Tag Archives: Low Carb

Muscle Cramps on a Zero Carb Diet

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Muscle cramps, especially in the legs, are a common experience for many when they first adopt a Zero Carb diet. It is one of the many unpleasant symptoms that can occur during the adaptation period, but sometimes they can continue for longer. There are a number of reasons that these muscle cramps occur, but the main one is an electrolyte imbalance.

When you first go on a low-to-no carb diet, you lose a lot of excess fluid from your cells. As this fluid gets flushed out from your body, it carries electrolytes with it. There are four main electrolytes: sodium, potassium, magnesium, and chloride. Many folks who experience muscle cramps when they first begin a Zero Carb diet have found that both extra salt (containing both sodium and chloride) and extra magnesium can help to prevent muscle cramps during the transition process. However, increasing these three electrolytes is not universally helpful, and it is my opinion that potassium is often the electrolyte that most needs to be supplemented.

The RDA for potassium is about 5,000 mg per day. It takes about 3 lbs of fresh meat to meet this requirement. Whether the RDAs are the same for people following an all meat diet is certainly open to debate, but I offer it here for reference. However, whether 5,000 per day is necessary for long term health on a Zero Carb diet or not, it is highly likely that the amount of potassium being excreted during the transition and adaptation period is excessive enough to tip the balance in the wrong direction and cause muscle cramping.

Traditionally, even the most knowledgeable Low Carb doctors have recommended consuming additional salt and magnesium during the early stage of a person’s transitions to such a diet. And Dr. Phinney explains that without adequate sodium, the muscles cannot retain adequate potassium inside the cells. (To read more about this, please see my article on Salt.) However, it baffles me that he never once recommends including extra potassium. I suspect that the reason for this oversight by Dr. Phinnney may be that he is promoting a Low Carb diet that still includes low carbohydrate plant foods, like leafy greens and berries. All fruits and vegetables are rich in potassium. But, on Zero Carb, our only source of potassium is from the meat we are eating, and while some folks can consume 3 pounds of meat a day, many others cannot.

Consequently, it is my opinion, that if a person new to the Zero Carb diet is experiencing muscle cramps, they would be wise to consider supplementing with extra potassium, in addition to the other three electrolytes. Unfortunately, potassium is a mineral that the FDA has very strict regulations on, and all supplements must not exceed 99 mg per dose. This makes is difficult to obtain adequate supplementation through a capsule or tablet and is more expensive than it really needs to be.

The restrictions on potassium were put in place because too much potassium can lead to hyperkalemia (high potassium) which is very dangerous. But the amount of potassium that one needs to ingest to reach toxic levels is quite high. Dr. Max Gerson, a highly respected German-born physician who treated cancer, prescribed a diet that included about 10,000 mg of potassium each and every day, both from food and supplements, without any negative consequences. The only time that normal moderate potassium supplementation can be dangerous is in people with severely compromised kidney function and out-right kidney failure.

A natural way to increase potassium on a Zero Carb diet is through meaty bone broth. (Please see my earlier article on this subject: Can Bone Broth Be Used as Part of a Zero Carb Diet?) Broth from just bones without meat on them will not contain much potassium, but broth that has been prepared from meaty bones or meat alone will. This is because the potassium is in the meat and not the bones. If a person is unable to consume bone broth due to glutamine sensitivity, then broth made from just meat, like lean round or rump roast, will serve equally well for this purpose. You can buy whole round roasts at Costco for less than $4.00/lb. Every pound of beef contained 1,200 mg of potassium which will get transferred to the water it is cooked in. I also like to use turkey parts, such as backs, necks, wings, and drums because they are a nice combination of both meat and bone and fairly affordable. Whole chicken works equally well. I always toss the meat and bones after cooking because all of the nutrients have been cooked out of them.

If making meat or meaty bone broth is not a task you wish to undertake, you can add a little extra potassium to your regimen through a supplement. The best product for the price is Potassium Gluconate Powder by NOW Foods which provides 270 mg of potassium per 1/2 tsp. For some reason, this particular product is not being held to the strict FDA limitation of 99 mg per serving that every other potassium containing supplement on the market. It is pretty affordable at $18.00 for an 16 oz. bottle that provides over 250 servings.

Long term Zero Carb-ers like Michael Frieze had to go through the adaptation period on therir own with little support from others or knowledge of what to expect. Many of these individuals experienced muscle cramps for the first few months after beginning the diet, but the cramps gradually became less frequent and disappeared altogether. Michael – taking the advice of Owlsey Stanley, a.k.a. The Bear – decided to remove salt from his diet completely at the same time he began a Zero Carb diet. His body eventually adapted to a salt-free, all-meat diet, and he has had no issues with inadequate electrolytes or any other deficiencies for the past 5 years. So, the worst case scenario if you do nothing, is that you might have muscle cramps for a few months while your body is adapting. But, meaty bone broth and/or a good electrolyte formula like the one mentioned above will likely make your transition easier.

While I think an electrolyte imbalance is the primary cause of muscle cramping in the early stages of adopting a Zero Carb diet, another possible cause is inadequate water intake. Sufficient water is needed for the electrolytes to do what they need to do. There is some difference of opinion in the Zero Carb community about how much water a person should drink. The advice most often given is to drink according to thirst, but I am not convinced that thirst is our best indicator of when we need water. I base my opinion both on my own experience and the works of Dr. Fereydoon Batmanghelidj.

Dr. B was an Iranian-born physician who found that many different illnesses went away in his patients when they simply started drinking more water. According to Dr. B., water is the single best natural anti-histamine that we have at our disposal, and this is one of the primary reasons that drinking an adequate amount can have such a positive impact on so many different health problems. He wrote several very interesting books which I have read and highly recommend: Your Body’s Many Cries For Water; You’re Not Sick, You’re Thirsty; and Water Cures, Drugs Kill: How Water Cured Incurable Diseases. He has written several other books that I have not yet read, but which might also be worthwhile. You will find them all through Amazon by searching on his name.

I have helped two personal friends of mine to virtually eliminate their seasonal pollen allergies and lifelong asthma by getting them to follow Dr. B’s protocol. Both of my friends were coffee drinkers and neither of them liked to drink water. Coffee is dehydrating, so drinking it in place of water can compound the problem. Dr. B says that it takes about 2 months for the cells of your body to become fully hydrated once you begin his protocol, so results may not be immediate. By the time allergy season rolled around, however, both of my friends had been drinking more water for a few months and the results were quite stunning. Their allergies were basically non-existent, and the one with lifelong asthma only needed to use his inhaler about 3 more times and never got his prescription refilled.

Some people have a lot of resistance to increasing their water consumption because they don’t like the way plain water tastes. I think this is due mostly to the poor quality water most of us have access to today. I have tasted water coming out of natural mountain springs and it is nothing like what comes out of our kitchen tap or the filtered bottled waters sold in stores.

Buying really good bottled natural spring water like Fiji is prohibitively expensive for most people. But it is important to take the time to find a water that is both pleasant tasting and affordable, or get a filtration system that will turn your tap water into something drinkable. Nora Gedgaudas recommends the Berkey water filtration system, for both its effectiveness and its price. I have tasted the water produced by a Berkey and it is excellent in my opinion.

We often forget the basic needs of the human body, seeking answers in more complicated and esoteric directions. Adequate water is extremely important to the proper functioning of our bodies. In the late 1800s, Dr. James Salisbury and his protege Mrs. Elma Stuart healed many people of many different illnesses simply by prescribing a diet of beef and water. They considered the water to be just as important as the beef, and their protocol is surprisingly similar to that of Dr. B.

