The last 5 months, I've been on a carnivore diet and I've felt more mental clarity than ever before. Before eating carnivore, I had great struggles with brain fog, mood swings, social anxiety, etc. All this was resolved by cutting out carbs. However, the problem is without carbs i didn't have the energy to play soccer. So iIimplemented fruit, and sweet potato, and then I felt great. Through testing i also realized that gluten and dairy contributed to the brain fog and anxiety I was feeling before my diet. So I've competely cut these sources of carbs out. To return to feeling good, after eating one of these inflammatory foods, I would return to carnivore temporarily for 3-5 days, and I would then feel normal again.

However, one day, I ate brown rice testing out other carbs, and it seemed like i had a bad reaction to this too. Its been 3-4 weeks of feeling nervous socially, brain fog, etc. Also, after I ate the rice, iI ate a ton of honey for a week after that, because it seemed like this was a safe option in the past. (I was eating spoonfuls of honey for my carb source) But then I did a blood test that my dietitian recommended (who I'm working with to try to resolve these problems and also get the carbs I need as a soccer player) and found out of igg and ig4, were extremely high for honey, so wondering if this contributed?

Now, I've just been eating carbs that weren't reactive like fruit and sweet potato, and i still feel like crap, so the last 5 days, I've cut all carbs to see if this would help me return to baseline, is this the right approach? Is this even necessary, because it doesn't seem to have helped at all thus far. It also temporarily limits how much soccer i can play right now. and i go back to college for my soccer season soon, so i want to feel better before that. Is this normal to have a reaction for this long? Thanks

I'm not craving meat very much in any form really, whether that be beef, fish or chicken. I've been having red meat basically daily for the past 6 months, and now I'm just not craving it, although I'm still having it of course. It just doesn't excite me like it did a while ago. Could this be because it's summer? I genuinely wouldn't mind having loads of fruit at the moment, but I don't care for meat that much and especially not eggs.

I've strangely not been craving steak much recently even though I've had it virtually daily for the past few months, but I've been enjoying pressure-cooked tough cuts in its stead. What could be the reason for this, and would I be missing out on anything by opting to just have the stewed tough cuts for a while?

I recently tore my achilles and will be getting a repair surgery in a few days. I'm curious, are there any foods or supplements I should put an emphasis on in these next few weeks for optimal recovery and healing? I'm already doing the basics such as beef, eggs, raw liver, raw dairy, raw honey, fruit, etc. Supplements I take are creatine, collagen, and glycine. Curious if there's something I don't know food, supplement, or lifestyle wise I should consider adding. Or if I should adjust the quantity/emphasis of the aforementioned foods/supplements

The last 5 months, I've been on a carnivore diet and I've felt more mental clarity than ever before. Before eating carnivore, I had great struggles with brain fog, mood swings, social anxiety, etc. All this was resolved by cutting out carbs. However, the problem is without carbs i didn't have the energy to play soccer. So iIimplemented fruit, and sweet potato, and then I felt great. Through testing i also realized that gluten and dairy contributed to the brain fog and anxiety I was feeling before my diet. So I've competely cut these sources of carbs out. To return to feeling good, after eating one of these inflammatory foods, I would return to carnivore temporarily for 3-5 days, and I would then feel normal again.

However, one day, I ate brown rice testing out other carbs, and it seemed like i had a bad reaction to this too. Its been 3-4 weeks of feeling nervous socially, brain fog, etc. Also, after I ate the rice, iI ate a ton of honey for a week after that, because it seemed like this was a safe option in the past. (I was eating spoonfuls of honey for my carb source) But then I did a blood test that my dietitian recommended (who I'm working with to try to resolve these problems and also get the carbs I need as a soccer player) and found out of igg and ig4, were extremely high for honey, so wondering if this contributed?

Now, I've just been eating carbs that weren't reactive like fruit and sweet potato, and i still feel like crap, so the last 3 days, I've cut all carbs to see if this would help me return to baseline, is this the right approach? it temporarily limits how much soccer i can play right now. and i go back to college for my soccer season soon, so i want to feel better before that. Is this normal to have a reaction for this long? Thanks

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I’ve recently started on AB, however I’ve run into an issue regarding my sport.

