono-gastric animal, with lots of linoleic acid and less favorable omega 6:3 ratio. It's still better than the standard western diet, but not as ideal as ruminants. Don't worry it the ruminant is grain or grass fed, as both as incredibly nutritions and the differences between them are minimal (the grass-fed just have a little bit more of omega 3 and more vitamin E, but not worth the extra price. the grass-fed is only worth the extra price when it comes to sustainability and environmental concerns, but not for its extra nutrients.)

8) Fish oil (EPA & DHA, omega 3 fatty acids supplements) has antidepressants properties, when used in high dosages. The problem is finding high quality fish oil supplements, as many are contaminated with pollutants and heavy metal, unfortunately. Another problem is that they can be fairly expensive. But otherwise, they're recommended by people like Stephen Ilardi (author of The Depression Cure, and speaker at the TED talk "Depression is a disease of civilization" - https://tlc.ku.edu/elements) to treat depression, they recommend brands that give you 1000 mg of EPA and 500 mg of DHA per day (this amount has been shown to decrease depressive symptoms and improve mood). If you decide to take them, take them with your meal, as they are better digested when coupled with fat. As always, you should talk to your doctor before considering any supplement.

9) Even if the carnivore diet is not for you, please consider removing seed oils from your life forever. They are one of the main sorces of inflammation in the western diet, as they cause a omega 6 overconsumption and excess oxidative stress. This includes things like soybean oil, corn oil, canola oil, sunflower oil etc... Seed oils are literally the worst "food" on earth. Removing them helps not only to treat depression, but also conditions like migraines, diabetes and insulin resistance, obesity, metabolic syndrome etc...
Even vegans usually agree that seed oils are toxic. When carnivores and vegans agree on one topic, you can see that there is something there.

10) Most carnivores supplement magnesium. It's very common. Our soils have been depleted, so magnesium is unfortunately hard to get through food only. One could argue that avocados, dark chocolate and some nuts have magnesium, and it's true, but the recommended daily amount is still high and difficulty to meet. Usually carnivores supplement between 220 and 300mg of magnesium daily. The glycinate version is particular helpful for improving sleep quality, the malate version is particular helpful for fibromyalgia. Avoid oxide and chloride, these are the worst forms of magnesium, these are the ones that give magnesium the fame of laxative and are usually not worth the price.

11) Replacing electrolytes is essential in any very-low-carb diets, especially when fasting. It doesn't need to be fancy: lite salt can do the job, as it has sodium and potassium. When fasting, some people mix a little bit of lite salt in water or put it below their tongue to replace sodium and potassium. When not fasting, they're not as important, as long as you salt your food.

12) Check your vitamin D levels with your doctor. This is a vitamin we get by exposing our skin to sunlight and it also has antidepressant and mood enhancing properties.

13) If you still feel irritable despite eating enough calories and sleeping well, it could be thiamine deficiency. In this case, eating pork, salmon, beef heart or liver should quickly fix it, as these are foods rich in thiamine. Beef and eggs are not nearly as rich in thiamine as these.

14) The adaptation period is fairly long. This discourages many people from trying carnivore or ketogenic diets, unfortunately. The first two weeks are the worst, but you're only really adapted after 8-12 weeks (about 3 months). Some people may take more time. If you're an athlete or do some competitive sport, your performance may take until 1 year to come back to its previous level, although some people report that their performance actually increased after switching to carnivore.

15) Dairy is usually more negative than positive. Most people are intolerant to eat. It can be inflammatory, especially in large quantities, which is exactly what we wanna avoid if our goal is to treat a mood disorder like depression, bipolar etc.
Also some forms of dairy can make it easy to gain weight, like butter, heavy-cream, cheese etc, as they have low satiety-per-calorie, are low protein and high energy-density. Cheese in particular can be addictive.
The high calorie content of some of these dairy products, though, can be useful if you want to increase your calories, like frying ground beef on butter or mixing cream on your drinks, for example, as it gives extra calories without giving any extra satiety.
Another good thing about dairy is that it can make the diet more enjoyable for some people. If the intent is to treat depression, though, I'd recommend to do a cleaner version of carnivore, without much dairy or herb spices.