Like Dr. B., Dr. Salisbury and Mrs. Stuart recommended that a minimum of 2 liters of plain water be consumed throughout the day. Many people of their time reported greatly improved health simply by following the water protocol alone, without even changing their diet. It seems that the vital importance of water for human health must continually be rediscovered in each generation. You can read more about the beef and water diet they recommended in Stuart’s wonderful volume What Must I Do to Get Well ?

So, the importance of water and the role is plays in supporting the health of our beautiful bodies should not – in my opinion – be underestimated. Increasing your water consumption is a very simple thing to do and is a great place to start if you are experiencing any type of chronic health problem, be it muscle cramps or something more serious. If you are drinking less than 2 liters of water per day, and you are struggling with an all meat diet, I think it is worth considering a 30 to 60 day trial of increased water consumption to see if it makes a positive difference in the way you feel.

 

Zero Carb Interview: Kevin Fenderson

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Kevin today.

1. How long have you been eating a Zero Carb (No Plant Foods) diet?

I’ve been eating zero carb for a little over a year now. Although, I was trying to eat zero carb for about six months before I finally committed to it. I probably could count all the way back, as some people consider those times we fail as still zero carb as long as we learn from them. Others are super-strict and say you need to restart your count any time you step outside the zero carb path. Three years in and you have a stick of celery? You’re now back on day one! I take a more moderate view. As long as you’re consistently on the right path, a rare misstep isn’t cause to restart. My original six months had far too many missteps for me to claim any sort of consistency though.

All that to just say, a little over a year.

2. What motivated you to try this way of eating? Weight? Health?

Honestly? It was probably just curiosity and fascination. There might have been a little health improvement thrown in, but that really just pointed me in the right direction. I discovered that fiber caused me more problems than it helped. That eventually led me to reading more on it. I think Ash Simmonds posted something in the reddit keto group about fiber being bad. I didn’t know much about him at the time. I read his post on fiber and the links.

Somewhere along the way, I stumbled on The Fat of the Land by Stefansson on Ash’s website. That book remains my strongest influence. When I have a question, I usually find that it’s answered somewhere in there. I kept thinking to myself, “I want to do that.” That is going a whole year eating just meat.

When I first found out about it, I was still losing weight. But, weight loss didn’t play a role. I figured that I had weight loss solved with keto. This wouldn’t interfere with keto, but it wasn’t like I needed this for weight loss. I also felt better than I had in years, because of the weight I had already lost, so I didn’t think I had any health issues that needed curing. Nope, it was just fascination and my love for trying new things out on myself.

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Kevin prior to beginnging his low carbohydrate journey.

3. How long did it take you to adapt to a Zero Carb diet, both physically and psychologically?

I adapted physically really quickly, but that is probably because I had already been eating a very low carb diet. The mental transition was hardest for me, especially because I didn’t know other people who were doing it when I started trying it out. I had read that it could be done. Then I would stay awake at night worrying that I would end up getting scurvy or something and everyone would know how stupid I had been. I would last a week or more and then eat some vegetables, just in case. That is probably why it took me six months of failing before it stuck. Then, I saw Amber O’Hearn’s 30-day guide and decided that other people were out there who had done at least a month and survived. Up until this point, I was still set on going a whole year because I wanted to replicate the experiment Stefansson had done for myself. That was too much to mentally commit to. It’s probably part of why I kept failing. So, I decided I would do a month. A month is a lot more doable. I could do a month.

There was only one problem. She said no artificial sweeteners (AS). And, I started looking into that. That’s also when I found Zeroing In On Health and their forum. I read through there and they were all doing meat only. But, they were also very against artificial sweeteners. I thought that was stupid. I didn’t have any problems with them. I had lost weight just fine with artificial sweeteners. I decided the first thing I would test would be their theory on AS. I don’t know why this took priority. Maybe it was a last ditch effort, mentally, to find an excuse to not just give up plants for 30 days.

I was at my goal weight already and losing more while eating as much as I wanted (on a ketogenic plan) and not counting/restricting calories. I decided that I would give the month of June as an initial 30 day challenge. I would eat 1 or more artificially sweetened things each day. I would ensure I stayed below my carb goal, but every single day I would eat something sweet. I would also continue to eat as much as I wanted. It wouldn’t be exaggerating to state that June was a total train-wreck for me. I gained weight way beyond even what the increased calories suggested I should. I started to realize how I the sweeteners caused cravings for me and how I ended up eating more because of them. I had only had sweet things every once in a while, up to this point, and their impact had been minimal compared to the weight loss from keto. They clearly were not good for me. Then again, maybe this was all the power of suggestion? Maybe I believed I craved more because I had been reading that they caused cravings? I don’t know. I do know that the 500 or so calories a day I was eating didn’t explain why I went from losing over a pound a week to gaining over a pound a week.

After that, I decided I would do it “their” way for 30 days. I would just do meat, coffee, some cheese, and avoid all the sweeteners. I would also stop taking any supplements except my daily allergy medicine. Naturally, you would assume that I started on July 1st. No, I kept putting it off. I don’t know exactly why. It wasn’t until the middle of July that I actually started.

When I started, I lurked on the old forums every day, read through The Bear’s megathread, and read everything else I could find. I think knowing it had been done before by lots of people helped me. In two to three weeks, I was already sure that I wouldn’t be stopping when the 30 days were over. I was already feeling better than I had in my whole life. When I started, I would have argued that I was in good health. I didn’t know how bad I felt all the time because it was what I thought was normal.

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Kevin prior to beginning his low carbohydrate journey.

4. What books or people were most influential in guiding you to this way of eating?

Without a doubt The Fat of the Land remains the most important book for me. That would be followed by Bear’s megathread, which could be a book in itself. Then I have to give credit to Ash Simmonds whose research and website – High Steaks: Meat is Life – helped point me in this direction. Amber, like I said, is the one who made it bite-sized for me and that encouraged me enough to actually do it. And, of course, all the other zero-carbers out there. Back then, they were all congregated on the ZIOH forums. Now they’re spread over several facebook groups.

With all that said, I think The Fat of the Land should be required reading for those considering eating this way.

5. Do you eat only meat, or do you include eggs, cheese, and cream in your diet?

I include eggs and dairy in my diet. I am currently trying a period without any dairy, but it’s not having any dramatic impact on things. I will probably go back to the occasional slice of cheese with my burger. I don’t use a lot of cream (sour or heavy), but I have used some of the past year. I don’t worry too much about dairy. I do know I’ll gain a little weight and retain it for a while after eating a bunch of dairy. It’s nothing extreme (a kg or so) and it does go away, but dairy is a good way to get my weight up.

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A whole chuck roast purchased in bulk.

6. What percentage of your diet is beef versus other types of meats?

I eat mostly beef. When it comes to percentages, it would be at least 90%. Some weeks it’s 100%. I also like lamb, bacon, ribs, and chicken wings. If I could find cheaper lamb or mutton, that would make up a large portion of my diet. The problem is that lamb is easily twice as expensive as beef where I am. If they were the same price, it would be 50/50 beef and lamb. As it is, I probably eat more pork than lamb because it’s cheaper.

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The chuck roast cut into steaks and ready to freeze for the week.

7. When you eat beef, do you cook it rare, medium, or well done?

It depends on what I feel like. When it comes to ground beef, I’ll do medium to medium well. Steaks and other cuts I like as rare as I can get them.

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A meal of rare steak and eggs.

8. Do you add extra fat to your meat? (i.e. butter, lard, tallow)

Almost never. I will sometimes add grease when cooking, but I don’t intentionally add it to already cooked meat. That said, if the meat is really lean or dry, I am probably going to add some fat to make it palatable.

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Chuck roast steaks on the grill.

9. Do you limit your meat consumption or do you eat until satisfied?

I don’t limit myself at all. I eat until I’m not interested in any more or I’ve run out of food. I try and cook enough so that I always end up with leftovers.

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Big grilled chuck roast steak ready to eat.

