The Carnivore Diet: Why I Quit and What I Learned After Going All-Meat
After embarking on a carnivore diet, many individuals experience significant health improvements, particularly for autoimmune conditions. This dietary approach, which focuses solely on animal foods like meat, fish, eggs, and organs, has helped countless people overcome challenging health issues. The elimination of plant foods can lead to remarkable results, as evidenced by those who have found relief from conditions like eczema, asthma, and various digestive problems.
However, the long-term sustainability of a strict carnivore diet may present challenges for some people. Issues such as electrolyte imbalances, sleep disturbances, and hormonal changes can emerge after extended periods on this diet. Many of these problems may stem from consistently low insulin levels, which play a crucial role in electrolyte retention at the kidney level. For those experiencing these difficulties, reintroducing carefully selected carbohydrates from sources like fruit, honey, or raw dairy can potentially resolve these issues without triggering previous health problems.
Key Takeaways
The carnivore diet can be highly effective for resolving autoimmune conditions and identifying food triggers.
Long-term strict carnivore dieting may lead to electrolyte imbalances and hormonal changes in some individuals.
Strategic reintroduction of natural carbohydrates can address these issues while maintaining the core benefits of an animal-based approach.
Personal Experience
Healing with a Specialized Diet
My autoimmune conditions disappeared completely after adopting a carnivore diet. The eczema, itchy rashes, and asthma that had plagued me since childhood resolved fully when I eliminated plant foods and focused exclusively on animal products. This powerful dietary approach served as an effective elimination diet, helping me identify trigger foods while simultaneously improving my overall health. The results were so impressive that I published a book about the carnivore diet in 2019, documenting my initial success and advocating for this approach.
For those thriving on carnivore or ketogenic diets, this experience validates your choice. If your health markers are improving and you feel excellent, there's no reason to change your approach. The benefits of this restrictive eating style can be remarkable for many individuals, particularly those with autoimmune conditions.
Challenges After One Year
Despite early success, problems emerged after approximately 12-18 months of strict carnivore eating. These issues likely stemmed from electrolyte imbalances related to consistently low insulin levels from carbohydrate restriction:
Muscle cramps
Sleep disturbances
Heart palpitations
Hypnogogic jerks (falling sensation when trying to sleep)
Laboratory values also declined in concerning ways:
Lower total testosterone
Higher sex hormone binding globulin
Reduced free testosterone index
Suboptimal thyroid markers (particularly T3 levels)
I noticed feeling cold more frequently, which aligned with the thyroid test results. After considering these issues carefully, I modified my approach by reintroducing specific carbohydrates - primarily fruit, honey, and raw dairy - while maintaining the foundation of animal foods.
Some carnivore advocates suggested I "did it wrong" by consuming too many organ meats. However, I continue eating the same amount of organs today with carbohydrates added and feel significantly better. The solution wasn't cutting organs but adding back carbohydrates. Insulin, often demonized in low-carb circles, actually plays a crucial role in kidney function and electrolyte retention.
Exploring the All-Animal Eating Approach
What This Approach Entails and Food Selection
The all-animal eating approach consists exclusively of foods from animal sources. This includes meat, fish, poultry, eggs, animal fats, and sometimes organ meats. Salt is typically included, while some practitioners also consume coffee. The approach strictly eliminates all plant foods, dairy products, and processed foods.
This eating style functions effectively as an elimination diet, allowing individuals to identify food sensitivities by removing potential triggers. The food selection is straightforward but requires careful attention to nutritional completeness, particularly regarding micronutrients.
Potential Advantages and Drawbacks
Many individuals report significant health improvements when adopting this approach, particularly those with autoimmune conditions. Benefits often include reduced inflammation, improvement in skin conditions, and resolution of digestive issues. Weight loss is another commonly reported outcome for many practitioners.
However, this eating approach may present challenges over time. Some individuals experience electrolyte imbalances due to consistently low insulin levels, which can manifest as muscle cramps, sleep disturbances, and heart palpitations. Hormonal changes may also occur, affecting testosterone levels and thyroid function in some cases.
Adding carbohydrates from sources like fruit, honey, or raw dairy has helped some former practitioners resolve these issues while maintaining the core animal-based approach. These modifications appear to support proper electrolyte balance through improved insulin signaling at the kidney level, which helps the body retain essential minerals.
For those thriving on the all-animal approach, continuing makes sense. For those experiencing difficulties, reconsidering carbohydrate intake may be beneficial without abandoning the emphasis on nutrient-dense animal foods.
Electrolytes and Bodily Control Mechanisms
Mineral Balance Challenges
Maintaining proper electrolyte levels becomes particularly challenging on extremely low-carbohydrate eating patterns. Many individuals experience muscle cramping, sleep disturbances, heart palpitations, and hypnogogic jerks (sudden muscle contractions while falling asleep). These symptoms often stem from mineral imbalances, particularly magnesium deficiency, which can persist despite salt supplementation. Blood tests may reveal declining laboratory values, including lower total testosterone, higher sex hormone binding globulin, and suboptimal thyroid hormone levels (particularly T3). These changes can manifest as persistent cold sensitivity and reduced energy levels.
