Carnivore in the Wisdom Years

A little about myself first.

I’m 69, by the time my blog comes out, and my health is much transformed since I started the carnivore diet on November 12, 2018. I’ve told the story on the blog before. But a short version is that as a child I was “sickly” to quote my sister. Diagnosed with type one diabetes at 16, growing up I had suffered with frequent headaches and constipation and stomach aches and getting sick often.  Being diagnosed was a blessing because I became determined to get as healthy as possible in case a cure was ever figured out, so I could live healthfully after the cure. Then when I discovered in my 20’s that many people had figured out how to heal their own diseases by using healing therapies and diets, I believed that I too would heal my condition in this same way. Through my 20’s and 30’s

I researched health through books and was led to try every imaginable healing diet, herb, therapy, juicing, fasting in order to achieve a healing. I got close a few times but no cigar, as they say.

After many years and trial and success I found carnivore.

After one year carnivore and 2009

I found the Zeroing in on Health forum, before Facebook in 2010 and read about the early Zero Carb movement. People like Charles Washington who had been zero carb for several years and had become the picture of health, eating only meat. And Joe and Charlene Anderson who had eaten nothing but meat for the last ten years and looked 20 years younger and how Charlene had healed her many health issues. Today that 10 years has turned into 23 years and they are still a marvel. But it wasn’t enough to convince me so I started with the very low carb keto diet and waited until November 12, 2018 to start my own carnivore journey.

I’ve had many improvements in my health and I remain committed to the carnivore way of life. My issue is my friends and acquaintances and people I hear about. I hear complaints from people my age and older and even younger  about not only aches and pains but much more serious health issues and they never even think that a simple change in diet could help them. They seem to think that these issues just come with getting older. That we are supposed to become disabled as we age and succumb to pain, fatigue and diseases and mental incapacities are inevitable! I am here to say, “it is possible to feel strong and capable every day. And  to live happy and pain-free and medication-free as you age!”

How?

And why?

Succinctly, the carnivore diet consists of a diet in which only animal foods are eaten. Meat, sea food, eggs and dairy and animal fats. This diet had been written about for the last few centuries by such authors as I have collected over the years: Blake Donaldson in Strong Medicine, 1962;

Not by Bread Alone,  Vilhjalmur Steffansson, 1946;

The Relation of Alimentation and Disease by James Henry Salisbury 1888;

What Must I Do to Get Well? And How Can I Keep So, Elma Fraser Stuart, 1889.

There are more than these books written in the past about the carnivore or all meat diet that can easily be found with a little searching online.

Back to the present. Here’s a quote by Dr. Anthony Chaffee a neurosurgeon who is a proponent of the carnivore diet, having himself been eating this way for 5 years twice; it once in his 20’s and more recently again the last 5 years. I tried to get a quote from a talk on YouTube called

24 Hr Part 2: Dr. Chaffee continues to field your questions. It’s a wonderful podcast but it’s told in a more conversational way and I was unable to quote, so I will paraphrase: he states how authors, such as Steffansson, and others through the years have recommended to eat a diet consisting of meat and fat and how many people throughout the world have now tried this ancestral diet and have improved all their markers of health,  dropped their A1c, improved mitochondrial function and all other markers. He went on to say that in the 1800’s Dr. Salisbury was curing people of things like Rheumatoid arthritis, tuberculosis, gout and Crohn’s disease with an all meat and water diet. And that Salisbury reported that native Americans living on an all meat diet were the healthiest population  and tallest in the world at the time and living to 115 and 120 routinely. That he was reversing diseases which were thought to be unable to be reversed.

I posed a question on several Carnivore FaceBook groups to get some testimonials from the Elders of these groups because when I am researching I’m always interested in reading and hearing testimonies from people practicing what I am looking into. I know the science and studies can be manipulated by whoever is doing the study and I tend to trust individuals with their own experience. Here’s my question I posed:

I am writing a blog on The Wisdom Years and Carnivore.  It seems that most of the carnivore experts are comparatively young. And I’m writing this blog for my friends, my family and others who are older and doubting how the carnivore or all meat diet could be a good thing. I’m 69 this month and have been carnivore for nearly 5 years. What can I  tell my older friends who are cautious to start this diet—- I’m talking 70’s-100’s.