10. Do you eat liver or other organ meats? If so, how often?

I have had some liverwurst and sweetbreads in the last year. They’re not a big part of my diet. Maybe once every 3-4 months. I happen to like them. I also roast and eat bone marrow on a semi-regular basis. Maybe once every couple of months.

11. Do you consume bone broth? If so, how often?

Nope. I’m just too lazy to make things that far in advance.

12. How many meals do you eat per day on average?

Usually two meals a day, sometimes three. I have rare days where I eat only once and other rare days where I eat four or more times. I don’t restrict myself to a certain number of meals. I do try to avoid snacking. If I am going to eat, I am going to eat enough to be a full meal.

13. How much meat do you eat per day on average?

To be completely honest, I have no idea. I don’t measure it in any way and I prepare as much as looks good to me. It’s certainly more than a pound and probably less than three. I figure my purchases around a little over two pounds a day. Sometimes it lasts longer than I expect and others it’s gone sooner. It’s hard to really say for sure, because I don’t really track it in any detailed manner. When the meat gets low, I go and buy around 30 pounds (13-14 kg) with the expectation that it will last another two weeks.

14. Do you eat grass-fed/pasture-raised meat, or regular commercially produced meat?

I buy the regular commercially produced meat. I’ve bought the other stuff, but didn’t find any significant difference in how it made me feel or even how it tasted. I realize that some people claim to be able to taste the difference, I didn’t taste anything better or special about it.

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Kevin treating himself to some ribeyes.

15. Do you drink any beverages besides water? (i.e. coffee, tea)

Coffee is my main beverage. I’ve switched to mostly decaf and I pour it over ice and drink it watered down and cold most of the day. I also drink a lot of sparkling water and plain old tap water.

16. Do you use salt?

I love salt. I don’t always use it. I have had days where I didn’t want or use it. But, I just like it a lot. I don’t believe it’s a necessity. It’s a habit and a taste that I have kept. I do salt most of my food.

17. Do you use spices?

I will use spices with my meat. I have a couple steak mixes that I like. I also have a rib rub that I use. It’s my brother-in-law’s rub and he made me a big batch without the usual sugar. I don’t use any rub with sugar in it.

The majority of the time, it’s just salt and maybe a little pepper though. It’s simple, but that’s what I like.

18. Do you take any supplements?

No. I decided to stop taking supplements when I decided to test this out. I figured that if I needed to take supplements, there was something missing from this way of eating.

19. How much money do you spend on food each month?

I spend about $200 a month just on myself. I could probably get it lower than that, and I could easily get it higher than that. But, that is a comfortable place I’ve found between economy and taste preference.

20. Do you have any tips for making this diet more affordable?

Buy in bulk and buy uncut hunks of beef or use a lot of ground beef. Really, it’s not more expensive than I was eating before. It might even be less expensive because vegetables and fruit are very expensive on a per calorie basis.

21. Do you exercise regularly? If so, how often and how vigorously?

Define regularly. I exercise when I feel like it and to the degree I feel like. I would probably say no to it being regular and most of it is low intensity.

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Kevin participating in a recent race.

22. What benefits have you experienced since beginning a Zero Carb diet? (i.e. recovery from illness, overall health, body composition)

This is the hardest question for me to answer. It’s not that I have received no benefits. It’s just that I’ve ranted about them all before and I don’t like repeating myself. I’ll go over them and try and add ones that came later.

One of the biggest benefits is unseen by everyone. I am no longer at war with my own body. I trust it now and we’re on the same team. I used to fight against what my body wanted, because when I gave it what it wanted I got fatter and more miserable. Because of that, I was monitoring and controlling everything. These days, I count and monitor almost nothing. I weigh myself daily, although I don’t care if it goes up or down, and I keep an eye on the level of meat in the fridge. I don’t want it to get too low. I have one shelf just for me, I prefer to keep it looking like this.

There’s about six pounds of ground beef, 15 pounds of ribeye, and some leftover roasted leg of lamb (in the container at the front left). You can’t see the second five-pound tube of ground beef, it’s under the container in the back. That one has a chuck steak. This is the only thing I worry about when it comes to food. If that shelf gets bare, I need to go to the deep freeze or get to the store.

I don’t worry about how much I eat. I go out of my way to not measure it. I trust my body to let me know when it’s had enough. I trust that, when it does, I’m not going to get fat again.

I have lost all desire for breads, starches, and sweets. That’s major for me. I used to bake bread, bagels, and rolls weekly. I lived on bread and rice. I couldn’t imagine life without it. Now, I can’t even remember why I liked it so much.

My digestion (the whole process from eating to elimination) is massively better. I burp less, I fart less, I have no more of those stinky tonsil stones, I don’t “gurgle” as I digest, I don’t get cramps, I don’t get plugged up. Hell, I don’t even think about it. I didn’t realize how messed up my gut was until it wasn’t messed up any more. I remember an ex-girlfriend who could tell, over the phone, if I had eaten pizza because she could hear my gut complaining. I no longer have issues with hemorrhoids.

I haven’t had a migraine since going keto, which has continued through zero carb. This is huge. I would get a few a year. They had decreased from when I started getting them, but they never went away. The migraines would be debilitating. I would just write the whole day off as a waste. None. I haven’t had one in what will soon be two years. Unless you suffer from migraines, you can never know how awesome that is.

Around the 6-8 month mark, my allergies stopped bothering me. I don’t know exactly when. I know I tried to get off the allergy medicine before the six month mark, but I couldn’t do it. I forgot to take it a few days around the eight month mark, and realized I was fine. I never resumed taking it and the allergies never returned.

Overall, I have never felt better physically or mentally in my entire life. I just feel good all the time.

23. Have you conceived, given birth, or breastfed while on a Zero Carb diet? If so, what was your experience?

Not from lack of trying. [wink, wink, nudge, nudge] I’m a guy, so I can’t actually do any of those things, and my wife and I aren’t trying for a child at this time.

24. Have you raised children on a Zero Carb diet? If so, what has been their experience? How difficult is it to keep carbs out of their diet in today’s world?

I wish, but I am the only person in my household who eats this way. My [step]son is very observant and will often comment on how I eat. He is acutely aware of how much sugar is in everything. He will never be zero carb though. When he’s at his dad’s house, he drinks green juices and other stuff like that. His dad and I have almost the opposite idea of ideal nutrition.

25. What do you enjoy most about eating a Zero Carb diet?

Well, the food is great and it makes me feel great. I get to eat all the foods that I like, and I don’t feel horrible all the time anymore.

26. Do you have any advice for someone who is just beginning a Zero Carb diet?

Aside from reading The Fat of the Land? Sure. It would be to trust the process and give it six months, at a minimum. Maybe break it down into a 30 day trial, but six months is a major turning point. It’s hard at first. It gets easier and easier.

27. Are your friends and family supportive of your Zero Carb lifestyle? If not, how do you handle this?

This area has improved dramatically, but not everyone is on board. My wife used to hate this way of eating. It was annoying/embarrassing when she wanted to go out to eat. I was probably slowly killing myself. I spend too much on meat. Although, I will reiterate that the amount I spend on meat is less than the total I was spending on a mixed diet before. She begged me to “eat normally” for our honeymoon, just so she wouldn’t be worried or stressed about me eating while we were on vacation. Stupidly, I agreed. Well, all my issues (gas, cramping, lethargy, etc.) returned with a vengeance as soon as I started eating crap. It was day two or three when she came to me and said, “You can go back to eating just meat again. I like it a lot better when you eat that way. You don’t fart and you’re a lot happier.” Ever since then, she’s never questioned it again. She won’t do it herself, but she knows it’s right for me.

I have a couple close work friends. They are fine with it. They ended up accepting it without too much question. I get a lot of comments from family, especially some members who are in an MLM-scheme that pushes vitamins and supplements. But, everyone who is close enough to know about this is also close enough to know that I’m going to do things my way, so they just don’t fight it.

