Interview with Jurriaan

1) Introduce Yourself.

Hi, my name is Jurriaan 32 years old and I’m from the Netherlands. I live in Amsterdam and work as a personal trainer and Health Coach. As a child I was always a bit insecure about myself. My childhood has been a bit bumpy and when I look back I think I wasn’t a real happy and healthy child. I had severe acne. I had asthma. At even younger age I had many ear infections and I was sick all the time. There was a period I was depressed and went to a psychologist. I had mood swings all the time and was really anxious. From the age of 14 (until 25) I’ve been drinking almost every weekend. At that time it was pretty normal for dutch kids to get there first beers around this age. I thought it was just about having fun with friends, but clearly I was dealing with my insecurities, anger and sadness by drinking alcohol.

Luckily I was always into sports. I played field hockey at a pretty high level. In my teenage years I started playing with dumbbells. At that time you couldn’t go to the gym before the age of 18. I didn’t knew nothing about strength training so is just did biceps curls all the time. When I was 19 I went to a sports college. I did an internship at a gym and after that I started working at that same gym. In this period I started working out more seriously. I was really into bodybuilding but I didn’t knew nothing about nutrition. My coach at that time just told me to eat. So I did. Lots of pasta, chicken, bread, oatmeal, protein shakes, carb-drinks and other (useless) supplements. I did build muscle but it had nothing to do with a healthy lifestyle.

At the age of 25 I became more serious about nutrition. I also didn’t drink as much anymore. After seeing cowspiracy, forks over knives and what the health I started a plant-based diet. In the beginning it felt really good but that was just for the first couple of months. Pretty soon after starting this diet I got into trouble. Low energy, slow recovery, mood swings, trouble with sleeping. After two years on a plant-based diet I was totally burned out. I couldn’t train, had severe depression, depersonalisation, my body was full of inflammation, brain fog, no control over my body, forgetful, sleeping thru the day, insomnia, adrenal fatigue, always cold and the list goes on.

In the first period I didn’t want to blame the plant-based diet. My believes around it where so strong. I am eating an whole food plant based diet and I took my supplements. This diet can’t be the problem. What was I thinking? After a while I started looking more into B12 deficiencies. With almost every symptom I could have raised my hand. So I did some advanced blood-work, and surprise, levels of b12 and vitamin D were low.

From this point I started eating meat again. But just a little bit. Big part of my plate was filled with veggies. Still lots of oatmeal, green smoothies, nuts, grains etc. A paradise of anti-nutrients with a bit of meat. I was starting to feel a little bit better but I was still struggling. So from vegan to carnivore was a transition phase of 4-5 years. Like I sad, the first period was mostly plant-based with a bit of meat, after that it was a bit more paleo style, from paleo to keto but still much plant based foods. Every time I made a step towards a more ketogenic/carnivore diet I felt better. So after seining Shawn Baker at the Joe Rogan podcast I was like: F*ck it, let’s do this! That is now almost 9 month’s ago.

2) How did you eat before Carnivore.

Before I started this carnivore diet, I tried many things. Until the age of 24 it was more of a SAD diet. It was not like I was eating candy bars, cookies and chips. But lots of bread, pasta etc. After that I tried a high protein and lower fat diet. That really was a good period. I felt strong, was lean and happy. After that I started a plant-based diet and than I made the transition into paleo, keto and eventually carnivore.

3) Why did you try Carnivore to begin with.

Because I always knew there was something wrong with the way I ate. I only didn’t knew what it was. I never heard of anti-nutrients, I thought to much animal protein would kill me and without fibre I couldn’t survive. But I didn’t feel healthy at all. I implemented all the so called healthy food in my diet. But it did not work for me! I had so many weird symptoms. After reading and listening stuff about the carnivore diet I was like: they are talking about me! That’s my story too!

4) How do you personally approach the Carnivore Diet.

