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Carnivore deviations

I've been carnivore for about 30 months

During that time I've experimented with various deviations while losing about 80 pounds & adding muscle.

I was transitioning from low carb / keto, which had lost me 60 pounds before stalling out.

When I first started animal-based I was eating dairy (especially plain yogurt), dark chocolate, nuts and small amounts of fruit. I cut out all vegetables, any remaining starch, and increased my meat intake. I also experimented with various carnivore snacks.

Chocolate - As I increased my focus on meat, I found that my sensitivity to plant toxins quickly increased. With chocolate, I would break out in a face rash after eating it, presumably due to oxalates. I was forced to quickly give up chocolate. I've experimented with "keto" candy quite a bit but gradually moved away from those as well.

Nuts - I don't have much of a craving for nuts, but I do enjoy the taste of some. I did some research and found that only macadamia and walnut have omega ratios I consider acceptable. I occasionally have some unsalted macadamia as a snack, maybe 1/4 cup (60g) every couple months. I don't have any issues with them but also don't enjoy them enough to eat regularly.

Fruit - I seem to get fruit cravings when I eat sausage/canned fish rather than fresh meat. I suspect this is a vitamin C issue. Fruit stalls out my weight loss and increases joint pain. I've recently focused on fresh meat and fruit cravings have gone away.

Dairy - Milk & cream seem to stall out my weight loss. I don't seem to have any difficulty with butter or ghee, and consider them excellent fats, for direct consumption or cooking. There are some dairy products I consider intermediate, like cream cheese & plain yogurt. I'm currently avoiding these but experimenting with unpasteurized cheeses which seems to be the richest animal source of Vitamin K2.

Jerky - It can be tough to find jerky with no seed oil, celery (which I found gives me issues), sugar, soy etc. I suspect jerky has the same vitamin C issue as canned fish & precooked sausage.

Biltong - No complaints. Very worthwhile option. Can be ordered online at reasonable cost or purchased at Whole Foods for jerky-like (ie steep) prices. I haven't felt the desire to have any in a while. Might have a vitamin C issue.

Summer sausage - store-bought summer sausage tends to have some combination of pork, sugar, celery, soy and nitrates. I've certainly eaten my share but I get some from grassland beef online that doesn't have any of this crap. When I have that in stock it's one of my go-to snacks but I don't keep it on hand.

Chorizo - While I avoid or limit US pork, I recently discovered my local Whole Foods has organic Spanish chorizo with no sugar/celery/nitrates/etc and I believe the pigs are even free range. I don't want to make it the backbone of my diet for fear of missing vitamin C (as I mentioned I've had issues with sausages) but it makes a good snack.

Pemmican - I stock pemmican from grassland beef as a survival food / snack food. It is great. I get their salt-free sticks, which also lack fruit or other additives - just lean & fat.

Now my core diet is grass-fed ruminant meat (rare), pasture-raised egg yolk (raw) and salmon (raw or smoked).

I have occasional raw beef liver or roasted marrow as well.

#carnivore #carnivorediet #meatstr

Sedj 2y ago

Only 6 months in, and I'm already experimenting with various meat options. I had been eating sausage in some form almost daily, and/or cured meats. I'm trying to cut back on these. Finding sausage without corn syrup added, or at least sugars added, isn't cheap. Cured meats add dextrose, which is a sugar, but pepperoni slices are a cheap and easy snack.

I started with nuts, but the peanut jar was one of the first things I gave up, maybe a month in. I'd been drinking more milk recently, even adding it to coffee (which I normally drink black). Interesting that you found it stalled weight loss.

I think my next thing to add is chicken organs (liver and others). I keep seeing the tub at the store, or the package of gizzards and others, and just haven't had the courage to pick it up. I'm afraid my cooking methods might fail me, more than the taste, which I don't mind at all.

I'm doing this on the cheap as best I can, out of the supermarket, hunting sales. I'm not going to argue that this is the way, but it is the circumstance I am currently in.