28. Is there anything you would like share about this way of eating that I have not already asked you?

Nope. I think I have pretty much covered it.

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Kevin enjoying life with his beautiful wife.

Please visit my Interviews page to read the stories of other long time Zero Carb veterans.

If you are interested in meeting others who practice an All-Meat diet, please feel free to join Charles Washington in his Facebook group Zeroing in on Health or Michael Frieze in his Facebook group Principia Carnivora for guidance and support. These two groups use different approaches, so if you find that one does not suit you, please check out the other one.

 

My First Four Months on Zero Carb by Ginny Walker

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Prior to finding the Zero Carb diet, I was eating very unhealthy. I was eating a lot of sugar and a lot of starchy carbs. I did not limit the amount of foods I ate. I ate without thinking about what I was putting into my body. I ate when I was hungry, bored, sad, depressed, etc. Food was more of an emotional crutch instead of a fuel for the body.

I have always had an unhealthy relationship with food. In my teens and early 20’s, I suffered from binge eating and bulimia. Through out my adult life I have tried numerous diets only to fail repeatedly and return to food, especially sugar, as my addiction. Eventually, my weight reached 278 lbs. This was the highest it had ever been in my life, and I was miserable.

In August of 2014, I was diagnosed with polyostotic fibrous dysplasia. I have benign bone tumors in 7 ribs, my entire pelvis bone, my femur, my skull, and my right facial bones. I had been in severe dilating pain for a couple of years and was on prescription pain medication that made me feel like a zombie.

This bone disease has no known cure and pain management is the only medical approach. I knew my weight was contributing to the pain and that I needed to make some changes to help myself. I did some research and came across this website. The information and stories inspired me and I started this way of eating on March 6, 2015. That was the beginning of my new life.

My transition to a Zero Carb diet was moderately easy. I really liked how simple it was to understand this way of eating. There is not a lot you have to learn in order to put it into practice. Eat meat, drink water. It is a mindset. Once you decide to do it, you just do it. I really want to live a better life and have better health, so I have decided I will do this to improve my life. I also want to be a better example for my children.

I did experience a few symptoms in the beginning. I had some mild headaches. I believe this was from sugar withdrawals. I also experienced some weird itching and tingling sensations on my skin that lasted a couple of weeks. That was mildly annoying and a bit alarming. I believe my body was detoxing in some form. After a month or so of Zero Carb eating, I experienced no more itching or tingling and my skin is now clear and refreshed looking.

My daily food intake: I average at least one and a half lbs. of beef a day and some days 2 lbs. I eat until I am full and satisfied. I usually consume one meal a day on average, but occasionally I will have two. I eat a lot of ground beef. I have two strips of bacon with every meal.

Sometimes I add cheese, but I try not to eat too much dairy due to weight loss plateaus it has caused in the past. I cook every meal in pure butter and drink water. I will have the occasional cup of black coffee with nothing added.

The biggest benefit I have experienced so far:

A 60 lb. weight loss in just over four months. I still have several lbs. to go, but this is huge for me!

Equally significant is that I no longer have bone pain from the bone tumors, and I am off all of my pain medications.

Although I am now 43, I have the energy of a 20 yr old.

I have been able to discontinued the medications I was taking for high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.

My skin looks amazing.

I no longer have insomnia, and I have normal sleeping habits for the first time in 6 years.

Additionally, my overall emotional health has improved tremendously.

I am looking forward to seeing what other benefits Zero Carb has in store for me in the future!

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Please visit my Testimonials page to read the stories of others following a Zero Carb diet.

If you are interested in meeting others who practice an All-Meat diet, please feel free to join us in the Facebook group Principia Carnivora for support.

 

My First 2 Months on Zero Carb by Anne Engel

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Anne on Day 1 verses Day 60 of Zero Carb.

My story began in 2007. I was massively obese that time – over 500 lbs at 30 years old – and with no hope for change. I have been following the the standard diet suggested for weight loss: the whole grains, low fat, and no fun diet. I started to research other options and discovered low carb. I followed a low carb diet for 5 years, until 2012. Then, I decided to try a ketogenic diet which was higher in fat and even lower in carbs.

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Anne pre-low carb weighing about 500 lbs.

For most of the year, the only carbs I consumed came from leafy greens. However, during the summer, I included strawberries and tiny amounts of pumpkin, peppers and few other relatively low carb plant foods which did not normally eat on keto. I remained on a ketogenic diet for another 3 years, from 2012 until April of 2015. During the past 8 years of low carb and ketogenic eating combined, I successfully lost half of my body weight, or 250 lbs.

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Anne pre-low carb weighing about 500 lbs.

In the beginning of this year, I became very frustrated though, as I was working my ass of at the gym, eating really healthy food, and sticking to my diet… but I could not seem to lose anymore body fat. My weight would fluctuate two pounds down and then five pounds up, even though I was watching my macronutrient ratios, total calories, ketones levels, blood sugar numbers, etc. It was making me me completely crazy!

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Zero Carb Meal: Lamb chops, egg yolks, bacon, and water.

My feeling of frustration was so deep that I enlisted for a gastric bypass at the end of this year. Then, one day, I came across Kelly Williams Hogan‘s blog and read her story. This was my first introduction to a Zero Carb diet, and I was intrigued the moment I read about it. I spent a few days for researching it and was eager to try it for one reason in particular: when I was a kid I hated everything veggie and my mom had to push them on me. (To read all of the details of Anne’s Zero Carb journey, I recommend starting with her first post.)

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Zero Carb Meal: Steak cooked medium rare.

I always loved and wanted meat, but was often deprived of it. As a fat kid in the 1980s during the middle of the low fat craze, I lived with the pressure to lose weight and guess what? I was fed healthy whole grains with no limit and was only allowed tiny portions of meat. So reading about a way of eating that allows me to only eat what I really was extremely tempting.

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Zero Carb Meal: Raw pork and raw egg yolks.

I decided to jump in with both feet and started my Zero Carb journey two months ago. My transition to this lifestyle was pretty smooth. For the first few days, I suffered minor headaches and was tired – but nothing major to complain about. When I switched from moderate low carb to a ketogenic diet back in 2012, the adaptation phase was much, much worse and took me a lot longer to adjust.

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Zero Carb Meal: Pre-cooked beef for the office.

The hardest part of the transition, for me, was the social aspect. When people tell me I looks so healthy now and ask what I have done to lose weight, I have learned that It is best not to explain how I eat. For some strange reason, it always ends up in weird side effects, like people pushing cake on me with the lame excuse that it contains essential nutrients. (See Anne’s blog post: The Odd Case of “Vitamin Cake” Deficiency for more details on this bizarre phenomenon.)

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Anne’s loose skin shrunk from 3.6 cm to 2.8 cm over a two week period.

Socially, I am still in a bit of a fight with this situation that my so beloved and relaxing carnivorous lifestyle is a taboo and ends up in stupid ethical discussions. Or in discussions about how I am going to become deficient in vitamin C. Most people are too lazy or set in their ways to read and educate themselves about the advantages of eating this way. However, the great benefits of this diet make it worthwhile to go through the social transition as well.

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Anne on Day 1 verses Day 60 of Zero Carb

Here are the major improvements I have noticed so far: First, I lost almost 8 lbs. of fat in the first 30 days of Zero Carb. I had a DEXA, so I know exactly that it was in fact fat that I lost and not just water. In fact, My percentage of water actually increased. So that was exactly the thing I wanted to see… Zero Carb has restarted my weight loss. And with ease! In 10 days, I have another DEXA and cannot wait to get the results. I am certain I have lost more body fat during the second month, as my clothes fit better and I look trimmer.

