Interview with Dale

1) Introduce Yourself.

My name is Dale, I’m 26 and from the UK

2) How did you eat before Carnivore.

Most of my life till I moved out from home at 21 I was eating even worse than the standard western diet. Being one of four siblings to a single stay at home mother we had very little money. I was raised on oven chips, turkey dinosaurs, cheap white bread and endless amounts of tea and biscuits. When I had money of my own I initially went crazy and tried to make up for years of malnourishment in the most instinctual way possible, I filled myself with takeaways, ice cream, sweets, chocolate, cakes, cookies basically any calorie-rich foods I could. I did finally gain some weight after being incredibly skinny all my life. However, this didn’t address the major issue, which was the complete lack of nutrients I’d always been lacking. I naively looked to plants as my savior. They’d always been heralded by government food charts and common wisdom as the source of good health and vitamins. After a brief search online for healthy ways of eating I was inevitably met with a barrage of plant-based propaganda. I naively bought into the health claims. I became vegetarian for around 6 months and the more time I spent online the more extreme the propaganda I was exposed to became, health was no longer the driving factor; ethics and morality were. Social media groups dedicated to plant-based eating had a hierarchy. Vegetarians were looked down upon by vegans. There was a stigma for drinking milk or eating cheese. Still being young and impressionable I believed the lies of fellow commentators and youtube personalities. Before I knew it I was a fully indoctrinated cult member. This lasted 4 years with a hiccup at the 3-year mark. One night my health was failing so miserably that my partner rushed me to a walk in centre they didn’t have a clue what was up with me, they sent me to my GP, they couldn’t seem to find any cause for my symptoms and sent me to hospital. The hospital took my bloods, I explained to them my diet and asked if that could have had any impact on what was happening to me. They dismissed it of course and said diet has little impact on health, all they cared about was that I didn’t smoke and did plenty of exercise. I asked them to specifically check my vitamin levels and low and behold they came back and said I was on the low end for vitamins A, B12 and not particularly high on anything and in particular they noted my cholesterol was low with an HDL of 40. They told me this was great and many people wished for low HDL. I was sent home the next day with zero guidance or solutions from the medical staff they said I was in good health and it was all in my head. Deep down I knew the solution was meat. I ate meat for a couple of months, not good meat, mostly processed and cheap. Nonetheless, I felt somewhat good, not great but better. I developed a bit of a belly and wanted to get rid of it fast, I knew veganism was a quick fix solution. So I cautiously gave it a second chance. I felt great initially and then ran back into the same ill health problems. I was experimenting with many types of veganism during this period; high fat low carb veganism, the 80/10/10 diet and even the most insane Dr. Morse raw fruitarian which I couldn’t handle even 5 days of. I always had plenty of whole foods, lots of starchy vegetables, lots of cruciferous veg, wholegrains and easily had at least 6-12 portions of fruit per day. 

TLDR; 

20 years – Poorest version of Western Diet 

0.5 years – Vegetarian 

4 years – Veganism 

Currently 9 months Carnivore 

3) Why did you try Carnivore to begin with.

Dr Jordan Peterson inspired me after I heard of his experience on the Joe Rogan podcast and that of his daughter. I could really relate to all the symptoms he was mentioning about himself. It absolutely fascinated me. I was searching for dieting solutions within the narrow band of veganism. So this all meat solution just completely blew open that limited paradigm I’d locked myself into. It was such a revelation. I quickly looked for more information, found Shawn Baker’s podcast episode with Joe Rogan too, then quickly stumbled upon Primal Edge Health and Frank Tufano. It was revelatory. I was absorbed and immersed by all this mostly common sense nutritional info that had never penetrated my echo chamber all those years. I stayed up all night learning as much as I could. I got up the next morning headed to my local supermarket bought a ribeye steak and some smoked mackerel and never looked back. There was zero transition period, I didn’t ease myself in, I just jumped in the deep end and was surprisingly fine. I suffered some Ketogenic flu at the end of that week and the digestion took a while to get going as I had none of the necessary bacteria for breaking down meat. For 21 days I had nothing but steaks, the occasional fish and water. I was on top of the world. I cried whilst eating that first steak. It was the first steak I’d eaten in my entire life. 