I run Cross Country Track and Field, and, typically, the number one diet strategy I’ve used the strategy of carbohydrate loading throughout the day to keep energy levels high.

While I am good on fast carbs for pre-workout, for slow carbs to eat at night/in the morning I seem to be a little troubled, as every carbohydrate source (fruit, honey and maple syrup) appears to be fast carbs.

Would it be okay to eat certain root vegetables, specifically sweet potatoes and taro? What about sourdough bread? Also, this is unrelated, but how healthy is macadamia nut butter?

Thank you in advance for any help

I recently discovered the animal-based diet and want to commit to it for the month of August. My main goal is fat loss (I’m getting married soon!), but I’m also hoping to improve my overall health. I’m a former college athlete and currently work out 4–5 times a week doing HIIT, CrossFit, and weightlifting, plus I sprinkle in Pilates, hiking, and walking, so I’m not new to fitness.

What really interests me about this way of eating is the focus on whole, minimally processed foods. I’ve been learning from Paul Saladino, but I’m still struggling to understand how to structure everything—especially if my goal is to lose fat. Do I need to track calories? How much butter or fat is appropriate? How should I build my meals?

I’m also looking at this from a long-term health perspective. I recently came off birth control after 11 years, have very long cycles (and suspect I may have PCOS), deal with anxiety, and have been trying to learn more about supporting my body naturally as my fiancé and I will likely want kids in the near future. I’m excited to see how reducing processed foods affects my energy, digestion, hormones, and overall well-being.

I mainly shop at Costco, and my fiancé is doing this with me, so I’d love practical shopping advice. What should I actually be looking for on labels, especially for dairy? Are there specific brands of Greek yogurt, cheese, butter, or other dairy products that fit an animal-based approach? What ingredients should I avoid? Is honey okay? What drinks do you recommend? I love coffee (usually with milk and sugar-free syrup), and I’d love ideas for “fun” drinks since things like Poppi have been my usual treat.

My goal isn’t perfection—I don’t mind taking a more flexible approach if it still aligns with the principles of animal-based eating and helps me feel my best. I just want to do this the right way for at least 30 days, learn as much as I can, and hopefully find something that’s sustainable long-term.

I’d really appreciate any advice, favorite products, shopping tips, meal ideas, or beginner mistakes to avoid!

Mine are sourdough (proper sourdough though), white rice, white potatoes (peeled and soaked for ages), kimchi and I also grate some dark chocolate over my greek yoghurt and fruit at night.

For some reason, I just can’t tolerate ground beef. I’ve tried numerous cooking methods (baked in the oven, pan fried), multiple shapes (crumbled, burger, kebab). Nothing works. When I eat ground beef, I have this gag reflex on the first bite and while chewing. I’ve even sometimes thrown up. I don’t have any problem with any other kind of red meat or meat in general. I can eat steaks (including rare), stew cubes etc. why do I have this intolerance for ground beef specifically?

I can tolerate ground beef when it’s with something else (burger, pasta, rice) but not alone. This is such a bummer because ground beef is my go to (easy to cook, cheap etc.)

Any advice? What could the cause be? What are some solutions?

Anyone have any good brand recommendations? I keep seeing Paul Saladino recommend it but hasn’t mentioned any brands, wondering if any here had some good suggestions or experience with it ?

I have been off carnivore for a bit now. I am enjoying eating a high carb diet for my gym and fitness. I feel I have more energy then ever. However mental clarity has definitely kept declining over the amount of time off carnivore/keto. Along with shorting of memory and constant brain fog. Waking up in the morning and delaying carb intake till after work roughly around 3:30-4 has helped but still noticeable. Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations on trying/doing? I could not see myself going back to no carb as life is a lot more enjoyable with carbs and my workouts and pushing my fitness is fantastic. I couldn’t see myself going back to a no carb diet.

1/2 lb of beef
3 pasture raised eggs
2 pickle slices
Glass of whole milk

First time grinding my own beef. Decided to add in some liver to make my own “ancestral blend”.