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Anne on Day 1 verses Day 60 of Zero Carb

Another benefit is the wonderful sleep I now experience. I love lifting heavy weights at the gym, with emphasis on heavy. I always wanted to sleep more for better regeneration and results. I made time for more sleep, but I just could not sleep more that about 6-7 hours. Now I sleep 10-12 hours on some nights and that is really wonderful because It has improved my performance in the gym.

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Anne on Day 1 varses Day 60 of Zero Carb

My skin glows and I look very healthy. A lot of people have noticed this recently and have commented on it.

Also, I have had knee pain for years – the only effective remedy was to swallow 24 capsules of fish oil per day. Not only was that expensive, it was also disgusting. I stopped that routine a while ago because it just grossed me out and the knee pain returned in full force. On Zero Carb, the pain in my knee got worse for a few days and then suddenly disappeared completely, it is truly amazing.

Additionally, I just had my second period on Zero Carb, and it was both painless and quick. I don’t remember ever having a pain-free period. It is absolutely remarkable and makes life so much better.

And best of all, my thyroid blood test came back great for the first time in years. I have a normal, very good T3 reading now, yay! Before Zero Carb, it was close to the bottom of the normal range, and now it is close to the top. This way of eating seems to be healing my metabolism as well.

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Zero Carb Meal: Raw beef, raw pork, whole egg, coffee with heavy whipping cream.

I usually eat two meals a day. I have beef with every meal and combine it with other meats or eggs when I want some variation. I have better energy levels on beef than on any other meat or animal food, so I need it at least once a day to be happy and stay fit.

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Zero Carb Meal: Steak cooked medium rare.

The amounts of meat depend on my appetite. Some days, I will have almost a pound in one sitting, but on other days I can barely eat half a pound. I eat eggs occasionally and have some cheese in small amounts when I feel like it. I drink coffee with a spoonful of heavy whipping cream after breakfast just for the taste.

In the beginning of Zero Carb, I worried a lot about eating the right amount for weight loss, but after my first DEXA I trust my body to tell me how much to eat. That is one of the biggest benefits of Zero Carb in my experience. I feel calm and deeply relaxed about my food. I don`t have to stress out about weighing food, calculating calories, macronutrient ratios, or even measure my blood for ketones or glucose. It is such a relief to be free of all that and still be able to feel so healthy and vital AND finally lose weight again.

To continue following Anne’s Zero Carb journey, please see her blog Bad Ass Carnivore.

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Typical Fatty steaks and ground beef that Anne eats.

Please visit my Testimonials page to read the stories of others following a Zero Carb diet.

If you are interested in meeting others who practice an All-Meat diet, please feel free to join us in the Facebook group Principia Carnivora for support.

 

My First 5 Weeks on Zero Carb by Teresa Dutton

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Teresa and her husband Dan

1) What kind of diet were you following before ZC?

Which year? LOL! I have been over weight since having my first son 23 years ago. In the last 23 years, I have tried almost every diet out there at least twice: Very Low Carb, Weight Watchers, Atkins, HCG, and too many diet pills to list (over the counter and Rx). I never stuck to anything for very long, usually because it was too restrictive and I would give up. In the summer of 2014, I did low calorie diet and lost about 45 pounds. But over the last 6 months, I started gaining it back. So, before I started ZC five weeks ago, I was on your typical SAD diet.

2) Why did you decide to try ZC?

To be totally honest….I am going to Cancun, Mexico in December of this year (2015). It is a trip of a lifetime for me, and I don’t want to be overweight when I go. I also am just sick and tired of not having the body I want, and I am really not happy with myself. I have known for a long time that carbohydrates don’t agree with me. Even on my low calorie SAD diet I didn’t eat a lot, but my diet was mainly carbs. I am almost 42 and I feel like it is way past time for me to make a change and “get it together, so – when I heard about Zero Carb – I was in the place where I was ready for it

3) What was your transition to ZC like? Easy or hard? Symptoms?

My first two weeks on Zero Carb was very easy. I had no cravings, my energy was excellent, and I felt really wonderful over all. However, the second two weeks were really hard. I tons of cravings, no energy, no motivation, and I felt really horrible overall. I also experienced allergy-like symptoms such as watery eyes, sneezing, and nasal congestion. I thought of quitting every 10 mins. Literally. By the beginning of week five I started to feel a lot better. The cravings vanished and my energy returned. My skin has become noticeably oilier on this diet as well.

4) What benefits have you noticed so far?

Unlike so many others doing Zero Carb, I have no major health problems. My primary issue was simply excess body fat, and I have already lost 20 lbs since beginning this way of eating. My starting weight was 188 lbs and today – five weeks into Zero Carb – it is 168 lbs. I still have about 30 more lbs to go, but I see myself getting there with no problem. Additionally, my moods are much more stable, and I am almost always in a good mood now. After being on sleeping medication for years, I am finally off of them. I discontinue them by the end of the second week, and it is possible that many of the negative symptoms I experienced in weeks 3-4 were do to me stopping this drug. I now wake up at 5:30 AM every morning ready to go, no more dragging. Also, my hands and feet are rarely swollen anymore.

5) What does your daily food intake look like?

As far as my personal Zero Carb food choices go, I follow what my body tells me it wants. Before Zero Carb, I was a chicken addict, but now all want is beef addict. I usually only eat 2 meal a day. Around 8:00 AM I will have 10 pieces of bacon and then at 2:00 PM I will have 1-1.5 lbs of steak (usually top sirloin) with a couple tablespoons of butter or lard. I am still drinking coffee with a small amount of heavy whipping cream each day. Sometimes I feel like having chicken or shrimp, but not very often. I don’t eat grass-fed, I just buy whatever is least expensive.

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Teresa when she began a Zero Carb diet and again after 5 weeks into it.

When you start ZC, you will get frustrated, it will be hard, you will feel bad, it will be awkward, you will think about quitting at times. But it does get easier, you will begin to feel better and get healthier. If you want this, don’t let anyone derail you! Everyone’s journey if different, try not to compare yourself to anyone. This is for you, so just do you and let yourself do you and you will succeed!

I love how easy it is to eat Zero Carb. No counting, no calculating, no recipes. When I am hungry, I walk into the kitchen, throw a steak in the skillet, and 5 mins later I am eating that steak. It is so easy. I have had amazing results in just 5 weeks. I can hardly believe it myself. I don’t work out, and I don’t stress over not working out. I have not had a problem with social events or eating out. I am just doing what I need to do for me and not worrying about what anyone else thinks or does. I still have a ways to go before I am at a normal healthy weight, but in the mean time I am eating my meat, enjoying my progress, and being happy about life in general. I love Zero Carb!

Please visit my Testimonials page to read the stories of others following a Zero Carb diet.

If you are interested in meeting others who practice an All-Meat diet, please feel free to join us in the Facebook group Principia Carnivora for support.

 

Healing Brain Cancer with a Zero Carb Ketogenic Diet by Andrew Scarborough

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May 2015

Two and a half years ago, at the age of 27, I was working as a personal trainer and was physically very active. However, I was forced to stop working towards the end of 2012 because I was experiencing debilitating fatigue and severe migraine headaches. The doctors I consulted told me that my symptoms were most likely due to excessive stress.

At that time, I was eating a high carbohydrate, high protein, low fat diet, and I had a very low percentage of body fat. I ran and lifted weights, and for all intents and purposes appeared to be in great shape. I felt like I was doing everything right for good health based on what I had studied while working on my undergraduate degree in Sports Nutrition a few years earlier. But looking back, I probably wasn’t all that healthy internally.

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November 2011

After quitting my job, I decided to study for a Master’s degree in Nutritional Therapy. As I got deeper into my course work,I was shocked to discover that everything I had learned during my undergraduate studies was either false, misleading, or outdated information.

