The Joe Rogan Experience: How the Carnivore Diet Transformed Mikhaila Peterson's Battle with Rheumatoid Arthritis
In the realm of dietary choices, the carnivore approach stands as perhaps one of the most polarizing options available today. While many individuals embrace vegetarian, vegan, ketogenic, or paleo lifestyles, the carnivore diet often elicits immediate skepticism and eye-rolling from critics. However, for some individuals facing severe autoimmune conditions, this controversial dietary choice has become a path toward healing.
Take, for instance, the remarkable case of someone diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at age seven, with 37 affected joints. Despite years on immune suppressants like Enbrel and methotrexate, they still required hip and ankle replacements by age 17 due to cartilage deterioration. The turning point came after university, when deteriorating health prompted experimentation with dietary changes. Eliminating gluten brought modest improvements, but a more comprehensive elimination diet—removing nightshades, dairy, most grains, soy, sugar, and processed foods—led to significant health improvements, suggesting that diet might play a crucial role in managing autoimmune conditions.
Key Takeaways
Autoimmune conditions that resist pharmaceutical treatments may respond to dietary interventions.
Elimination diets can reveal unexpected food triggers for inflammatory responses.
Personal experimentation with diet may lead to significant improvements in seemingly intractable health conditions.
Controversial Diets and the Carnivore Approach
The carnivore diet stands as one of the most contentious dietary approaches in modern nutrition discussions. Unlike vegetarian, vegan, ketogenic, or paleo diets, the carnivore approach often elicits immediate skepticism and eye-rolling from critics, many of whom haven't examined the potential benefits for certain health conditions.
For individuals with severe autoimmune conditions, this meat-focused approach has shown remarkable results. Take for example those with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis who've undergone joint replacements at startlingly young ages—some as young as 17—after conventional medical treatments failed to prevent cartilage deterioration.
Many severe arthritis patients face a medical system that labels their condition as "idiopathic," meaning doctors simply don't know the cause. Despite being prescribed powerful medications like Enbrel and methotrexate, some patients continue to experience joint deterioration, leading to necessary replacements.
The Path to Dietary Intervention
Many people with autoimmune conditions follow a similar journey:
Years of pharmaceutical treatments with limited success
Progressive worsening of symptoms
Addition of new symptoms (depression, fatigue, skin issues)
Desperate search for alternatives
Experimental dietary changes
For some, the turning point comes after eliminating gluten following research into celiac disease, which frequently co-occurs with autoimmune disorders. Initial improvements might be modest—perhaps 20% symptom reduction—but enough to warrant further dietary exploration.
Elimination Diet Discoveries
A structured elimination approach often reveals surprising connections:
Foods Eliminated Potential Benefits Gluten Reduced inflammation Dairy Decreased joint pain Nightshades (tomatoes, eggplants) Lower arthritic flares Processed foods Improved skin conditions Sugar Better energy levels
The revelation often comes when previously eliminated foods are reintroduced. Many experience dramatic symptom returns—unable to walk due to knee pain after consuming even seemingly benign foods like homemade gluten-free muffins.
Some patients report unexpected benefits beyond pain reduction, including significant decreases in bloating. A person might lose only a modest amount of weight while dropping several clothing sizes due to reduced inflammation.
These experiences challenge conventional medical wisdom that dismisses dietary connections to autoimmune conditions. For those who've exhausted traditional treatments without success, the carnivore approach represents not a "wacky diet" but a potential pathway to functional living.
My Health Journey and Joint Condition
Initial Signs and Medical Confusion
I started showing symptoms when I was just two years old. My mother noticed I was walking strangely and took me to the doctor, but they dismissed it as simple growing pains. The situation continued for years without proper diagnosis or treatment. By age seven, medical professionals finally recognized the severity of my condition, but those early years of misdiagnosis allowed the disease to progress unchecked.
Childhood Arthritis Diagnosis
At age seven, doctors diagnosed me with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. The condition was extensive, affecting 37 joints throughout my body. My case was particularly severe - my rheumatologist at Sick Kids Hospital, who had 20 years of experience, described it as the worst arthritis she had ever encountered. Later, my diagnosis was revised to juvenile idiopathic arthritis, essentially meaning the medical community couldn't determine what caused my condition.