The kidney plays a critical role in electrolyte management. Without adequate hormonal signaling, the body struggles to maintain proper sodium, potassium, chloride, and magnesium levels. This explains why many people following strict animal-based diets must dramatically increase their salt intake—the body lacks the necessary mechanisms to retain these vital minerals efficiently.
Hormone Regulation Functions
Insulin serves as a crucial signaling hormone beyond its well-known role in glucose management. At the kidney level, insulin triggers important mechanisms that help retain sodium and other essential minerals. Without sufficient insulin signaling, electrolyte reabsorption becomes compromised, leading to mineral insufficiencies despite adequate dietary intake.
This regulatory function explains why introducing some carbohydrates from natural sources like fruit, honey, or raw dairy can resolve many electrolyte-related issues. The resulting insulin response helps the body maintain proper mineral balance without causing harmful metabolic effects.
It's worth noting that insulin-induced insulin resistance in humans differs significantly from what animal studies suggest. The human body naturally produces glucose even when dietary sources are absent, highlighting its essential role in normal physiology. Similarly, fructose consumption from whole foods like fruit and honey—where it occurs alongside glucose in a natural matrix—functions very differently than isolated or processed fructose sources like high-fructose corn syrup.
Lab Values and Health Indicators
Testosterone and Thyroid Hormone Results
After approximately 12-18 months on a strict carnivore diet consisting solely of animal foods, several important health markers began to decline. Blood tests revealed concerning changes in hormone levels that correlated with emerging symptoms.
Testosterone Markers:
Decreased total testosterone levels
Elevated sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG)
Reduced free testosterone
Lower free testosterone index
Thyroid Function Indicators:
Suboptimal total T3 levels
Decreased free T3 measurements
These laboratory findings aligned with physical symptoms, particularly the persistent feeling of being cold. The decline in these key hormones likely contributed to other issues that emerged during this dietary approach, including sleep disturbances and muscle cramps.
The addition of carbohydrates from sources like fruit, honey, and raw dairy to the diet—transitioning from strict carnivore to a more animal-based approach—appears to have positively affected these markers. This dietary modification, particularly the inclusion of insulin-stimulating foods, may help support proper hormone production and regulation.
Dietary Evolution
My journey with food consumption patterns shifted after experiencing both benefits and challenges with an animal-only approach. Following significant health improvements but eventual complications, I discovered that incorporating specific food variety offered better overall wellness outcomes.
Adding Carbs to the Menu
After maintaining a meat-only regimen for approximately 18 months, I began experiencing concerning symptoms including muscle cramping, sleep disturbances, heart palpitations, and hypnogogic jerks. These issues likely stemmed from electrolyte imbalances related to consistently low insulin levels. Blood tests revealed decreasing testosterone, rising sex hormone binding globulin, and suboptimal thyroid markers (particularly T3 levels).
The solution emerged through reintroducing carbohydrates. Insulin plays a crucial role beyond just blood sugar regulation - it signals to the kidneys to retain essential electrolytes like sodium, potassium, chloride, and magnesium. Without adequate insulin signaling, the body struggles to maintain proper mineral balance, often forcing those on zero-carb diets to consume excessive salt.
Three primary carbohydrate sources I now include:
Fruit
Honey
Raw dairy
These natural carbohydrates provide glucose and fructose in their whole-food matrix, avoiding the metabolic issues associated with isolated or processed forms like high-fructose corn syrup.
Animal-Based Diet Composition
My current nutritional approach maintains the beneficial foundation of animal foods while incorporating select carbohydrates. This modified approach continues to include:
Core Animal Components:
Meat (various types)
Organ meats
Animal fats
Salt
The misconception that too many organ meats caused my initial difficulties proves unfounded, as I consume the same amount now while feeling significantly better with carbohydrates included.
It's worth noting that glucose is so essential to human physiology that the body will manufacture it even when dietary sources are absent. Similarly, natural fructose found in whole foods doesn't create the metabolic problems seen in research studies that primarily use isolated fructose or examine animals with vastly different fructose metabolism than humans.
The human body processes fructose differently than rodents used in many studies. Rats and mice convert significantly more fructose to fat through de novo lipogenesis compared to humans, making much of the fructose-related concerns inapplicable to human nutrition.
Community Reactions
The carnivore diet community expressed mixed feelings when Paul Saladino added carbohydrates back into his diet. Many dedicated followers were initially surprised by his dietary shift after he had been a prominent advocate for the strict animal-based eating approach.
Some community members suggested he had implemented the carnivore diet incorrectly. These criticisms mirror reactions often seen in other dietary communities, particularly when prominent figures modify their eating patterns. Critics specifically claimed his organ meat consumption was excessive, though he continues to eat the same quantity of organs with his current approach.
