CARNIVORE DIET

4 common symptoms people experience on carnivore diet

Updated on 4 min read

Since I started coaching people on the carnivore diet, I got the opportunity to learn about the 4 common symptoms people experience on carnivore diet not only from my own experiences but also the experiences of my clients.

Here are four common symptoms people experience when going carnivore:

CARBOHYDRATE CRAVINGS

Carbohydrate cravings are experienced pretty much universally when going carnivore. They sneak up on us in many ways, but most commonly they hide behind self-talk:

  • I will start all over again tomorrow
  • Just one bite of my favorite snack
  • I will just eat this one last time 
  • I had a rough day I deserve a break
  • Hanging out with friends, peer pressure to have a beer or a cupcake at your favorite café

… to name just a few. 

Whatever your reasoning is, know this, the true cause behind it all is: CARBOHYDRATE CRAVINGS.

Now that you know where you stand, what can you do about it:

  1. Eat to satiety your favorite meat with some extra fat. 
  2. Alter your usual routine to break the old habits. If you can’t resist a treat at your favorite café, skip it for a few weeks.
  3. Set proper expectations with yourself: it will be tough for a few weeks, but it will end all at once. I promise you this, we all have gone through it, and carbohydrate cravings end the same: they all drop at once in about three weeks. Now that you know that the carbohydrates withdrawals have their shelf life, the goal feels a lot more achievable
  4. Reframe your cravings: when you feel your cravings, don’t think you have to satisfy them. Instead, stop and say to yourself: “I am craving carbs, this means I am doing it right.”

Most people free themselves from carbs within three weeks.

CONSTIPATION 

Constipation, or really… fewer bowel movements are another change that happens right away when you switch to carnivore. Here’s the thing, just because you have fewer bowel movements doesn’t mean you are constipated. IF YOU DON’T HAVE TROUBLE OF PASSING OF THE STOOL, YOU AREN’T CONSTIPATED. Your body gets the opportunity to digest and absorb more nutrients, without being irritated by fiber, so it takes its time. 

If you are coming from the paradigm of fiber being essential for bowel movements, this may get you confused, but give it a try, you won’t be constipated. 

Personally, I resolved chronic constipation I had for most of my adult life when I removed all fiber from my diet. 

Within a few weeks of the carnivore diet, your body will have more frequent bowel movements, and there isn’t much you have to do about it.And if you are really constipated on carnivore diet, the place to look for is your dairy consumption, particularly cheeses. Take out cheeses, or all dairy for a few weeks and more than likely, your constipation will be resolved. 

Check out studies about it here.

DIARRHEA

On the other hand, we have a group of people that experience diarrhea, usually for 4-6 weeks. Then the body returns to equilibrium and bowel movements normalize. We don’t truly know why some people get diarrhea, and others don’t. 

There are some hypotheses:

  • Change in the microbiome. As your body adapts to eating meat and fat, it will result with a massive die off microbes adapted to living on fiber and plant matter, resulting with a purge in the form of diarrhea
  • Overconsumption of proteins. My favorite clinic in Hungary, Paleomedicina (www.paleomedicina.com) recommends increasing the fat intake. You need to get to a ratio 2:1 fat to meat by dry matter. Check out my video about intricate detail of Paleo – Ketogenic diet here: link
FATIGUE 

Fatigue is more severe among people who haven’t experiment with the ketogenic diet. If you have cycled in and out of ketosis, you probably won’t experience any fatigue.

If you are going from any other diet to carnivore, you will deal with fatigue. It means your body is switching to ketogenic metabolism. In the world of keto, it is known as keto flu. 

Whether you aim for it or not, you will be in low grade ketosis on carnivore diet, especially in the initial phase.

Drinking electrolytes, or salted water is the best way to deal with keto fatigue.

CONCLUSION

So now you know about the 4 common symptoms people experience on carnivore diet. No matter which part of the world you are in, if you go carnivore, there will be adaptation phase of about three months, with the major symptoms being the strongest in the first 3-6 weeks.

However, once you cross to the carnivore side, you will feel your best and won’t look back.

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