Medical Treatments and Surgical Interventions
In fourth grade, I became the first child in Canada to receive a biologic medication called Enbrel, along with methotrexate. These immune suppressants helped reduce some pain but couldn't prevent the destruction of cartilage in my joints. The medication regimen continued for years, but my condition progressed to the point where surgical intervention became necessary. At just 17 years old, I underwent both hip and ankle replacements - an extremely unusual situation for someone so young.
Extent of the Condition
My arthritis presented differently than many cases. Rather than having visibly swollen joints, mine simply disintegrated from within. The cartilage in my hip and ankle completely disappeared by age 17, despite ongoing treatment. This was only part of a constellation of health issues that developed, including severe depression requiring medication, idiopathic hypersomnia causing me to sleep 18 hours daily, chronic itchiness, skin rashes, and cystic acne. My symptoms continued to worsen during university when my dietary habits deteriorated significantly.
Switching from Pharmaceuticals to Diet
The transition from relying on pharmaceutical medications to adopting dietary changes can be transformative for individuals with autoimmune conditions. This shift often begins when conventional treatments provide limited relief despite their widespread use in medical practice.
Many autoimmune patients follow a traditional medical path that includes immune suppressants and biologics. These medications may help manage symptoms but often fail to address the root causes of inflammation. For those with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis or juvenile idiopathic arthritis, the progression of joint damage can occur despite medication, sometimes leading to joint replacements at very young ages.
The carnivore diet represents one of the more controversial dietary approaches, often drawing skepticism even compared to vegetarian, vegan, ketogenic, or paleo diets. However, some individuals with severe autoimmune conditions have found significant relief through this approach.
The Path to Dietary Intervention
For many patients, the journey toward dietary changes begins only after years of conventional treatment failures. Initial symptoms might include:
Joint pain and inflammation
Depression requiring medication
Extreme fatigue or hypersomnia
Skin issues (rashes, cystic acne)
Unexplained weight gain
When traditional medical approaches offer limited solutions, patients often begin researching alternatives independently. This research might lead to recognizing patterns between certain foods and symptom flares.
Initial Dietary Experiments
The first steps toward dietary intervention typically involve simple eliminations:
Removing gluten after connecting symptoms to possible celiac disease
Cutting out processed foods
Reducing sugar intake
Limiting dairy consumption
Even these modest changes can produce noticeable improvements. For some, a 20% symptom reduction provides enough evidence to continue exploring dietary connections to health.
Discovering Food Triggers
Through careful elimination and reintroduction, many patients identify specific food triggers. Common problematic foods include:
Food Category Common Triggers Grains Wheat, rice, corn Nightshades Tomatoes, eggplant, peppers Nuts Almonds, cashews Sweets Refined sugar, artificial sweeteners
The discovery process often involves unexpected reactions. A patient might prepare what seems like a "safe" food—such as gluten-free, sugar-free baked goods made with almond flour—only to experience a severe inflammatory response afterward.
Physical manifestations of food sensitivities can be dramatic and immediate. Joint pain may increase significantly within 24 hours of consuming trigger foods, sometimes becoming severe enough to limit mobility. This clear cause-and-effect relationship helps reinforce the connection between diet and inflammation.
Beyond pain reduction, many notice additional benefits from dietary changes, including decreased bloating, weight normalization, and improved skin conditions that previously resisted treatment. These visible improvements often provide motivation to continue with dietary restrictions despite social challenges.
Initial Skepticism and the Role of Science
The journey toward unconventional dietary approaches often begins with skepticism, especially for those with a strong scientific background. Many families facing severe health challenges initially dismiss dietary interventions due to limited scientific evidence. This was certainly the case for individuals dealing with juvenile arthritis and related conditions.
Medical professionals sometimes struggle to identify the root causes of autoimmune disorders. In some cases, they classify conditions as "idiopathic," which simply means the cause is unknown. This lack of clear understanding leaves patients and their families searching for answers while managing multiple medications with varying degrees of effectiveness.
For people suffering from severe autoimmune conditions, the path typically includes numerous pharmaceutical interventions. Treatments often involve immune suppressants like Enbrel and methotrexate, which may help reduce pain but don't always prevent joint deterioration. Some patients with juvenile arthritis require joint replacements at remarkably young ages, even as teenagers.
