It’s 2018!

You know what that means? (Of course you do, you read the title of this post.)

It’s WORLD CARNIVORE MONTH, which is conveniently timed to coincide with both the new year’s resolution crowd and with #veganuary.

I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather spend the month eating steak than raw carrots.

Most people think that eating only meat is extremely weird (which, yes it is) and/or potentially unhealthy (I disagree). If you’re one of the intrepid few who is doing some research before diving in, here are some quick resources for you.

Disclaimer: I’m biased, as my health has improved dramatically after becoming a strict carnivore.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you poop?

Yes, all of us poop. I myself have gone from nothing but off-the-charts urgency to fairly civilized, almost gentlemanly poops. (FYI, I have a digestive-themed autoimmune illness.) Others have had their constipation relieved. It varies, but the general consensus is “no pooping problems, other than a smaller volume of waste.”

What about scurvy?

I’ve never heard of a case of scurvy amongst the zero carb crowd. Even those who have been eating nothing but meat for 10 or 20 years are scurvy-free. It turns out that vitamin C and glucose share similar molecular structures, so if one is not digesting glucose, one can be super-efficient digesting vitamin C (and there is vitamin C in meat, believe it or not). This topic is discussed more during Shawn Baker’s appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast.

Isn’t it expensive?

It can be, if you eat nothing but wagyu tenderloin (although I wouldn’t recommend that because the tenderloin doesn’t have much fat). Typically I spend between $10 and $15 per day on food. I’ll eat a 2 or 3 lb meatloaf, plus some cheese, coffee, and maybe a little butter.

How do you get all the nutrients you need?

Easy, through beef. I eat plants like everybody else…they’re just pre-digested. 😉

Do I have to eat grassfed?

Nope! Any meat is fine.

I don’t eat many carbs…how is that different?

It’s incredibly different, believe it or not. My journey to carnivory started when I was following a ketogenic diet last year. I lost weight, sure, but my body was stressed out and my digestive system was not improving. Switching to “zero” carbs has made a world of difference.

How hard is it to get started?

Functionally, it’s pretty easy: just eat meat (and drink water). You’ll go through a period of adaption, which can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. I won’t lie, the adaption period is not always fun–when I first detoxed from gluten I was a raging bitch for 2 weeks–but it doesn’t last forever. Your hunger signals will change, you may experience withdrawl-like symptoms from gluten or sugar, and you’ll probably get “keto breath,” which is a sickly sweet smelling byproduct that means your body is adapting to running on fat instead of sugar. Keep eating meat, drink lots of water, take it easy on exercise, get lots of sleep, and you’ll be fine.

What else do I need to know?

Well…there’s lots to find out and lots that’s still unknown. This diet takes mental fortitude to follow, because it goes against socially-acceptable diets and it feels like a risk from the outside. I suspect that’s the reason that carnivory and bitcoin are so closely linked.

But you never really know until you try! I encourage you to take advantage of World Carnivore Month. Eat only meat for 30 days and see how you feel. Don’t rely on what other people (“experts”) say you should be feeling–feel it for yourself and then decide.

Other resources

• For social proof: Zeroing in on Health
• For citizen science: NequalsMany.com
• For nutrition concerns: Ketotic.org
• If you need a few case studies: here and here.
• If you want people to follow on twitter, check out @SBakerMD, @TedNaiman, @GeorgiaEdeMD, @FatEmperor, @SteakandIron, or #meatheals.

Happy (meat) eating!

Today’s post is mostly an excuse to look at this gorgeous photo of the spot prawns I ate for dinner. (What ho, is this Instagram now?)

These delicious babies were caught by my uncle in the ice-cold waters off the coast of Alaska, and grilled (much later) on his fancy grill. They’re coated in sea salt, and after ripping off their craggy shells, we dipped them in butter. These are some of the best prawns I’ve ever consumed; their flesh was almost butter on its own, with that echo of sweetness that only shellfish has.

The side dishes to this delicious feast were a slab of wild king salmon (again, caught by mine own uncle) and some New York strip steaks, lovingly reverse seared and surprisingly tender, if a little “furry.” You know that stage in cooking beef where somehow the fibers are rough instead of smooth? Instead of “melting in your mouth,” there’s a kind of furry texture on your tongue. I’ve had that happen in stews that I didn’t cook long enough, so I suspect it has something to do with proteins that have not fully denatured in the cooking process.

I’ve cooked a lot of steaks on my Zero Carb journey so far. Some have been quite successful, some less so. I’m training myself on the “poke it with your finger” method of determining doneness, which has consequently helped me explore what I like and dislike about variously-cooked types of steak. Overcooked steak is no bueno, no matter what, but overly-rare steak is, I’ve found, quite delicious served cold the next day.

My one foray into the reverse sear method (with a giant ribeye) did not go so well. The cooking method was interesting and I appreciated frontloading the wait time (with a reverse sear you don’t have to rest your steak before eating it since the juices were evenly distributed during the long, low portion of the cooking process) but take note: without a good thermometer it’s easy to overcook on this method, because you’re not babysitting a hot pan on the stove until the very end.

Also, unlike what seems like the entire cohort of the Zero Carb community, I’m not a huge fan of the ribeye.

As far as the rest of my Zero Carb journey, I eat entirely too much cheese and deal with some inflammation partially as a result of that (the other part I suspect is due to stress…which eating minimal carbohydrates won’t help reduce). But, my skin looks great and for the most part I’m alert and in a decent mood most of the time.

Still trying to quit coffee, but when your neurotic guts decide to wake you up multiple times during the night, thus disrupting any refreshing sleep cycle, it’s a little hard to say no to at least a little bit. I’ve whittled myself down to about 6 oz of cold brew per day, and try not to drink it if I don’t have to.

The one thing that I’ve noticed is the most major change in my body with Zero Carb is that there is very little “buffer” material anymore. When I’m hungry, I go from 0 to “deep wrenching intestinal hunger roar” in about 5 minutes, rather than feeling traditional hunger signals. Coffee effects me much more deeply, because I’m not consuming it with a bunch of other foodstuff that would slow down its diuretic effect.

The funniest thing (to me, anyway) about going Zero Carb is how much less anxious I am about mealtime, even at a restaurant. In the old days, when I was low-FODMAP or SCD or any other type of diet plan that involved eating only specific vegetables and avoiding “bad” carbohydrates, eating at restaurants was a stressful endeavor. Either you find a place with a menu that naturally dovetailed with the diet, or you had to try to explain what you could or could not eat to a kitchen staff who may or may not be invested in helping you out. (And to a lot of people, sweet potatoes totally don’t count as carbs.)

Now, I just waltz in and order my stack of 3 burger patties with cheese. No worries, no fuss, just meat please. The hardest part is convincing the cashier that yes, I really just want the beef patties.

If you’re interested in the Zero Carb life, there’s still time to join the group of 300+ who will participate in the first-ever study of the carnivore lifestyle. Check out more at NequalsMany.com.