However, the new information was fascinating and I was enjoying it. This is where I first learned about the Ketogenic diet to manage drug resistant epilepsy and potentially cancer. My lecturer at the time told me that she followed a Paleo diet and I was intrigued and a little skeptical at the same time.

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Andrew with his nephew – October 2012

Five months later in February 2013, following a workout at the gym, I had what I now know was a partial seizure. I became very confused, had a metallic taste on my tongue, was very unsteady, stared blankly into space, and lost the ability to speak. It was scary and confusing, but – as my speech came back a few minutes later – I ignored it and carried on with my day.

There was also a particularly nasty strain of flu going around at the time, and I thought perhaps my weird symptoms were somehow related to that. Additionally, I was traveling around London which was stressful, but – being the stubborn person that I am – I simply soldiered on.

In the weeks that followed, I gradually became more and more fatigued, my balance was getting worse, my ability to concentrate was declining, and I was struggling to find words. I was also starting to get crushing headaches, but I assumed they were just one of the symptoms of this terrible strain of flu!

I finally started taking pain medication for headaches which was a big decision for me because I hate taking drugs. I was also experiencing some weakness around my right eye, so I decided that maybe I need glasses. I went for an exam and a prescription, but – after getting the glasses – the headaches continued unabated and were becoming more and more debilitating. Then, after suffering from serious dizzy spells all day, I rushed to get a train ride home from London.

As I sat down, the crushing headache was becoming unbearable. I felt nauseous and extremely dizzy. I began to have a pins-and-needles sensation in my mouth and on the right side of my face, along with that weird metallic taste I had experienced before, so I quickly scampered to the less busy side of the train clutching my face in agony.

My head felt like it was burning on one side and my right hand started to shake. I made strange yelping noises that I couldn’t control, and my whole body started to convulse. I felt like my head was being crushed until – suddenly – it felt like someone hit me as hard as they could on the side of my head with a hammer. Then, it felt like someone was turning a water tap on inside of my head, and I fell unconscious on the train.

When I finally came around, I was extremely confused and had a lot of injuries. I was immediately rushed to the nearest hospital. Eventually, the doctors determined that I had suffered a brain hemorrhage caused by a highly vascular malignant brain tumor located between the speech and movement areas of my brain. I was misdiagnosed a few times before I received the actual pathology report because there was just so much blood in my brain.

Six weeks after my operation on May 15th, I was told I had an Anaplastic Astrocytoma. It was treatable, but not curable. In other words, they could slow the progress, but ultimately it would prove to be terminal. I reluctantly went ahead with the standard radiotherapy and chemotherapy that my doctors recommended, but I felt extremely depressed.

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May 2013

Based on my previous studies regarding the Ketogenic diet, I began to gradually reduce my carbohydrate intake while simultaneously increasing fat. I read as much information about the Ketogenic diet as my current condition would allow. I was still having seizures on a regular basis, some of which were horrendous and quite traumatic, and I was on a number of strong pain and anti-convulsant medications.

The side effects of these medications were horrible. I asked my oncologist if a Ketogenic diet could help reduce the need for these medications, but I was told that diet would have little-to-no effect. He also stated in a very matter-of-fact way that it would not be a good idea to remove carbohydrates from my diet while undergoing conventional medical treatment because the brain needed glucose to function.

I stopped the chemotherapy and radiation treatments after a few months because they were making me too sick and were not helping to eliminate the cancer. (Sadly, everyone I know who continued with the conventional treatments for this type of cancer is no longer alive.) After all the research I had done, I decided that a ketogenic diet was crucial to slowing the progression of this cancer and was my best hope. Therefore, I adopted a very high fat, very low carbohydrate, ketogenic diet. It included low sugar fruits and vegetables, lots of heavy whipping cream, coconut milk and oil, nuts, cheese, avocados, etc. All the typical high fat, keto-friendly foods.

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November 2013

I was getting decent numbers on my glucose/ketone meter, but I felt absolutely awful. My migraines and seizure activity got so bad that I was bed bound for months and I became very depressed. Eventually, I went to see my General Practitioner, and he prescribed steroids because my arteries had become severely inflamed. I never took the steroids (prednisolone), but decided to start keeping track of exactly when the symptoms became worse.

I decided to lower my carbohydrate intake further and the vascular inflammation improved without drugs. Esmee had read one of my blog posts about my symptoms and suggested that I might be reacting to the salicylates present in coconut, avocado, nuts, and other plant foods I was eating. So, I decided to eliminate them as a trial and see how I felt. The difference was astonishing. The headaches and seizure activity reduced almost immediately. The saddened me because these foods were the primary staples of my Ketogenic diet and I wasn’t yet sure how to replace them.

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July 2014

After cutting these foods out, however, and utilizing more animal fats like butter and tallow instead, I was able to gradually reduce the anti-convulsant and pain medications I was taking. Meanwhile, my brain scans continued to show improvement which both surprised and encouraged me.

I began to read more academic journals, text books about nutrition, and studied Neurology (because my neurologists were unhelpful) in more depth. I scrutinized my diet some more and realized I could get all the nutrients I needed strictly from the animal kingdom if I included bone broth and organ meats. I then took things to a whole new level by adding insects to my diet.

The diet I designed for myself – based on everything I had read and learned – made a lot of sense nutritionally, and I was amazed at how well it worked on a practical level. I was able to completely eliminate my medications, and I started to feel better and better.

I do take some supplemental vitamin D3 (I have photo-sensitivity and cannot be in the sun for long), and a good quality natural sea or rock salt. I also use some MCT oil which – unlike coconut milk and oil – does not cause migraines or seizures in my brain. I suspect that the salicylates are removed during processing, and this is why it does not bother me.

Of all the different Ketogenic diets I have tried over the past two years, the Zero Carb “Carnivorous” Ketogenic diet is the only one that has given me near complete symptom relief. I am doing things in an unorthodox way, but I firmly believe that this type of Ketogenic diet is the most efficacious for brain cancer management and improved seizure control. Except for some mild fatigue, I feel better than I have felt since this whole experience began.

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May 2015

My current diet is 85% fat, 15% protein. I have 70-75 gms of protein per day, and over 200 gms of fat. The only real difference between the recommended Ketogenic diet and what am doing is that I am eating only foods that come from the Animal Kingdom. I do not include any plant foods or the oils derived from plant foods. I am still very careful about my macronutrient ratios (protein/fat), but counting carbohydrates is no longer an issue for me since I eliminated all plant foods. The only beverage I drink is water or bone broth.

Each day, I eat 2-4 eggs, liver, lambs brain (from a local sheep rancher who raises his animals with care) or sardines/mackerel, bone broth, crickets or other insects like wax worms (either whole or as a flour) mixed with eggs, herbs and animal fat cooked in a frying pan or in the oven, and bacon or red meat with cheddar cheese. I also rotate in a variety of other organ meats like sweet breads. Sometimes I drink heavy whipping cream on its own if I’m on holiday because it’s an easy way to get the fat, but it tends to make me sleepy so I don’t do that very often! Basically, I’m experimenting with new foods all the time and continually learning and expanding my options.

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Sheep’s Brain

 

I have also been doing regular short intermittent fasts over the past 2 years, but – now that I am off all of the medications – I feel even more benefit from these fasts. The euphoria and energy I experience is incredible on my fasting days.

I consistently aim for 3-5 mmol/L of blood ketones, 3-4 mmol/L for of blood glucose. Without much effort both my blood ketones and glucose numbers are consistently in the optimal therapeutic range. I can improve both numbers even more with mild exercise, which I am once again able to do and is – in itself – an incredible thing for me.

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May 2015

My most recent brain scans taken earlier this month (May 2015) show no disease and even the scar tissue is healing. I have a new oncologist – Dr. Kevin O’Neil – that I found through a Ketogenic diet conference last year who is completely supportive of the approach I am taking to treat my cancer and rebuild my health. He is one of the few oncologists who supports metabolic diet therapy for cancer management, and I am blessed to have him on my team.

