Starting A Carnivore Diet

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Commitment is crucial when starting the carnivore diet, as it involves significant physical and mental adjustments. Transitioning can bring sugar cravings and some temporary side effects, such as nausea, fatigue, diarrhoea, and constipation. If you're not prepared for this, you may feel like giving up. To be forewarned is to be forearmed! 

These symptoms can last from a day to two weeks. To navigate this phase successfully, to stick with it, it's best if you can set a longer commitment window, a minimum of 30 days is recommended, but a 60-90 day commitment is ideal to allow your body time to adapt. This extended period helps you fully experience the diet's benefits. It seems that most people feel so much better, they do not want to go back to how they were eating before.

Notable carnivore diet advocates, such as Dr. Ken Berry and Dr. Shawn Baker, recommend the 30-day trial. Both doctors transitioned from keto diets and found the 30-day experiment of eliminating all plant foods, and sticking to beef, butter, bacon and eggs transformative. Like thousands of others, this is now their chosen way of eating.

The standard European diet is dominated by grains, added sugars, and vegetable oils, which together account for over 60% of its caloric intake. Research indicates that sugar is addictive and even more challenging to resist when combined with carbs and fats. We often consume junk food not because we need it, but because of its addictive nature. It's food for thought that high-sugar foods activate the brain’s reward centres even more intensely than some hard-core drugs!

Letting go of non-carnivore foods isn’t about willpower; it’s about having a plan. One of the most effective strategies for supporting your transition to the carnivore diet is to remove all non-carnivore items from your home. This way, you're not tempted every time you open the fridge door. If you are feeling hungry, and all of the foods you used to eat are sitting there looking at you, it will be much harder to stick to the diet. Much easier to avoid the temptation battles completely by not having those foods in your home at all.

Part of removing temptations involves letting your friends and family know about your carnivore diet journey. They might be surprised, so explain that you're doing this to improve your health and ask them to respect your decision without pressuring you to eat foods that don't align with your goals.

Don't worry about the temporary cravings; they will pass. You’ll soon be satisfied by nutrient-rich foods. Once your body adjusts to a healthier state and you eliminate sugar, you'll find freedom from constant hunger pangs. Your body will be satiated, and cravings will be completely gone. 

If you're like me, you'll be shocked at how suddenly you're not interested in 99% of the food in the supermarket! I used to love browsing all the stuff that I now realise was making me so ill. 

The only aisle in the supermarket that will interest you now are the butter, meat and eggs aisles! The carnivore diet focuses on low-carb, high-fat eating, so stock up on slated butter, eggs and rich, fatty meats such as ribeye steak and high-fat mince. Some people include lamb at the start of their journey too, to bring in some variation.

Try to maintain a fat-to-protein ratio of at least 1:1 by grams. Since fat has roughly twice the calories per gram compared to protein, this approach provides your body with essential fats while avoiding protein overload. I always cut a huge wedge of salted butter to go with whatever else I am eating. I find this provides me with the energy I need and leaves me feeling very satisfied after I have finished my meal. I now go easily for 16 to 18 hours after my dinner in the evening before I start to feel hungry again, the following day. Having lots of fat in my diet also helps to keep stools soft, so that going to the loo is no longer a huge battle of huffing and puffing! Stools are passed effortlessly for the first time in my life!

In addition, I add a tablespoon of beef tallow to a cup of bone broth daily, with one of my meals, to ensure I get extra fat and also nutrients essential for healthy bones. If you find it challenging to get enough fat from meat alone, you can easily do the same, and meet your macronutrient goals by adding butter, ghee, or tallow to your meals. 

Many people new to the carnivore diet are used to eating three meals a day with lots of carby / sugary snacks in between, a habit driven by the need to prevent energy crashes from high blood sugar levels. I used to feel shaky if I didn't eat every 3 / 4 hours. This completely changed when I went carnivore. 

On the carnivore diet, because you're eating only highly nutrient-dense foods and deriving energy from satisfying fats and complete proteins, blood sugar spikes and drops simply don't happen, which means the need for snacking is gone.

For most individuals, consuming 1-2 satisfying carnivore meals per day hits the mark, naturally aligning with an intermittent fasting routine (more on fasting later).

This time-honoured, healthy pattern of feasting and fasting enables your body to transition fully into "rest and digest" mode. It supports fat burning, reduces inflammation, and initiates a therapeutic process of cellular repair known as autophagy, which is a natural process the body uses to clean out damaged cells and generate new, healthy ones. This self-preservation mechanism evolved to allow the body to eliminate dysfunctional cells and recycle their components for cellular repair and maintenance.