16) Talking about herb spices, they are usually okay as long as you watch out for carbohydrates, but when it comes to treating depression, we want to reduce possible sources of inflammation, so herb spices can be tricky. They are usually not regulated and can come with gluten, mold or even the chemicals that plants itself place on them to fight predators, which can end up triggering inflammation in our guts. So basically, you can use herb spices, but pay attention to how you feel, and sometimes try to remove them for a couple of weeks to see if you feel better. If you can do a carnivore diet without these spices, then it's better. Salt or lite salt is usually enough to spice meat and eggs.

17) You don't need to chase ketosis. Don't let anyone make you scared to eat protein with the argument that "it kicks you out of ketosis". The body regulates ketosis. Some people may benefit from a higher ketone level, but generally it's unnecessary.

18) It doesn't need to be expensive. Things like eggs, liver, beef tongue, beef heart, chicken feet, organs in general, ground beef, hamburgers etc can make the diet actually more cheap than a standard western diet. Watch out for sales.

19) It is a simple way to eat.
So I'd suggest avoiding wandering too much in the supermarket. Don't perambulate or look around too much, as you may feel temptation or resentment for not being able to eat what you could otherwise. Instead, what I recommend to do inside the supermarket is: just get what you came for, and then get out.

20) Our community is great. This is one of the perks of this diet. We have a nice community.

21) Don't let anyone make you think that you need to eat organs, need to eat fruit and honey, or need to eat only grass-fed beef to do the carnivore diet. None os this is true. Most people who healed with the carnivore diet, did so without eating organs, without fruit or honey, and healed by eating plain old supermarket meat. They're good if you like them, but you don't need to have.
And yes, liver is a superfood, it has incredibly nutrient density, some people even start to crave it after they spend some weeks without eating it. But most people find its taste disgusting, so knowing that it's optional is important.
Pay special attention to conflicts of interest. People like Dave Asprey say that you should only eat grass-fed meat, but they're also selling grass-fed meat - of course they're gonna tell you to eat what they're selling. Other people, like Paul Saladino, sell over-priced desiccated organ supplements and guess what... he tells people that they "need" to eat organs. Don't listen to these people, the conflicts of interest are obvious. The people I previously suggested you to follow don't have these kinds of conflicts of interest, as far as I'm aware.

22) "Birth control pills" can make losing weight harder, and can make depression worse. I know it sounds off-topic, but it has to do with diet. Some people may get into this diet to improve depression or lose weight, while their birth control pills sabotage their efforts. I've seen the same thing happen over and over.

23) If you think the carnivore diet is dangerous or that there are very few studies on this diet, then the ketogenic diet may be best for you, as the ketogenic diet has been extensively studied on scientific literature. If you want something that has been tested carefully, then it's the ketogenic diet, not the carnivore diet. The ketogenic diets has plants, has a lot of them and a lot of fiber. Although one could argue that the inuits tested the carnivore diet for us and had success with it.

24) Be careful with you plan to re-introduce carbohydrates. Studies on very low carb diets showed that the reintroduction of carbs should be gradual, not abrupt, as reintroducing them abruptly, especially if it's sugar or flour, quickly increases various markers of metabolic dysfunction, like fasting triglicerydes for example. In other words, not eating carbs for a long time makes us temporarily less able to proccess them, so reintroduction has to be slow and gradual, and this diet is not the best diet for people who like to have "cheat days" or "refeed days" that include candy, flour, junk food etc.

25) Yes, LDL usually raises on the carnivore diet, sometimes dramatically. But it's usually not a problem if the rest of the tests are okay, like C reactive protein, HOMA-IR score, fasting insulin, fasting triglicerydes, waist-to-height ratio, waist circunference, calcium score etc... Talk to your doctor if you are in doubt if this is for you.

Again, talk to your doctor before making any changes in your diet. I'm not a doctor and this is not medical advice. I'm simply sharing my experience on the carnivore diet with others.

Thank you so much for all this very well written info! We're on day 2 here. I've been miserable all my life, so who knows, maybe this is going to help me.

Meat diet will just give you protein, have you tried magnesium and vitamin `b an d complex? It kinda gives you a boost for a few weeks, did it for me, maybe ask your pharmacist, but magnesium is very good for the brain, also almonds, and hazelnut. There is also a natural remedy called HTP5. You can get it at a natural herbal shop. Once again ask for a peofesssional experience. But all of the above helped me . Hope all goes well for you. Hugs.

Yeah magnesium really helps me as well :-)

 

[Ethereal Knight]

We're on day 2 here.