In fact, he is so impressed with my results that he has offered me an opportunity to work and study at Charing Cross Hospital and Imperial College London to push forward the research on this type of metabolic diet therapy.

I would like to express my deep and sincere appreciation to Thomas Seyfried, Dominic D’Agostino, Adrienne Scheck, and many other scientific pioneers who are conducting studies and carrying out research on the therapeutic benefits of a Ketogenic diet, as well as to the Non-Profits groups The Charlie Foundation and Matthew’s Friends. I have had the wonderful opportunity to meet with these amazing people and organizations in person, and they have all been enormously helpful to me on my journey back to Well-Being.

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December 2015

To read an update and watch an interview with Andrew, please go to Dr. Jeffry Gerber’s page:

http://denversdietdoctor.com/ancestral-ketogenic-diets-and-brain-cancer-the-scarborough-protocol/

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Please visit my Testimonials page to read the stories of others following a Zero Carb diet.

If you are interested in meeting others who practice an All-Meat diet, please feel free to join us in the Facebook group Principia Carnivora for support.

 

My First 3 Months on Zero Carb by Isabel

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Isabel’s Chihuahua Pup Portia.

I was on a LCHF diet for a year before I started a Zero Carb way of eating. I was eating lots of fatty cuts of meat, cheese, and fats from butter. I was also eating plenty of vegetables, especially greens and raw salads. I lost a great deal of weight over that year, about 90lbs!

However, I was still experiencing irritable bowel syndrome side effects. I experienced bloating, cramping, and abdominal pain from inflammation and irritation of my gastrointestinal tract (as explained by my doctor).

My Primary Care Physician prescribed probiotics, anti-depressants (in case it was stress causing my IBS), stomach acid pump inhibitors, and antispasmodic medications… all with little improvement.

I heard about the Zero Carb diet and I wanted to see if eating only those foods from the animal kingdom – like beef, chicken, pork and eggs – and drinking only water, would make a difference in my IBS symptoms. So, I decided to give it a whirl, and I was not disappointed.

Within 72 hours of beginning a Zero Carb diet, I quickly noticed my bloating was gone. After just 3 weeks, I was no longer experiencing any abdominal cramping and pain. By week 5, I was having regular bowel movements without bleeding. I had formerly suffered from severe constipation. I have now been on a Zero Carb diet for 12 weeks, and I have been totally off any IBS medications for a full 3 weeks. I also have lost an additional 27 lbs!

I eat all animal meats and eggs on the occasion. I usually will eat the same thing for a week, and switch it up. Maybe I’ll have beef burgers for my meals one week, then chicken or pork the next week, just to give the illusion of variety. I eat no dairy products. I also do use kosher sea salt, as well as black pepper, and once in a while I add some cajun spices on my meat.

I cannot imagine going back to my former way of eating. This is the only “therapy” I have tried that has ever worked so completely on my GI track to calm the IBS. It’s either this diet or gut wrenching pain. That makes the diet easy for me to follow. I still need to lose about 40 lbs more anyways, so i’m excited to continue on my weight loss journey as well.

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Isabel’s Pomeranian Pup Chanel

Please visit my Testimonials page to read the stories of others following a Zero Carb diet.

If you are interested in meeting others who practice an All-Meat diet, please feel free to join us in the Facebook group Principia Carnivora for support.

 

What Must I Do to Get Well? by Elma Stuart

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What Must I Do to Get Well by Elma Stuart

This is a book about Dr. James Henry Salisbury’s Beef and Hot Water Diet Therapy for healing. It was observed to help everything from diabetes to epilepsy to rheumatism to gout to migraines to insomnia to asthma to cancer. This is the 25th edition of the book and was published in 1898. The first edition was published in the mid-1880s and each edition was larger and more comprehensive than the last. This is the most complete edition that I have found. It may have been the final edition.

The author was bedridden for 9 years with what today would be labeled Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. She went to 43 doctors in an effort to regain her health. None of their recommendations worked. She learned about Dr. Salisbury’s diet through an ad in her local newspaper and ordered his book The Relation of Alimentation and Disease.

A good neighbor helped her to do the diet by purchasing, grinding, and cooking all of her meals every day for 7 months until she was strong enough to do it for herself. All of the meat was purchased daily (from animals slaughtered that morning) and ground fresh just prior to cooking. Interestingly, this would have prevented any significant formation of histamines in the meat. Elma says it took her about a year on Dr. Salisbury’s diet to regain her health. At the time of publication, Elma had eaten beef and hot water exclusively for 11 years.

The main difference between Dr. Salisbury’s diet and what the Zero Carb community recommends is that it prescribes lean beef, rather than fatty beef.  Elma says that she has witnessed hundreds, if not thousands, of people recover from very serious illnesses using Dr. Salisbury’s diet. The book is fascinating and has many funny passages.

To read the free PDF version of her book, please click on the link below:

What Must I Do to Get Well? And How Can I Keep So? by Elma Stuart

 

On a side note, those of you who like nineteenth century English literature will enjoy discovering that Elma Stuart was very good friends with the well-known feminist and philosophical novelist George Eliot (a.k.a. Maryann Evans). They wrote many letters back and forth over an 8 year period, from 1872 to 1880.

To read the free PDF version of the exant letters, please click on the link below:

Letters from George Eliot to Elma Stuart

 

My First 3 Months on Zero Carb by Don Ewart

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My journey to health began in 1999 at the age of 70. That summer, Margaret and I registered to send our bicycles to Australia and ride with over a thousand others in the Big Ride New South Wales 2000, an 800-mile route from Brisbane to Sydney. The event was scheduled for the spring of the millennial year. My five-foot-eleven frame weighed about 230 pounds with a big belly and I knew I had to lose 50 pounds to have a chance to participate.

I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but figured it would happen if I got out and rode my bike a lot and cut down on how much I was eating. And that’s what I did. Well, guess what, it didn’t happen. After a month of trying, the scales didn’t budge!

Then my birthday came along, and my oldest daughter presented me with Dr. Robert Atkins book and I began to read it that night. I didn’t have to get very far into it when I realized that it told me exactly what I was looking for. Cut down the carbs, and so I did. No more bread, pasta, pizza, potatoes, just low-carb veggies and a little fruit.

I began to weigh myself every morning before dressing and writing it down. Wow, my weight started dropping like a rock. Fifty pounds was lost before the ride, and I completed it along with the others and felt great.

Atkins wrote that after reaching your goal weight, you can add back a few carbs slowly until the weight starts to rise. He was wrong and here’s why. Post-ride, I kept recording my weight every day. As we all know, our weight varies every day. Mine was up and down a pound or two with each measurement. But, after several months, I noticed that it only seemed to be going up.

I figured that if I eat a little less, my weight would stop going up. But it didn’t, and I realized that I should be graphing these scribbled numbers. Now it was obvious that I was gaining weight, but how fast? When I drew a line thru the dots, I calculated a rate of 1/2 oz per day. With weight varying one or two pounds a day, how could anyone detect 1/2 oz per day? That’s the flaw in Atkins’ advice. But adding only 1/2 oz per day adds up to one pound a month and that’s twelve pounds a year!

Fast forward from 2000 to 2015. What’s taken place? Well, Gary Taubes with his book Good Calories, Bad Calories and now Nina Teicholz with her book The Big Fat Surprise have both helped immensely to clarify how our bodies process nutrients and to expose the fallacies of the low fat recommendations.

And the Internet with social media forums such as Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, along with Jimmy Moore’s Livin’ La Vida Low Carb website, as well as Tom Naughton’s Fat Head documentary. These and many other authors have done tremendous work to help us understand just how damaging a high carbohydrate diet can be for some folks.