This was a very popular topic and I got more answers and lively engagement than I ever have on any other topic I might post about.  So at least I know there are a lot of us older individuals who are pursuing this way of eating.

I’ll paraphrase some answers:

LB: Carnivore is very helpful as we age. It helps to combat sarcopenia, give you energy, helps with joints and ensures retention of muscle. Helps you maintain weight. The Standard American Diet, and vegetarian diets will cause loss of muscle and bone and may cause broken bones and falls. Next she mentions the dementia epidemic, the brain being mostly fat benefits from the carnivore diet and eating more fat.

I also received answers from doctors about their older patients, SY “I’m finding my older patients surprisingly open to carnivore. Just yesterday I heard that the mother of one of my patients who lives in a nursing home, tried carnivore and is having amazing results.

Many just say that they feel better than they ever have and wished they had heard about carnivore years ago.

C M Tells the story of his mother dying from full blown dementia at only 64 along with kidney disease caused from years of type 2 diabetes, while he is eating carnivore restoring his healthy blood sugar at age 53.

AW Instructs me to tell them: “ [Carnivore] will get rid of their heartburn, arthritic pain, elevated blood pressure and cholesterol issues.”

JM says: reduction of arthritis, better sleep and more energy.

GE has good results reducing rheumatoid arthritis symptoms and gaining strength, energy, metal acuity. Saying it’s the “best anti-aging protocol there is.” She’s 70.

JB calls the switch to carnivore from the keto diet has been transformational for her body and metabolism, active 76 year old woman.

And I’ll just quote Dana Spencer Shute, as she is a 14 year carnivore—-“I think this diet can greatly improve your quality of life, especially as you age. My husband will be 70 this year. He has no grey hair, he is on no medications, he’s healthy and is as active and strong as he’s ever been.”

GE said: I’m 70, have RA, on carnivore since 2018. Best thing I ever did. Increased strength, energy, mental acuity. Best anti-aging protocol there is. Has all necessary vitamins, minerals, etc. Rebuilding after years of damage, keeps doctors away.

Many simply say Transformational or I’m feeling the best I have ever felt!

Stephen Thomas, who has an excellent YouTube channel and is a Diabetes Educator and specialist and a phlebotomist states:

I'm 59 and I have clients in their 60s 70s and 80s. Benefits are reduced joint pain. Gut health improving, more energy and a spontaneous desire to start to lift weights! I have a few on my YouTube success stories playlist. Cognitive ability and recall improves dramatically. The reasons are removing seed oils and carbs, thus less inflammation and clearer signaling from hormones. This is two fold as hormone co-factors are now more readily available to make them! I would say skin improves, they look younger and some see grey hairs start to change and new growth can have slightly more of the person's original pigmentation.

When I was a raw vegan from 2003-2010 I developed very sore joints mostly when I tried to take walks. Walking was so painful! I was nearing ready to start using a cane!  Hi I didn’t realize until I started eating meat on the ketogenic locavore diet that my pain was from a protein deficiency. I found a few articles about protein deficiency.

The 8 symptoms of protein deficiency as reported on Healthline in an article by Alti Arnason BSc PhD

These symptoms may very well be seen as symptoms of aging:

1. Edema

2. Fatty liver

3. Skin, hair and nail problems

4. Loss of muscle mass

5. Greater risk of bone fracture

6. Stunted growth in children (doesn’t apply here but is still interesting.)

7. Increased severity of infections

8. Greater appetite and calorie intake. (Not specifically age related but many people blame weight gain on menopause or aging)

And here’s a few more from an article by Erin Heger

“Symptoms of protein deficiency include fatigue, weakness, thinning of hair, brittle nails and dry skin.”

Once again these could all be seen as signs of aging.

Encouragement:

1. The carnivore diet includes all the necessary nutrients for a good healthy diet.

2. Many have found that the Carnivore Diet of beef, butter, bacon and eggs much less expensive than the Standard American Diet, or the Plant Based Diet. I myself, spend about $50 per week on groceries. When you exclude all packaged food except of course bacon, the only food I buy with an ingredient list, you are spending a lot less.