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Discussion

a source familiar with the matter 2y ago

IMO egg yolk covers most of what you'd want from organ meat. I am not a fan of gizzard. Another option is salmon roe, which is objectively quite expensive but a spoonful with breakfast will cost you maybe $10/week.

I'm able to get grass fed beef liver for something like $4 per pound, and a little goes a long way. I've seen beef liver at Walmart for $2 per pound.

Ground beef can be had for about $4/lb where I am, specifically 70/30 which is what I prefer/recommend anyway. I am mostly grass fed now (which is usually ground leaner) but I don't think finishing feed makes a huge difference.

I get chuck roasts ($4 a pound for choice, I get grass-fed which is like $10 per pound) and cut them into steaks. Not quite as much fat as something like a ribeye but some marbling and more flavorful meat.

Mussels are an excellent budget option - I can get 1lb of frozen mussels for $4.

My wild salmon I get frozen from my grocer at $16/lb, thaw and cut into poke-style cubes. Then I just eat it raw.

If you tolerate milk well, cream is a very cost-efficient calorie source. Just be sure to check for additives. Half & half is more readily available without additives.

IMO $10/day can get you a basic carnivore diet, while $20 gets you to grass-fed pasture raised etc and $30 gets you all that plus some mix of caviar, fine sausages, fine cheeses, etc

Sedj 2y ago

This is super helpful, for comparison.

My primary sources are currently:

Hempler's ground pork (or similar sausage varieties), which I get on 30% off sale, normal price $5/lb. These seem to have a reasonable ingredient list, much better than store brand or Johnsonville. I like this for a morning meal, with some butter over the top.

markdown steak, usually sirloin, top or bottom round. I try not to get it sliced thin. My goal price is under $7/lb. I'm really flexible otherwise. Today ate about 1 pound of top sirloin from walmart, marked down to $6.17/lb.

Shrimp. Walmart sells medium size, pre-cooked, for less than $6 per package. I think the packages are 16 oz, but may be less, maybe 12 oz.

Pepperoni slices. 6 oz packs of store brand. (about $2.50) Trying to keep this to two or less per week.

Salmon - typically the pre-portioned 4oz smoked peppered one, when it is on sale, for a little less than $7. This is kind of a treat item, once or twice a month.

Butter - unsalted. on pork, steak, or by itself. occasionally in coffee. Try to find it on sale for $3.50/lb or less.

I eat other stuff my wife cooks too, and occasionally other stuff I cook. I'm making a pork roast right now, that I will mostly turn into a Mexican inspired stew with green peppers and enchilada sauce. I will probably have some, but not much, and as little of the sauce as I can manage. I may save some when I shred it, before I add all the sauce stuff.

But those are my staples. I have a Cinder grill in my home office that I cook on during the day, which is when/where I normally eat most of my food. I normally don't eat dinner with the family, even if I cook it. If my wife makes a meat thing (she likes cooking me steaks sometimes), I'll eat some mostly to be polite, but usually it is overseasoned and often sauced.

I think generally I am between $10 and $20 per day. I'd like to be closer to $10, maybe a little less, most days, but still learning how to get there. Maybe I'll start on ground beef, as I have been accumulating it as its been on sale, often at less than $2/lb

I admit to being a little more leery of cooking things on the Cinder grill that require being cooked well or all the way through. That thing malfunctions all the time, already looking for better options. I don't care if my steaks are underdone, not sure how I feel about ground beef or organ meats being similarly underdone.

The liver I see at Walmart usually looks a little sketchy, not sure what they've added to it to preserve it. But I can probably give it a try.

a source familiar with the matter 2y ago

I just eat the liver raw - cut into cubes/ pieces of about a forkful and eat 2-3 with breakfast. You can soak in whole milk first to reduce bitterness.

Shrimp I've enjoyed but I think how well/over done they are varies by brand