After 3 months of strict* carnivore diet i can now make the decision on how to move forward.
Considering I have been living ketogenic for the past 12 years and i was already focussing more on whole foods instead of the dirty (processed) keto foods this was very easy to slide into. I didn't get bored with eating mostly meat either.
I did not notice a lot of benefits compared to the way i was already living, but i did not really expect that. The best thing i could have done for comparison was getting my bloodwork done before and after, but i didn't.
I may have had less seasonal allergies which i usually have from around March until August/September, but since this is not consistent anyway it's hard to gauge the effect of carnivore on this. I also suffer from eczema on my lower legs every now and then but 3 months is too short to tell if this is a thing of the past now.
I do think i put on some additional muscle, most likely due to the fact that my protein intake became higher due to eating so much beef. Otherwise i did not change anything to my workout regime.
Since i knew the day would come where the 3 months are up i started investigating if and how i wanted to move forward. Since i strive for optimal health i don't want to shy away from adding veggies again if this would improve health and that is how i learned about hormesis. Since some plants contain toxics it can put your body under stress, which turns out to not always be a bad thing. We are meant to endure stress in our lives (and not just the mental kind). It means i will add tiny amounts of specifc plants in my diet to invoke a stress response and make my body stronger and more resilient. This will be in the form of (for example) 2 small florets of broccoli every week, or a handful of spinach, a half handful of berries and a cup of green tea.
I still have to figure out what the final form look like and i'm actually a little nervous about putting these things back in my body.
Apart from that i will stick to carnivore for all of my commonly required nutrients. I enjoy it and i see no reason to give that up.
TL;DR: It was a success, moving on to carnivore with hormesis.
* Considerations of strictness:
- I included dairy, like raw milk and full greek yogurt, but not on a daily basis.
- I still had 3 cups of espresso on most days.
- I ate seasoned sausages and burgers too so there may have been small amounts of herbs here and there.