3. Try it for 30 days or better yet 90 days. I started with trying it for 30 days on November 12, 2018 and then I liked it so much I kept going!

4. Why did I like it so much?

     No aches or pains at 69

     No headaches

     No allergies

     No floaters in my eyes

     I don’t get sore after a new        

        exercise

      I have energy to exercise

      Easier to cook

      No chopping vegetables

      No need for a compost

      No stinky garbage

      Grocery shopping is so much

         easier, I’m in and out in a few

         minutes. I’m shopping one

         department.

Grocery list:

   Beef

   Butter

   Bacon

   Eggs

I’ll leave you with this challenge.

Try it for 30 days and let me know how you feel and how you like it.

And let me know if you would like me to be your coach.

Email aimeefieldsperrin@gmail.com

Instagra: @aimeefieldsperrin

FaceBook Aimee Fields Perrin

DM me on Instagram  or  Message me on Facebook Messenger or  email me or leave a comment here.

Thank you for reading!

Links for further research.

65-Year-Old Man Defies Aging with Carnivore Diet: His Astonishing Transformation!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLFyyayG3mo&feature=youtu.be

Rancher and Carnivore for OVER 65 Years! (You Won't Believe Her Age!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnWdsEzx8F0&feature=youtu.be

80 Years Old and Thriving on an All-Meat Carnivore Diet | Mary Fields Interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XLKySV0-o8&feature=youtu.be

78 Years Young and Healing with Carnivore

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IafqZq-k8M8&feature=youtu.be

Carnivore Diet 101

https://www.doctorkiltz.com/carnivore-diet/

You Can’t Go Back

This amazing before and after photo is used by permission from Steak and Butter Gal or Bella Ma, and is from her YouTube channel where she tells the story of how the carnivore diet healed acne and other skin conditions.

If I’m right about tetracycline ultimately causing my type one diabetes, am I wishing I could go back and change things? No, of course not. Let me explain. When I was 15, I had acne, all over my face. I hated it! My mom took me to a dermatologist, who prescribed tetracycline, a very strong antibiotic as well as pretty serious external applications of lotions and potions for my face. In my memory, I took this antibiotic for a solid year.

This was the same year I started feeling terrible, I couldn’t even complain because it wasn’t really describable——General malaise, stomach didn’t feel right, no energy. Sure, I complained to my mom, and I’ve told this before—- she took me to our family doctor, who literally rolled his eyes at her, and made her feel stupid for bringing her daughter to the doctor for such frivolous symptoms. I got a B12 shot and my mother was told it was “growing pains”. Here’s where I mention the year was 1970.

Several months go by and there’s no improvement. Then, in April 1971, the classic signs of type one diabetes, excessive thirst and weight loss, and lethargy begin.

But, because of how my mother had been treated by the doctor, in her heart, in total humiliation—- she was unable to take me back. Then, I started to “spot” in my underwear between periods, and Mom was almost relieved. She could take me to a gynecologist! Long story short, this gynecologist diagnosed me partly from smelling my breath, (breath smells strong in a state of heavy and dangerous keto acidosis) partly from hearing my symptoms, and partly from a urine sugar test. And we were told to come to the hospital the next morning. I spent a week at the hospital learning how to give a shot, all about insulin, and given the exchange list of foods and my new diet. But that is another story, maybe my next blog.

At the time, I didn’t make the connection of tetracycline and the diagnosis of type one diabetes or t1d. But after reading about the many side effects of this particular drug and this study:

“Here we review experiences that were made from using a tetracycline-inducable promoter system (tTA-system)to express TNBFalpha at various time during an ongoing autoimmune process, such as the destruction of pancreatic bet-cells in a mouse model for human type 1 diabetes.”

I’m actually not sure this means anything except that the possibility exists that type one diabetes could maybe have been caused by long-term usage of tetracycline. Does it matter? No, I’ve still got t1d, I can’t change that. Ultimately I don’t think it really matters what the cause, in my case was. “Causes include viral, infections, vaccines, lower levels of vitamin D, increased insulin demand” reported by diabetes.co.uk. In my research, I’ve found additional causes are heredity, environmental toxins, (tetracycline), and triggers such as gluten.