The transition from conventional treatments to exploring dietary changes frequently occurs only after years of suffering. Many individuals report experiencing a cascade of health problems including:
Severe joint pain and cartilage deterioration
Depression requiring medication
Sleep disorders like hypersomnia
Skin problems including rashes and cystic acne
Extreme fatigue
Weight gain and declining mental health often accompany these physical symptoms, creating a challenging cycle of health issues. Dermatologists and other specialists sometimes attribute these symptoms to anxiety or other psychological factors, which can be frustrating for patients seeking answers.
The turning point for many comes through personal research rather than medical guidance. Discovering potential connections between diet and autoimmune conditions often happens by chance, such as finding similar symptoms described in relation to celiac disease or other food-related disorders.
Initial dietary experiments typically involve eliminating common trigger foods:
Gluten
Dairy
Soy
Sugar
Processed foods
These preliminary steps sometimes yield surprising improvements. Patients report reduced joint pain, clearer skin, and decreased bloating within weeks. The dramatic response to dietary changes can challenge previous skepticism about food's impact on health conditions.
Reintroduction of certain foods becomes a revealing process. Many people experience immediate flare-ups of symptoms after consuming previously eliminated foods, providing personal evidence of dietary connections to their conditions. These experiences gradually shift their perspective from medical skepticism to dietary exploration.
University Years and Health Decline
During university, health issues intensified significantly. The combination of poor diet choices and existing conditions created a challenging environment for recovery. The university lifestyle, featuring pizza, beer, and ginger ale, led to substantial weight gain—approximately 30 pounds in the first year alone.
Mental health deteriorated alongside physical health. Depression worsened to the point of requiring antidepressant medication. Sleep patterns became severely disrupted with the development of idiopathic hypersomnia, resulting in sleeping up to 18 hours daily.
Escalating Medical Conditions
The arthritis that had been present since childhood continued to cause significant problems. The combination of arthritis, depression, and hypersomnia created an overwhelming health burden. Eventually, doctors prescribed Adderall to address the extreme fatigue and excessive sleep needs.
Weight gain manifested differently than expected. While the scale showed a 30-pound increase, the visual impact was more dramatic—dropping three pant sizes after dietary changes suggested the weight included significant bloating that had previously been constant.
Joint deterioration progressed at an alarming rate. By age 17, the damage was so severe that both hip and ankle replacements became necessary. The rheumatologist, with 20 years of experience at a children's hospital, described it as the worst case of arthritis they had ever encountered, despite not showing typical inflammatory signs.
Dermatological Struggles
Skin problems began to develop on top of existing health issues. These included persistent rashes and cystic acne, which added another layer of difficulty to an already challenging health situation.
Interactions with dermatologists proved frustrating and unproductive. Medical professionals suggested the skin conditions were self-inflicted through scratching due to anxiety, offering little meaningful assistance or treatment options.
The skin remained persistently itchy, a condition that began around age 14. This whole-body itchiness led to independent research into potential causes, including hours spent reading medical papers and searching for similar cases online.
A breakthrough came when discovering images of celiac disease rashes that matched the symptoms exactly. This self-diagnosis led to experimenting with gluten elimination, which provided about 20% improvement—enough to suggest dietary connections to the health issues but not enough for complete resolution.
University Years and Deteriorating Health
During university, health challenges became significantly worse. Poor dietary choices combined with pre-existing conditions created a perfect storm of health problems. The typical university lifestyle—pizza, beer, and excessive sugary drinks—led to approximately 30 pounds of weight gain in just the first year.
Mental health deteriorated alongside physical wellbeing. Depression deepened to the point of requiring medication, while an unusual sleep disorder developed.
Developing Additional Health Issues
The arthritis that had been present since childhood continued unabated, with the diagnosis eventually changing to juvenile idiopathic arthritis—essentially an admission that doctors couldn't determine the cause. By age 17, the damage was severe enough to require both hip and ankle replacements.
Sleep patterns became severely disrupted due to idiopathic hypersomnia, resulting in sleeping approximately 18 hours daily. This extreme fatigue eventually led doctors to prescribe Adderall.
The combination of multiple serious conditions created an overwhelming burden:
Severe arthritis affecting multiple joints
Clinical depression requiring medication
Idiopathic hypersomnia (excessive sleeping)
Persistent whole-body itchiness
These conditions made academic performance and social engagement extremely challenging during the university years.