In the first days, we lose a lot of water thanks to glycogen depletion, so it's usually advised to increase the sodium and potassium consumption in these first days to compensate for the minerals that are gone together with the water that we lose, so salt or lite salt can be extra helpful during these initial days. People do that either by making their meals extra salty or using salt/lite-salt as a supplement with water. It tends to help a little bit with keto-flu symptoms.

 

[hopelessgirl]

In the first days, we lose a lot of water thanks to glycogen depletion, so it's usually advised to increase the sodium and potassium consumption in these first days to compensate for the minerals that are gone together with the water that we lose, so salt or lite salt can be extra helpful during these initial days. People do that either by making their meals extra salty or using salt/lite-salt as a supplement with water. It tends to help a little bit with keto-flu symptoms.

Yes I'll make sure to remember :-) I also have a magnesium supplement. also I'm glad you found something that relieved your depressive symptoms. It inspires me to hope that it will as well for me. For now it I feel a bit weak and have cravings, but mood is actually quite good.

 

[Ethereal Knight]

Yes I'll make sure to remember :-) I also have a magnesium supplement. also I'm glad you found something that relieved your depressive symptoms. It inspires me to hope that it will as well for me. For now it I feel a bit weak and have cravings, but mood is actually quite good.

Thank you, I'm glad you are optimistic about relieving your depressive symptoms and trying new things.

Many people had success with the carnivore diet. There are a lot of success stories written in various plataforms out there like facebook groups, revero health (old meat rx) etc...

You'll feel weak for a while. Salt, good sleep, enough calories (surplus even), enough dietary fat and time will solve this.

It's important to stick to it strictly in the first 8-12 weeks, for this adaptation period works better when the person is strict. Later you can begin to think about adding back healthy carbohydrates and things like that, but in the beginning it's better to be more strict, as it teaches your mitochondria how to efficiently burn fat for fuel¹ - in other words, makes you fat-adapted, or keto-adapted, or metabolic flexible, whatever you wanna call it.

¹Fat is the fuel that is burned in the absense of carbohydrates. Carnivore diet is basically "zero carb", so we become "fat fueled", we turn into fat-burning machines 24/7, just like the ketogenic diet. That's one of the reasons it's important to eat enough dietary fat, so we don't end up inadvertly being in an aggressive calorie deficit.

 

[hopelessgirl]

Thank you, I'm glad you are optimistic about relieving your depressive symptoms and trying new things.

Many people had success with the carnivore diet. There are a lot of success stories written in various plataforms out there like facebook groups, revero health (old meat rx) etc...

You'll feel weak for a while. Salt, good sleep, enough calories (surplus even), enough dietary fat and time will solve this.

It's important to stick to it strictly in the first 8-12 weeks, for this adaptation period works better when the person is strict. Later you can begin to think about adding back healthy carbohydrates and things like that, but in the beginning it's better to be more strict, as it teaches your mitochondria how to efficiently burn fat for fuel¹ - in other words, makes you fat-adapted, or keto-adapted, or metabolic flexible, whatever you wanna call it.

¹Fat is the fuel that is burned in the absense of carbohydrates. Carnivore diet is basically "zero carb", so we become "fat fueled", we turn into fat-burning machines 24/7, just like the ketogenic diet. That's one of the reasons it's important to eat enough dietary fat, so we don't end up inadvertly being in an aggressive calorie deficit.

Yeah I'm actually a bit psyched about it.
Maybe I'll join one of those groups :-)

Btw do you drink coffee?
I already feel better today :-)

 

[Ethereal Knight]

Yeah I'm actually a bit psyched about it.
Maybe I'll join one of those groups :-)

Btw do you drink coffee?
I already feel better today :-)

I'm glad you feel good!
I can't drink coffee unfortunately, I'm genetically a caffeine slow metabolizer, so it ruins my sleep. But most carnivores do drink coffee and they say they like it and it helps them.

 

[hopelessgirl]

I'm glad you feel good!
I can't drink coffee unfortunately, I'm genetically a caffeine slow metabolizer, so it ruins my sleep. But most carnivores do drink coffee and they say they like it and it helps them.

Ok!
Well, for a strict carnivore diet I've understood that one shouldn't drink coffee.. there's a lot of toxins in it as well, plus the sleep disruption. It's just that I really appreciate that warm coffee cup in the morning... I haven't had it since I started the diet though. I guess it's just a comfort thing. And I really want to do this diet right to give it a real good shot of fixing my depression. That's why I thought I'd quit it at least in the beginning and then maybe try it out again once I have gotten the optimal effect of the diet.