The purpose of this blog though, was not to stir up emotions on figuring out the exact cause, it was to talk about what if I hadn’t had acne as a teenager? Or was able to heal acne using the carnivore diet?

I have listened to countless podcasts and read innumerable testimonials about the carnivore diet improving the health of individuals. Many individuals healed serious conditions such as type 2 diabetes, bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, rheumatoid arthritis, IBS, Crohn’s disease, lupus, and ACNE, and other serious skin conditions like psoriasis and eczema. I’ve heard of many, many cases of acne among adults clearing up on the carnivore diet. But, until recently there weren’t very many teenagers involved in the carnivore diet, although lately there have been more and more.

On a podcast on YouTube called Carnivore Vitality, 2 Month Update (18 years old)

Among a very long list of ailments that these 2 teenagers, 18-year-old men, mentioned that got better, acne meds were listed, and acne was mentioned. In the second video on these fellow’s channel, Carnivore Vitality entitled The Carnivore Diet Saved My Life, in this almost 9 minutes remarkable video, not only talks about healing cystic acne and bad skin but also being able to avoid painful side effects of the acne drug Accutane among many more conditions healing.

I’ve also been told by a woman who is in a carnivore group that I’m in, that her 13-year-old son’s acne cleared up after he started a mostly carnivore diet.

And a YouTube channel called Carnivore Camaraderie by Joey Schwartz, another 18-year-old tells how the carnivore diet cleared his skin of rosacea.

Additionally, an excellent article on Carnivore Insider called Beat Acne and Skin Problems with a Carnivore Diet by author Paul Nganga, mentions plant toxins could be blocking certain nutrients, like zinc that could be preventing acne and that the carnivore diet simply is anti-inflammatory, removing inflammation removes acne!

https://carnivoreinsider.com/beat-acne-and-skin-problems-with-carnivore-diet/

I’m hoping my blog will be encouraging to young people who are experiencing teenage or adult acne to avoid medication and try the carnivore diet! Yes, I can’t go back, but you can go forward to beautiful skin and a beautiful life.

Carvinvore Youtube Channels

https://www.youtube.com/c/CarnivoreCamaraderie

https://youtu.be/l5pEZDQvOko

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNfwhvjR5aIn5t4mKmlsWTQ

My Trip to the Holistic Dentist

My long awaited dentist appointment! February 8,2022.

I love my new dentist! I’ve been wanting to go to a holistic dentist for many years. I had had a consultation with one an hour from my home, but the estimate for my case was $10,000! And that was way more than I was ready to shell out—-so it was put on the back burner for many years.

My friends, Anthony and Leslie told me about their wonderful dentist in Scottsdale, Arizona—-a little far, but, who knows—-they loved her. I saved her information with hope attached.

Things lined up beautifully and I was able to fly out from Maine to Scottsdale, for an appointment, stay at my sister-in-laws, in Mesa AZ. They are all very close together—-the cities kind of melt into each other, Phoenix—Mesa—Scottsdale and more.

Dr. Krystyna Wolski came highly recommended, like I said by my friends, I figure its always good to to get a hardy recommendation for something like a dentist!

Dr.Wolski is not only a dentist from Poland, but also an MD and a doctor of Homeopathy!

So, I go into the office, fill out a patient form with all the medical history, and then we meet. I’m laying down in the dentist chair—- she floats her hand over my body, in her other hand she has a bobbing stick, or dowsing rod. The stick moves up and down energetically while her hand passes over my head. Then it starts to slow way down as she heads down my throat and body. She measures my energy like this for a few minutes—— I Love this stuff! This experience is certainly very different than any other dentist appointment I’ve ever had!