Experience with Dermatologists
Skin problems developed on top of existing health issues, including persistent rashes and cystic acne. These visible symptoms became the tipping point, prompting more aggressive pursuit of solutions.
Interactions with dermatologists proved particularly disappointing. Medical professionals suggested the skin conditions were self-inflicted through scratching due to anxiety, offering little meaningful assistance or treatment options.
After numerous unhelpful dermatology appointments, independent research became necessary. Hours were spent studying medical papers and searching for similar cases online, eventually discovering images of celiac disease rashes that matched the symptoms exactly.
This self-diagnosis led to experimenting with gluten elimination, which provided modest improvement—approximately 20% reduction in symptoms. This partial success suggested dietary connections to the health issues and became the first step toward more comprehensive dietary changes that would eventually provide greater relief.
Discovery and Transition to a Gluten-Free Diet
Investigating Skin Concerns
After struggling with numerous health issues since childhood, including juvenile rheumatoid arthritis that led to hip and ankle replacements at age 17, the journey toward dietary changes began with persistent skin problems. These skin issues emerged during university years, adding to an already challenging health situation that included depression, idiopathic hypersomnia (sleeping about 18 hours daily), and chronic itching. When dermatologists dismissed these concerns as anxiety-induced conditions, personal research became necessary.
Hours were spent researching skin disorders online, examining medical papers, and seeking answers. This self-directed investigation eventually led to the discovery of images showing celiac disease rashes that matched the symptoms perfectly. This finding raised questions about why doctors hadn't tested for celiac disease, especially since it commonly occurs alongside other autoimmune conditions.
Recognizing Celiac Disease Symptoms
The initial experiment with eliminating gluten showed modest improvements of approximately 20% in symptoms, though seasonal factors made the results somewhat unclear. In September 2015, a naturopath-recommended elimination diet became the catalyst for more significant changes. Rather than following the prescribed food list exactly, a more intuitive approach was taken by removing suspected problematic foods:
Foods Eliminated Initially:
Dairy products
Most grains (except rice)
Soy
Sugar
Processed foods
Nightshades (tomatoes, eggplants, etc.)
Within a month of this dietary shift, joint pain decreased significantly and skin conditions that had persisted for years finally began to heal. The connection between food and symptoms became even clearer after eating homemade almond flour banana muffins (gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free) triggered a severe arthritic flare-up that affected mobility.
Following this revealing episode, stricter adherence to the elimination diet produced notable results:
Improved skin condition
Weight loss of 5 pounds
Reduction of 3 pant sizes (primarily from decreased bloating)
Decreased joint pain
These improvements confirmed that dietary factors were directly influencing the autoimmune symptoms that had been treated pharmaceutically for years.
The Diet Journey: Finding Foods That Heal
Working with a Holistic Practitioner
When dealing with severe autoimmune conditions, consulting a holistic health practitioner can offer different perspectives than conventional medicine. In many cases, these professionals provide elimination diet protocols that may seem confusing at first glance. These diets typically include lists of allowed and restricted foods that might not make immediate logical sense to patients (like why lemons are permitted but oranges aren't).
For those with conditions like juvenile rheumatoid arthritis or other autoimmune disorders, naturopaths often recommend elimination strategies when conventional treatments provide limited relief. The initial food lists may seem arbitrary, but they're typically based on common food sensitivities and inflammatory triggers. Rather than blindly following these recommendations, it's important to understand the reasoning behind them and possibly customize the approach to individual needs.
Establishing Your Safe Food Baseline
Creating a personalized list of safe foods requires careful attention to how the body responds to different food groups. The process typically begins with removing the most common inflammatory triggers:
Common Foods to Eliminate First:
Grains (especially those containing gluten)
Dairy products
Soy products
Processed foods
Added sugars
Nightshades (tomatoes, eggplants, peppers)
The foundation of a safe food list often includes simple proteins, green vegetables, and limited carbohydrate sources. Many find success with a meat-and-vegetable approach, even if this seems restrictive initially. Weight loss and reduced bloating are common early benefits, with some experiencing dramatic reductions in inflammation markers and pain levels within weeks.
Tracking reactions is crucial when reintroducing foods. Even seemingly healthy options like almond flour can trigger inflammatory responses in sensitive individuals. A single food reintroduction might cause immediate symptoms within 24-48 hours, such as joint pain, skin flares, or reduced mobility.