So I started with variety. Because I was still a bit doubtful. That lasted for about three month’s. I soon felt that the best way for me is just to eat beef with salt and drink water. So as Mikhaila calls it: Lion diet! I do eat some liver and salmon roe ones in a while. Most days I eat 2 times a day and around 1,5 kg on total per day.

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

Wow, I don’t know were to start. After a couple of years of not being able to lift weights I could finally work out again. I gained lots of muscle. The mental part is maybe the best part. Before carnivore I was so depressed and had mood swings all the time, anxiety/panic attacks, couldn’t concentrate at all. I read about ADD and bipolar disorder and had many corresponding symptoms. But after a couple of days eating meat, all these symptoms became less. My focus is much better now. Mentally I am more stable. No more mood swings. I haven’t got any anxiety ever since and depression is gone. Before carnivore I had so much inflammation and my body was always sour. Now the inflammation is gone! I sleep better, have Better gut health and digestion. The list goes on.

Long story short. I got my life back. To be honest, I have been in a dark place for a long time and some days I still can’t believe that I have found an answer. Maybe this sounds crazy but I feel that this way of eating has saved my life.

6) What negatives have you found with the Carnivore Diet

After getting the veggies out of my diet I experienced severe oxalate dumping. When I started the diet I didn’t knew nothing about anti-nutrients so I learned the hard way. I still have problems with this, but it is getting better and better. Actually this is not really a negative thing. My body is finally getting the junk out of the body. But I do think oxalate dumping is an important thing to look at. I think in the future more often we gonna see vegans transition into a more meat-based diet with low oxalates. That can get many people into trouble because vegan but also keto diets can be very high in Oxalates.

Socially it can be tricky sometimes. Not everybody understands that this is a real thing. YES, people can be healthy without the ‘magical’ fruits and veggies. Sometimes I feel I have to defend myself. But to be honest, I’m at a point that all the critics just make me stronger. I find it hard sometimes to see that so many people choose pleasure above health. It became so normal to eat crappy food that people find it strange I eat the way do. Unfortunately this way of eating makes many vegans angry. I hope to see a future were both vegans and carnivores can live together. I think carnivore is much more about human health and that’s why I like it so much. I’ve never met an angry carnivore. Most of them are really calm and relaxed.

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

Yes I do but the first three months I did nothing at all. I wanted my body to recover. After three months I started doing some body weight exercises like push ups and squats. After half a year on this diet I started working out at the gym again. I train 3-5 times a week. Mostly bodybuilder style workouts. I also do some intervals with kettlebell swings, slamballs, airbike etc. In the beginning I didn’t knew what to expect. I did not get any carbs from the diet and I always thought you needed it for workouts. Of course by that time I heard many people doing it without any carbs. Still it was a bit strange in the beginning. Now that I am used to it I feel so strong and my recovery is so much better. I almost have no muscle soreness after workouts. It is great!

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

Before you start, learn! Learn about anti-nutrients. Learn about bio availability, learn about human history. Try to understand why this diet can be a good thing for you. I needed that to continue. I now understand why veganism wasn’t good for me. Keep an open mind. Maybe carnivore is to big a step. Than just start with paleo or keto. Try to find your way. Listen to your body. Don’t just blindly follow mainstream media. Choose for your personal health. Maybe join a Facebook groups and tell your story and ask for help if needed. Most people in this community are really supportive. If we want to make a better world we need healthier people.

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

I see such a big push from the plant-based industry here in the Netherlands. So many people are falling for this fairy tail. So I don’t know if carnivore is gonna be mainstream. I hope people will wake up and start thinking a bit more about their own health instead of following mainstream news.

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

I just wanna thank everybody for sharing there knowledge and experiences inside this community. The last 8 months have been such an amazing journey. I hope for people who are reading this and struggle with health they choose to make changes in their lifestyle, instead of popping pills and eat garbage food. Food can be such an important tool if you look at physical and mental health. If you want to know more about me or want to follow my journey you can find me on instagram BB Jay (username: bbja.y).

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