The defense mechanisms within the carnivore community reflect a common pattern in dietary tribes. When a well-known advocate changes course, followers often attribute the change to improper implementation rather than questioning the diet itself. This tendency to protect dietary ideology occurs across various eating philosophies.
Despite criticism, many others appreciated his transparency about the challenges he faced. His honesty about specific issues—muscle cramps, sleep disturbances, heart palpitations, and declining hormone levels—resonated with others experiencing similar symptoms on low-carbohydrate diets.
His explanation that insulin plays a crucial role in electrolyte management has helped some community members understand their own need for increased salt intake on ketogenic diets. This information has been valuable for those questioning their nutritional assumptions while experiencing health challenges.
Understanding Carbs
Carbohydrates play a vital role in human health and physiology. While many diets restrict carbs to varying degrees, these nutrients serve essential functions in our bodies that are difficult to replicate through other means. The human body naturally produces glucose even during carbohydrate restriction, highlighting its importance for optimal function.
Misconceptions About Insulin Signaling
Insulin often gets blamed as the villain in discussions about metabolism and weight gain, but this hormone serves crucial physiological functions. One of its key roles involves signaling the kidneys to retain essential electrolytes including sodium, potassium, chloride, and magnesium.
Without adequate insulin signaling, the body struggles to maintain proper mineral balance. This explains why many people following very low-carb diets must significantly increase their salt intake. The relationship between insulin and electrolyte management is well-documented in research examining insulin's impact on renal sodium transport.
The common theory that consuming carbohydrates directly causes insulin resistance lacks strong supporting evidence in human clinical data. Many health issues attributed to insulin actually stem from other mechanisms at the mitochondrial level rather than from carbohydrate consumption itself.
How Different Sugars Function in the Body
Glucose and fructose are two common sugars that affect the body differently. Glucose serves as the body's primary energy source, and it's so essential that the body will manufacture it even during complete carbohydrate restriction.
Fructose has been unfairly demonized, particularly when consumed in natural forms like fruit and honey. In these foods, fructose always appears alongside glucose within a complex food matrix, which significantly alters how the body processes it.
Much of the concern surrounding fructose stems from animal studies using rats and mice, whose physiology differs dramatically from humans. These animals convert fructose to fat through de novo lipogenesis at much higher rates than humans do. The negative findings from rodent studies consuming isolated fructose should not be automatically applied to humans consuming whole foods.
Key differences between natural and processed sugars:
Sugar Source Composition Metabolic Effect Whole fruit Fructose + glucose + fiber + nutrients Gradual absorption, minimal issues Raw honey Fructose + glucose + enzymes + nutrients Moderate absorption, generally well-tolerated High fructose corn syrup Processed free fructose + glucose Rapid absorption, potentially problematic
Scientific Evidence Supporting Dietary Interventions
Research demonstrates that dietary interventions can significantly affect autoimmune conditions and metabolic health. Animal-based diets, particularly carnivore and ketogenic approaches, have shown therapeutic potential for numerous individuals with autoimmune conditions. These elimination-style protocols effectively identify trigger foods and reduce inflammatory responses in susceptible individuals.
Clinical observations indicate that insulin signaling plays a crucial role in electrolyte management. Studies such as research on insulin's impact on renal sodium transport confirm that this hormone helps regulate mineral retention at the kidney level. Without adequate insulin signaling, the body may struggle to maintain proper electrolyte balance, potentially leading to symptoms like muscle cramps, sleep disturbances, and heart palpitations.
Hormonal impacts from dietary patterns deserve careful consideration. Laboratory findings have documented changes in testosterone levels, sex hormone binding globulin, and thyroid markers in some individuals following extended periods on very low-carbohydrate diets. These physiological shifts may contribute to temperature regulation difficulties and other metabolic changes.
The body's relationship with carbohydrates appears more nuanced than often portrayed. The human body naturally produces glucose even when dietary intake is restricted, highlighting its physiological importance. Furthermore, natural carbohydrate sources like fruit and honey present differently in human metabolism than processed alternatives.
Data suggests that concerns about fructose may be overstated when consumed in natural forms. The metabolic response to fructose in whole foods differs significantly from isolated or processed fructose consumption. Many fructose-related concerns stem from rodent studies, which demonstrate substantially higher rates of de novo lipogenesis (conversion to fat) from fructose than observed in human subjects.
Human Compatibility with Carbohydrates:
Natural sources (fruit, honey, raw dairy)
Contain beneficial food matrices
Support electrolyte balance
May benefit hormonal regulation
Different physiological response than processed alternatives
For those experiencing suboptimal results on restrictive diets, nutritional modifications can restore health markers. Reintroducing selective carbohydrate sources while maintaining an emphasis on quality animal foods represents a balanced approach that many find sustainable and health-promoting.