Ruminant meats, like fatty cuts of beef, lamb and venison, should be the foundation of a well-planned carnivore diet. You could also eat bison or goat if you have it to hand. Some advocates recommend initially starting with only beef to make it easier to discover which meats, if any, your body doesn't like. If you start with just beef, you could for example, introduce lamb after one month, then venison one month later.

Ruminant animals convert the grasses they consume into nutritious saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, with minimal inflammatory polyunsaturated fatty acids.  

These meats offer the best fat-to-protein ratios and are rich in a variety of essential micronutrients.

When following the carnivore diet, focus on eating until you're comfortably satisfied without worrying about portion sizes or calorie counting. Eat until you feel full. If you are like me, you'll find that food stops tasting delicious once you have eaten enough. This is the body's way of telling you it has sufficient fuel in the system. 

Our ancestors followed a pattern of "feasting" and fasting, consuming meat while it was fresh. The modern carnivore diet, with its 1-2 meals per day, mimics this ancestral eating pattern.

For those who can, it's best to jump in, as did I, and make the switch from carbs and processed foods to a carnivore diet quickly and completely. This allows you to experience the diet's simplicity and benefits sooner. I am so glad I did this, as the benefits were very obvious within days of starting.

However, many people may find a gradual transition more manageable. 

if you want to transition slowly, you could begin by cutting out all processed foods, sugars, and grains, so remove all biscuits, cakes, bread, pasta, fruit juices, sweets, cereal etc in week one. Then, from weeks 2-4, gradually eliminate all carbs and plant-based foods (such as all vegetables, fruit, salad items).

This gradual approach gives your stomach, gallbladder, and liver time to adjust to metabolising the increased fat and protein intake. It will also minimise effects of oxalate dumping, which is the process where the body expels excess oxalates, which are naturally occurring compounds found in many fruits and vegetables. This phenomenon often occurs when someone who has been consuming a diet rich in oxalates significantly reduces their intake. Check out more oxalate dumping here.

Embrace a nose-to-tail approach by consuming all parts of the animal, including organ meats and less conventional cuts. This practice aligns with our ancestral eating habits and ensures maximum nutrient density. It also reflects a commitment to minimising waste and honouring the life of the animal.

How does your body adapt to a meat-based diet?

Stomach Acidity: Your stomach's acidity increases from a pH of 3-5, which is needed for breaking down sugars and grains, to a pH of 1.3-2.0 to digest fats and proteins effectively.

Gallbladder Function: Your gallbladder produces more bile to help digest the increased fat intake.

Gallbladder Strength: The smooth muscle of your gallbladder becomes stronger to handle more fat.

Liver Function: Your liver increases its bile storage capacity to aid in fat digestion.

During this transition, you may experience temporary digestive changes, such as diarrhoea. 

The carnivore diet is rich in nutrients, so vitamin supplements are generally unnecessary. However, digestive supplements can ease your transition to a higher-fat diet. 

Supplements like ox bile and betaine HCL can help alleviate discomfort and side effects by aiding your body's ability to produce the bile necessary to emulsify fats for absorption in the intestines. These supplements can be especially beneficial for those with IBS or IBD. I would recommend checking with your Dr or medical professional before taking supplements. 

I found that electrolyte supplements were very useful during my transition to a carnivore diet. As you cut carbs, your body releases electrolyte-rich fluids while unlocking glycogen from your muscles. This process accounts for the initial rapid weight loss of 5-25 pounds that many people experience on the carnivore diet. Electrolyte imbalance can also cause leg cramps which can be very uncomfortable. 

To maintain electrolyte balance and support your transition, be generous with salt on your meat. I always salt both sides of my steak during cooking and liberally add it to my eggs.

During the initial days of adapting to the carnivore diet, aim for about 12 grams (2 teaspoons) of salt daily. Once you are well-adjusted to the no-carb lifestyle, you can reduce this to at least 5 grams (approximately 1 teaspoon) per day.

As you transition, you'll lose fluids, so it's crucial to stay hydrated. Focus on drinking lots of still or sparkling water. 

Black coffee and tea are also acceptable beverages. While some carnivore dieters avoid them, Dr. Berry and Dr. Kiltz support their inclusion.

If you occasionally stray from the strict carnivore diet, don’t let it set you back, don't be deterred from your goal to heal. Refocus on what it is you want to achieve, review the progress you’ve made and allow yourself to feel proud that you have made a start. 

Simply get back on track and enjoy a satisfying meal, like a perfectly cooked ribeye topped with blue cheese, served with a large wedge of delicious, cold, salted butter.

Becoming part of a carnivore community, whether online or in person, can significantly impact your success with the diet. There are some great ones, such as Bella, The Steak & Butter Gal on YouTube.

These communities offer a supportive space where you can share experiences, gain insights, and learn from others who are on the same transformative journey. It can be very helpful!