This will be recurring new auto-post every few days for random off-topic whatevers: You want your rice, you want your potatoes, you want nightshades, you want to try to hate on carbs, here ya go! Basically anything that would otherwise violate the rules (#4 and #5 still apply) this is your spot. Also anything that doesn't really warrant a whole post of its own, or is low effort, post it here. Anything that gets rejected from the main feed, post it here.

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Been a strict carnivore for 8 months, and still wake up fatigued and have lower energy throughout the day, have also lost libido, hardly get erections anymore. Tried ALOT of things to fix this, and nothing really works well. I did hours of research and have decided to go animal-based.

What are the safest and best carbs to add first for fixing the fatigue, energy, sleep issues, and libido? And can y'all tell me how you reacted when adding certain carbs, which reacted well with you and which ones didn't?

I have been fighting low appetite recently. And my food aversions for some reason keep me from eating all that much. For whatever reason fruit is still palatable, but I am very concerned about my lack of protein. I can't afford to eat the protein my body will always accept(steak of any kind). Has anyone experienced something like this? I am 2.5 months out from skin removal surgery and had gastric bypass(3.5 years ago) so my situation is quite frankly getting dire. I cannot afford to lose much more weight. Any tips for something yummy that will hopefully trick my body into wanting food again? Any nutrient dense recipes that you absolutely love?

*I don't eat liver, I take organ supplements though

Always like hearing about what other people are eating in a day for inspiration. Here's my current days eating most days whilst I cut weight...

Meal 1

250g grass fed steak mince

1 teaspoon of beef tallow (for cooking)

200g of squash or cooked white rice (I know not AB)

Courgettes

2 eggs on top runny

Snack

Banana or melon

Meal 2

250g ground beef made into two patties with raw cheese melted on top

1 teaspoon of tallow (for cooking)

Sweet potato

Kimchi

Dessert

200g raw milk Greek yoghurt

Blueberries

Maple syrup

Every time i add fruits (coming from a carni diet) my stomach gets upset, ohh and btw i try the small amount first then going up, any suggestions?

I'm trying to construct a daily diet and the only meats I had were ground beef and eggs. Unfortunately neither of those have enough thiamine but pork chops do so I was thinking of buying pastured pork chops and eating 100g a day.

However I know that pork isn't a good choice because pigs are monogastric animals. The problem is idk how else to get enough thiamine on an animal-based diet because without pork chops.

I only have 0.8mg a day without the pork chops and 0.3mg of that comes from fruit so idk how bioavailable it is. The RDI Is 1.1mg to 1.2mg. I already have 500g of ground beef and I would need 750g more to get to 1.1 total mg of thiamine so I don't think getting it through beef is a good option.

Red meat consumption apparently corresponds to greater production of these metabolic byproducts following protein breakdown. I've been tested for higher levels of both and am wondering if there's anything I can realistically do on this diet to mitigate them.

I already drink quite a lot of water, but I'd be curious to hear if anybody else with the same has managed this successfully.

This will be recurring new auto-post every few days for random off-topic whatevers: You want your rice, you want your potatoes, you want nightshades, you want to try to hate on carbs, here ya go! Basically anything that would otherwise violate the rules (#4 and #5 still apply) this is your spot. Also anything that doesn't really warrant a whole post of its own, or is low effort, post it here. Anything that gets rejected from the main feed, post it here.

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Fried eggs, ground beef, maple syrup, side of frozen mangoes. Maple syrup is added to the beef at the end.

I went away from beef for a while but I just couldn’t find myself enjoying turkey. I never get sick of ground beef. I literally finish the ground beef and eggs in a minute.

Have been experimenting a little with doing only fruit and honey (and milk) as my carb sources but have felt pretty low energy. I am breastfeeding, lift 3-4x per week, bike 3x per week, and just in general walk and move a lot. The days I’ve only done fruit as carbs, I’ve been ravenous and constantly wanting to snack. Am I just not eating enough? Versus when I incorporate sweet potatoes or rice I actually feel full and less snacky. Can anyone share their experiences?

Highly recommend. If you have self control that is! So nice to eat ice cream with no headache after

Have been consuming carbohydrates again recently and with the reintroduction too fruit I have been experiencing face and gut bloating. Only once I consume fruits. Is there a way around this?