4) How do you personally approach the Carnivore Diet.

I differ from others in that because I came from such a malnourished, underweight state I don’t do zero carb carnivore, although it’s what I definitely feel best on. I consume large amounts dairy and also eat honey. Now I’ve rebuilt my nutrient stores, reversed many negative health problems and got my vitality back I want to focus on weight gain. So milk, cheese, cream, yogurts and a little honey are great foods for achieving this. I eat nose to tail and mixture of raw, cooked and seared. Usually depends on my appetite and how good quality, tender or fresh the meat is.

5) What benefits have you seen since starting the Carnivore Diet.

So many, most importantly in mental health. I was in the midst of deep depression and my social anxiety was off the charts. I could go full weeks at a time without leaving the house and lie in bed for over 24 hours straight at my worst. I just wanted to hide from the world. Within 1 week of going carnivore the depression lifted completely, the anxiety was drastically reduced. Brain fog has completely disappeared, concentration, mental sharpness, and short term memory have greatly increased. Sugar used to give me terrible mood swings, they are now a thing of the past.

Digestive issues were the next greatest relief. The constant bloating, gassy pains, stomach aches, heartburn, indigestion and frequent trips to the toilet are no more. I had terrible psoriasis on my hands that has completely cleared up. Fungal infections have cleared up. Tooth sensitivity is no more, gum disease gone. Chronic fatigue has been resolved, I’m no longer on a glucose rollercoaster of ups and downs needing afternoon naps to get through the day. My circulation and body temperature has improved. Joint pains have gone, I’d always get pains in my ankles, hands, and feet after consuming large amounts of sugars and grains. No longer hungry all day, my appetite is a little too stable, I often have to remind myself to eat. Cravings are gone.

6) What negatives have you found with the Carnivore Diet.

Gaining fat is pretty difficult, but this is a bonus for most people. Coming from a lifetime of malnourishment I’d like to gain some weight. So I include a lot of dairy to get around this issue. It is also expensive. On a vegan diet I could eat for 1 month with what I spend in one week on carnivore, but you get what you pay for.

7) Do you exercise on the Carnivore Diet, if so how do you find it and what do you do.

I’ve always done lots of cardio, long distance running, and football (soccer). I’ve not noticed much increase or decrease energy wise. The changes have been mental, I’m more competitive, decisive and confident. My current aim is to drop the cardio and focus on resistance training to meet my weight gaining goals. I rarely work out, I’ve been to a gym once in my life and hated it. However, the limited pull ups and push ups I’ve done at home have yielded surprisingly decent results considering how little time and effort I put into them. You can’t help but gain musculature with this way of eating.

8) What piece of advice would you give someone who is interested in trying this diet, but hasn’t taken the leap yet.

You’ve nothing to lose. Try 21 days. Even if it’s not for you, you’ll learn so much about your body’s needs and requirements. It’s an elimination diet, a blank slate on which to build upon and find out what foods you can and can’t tolerate. It’s the ultimate fine-tuning. I feel it attracts people who’ve tried and failed other diets across the spectrum.

9) Do you think Carnivore will ever be accepted as a mainstream diet.

Never. Not unless civilisation collapses. Meat will continue to be demonised, there’ll be a meat tax in the near future and it’ll slowly be phased out altogether as we head into this Brave New World of synthetic slop and cardboard carbs. Pretty bleak predictions haha, I hope I’m wrong.

10) Anything you would like to add, and where can people follow your journey.

You can follow my food journey on instagram @ancestraleating

Or my main account over at @silphwave

Oh and don’t forget to subscribe to Pewdiepie aha

Thank you for letting me share some of my nutritional journey.

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