A version one step more extreme than the carnivore diet. The lion diet became popular after Mikhaila Peterson spoke up about how eating just red/ruminant meat, salt and water has put her Juvenile Idiopathic arthritis into remission. Out of desperation of not being able to get my autoimmune arthritis symptoms under control through natural and allopathic methods I decided to give it a go. Here is what happened... Well firstly... I didn’t die…
And secondly I am actually gobsmacked by how I felt only eating what gets touted as something you should only eat twice a week with fears about it's saturated fat levels and "artery clogging" properties.
There seems to be a big movement at the moment where everyone is in a debate as to what the healthiest diet is for us human beings. As someone who has seen the effect diet has first hand on her health and autoimmune conditions I have always been curious as to what diets are working for what conditions and why!
Before my double hip replacement in 2022 I was a vegan…well even more extreme I was a whole food vegan who was gluten free and followed what is deemed online as a super healthy cleansing diet for optimal health. I was smashing loads of fresh pressed juices and smoothies and doing enemas and taking herbs all to ensure my bowels were clear and my health was “optimum”. I made sure I was eating enough calories and following all the advice from so called “experts” online in the plant based field. But honestly I was bloated, gassy, miserable, moody all the time, immensely tired and my bowel habits were all over the place from diarrhoea one day to constipation the next. I initially started eating this way to reduce symptoms of psoriatic arthritis, chronic fatigue, hypothyroidism and IBS. Honestly it made me feel shit.
Prior to eating vegan I had tried keto, paleo and the macrobiotic diet. It's been a long 10 year journey of experimenting with food and diet.
I slowly started incorporating meat back into my diet when my surgeon told me that my blood work was awful and he would not operate until I got my protein, B12 and iron levels up to a good level. I didn't need to be told I needed to start eating meat again but it was confirmed when he said start eating steak and protein like your life depends on it…because it does. And he was right, it did. I was stick thin with nothing left in the tank and my health was deteriorating very fast. I was pale, had no muscle mass and a shell of my former self. I was sick of looking 9 months pregnant due to the high volume of fibre, beans, nuts and seeds I was consuming so I really didn't need any further convincing to swap them out for meat.
I got my levels up quickly thanks to adding a bit of eggs, chicken and fish to my diet and underwent the big surgery. 6 months down the track post surgery I was still suffering from high levels of horrible autoimmune symptoms including fatigue, joint swelling and pain, brain fog, headaches, muscle pain, low thyroid function and low mood. I had worked my way through a few different medications for psoriatic arthritis at this stage and was so fed up with feeling like crap I decided to give carnivore a go after reading Mikaela Petersons journey with arthritis and the lion diet and how it helped her put symptoms into remission.
I have always held an open mind and been open to experimenting on my health in the name of feeling better so it wasn’t hard for me to throw my hands in the air, say F*$% it and go cold turkey overnight eating only red meat, salt and water. There is no way I want any more joint replacement surgeries in this lifetime.
I started with a goal of 1 week just to see….but after one week I was honestly gobsmacked by the results and committed to doing 30 days. 30 days turned into 6 weeks and here is what happened:
All joint and muscle pain was gone
Brain fog had gone
I felt no anxiety for the first time ever…honestly had no idea what it felt like to not be anxious all the time
I had steady energy with no dips
I could run and walk up hills
I wasn’t bloated and didn’t need to hold in my stomach to avoid looking 9 months pregnant
I could breathe easier without the swelling in my abdomen from being bloated 24/7
I had SO much free time not thinking about what to eat, and easier cooking (I just threw a steak in the air fryer, sprinkled some salt on it and wallah)
I gained a lot of muscle effortlessly without working out
My eyes went super bright, and the white became so clear
My skin was glowing
Now if that were the only effects of eating just meat I would be running around screaming at the top of my lungs about this miracle cure but with all those good things also came a few not so nice side effects. These included:
Harder time passing stools (there are massive debates in the carnivore community as to whether that simply means we are digesting all our food with less waste…I’m not sure I believe this and even though I wasn’t in pain I felt I needed to poo more quite frankly)
I got haemorrhoids for the first time in my life, feel for anyone who has suffered with these bad boys.
I slept less…again another debate as to how much sleep we actually need but I do feel better on 7-8 hours rather than the 5 I was getting.
I lost too much weight for me.
So why did I stop ultimately?
Mainly because of the weight loss. I was already severely underweight due to the year I had and health challenges I faced so I decided to add a few things back into my diet.
I began adding some berries, avocado, ghee, squash and experimented with some raw dairy.
This helped with the weight gain and with sleeping more and also the butt issues. Hallelujah for that.
Do I feel as good physically as when I was just eating meat? No. But for me I had to weigh out other health problems and find the right balanced diet for me at this time. I will definitely do a “meat cleanse” again as I felt it did my body some good (better than any juice or water cleanse I've done) but I will be continuing to experiment with other foods to see what my body tolerates without flaring up. Currently I try to do a couple of meat only days per week with other foods on other days.
As someone who works in the health and healing world some people are outraged that I would choose to eat meat...and so much meat. There’s a huge stigma that you can’t be “spiritual” and eat meat. I beg to differ…I could not tap into my intuition, higher self or even meditate or move my body whilst I was shoving in plants and juices. As soon as I took these out of my body and felt ease through it I began to get stronger messages come through and more energy to then facilitate workshops and classes to help others. I finally had the energy to contribute to the world rather than lie in bed all day feeling like crap. I don't believe as "spiritual" beings we were sent to live this human experience just to feel like crap and not be able to shine in this world.
I always source grass fed organic meat and chat to the butchers and farmers I buy from, making sure their animals are treated well.
Do I sometimes wish I could post pretty bowls of acai topped with colourful fruits, nuts and seeds on instagram with the hastag #healthyeating - yeah, I went through a stage of wishing this. But I honestly don’t feel that is healthy for my body anymore or even most bodies. So if you see more steaks on my feed, that’s just me trying to overthrow the fear that meat is bad for you or that you can’t be spiritual AND eat meat. These beliefs need to go…
We need to realise we are all individual beings who need different nutrients and diets at different times in our lives. I wish to live in a world where we all support each others eating choices and all share things that help others to feel their best without the arguing or judgments.
I hope this post inspires you to listen to your bodies cravings and not follow one dogmatic way of eating.
I would love to hear from you if you have tried carnivore or other therapeutic diets for your health challenges. Please leave a comment or reach out with your story :)