She’s “reading my body’s energy”. The energy is slow or “blocked” over the location of my thyroid gland. No surprises there, my hair has been falling out a little bit. Lungs and stomach seem fine—-stick is bobbing nicely. Then down a little farther, she asks if I’ve had any surgeries, perhaps a cesarean? Uh, yes, 2! She informs me that where I was cut forms a major blockage and that I will not heal if I don’t get that scar unblocked. I seem to remember something about being “blocked” by that surgery, but didn’t know there was something that could be done about it to unblock it!

I agreed to the treatment, it was an additional $120, and I didn’t want to be blocked from healing and I was so damn curious by now!

Dr. Krystyna had me undo my pants to expose my scar and proceeded to inject lidocaine in several places along the scar, a scar that is 36 years and 31 years old. The injections went in at a very low angle and not very deep. When she finished she immediately asked me if I felt anything different, any shift in my energy. I wasn’t really sure, if I did, it was subtle, maybe I did feel it. I seemed to be feeling a lifting of a downward energy, so a releasing of a negative that continued for the rest of the day.

Next she started cleaning my teeth. Scraping off the “calculus” or tartar or plaque off my teeth. I have been avoiding dentists for about 14 years, so there was a lot of build up of calculus. It broke off in hard pieces that looked like broken pieces of china.

Before she started this process, before she even looked in my mouth, she had put her hand over my face and said, “Is this the tooth that is the problem?” She hadn’t looked in my mouth or at the X-ray I had brought. Yes the very broken tooth had to be extracted. Fourteen years ago that tooth had been infected, my body developed a systemic infection, low fever and achiness. At the time, my naturopath talked me into a root canal even though I knew a root canal was not a healthy choice and in hindsight I should’ve gotten the tooth pulled then. A root canal basically kills the tooth and then you have a dead tooth in your mouth, which is never a good idea. They drill out the root and put metal down where the root was and for some people root canals can cause serious illness. —— —— On a side note, my mom had had several root canal done at one time over several months and then became ill and was diagnosed with ALS and died 2 years later———- If you want to know more about health and dentistry read DR. Weston A. Price’s book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. Or go to www.westonaprice.org search article Root Cause.

Anyway, I reluctantly had the root canal done 14 years ago, and was fine. But a few years ago the tooth cracked and a big piece of the dead tooth broke off, fast forward a few years while on a trip with my husband, Dennis Perrin to teach painting workshops—- we were having a steak dinner and I bit down on something metal. I though it was something from the kitchen and we might get a free steak. I called out server over and showed her the metal thing I retrieved from my mouth and she said, I quote, “This looks like some kind of Dental work!” I said,”oh no! That’s my root canal!”

So—- I’ve had this dead broken, jagged tooth in my mouth for a long while. Dr. Domink Nichwitzor, @drdome on instagram, a holistic dentist in Germany who I follow on instagram had a recent post about how bad it is for your health to have root canals because you basically have a dead, rotting tooth in your mouth. Hence, after seeing that post I wanted to see this holistic dentist of Anthony and Leslie’s even more. Besides the 5 metal fillings containing the deadly metal, mercury, that I hadn’t mentioned that I also wanted to get removed and replaced with porcelain. You can read about amalgam fillings in a book, It’s All in Your Head by Hal Huggins.

Come to find out the metal fillings will have to wait for my next trip out to warm Arizona, because after my tooth extraction, I will have a big raw hole in my mouth, where my tooth was and we don’t want things like mercury to fall in the hole and be directly absorbed into my body, now do we? The hole will have to heal, so I will plan another trip out here next winter.

I asked Dr. Krystyna about my hands—- dupuytren contracture—-nine solidly bent fingers with hardened tendons in my palm and along my fingers. She thought for a moment and then asked if I know about comfrey. “Well Yes!” I said it grows out in the field and my husband used it on his hernia. We found these Comfrey Poultices on line, that he used for 10 days and it healed his hernia! And I still have some! She said, “Sleep with the poultice on your hands every night with gloves!” I said I can’t wear gloves,” “So, find mittens!”, she says. I am so excited about possibly healing my hands! Actually I had forgotten this conversation until I’m typing this right now! Website for the Comfrey Poultice www.herniaremediation.org . So, ill have to get right on that!