The most successful approach involves:
Strictly following the elimination phase
Carefully documenting reactions during reintroductions
Building a personalized "safe foods" list based on actual bodily responses
Being patient with the process, which may take several months
Notable Improvements and Dietary Challenges
Early Positive Outcomes
The initial dietary changes showed promising results. After eliminating gluten completely based on research connecting celiac disease with autoimmune disorders, symptoms improved approximately 20%. This modest improvement was difficult to attribute solely to the dietary change, as it coincided with summer months which often bring natural relief. The turning point came in September 2015 with a significant dietary restriction. By removing nightshades (tomatoes, eggplants), dairy, most grains, soy, sugar, and processed foods while maintaining a diet primarily of green vegetables, rice, and meat, remarkable improvements followed. Within a month, joint pain decreased substantially and persistent skin conditions that had resisted treatment for years finally healed. Additionally, there was a surprising reduction in bloating, resulting in a loss of three pant sizes despite only a five-pound weight reduction.
Setback Following Almond Products
A significant relapse occurred after consuming homemade almond flour banana muffins. Despite being gluten-free, sugar-free, and dairy-free, these muffins triggered an immediate adverse reaction. The day after consuming several muffins, wrist soreness appeared. Continued consumption of the remaining muffins led to a severe flare-up during a weekend cottage trip, resulting in knee pain so intense that walking became impossible. This reaction was notably more severe than typical arthritis symptoms, which usually manifested as shoulder soreness during sleep and morning wrist stiffness.
Recovery Through Dietary Discipline
Following the almond flour incident, a return to strict dietary adherence produced rapid improvement. The commitment to eliminating trigger foods resulted in:
Significant reduction in joint pain
Complete healing of persistent skin conditions
Decreased bloating and improved body composition
Better overall mobility and comfort
These improvements reinforced the connection between specific foods and inflammatory responses in the body, particularly for someone diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at age seven who had previously undergone both hip and ankle replacements at just 17 years old.
Food Reintroduction Experiments
After experiencing substantial health improvements, attempts to reintroduce certain foods began, motivated by social considerations and food cravings. The first reintroduction attempt was sour patch candy, chosen to address intense sugar cravings. This systematic approach to testing food tolerances aimed to identify specific triggers while maintaining the benefits gained through dietary changes. These carefully monitored reintroductions revealed clear connections between certain foods and immediate inflammatory responses, providing valuable information about individual food sensitivities that conventional medical approaches had not identified previously.
Final Thoughts on Diet Choices and Health Impacts
Diet choices can significantly impact health conditions, particularly for those with autoimmune disorders. At age 17, a severe case of juvenile idiopathic arthritis led to both hip and ankle replacements—an unusually early age for such procedures. Despite years of treatment with immune suppressants like Enbrel and methotrexate, the cartilage in these joints completely deteriorated.
Conventional medical approaches often overlook dietary connections to inflammatory conditions. Initial medical opinions suggested growing pains at age two, with a formal diagnosis of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis coming at age seven. By university age, the health situation had deteriorated further with multiple conditions developing simultaneously:
Severe depression requiring medication
Idiopathic hypersomnia (sleeping 18 hours daily)
Persistent whole-body itching
Weight gain of approximately 30 pounds
Skin issues including rashes and cystic acne
The turning point came through self-directed research rather than medical advice. After identifying similarities between personal symptoms and celiac disease, removing gluten from the diet produced modest improvements. A more significant breakthrough occurred when adopting an elimination diet that removed most grains, dairy, soy, sugar, and processed foods.
This dietary change led to noticeable health improvements within one month. Joint pain decreased substantially and skin conditions healed for the first time in years. The body's sensitivity became apparent when consuming homemade almond flour banana muffins triggered a severe arthritis flare-up that affected mobility.
Beyond pain reduction, the dietary changes produced unexpected benefits including reduced bloating that resulted in dropping three pant sizes despite only losing five pounds of actual weight. The stark contrast between conventional treatment outcomes and dietary intervention results raises important questions about standard approaches to autoimmune conditions.
Intense food cravings, particularly for sugar, presented significant challenges during reintroduction phases. This highlights the difficult transition period many experience when making substantial dietary changes, even when those changes produce positive health outcomes.
