Carnivore Experiment

 Something a little different, and not tech related.

I've been seeing a lot of stuff online about the carnivore diet, and on initial reading it makes a lot of sense nutritionally and biologically. The carnivore community can be a little intense, like most of these sorts of communities, so I haven't dived too far into those, but figured I'd give it a short trial to see what it's all about.

We tend to eat a reasonably low carb diet anyway, though Christmas and New Year certainly didn't stick to that, and I don't have any significant health concerns that I'm trying to heal, which seems to be a common reason for switching to carnivore.

Before starting out though I thought I'd get some basic, baseline, tests done then depending how it goes repeat them at the end. My primary comparison is against the markers for metabolic syndrome (https://healthify.nz/health-a-z/m/metabolic-syndrome/), rather than the seemingly more common focus on total cholesterol.

Diagnostic Tests

Cholesterol

 Total cholesterol is at a point where doctors would be reaching for the statin prescription pad, but that won't be happening so I'm not concerned about that. In my case HDL was higher than recommended and triglycerides were lower (both good) so I'm not concerned with this

Blood Pressure

Blood pressure was a bit high but I had just had coffee and walked down some stairs. Something to keep an eye on as this is a risk factor for metabolic syndrome.

Weight/BMI/Waist Measurement

BMI is a bit on the high side, but waist measurement is lower than the marker, so again not too concerned. Weight has jumped a little over what I like over the festive season so this coming down would be a good thing. 

Blood Glucose

This one was also fine, though towards the higher end of fine so something to keep an eye on 

The Test

First off, this is not very scientific and also not very intense. The plan is to spend about 3 - 4 weeks eating this way to see how physically and mentally sustainable it is, and if there are any immediately noticeable effects. I acknowledge that there's often an adjustment period and effects might not be noticeable immediately, but I'm just looking to see what the lifestyle is like. Also, I'm not cutting out coffee! So here's the plan:

Week 1 - Basically the Lion diet. Red meat from ruminants, salt and water (and coffee). This is the most intense form of carnivore so jumping straight in will give an idea of the mental requirements of this style of eating.

Week 2 - More in line with a standard carnivore diet. Other forms of meat and eggs. I'm going to keep avoiding dairy and processed meats like bacon and just see how introducing some small changes impacts the mind and body

Week 3 - Adding dairy. This will be a good test to see if dairy does have any negative impacts

Week 4 and beyond - Who knows? I might decide enough's enough after 3 weeks, or could be a full on, intense, convert

 

So, onto the test. Just a note that the area I live in has a strong agricultural sector so all red meat we buy is grass raised and generally local within about a 100km distance so is all relatively low carbon footprint