To be continued——

So I went back to Dr. Wolski 2 weeks later, meanwhile; walking in the AZ sunshine everyday; to have my tooth extracted to finish my teeth cleaning. This is when she told me I will have to go to a dentist to have my teeth cleaned every 3 months!

The scraping and cleaning was pretty rough and painful, I won’t lie! I kept wincing in pain. No offense, but Dr. Wolski is from Poland and her dentistry wasn’t the gentle type, to say the least. She is kind because she wants to help people not suffer with their health, but she is not gentle, there’s a difference. Then after the cleaning and scraping was finished she started on the extraction.

OMG! The tooth was broken in several pieces, every time she pulled one piece out, it was like having a whole tooth pulled, but then there was another piece. I didn’t count. I was braced for deep pain. I was in terror! There were at least 6-7 separate pieces each as bad as the first. I wished I could’ve passed out!

When she was finished with the pulling, the gum bled and bled, she packed it with gauze, which Dr. Wolski said to leave alone for a few hours. She then mixed a liquid homeopathic for the exact tooth that she had pulled. I was to take a dropper full every 15 minutes for a few hours, then once every hour for the rest of the day.

A note about Dr.Krystyna Wolski, she is the only one who works in her office, no dental hygienist, no receptionist, no staff to take insurance information, only her to do it all!

My niece picked me up and we headed to REI to get the Aquamira Water Treatment. I was instructed to put 3 drops of Part A and 3 drops of Part B in 2 ounces of water and rinse after I brush my teeth after every meal to cut down on plaque build up and to get my teeth cleaned every 3 months.

After I got home and rested for a few hours I took out the gauze, and my gum started to bleed profusely. I almost called Dr.Wolski but I didn’t want to bother her, so instead I repacked it with more gauze my sister-in-law had and bit down for another hour or two and the bleeding seemed to have stopped. At one point, I got up from resting in bed, to spit blood in the bathroom sink. I was a little scared! But, like I said it did finally stop.

My life is funny though…. I rested the whole remainder of the day and put on a Netflix movie to watch called Radium Girls—- about young women in the 1920’s working in a clock face factory, painting decorative clock faces with Radium before it was known to be harmful. The girls got very sick, because they licked their paint brushes to get the point on the paint brush. The movie showed one very sick girl spitting blood in the sink! This scene looked exactly like my experience of spitting blood in the sink. Cosmic coincidence! Anyway it was a very good movie about fighting for what you believe.

I did need to rest in bed for 2 days. I took a break from walking. I still ate my regular carnivore diet, mostly eggs and ground beef and butter just chewing on the other side of my mouth very carefully.

My face was swollen and bruised, I continued to take the homeopathic. I got the sniffles for 2 days so I took lots of droppers of Sovereign Silver, which I highly recommend anytime you think you might be coming down with something. I took a few droppers every time the sniffles would start—- it actually made the sniffles stop for a few hours and when they came back I would take a few more droppers. Amazing stuff!

So. I figured I might as well put Sovereign Silver on my gum too.

Now 2 weeks later I’m mostly healed, my face isn’t swollen but my gum is still soft and a bit swollen, but healing nicely.  I find myself eating slower, concentrating on carefully eating on the other side, eating my regular carnivore diet of an occasional steak, mostly burgers, butter, eggs and bacon.

Since I’m still traveling, I’m still drinking decaf Americanos and using a little stevia.

I want to say, I feel a stricter period coming up where I plan on eating only beef salt and water, still high fat for healing, just to see how I can improve my health and how low my insulin dose can go. Next blog will be featuring this said experiment.

Bye for Now,

Aimee

P.S. oh! I forgot—Dr. Krystyna Wolski also lazered the growth off the inside of my lip caused from scarring from biting my lip, not chewing absentmindedly but accidentally several times. It was a nasty scar that could be seen when I talked. This was worth the whole trip for me! Yay!