In my case, I jumped on the low-carb bandwagon and slid into keto without a whimper. But I always thought that veggies and fruit were essential, even though Gary Taubes had written that a good steak provides all the vitamins and nutrients we need.

And, although I had read Weston A. Price’s Nutrition and Physical Degeneration (1939) and Vilhjalmur Stefansson’s The Fat of the Land (1960) – both of which describe the incredible health of Native and Traditional societies who eat diets high in animal foods – it wasn’t until I happened upon Kelly Williams Hogan’s blog and The Anderson Family interview that I realized that fruits and vegetables were apparently not necessary for good health.

My transition to Zero Carbs about three-months ago went very smoothly, I dropped another thirteen pounds rapidly to reach the 168 lbs. I weighed as a young man in my early 20s. My body fat percentage dropped from about 26 to 23 percent and is still dropping. My pant size is once again a 32, exactly the size I wore in my early 20s!

don ewart6Additionally, the skin itching I’ve had for several years that my Dermatologist proclaimed was eczema, saying “we don’t know what causes it, you can’t get rid of it, here’s a prescription for cream to use”, is now completely gone all by itself. It must have been an allergic reaction to something that I was eating.

My experience is such that my body seems to tolerate not only meat, but also eggs and cheese. We make pizza about once a week. Crust is mozzarella cheese and cream cheese with egg and pork rind dust. Toppings include a risotto cheese base with sausage, pepperoni, shrimp, and cheddar or mozzarella cheese. I also eat ribeye steaks, burgers with bacon and cheese, pork chops, etc.

I also drink coffee with heavy whipping cream, as well as a couple of glasses of dry red wine each night. For a snack, I’ll have some cheese or pork rinds with sour cream. Basically, if it is from the Animal Kingdom, I will eat it. I do not miss fruits or vegetables and I have absolutely no cravings for any carbohydrate foods. As far as I’m concerned, I eat like a king!

It’s been quite a journey, these past 16 years, but I finally made it, and just in time. I’ll be 85 years young in a month and time is precious to me. I’m fairly active, doing short high-intensity workouts at the YMCA 6 days a week. I enjoy riding my motorcycle and keeping in touch with my five children and twelve mostly adult grandchildren, all of whom – I’m extremely proud to say – are healthy, active and take good care of themselves.

My youngest child, 45, is also member of the Zero Carb Facebook group “Principia Carnivora” that I belong to and follows it regularly. She isn’t ZC yet, but is looking into it. My oldest, 58, also keeps his carbs under control and is physically super active despite being a full-time 4th generation electrical engineer. I am glad that I have been able to share this journey with my family and be a good example for them to follow if they choose.

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Please visit my Testimonials page to read the stories of others following a Zero Carb diet.

If you are interested in meeting others who practice an All-Meat diet, please feel free to join us in the Facebook group Principia Carnivora for support.

 

My First 30 Days on Zero Carb by Lena Kristiansen

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1) What kind of diet were you following before Zero Carb?

At the time I started at Zero Carb, I didn’t follow any diet. However, in the past I have tried Atkins, LCHF, and Paleo diets. The Paleo diet was the one I liked the most since I felt pretty good on it. I think there are three primary reasons why none of these diets worked for me long term.

First, while my IBS was less problematic on Paleo, it never completely went away.

Second, I have never liked any vegetables except for potatoes. I have only eaten other vegetable because it was expected of me. Salad has always turned my stomach, but still I tried to make myself like it.

Third, my inner “sugar monster” was still much alive on all of these diets because of the carbohydrates they included. As a result, I would eventually fall back to eating what is considered to be the normal Norwegian diet.

2) Why did you decide to try Zero Carb?

I first read the interview with The Anderson Family, and it just felt right for me. I have always liked meat. As a little girl, I can even remember “fighting” with my grandma’s dog for the meaty bones left over from my grandma’s soup. I don’t think the dog liked me visiting…LOL.

For many years, I did have the feeling that I could solve the issues I have with my body with the food I eat. This interest started when I was attending a course in the University named “Human Behavioral Ecology.” After that, I started to research and read a lot of books about food and how the body would react to it. I tested an elimination diet, and found out that I shouldn’t eat sugar, diary and gluten. The result just confirmed that my answer to feel good and healthy was in my food.

So why did I do all this? I was diagnosed with asthma and allergy when I was a little girl. My metabolism was low and I had borderline hypothyroidism. Consequently, I always had some extra body fat. I also have IBS, and I get dizzy easily because of the low blood sugar episodes. Additionally, when I eat something, I often feel sick and tired and get heart palpitations. Recently, the doctors discovered that I have anti-phospholipid syndrome which means that my antibodies are attacking my blood cells.

All in all, I knew that I had to do something, and – when I saw the interview with The Anderson Family – I just felt that I must try it. So, I read a bit more about it and satisfied myself that it was safe to do.

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3) What was your transition to Zero Carb like? Easy or hard?

During the first few days on Zero Carb, my energy increased, my stomach calmed down and stopped aching, I was no longer bloated all the time, and the chronic brain fog disappeared. Basically, I just felt good. My body and mind were both much more calm and content. After the first few days, however, I got the “Keto Flu.” I was easily fatigued, had a slight headache, and felt dizzy sometimes. But it was not too bad, and – since I had been through the “Keto Flu” before when I did Atkins – I knew what to expect and was not worried about it. These symptoms lasted about two weeks and then went away. Since then, I have felt really good.

4) What does your daily food intake look like?

Normally I eat about 2 to 3 times a day, and it would normally be 2 eggs with 5 slices of bacon for breakfast and 1 lb. of meat for dinner. If I get hungry during the day, I would eat some extra meat. I prefer to eat beef, but I will eat all different kinds of meat. I also drink bone broth, and occasionally eat tripe.

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Ancient Scottish Dunnottar Castle with Rainbow that Lena visited on one of her trips abroad.

5) What benefits have you noticed so far?

  • Heartburn has become less.
  • Hypoglycemia and dizziness is gone.
  • My allergies and asthma have already improved.
  • I no longer feel sick, tired, or experience heart palpitations after eating.
  • I have lost 13 lbs. during this first month.
  • I have much more energy to do things.
  • I sleep really well and feel more awake/alert during the day.
  • My teeth feel newly polished all the time.
  • There is no unpleasant underarm odor as long as I eat just meat. However, if I add sauces or eat sausage, then I notice an unpleasant underarm odor.
  • My sense of taste and smell has changed dramatically. Things that used to smell and taste good no longer do, and vice versa. It is like my taste buds have been “re-set.” For example, I have noticed that commercial eggs taste strangely sweet, so I only buy organic eggs now. And my desire for salt has diminished considerably.
  • The sugar cravings have totally disappeared! Now I can pass by sweets, cookies and – my biggest monster – ice cream without any problems. Before Zero Carb, I would almost always eat something. This is actually the first time in my life that I have no sugar cravings. Usually, I have to use enormous willpower not to eat sugary treats. It is so freeing not to have these cravings any more.
  • My ability to walk the stairs where I work has become easier and easier. I feel like I have developed more muscular strength already. I can even see more definition in my legs.

I like to take long hiking trips, but I always find myself progressively more and more worn out as the journey continues. Now, I feel confident that I will be able to remain strong throughout the length of my hiking trips which excites me.

For me Zero Carb is simple and nutritious, and it is the best I can do for my body. Based on all the positive aspects I have experienced so far, I plan to continue eating this way indefinitely. Why eat something else when I feel so wonderful!

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Lena during one of her hiking trips.

Please visit my Testimonials page to read the stories of others following a Zero Carb diet.

If you are interested in meeting others who practice an All-Meat diet, please feel free to join us in the Facebook group Principia Carnivora for support.