Everyone who starts the carnivore diet always asks, “what results can I expect to see?” Will it cure my depression, anxiety, or gut issues? That’s a tricky question without a clear answer. But what is clear are other people’s results.
We can look at others’ results and get a rough outline of what we can expect to achieve. You might not experience every benefit they did, but it’s a good starting point, and it keeps you motivated.
So let’s take a look at 2 celebrities who tried a carnivore diet and how it benefited their lives.
Mikhaila Petersen is the daughter of clinical psychologist Jordan Petersen and her results are out of this world. Before the carnivore diet, she was barely alive. Struggling with depression, chronic fatigue, rheumatoid arthritis, skin problems, and a laundry list of other ailments.
So what benefits did she experience on the carnivore diet;
Mikhaila Petersen’s health problems started at age 2. Her parents would put her on the floor, and she’d immediately start crying. Doctors diagnosed her with rheumatoid arthritis and gave her a ton of pills to “help” her.
At age 14, she struggled with chronic fatigue. She couldn’t stay awake for more than 6 hours, which led her parents to think she’s lazy.
At 17, due to her arthritis, she was forced to go for hip and ankle replacement surgery. But the worst part is yet to come.
During university, her diet went down the drain. Instead of eating organic foods like she normally does at home, she lived off ramen noodles and other processed foods. Her depression, anxiety, and mood disorders obviously got worse.
But after doing some research, she started cutting out gluten and over time, cut out processed foods, vegetables, fruits, and grains. All she was left with was beef, salt, and water, and her health improved to the point where all her previous ailments are gone.
The biggest benefit of the carnivore diet is that it reduces chronic inflammation, which is the root of all diseases, including depression.
When you’re eating processed foods all the time, your body is constantly inflamed, and no part of the body’s immune to the effects of chronic inflammation. When your brain is inflamed, it affects normal function and can cause depression and other mental health problems.
The main reason why Mikhaila cured her depression with a carnivore diet is that she stopped eating inflammatory foods, and this allowed her brain to function like it’s supposed to.
Surprise, surprise! Guess what causes rheumatoid arthritis? Inflammation!
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune condition in which your joints are inflamed and this causes stiffness and swelling. But how do your joints become inflamed? Your body doesn’t just trigger inflammation because it feels like it. It triggers inflammation as a response to a threat.
And just like she cured her depression, she cured her rheumatoid arthritis by cutting out all inflammation-causing foods.
Mark Bell is a powerlifter and professional wrestler who holds multiple powerlifting records. Obviously, he’s a strong guy. He recently started eating like a carnivore after hearing about all the benefits, and this is his results;
In a recent video, Mark Bell spoke about how he can push himself more than he ever has. After a session of heavy deadlifts and barbell rows, he challenged himself to a mile-long walk. Anyone who’s done deadlifts knows how taxing it is on your body and nervous system.
To his surprise, the walk felt boring, so he ran for a mile, and he still had energy left in the tank.
This reminds me of when I first started the carnivore diet; I was scared of not recovering properly between workouts. The first few weeks were tough since my body wasn’t used to using ketones for energy and only eating meat. But once that adjustment period was over, I recovered faster than usual.
Personally, if I would eat a slice of cake today, my joints would be sore tomorrow morning. And on an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, Joe spoke about how he went to Disneyland with his family, ate a bunch of junk food, and felt terrible the next day. This is all thanks to inflammation.
Mark Bell is known to bench press insane amounts of weight. This puts lots of pressure on your elbows and can cause elbow pain over time. Combine that with eating inflammation-causing processed foods all the time and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.
But when Mark started the carnivore diet, he cut out all processed foods that contributed to his elbow pain. This reduced inflammation in his body and, therefore, reduced elbow pain.
Anyone who tried to lose fat through restrictive dieting knows the struggle. You always feel tired, sluggish, and hungry. This is because your body thinks you’re in a place with little food and will increase hormones that make you tired and hungry. It’s not fun.
But when you’re on a carnivore diet, your body gets all the nutrients it needs, leading to higher energy levels. Also, when you eat carbs, your body’s blood glucose levels are all over the place, leading to unstable energy levels. But the carnivore diet is a zero-carb diet that helps stabilize your energy levels throughout the day.
Can you expect to cure your depression, anxiety, autoimmune conditions, and diabetes after eating a carnivore diet? It depends.
Everybody reacts differently to different foods.
Most won’t fall into a month-long depression due to eating an olive as Mikhaila Petersen would.
But there are conditions like obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure that’s known to be curable on a zero-carb carnivore diet.
The carnivore diet is known to cure several different disorders and diseases but when starting, lower your expectations. People expect to lose 30 pounds, cure their diabetes and depression, all within a week of eating like a carnivore. And when that doesn’t happen, they quit.
See how your body reacts to certain foods and stick to foods that don’t affect you. Start introducing other foods into your diet and if you experience negative effects, remove them. Usually, you’ll be left with carnivore friendly foods like beef, organ meats, steaks, fish, eggs, and bacon. Some people may even tolerate dairy products like milk, yogurt, and cheese.
The carnivore diet works because it eliminates all foods that you might react negatively to. After a few months, try reintroducing other foods and see how your body reacts.
The moral of the story? Eat what works for you, and ignore everything else.
Yaseen Sadan is a personal trainer turned professional copywriter and founder of Sell Using Words. He helps small businesses increase their leads and sales by writing SEO-friendly blogs, sales emails, landing pages, and lead magnets. Feel free to visit his website, add him on LinkedIn and check him out on Facebook.