April 20, 2022

And how am I feeling now? And was it worth it? I’m sure that’s what you want to know. I’m glad I made the trip, I loved walking in the sunshine of Arizona, I loved walking to the coffeehouse every day, I loved visiting with my family and I loved the experience with the dentist. I loved seeing the energy in my body make that stick bounce up and down. I love having the scar on the inside of my lip gone, and I love having the jagged tooth gone. Do I feel any different with my energy unblocked from the scar across my belly? Actually, I don’t know. I feel less afraid to take on new adventures. I feel more confident in who I am, but who’s to say if I would’ve felt that way if I hadn’t had the unblocking done. I can believe it if I want to.

“First, every day I would put all of my conscious attention on this intelligence within me and give it a plan, a template, a vision with very specific orders, and then I would surrender my healing to this greater mind that has unlimited power, allowing it to do the healing for me. And second, I wouldn’t let any thought slip by my awareness that I didn’t want to experience.” Dr.Joe Dispenza

PPS May 16,2022 I’ve since quit drinking coffee, and using stevia and I plan very soon to go strict carnivore, as in only beef, lamb, salt and water. I’ve been drinking hot water to replace the coffee and I find it pleasant enough. More on this in my next blog. Thank you for reading! Leave me a comment.

Evaluation of the Clean Carnivore Challenge

I had started the Clean Carnivore Challenge on July 1, 2020. The challenge started as a beef and salt and water healing diet. I had asked on social media, mostly within the “type one diabetic carnivores” fb group for friends to join-in with me and I set up a FB messenger group. Who wanted to join me in the month-long challenge of using a beef and salt and water to see if we could reduce our insulin and attempt to possibly get off insulin injections and to heal type one diabetes. We were a small group in the beginning that included 5 type one diabetics who had already been successful in getting off insulin injections. Eventually the group grew to 45 individuals and the decision to keep going after the month  was over was made. 

Today is September 16. Most of us had to quit coffee, eggs, dairy, stevia, butter, other meats,  like I did. We also realized that we could add lamb as well because it is a ruminant animal like cows. 

The whole reason for starting such a challenge is that I had met someone on line who had been able to discontinue insulin injections by eating only fatty beef, someone who had been taking insulin for type one diabetes for 13 years, and she was still free from insulin injections for an entire year. The REASON why this simple diet works is partly because a person could have sensitivity to almost any other food besides a ruminant animal like beef and lamb, the most nutrient dense single food,  and the fat is added for keeping you in a state of nutritional ketosis in order to facilitate healing.

So, it’s been two and a half months and I thought it would be a good time to check-in.

Many of us were able to reduce our insulin doses, including me. So far I have reduced my insulin from 14-16 total units to about 8-10 total units. Many nights I was able to not even take my overnight basal shot, and still wake up with very good blood sugars. My only cheat was a few decaf americano coffees, which I think was responsible for causing me to need overnight insulin again, just one unit, though. I did drink decaf this last week, but realized that it caused my blood pressure to be too high, so I’m back off.

Right now, for a few days, I’m eating some eggs and bacon, because I missed them so much! The psychological pressure of denying myself was really getting to me. My husband commented that I was “white knuckling it”. Maybe not the best way to heal! I’ll be watching my blood sugars over the next few days and if they go up, I’ll go back to complete Clean Carnivore or fatty ruminants. 

I haven’t had the kinds of improvements that I was hoping for, yet. Is it possible for me, someone who was diagnosed 49 years ago, to produce new beta cells, to produce enough insulin to keep good blood sugars? I have reduced my insulin by about a third, I feel amazing and  my body has lost a few pounds of fat. My last A1c a measurement of average blood sugars for the last 120  days, is 5.6, better but not as good as I would like, it should be somewhere between 4.6- 5.3. I won’t introduce any other additional foods until I evaluate eggs and bacon.

Here’s a testimonial from one of our challenge members, Lori, who’s had a type 1 for 45 years, almost as long as me:

“I started this challenge after 1.5 years carnivore.  I gave up eggs, pork, fish, poultry, butter, raw cream and coffee.  Earlier in September I had pork and coffee two times but I'm going to continue beef only for the rest of the month.  October 1st I'll have labs to determine how the diet has affected A1C, etc.  Then I plan to add eggs for a few weeks, then pork, etc,  giving each addition a good trial before adding another.  I've had reduced joint inflammation and lost 8 pounds.  I lowered insulin levels by half with much less protein but could not sustain it.  Currently I'm taking a total of 10 to 11 units insulin daily, about 20% less than I started with.  The biggest benefit I've seen is stabilization of BG when I eat the same foods in the exact same amounts everyday.  I have developed leg cramping at night, a slight headache and feel more tired than usual the past few weeks.  I started electrolytes and iodine which seemed to help initially but then had  cramping last night and a headache this morning, not a usual occurrence for me.  I'm not really wanting to supplement so I'll add other carnivore foods and then may even try small amounts of avocado, lettuce, fermented cabbage, we'll see.”

So, here I am, after my break, going back to all beef and lamb and these animal’s fat, and salt and happy to be here at least until the end of September! And I’ll be blogging again around the first of October with my results!

679 Days Carnivore

Now, who doesn’t want a delicious ribeye with all of the fat?

Perfect blood sugar is possible on a zero carb diet!

Eating out at a restaurant in NYC is no problem! Lamb chops!!

I’m not too proud to chew the bone in public!

Clean Carnivore Challenge

I’m announcing my Clean Carnivore Challenge which I’m starting on July 1, 2020.

What is it? 

I’ve asked a group of mostly type one diabetics to join me for the month of July, eating only Fatty Beef and other ruminant animals like lamb and then note if they are able to reduce their insulin doses or if they experience improvements in the way they feel.

For me that means

1. No decaf

2. No stevia

3. No eggs

4. No bacon or other pork, no bacon grease to cook in either

5. I plan to eat only beef, beef tallow, beef fat

6. When I start the challenge I’ll eat only grassfed beef, hopefully from a local farm.  

Enjoying some hot water at the coffeehouse!

Now here’s my why: 

My health has already greatly improved on the Carnivore Diet so I’m all-in on that, if you’ve been reading my past blogs, you’ll know. But the type one diabetes has been holding steady, blood sugars are about the same as they were on Keto and so is my insulin dose. I was certainly hoping for more improvement on the Carnivore Diet. There has been a slight improvement after giving up dairy and butter and switching to decaf, I was able to drop my dose a couple of units, which is very good. But I wanted to find out if it is possible for me, after 49 years of taking insulin injections to be able to completely heal and discontinue exogenous insulin altogether.

Then I met 2 individuals, Andrew and Rachel, through the FB group Type one Diabetic Carnivores. Andrew had been diagnosed a couple of years ago and had been able to reduce his insulin down to zero. Rachel had been diagnosed a full 13 years ago and has reduced her insulin down to zero as well, and for an entire year! Both of them by just eating fatty beef. I believe Andrew has included lamb and organ meat, but Rachel has done it by eating only fatty beef. I had heard of type one diabetics being able to extend the honeymoon by a severe diet change, meaning when a person is first diagnosed they may still have some insulin producing beta cells alive and may be able to reduce their insulin to zero, but for someone who has had type one diabetes for 13 years to discontinue injected insulin, that was super exciting!

i wanted to try this fatty beef thing! But could I give up bacon and eggs? Could I give up coffee altogether and most importantly coffeehouses? If you follow me at all you know my love of coffeehouses, especially on our travels! So I know I needed support. I cooked up the July 1st Clean Carnivore Challenge and invited other type one diabetics to join me on this challenge and give each other support on a group on FB messenger. So far we are a group of excited individuals ready to try this together for a month. It took my friend Rachel 5 months before she was able to just not take any insulin, but I figure that in one month, we will be able to tell if it could work for us and if it would be worth it to continue.

One of our favorite spots — Prescott Park!

Today is June 23, so 7 more days, but I’ve tried a few meals of only beef and beef fat and I’ve enjoyed them, I’ve had a few breakfasts with no bacon and I’ve gotten through them. And basically I’m looking so forward to this challenge that I’m probably going to start a few days early as we run out of eggs and coffee! I’m not quitting decaf at the coffeehouse until July 1 though! 

An all beef diet has helped many people heal many conditions and I’m very excited for our intrepid group of type one diabetics to break the Uncurable Mold! If anyone wants to join let me know!