I solved so many gut issues by going carnivore five years ago. But there are still perplexities that come up from time to time.
Gut pain and overactive bowel happens when I eat dairy of any kind (including butter or ghee, even A2 casein, or cultured dairy). It is really frustrating. I just need to stay away from dairy!
When I say "gut pain", I mean it hurts way down in my lower abdomen, just above my pelvic bone (the "hypogastric region"). And when I say "overactive bowel", I mean that my bowel bacteria go crazy and I have way too many defecations in the same day. They are still normal solid movements, but there are just too many of them in one day, and it doesn't feel complete, and kind of hurts. Definitely something I want to avoid!
I notice that eggs, poultry, and pork raise my triglycerides and make me feel "off" (probably inflammation from the omega-6 fatty acids). The only time that I have gotten a cold as a carnivore was after eating a lot of pork. So I've learned to avoid eggs, poultry, and pork too.
I think that it is really important for me to stick with ruminant meat only (or occasional fatty fish like mackerel).
Also, ground beef doesn't work for me. I think there is too much calcium from ground bone in it, or maybe too much tallow added. I get headaches, or the same gut pain and overactive bowel as when I eat dairy. Probably calcium is the problem with both.
And fat is a troublesome thing. I don't want to eat too lean, like eating too much beef kidney, heart, liver, or tendon, without having a fatty cut on the side like beef sweetbreads or tongue. I can get foot cramps if I eat too lean, and I gain some pounds. But I don't do well with visible globs of fat either, nor added fat on the side like marrow fat or tallow. Visible globs of fat cause diarrhea for me, and added fat on the side like marrow fat or tallow cause overactive bowel.
I wonder if the butyrate in these side fats is just too much for my gut bacteria and causes a short overgrowth until I get rid of it? And same with butter? Animals fats contain butyrate. I have the same with foods with fructans, which also increases butyrate production. So maybe that's my issue. My gut bacteria go into overdrive on butyrate, and that is not good. I tried doing some research on whether too much butyrate can be a bad thing. It was hard to find any scientific studies that said anything besides "butyrate is great!" But I did find this in a butyrate supplement review:
https://www.highya.com/gundry-md-bio-complete-3-reviews
"...taking butyrate at doses much larger than what is found in Bio
Complete 3 may actually damage the lining of your digestive tract.
You may experience mild gas and bloating, which are commonly reported side effects with probiotic use."
So, I think that is what is happening with me. I think my gut just goes crazy when it gets butyrate, and it creates a bacterial overgrowth, causing bloating, pain, and too much defecation. Just a theory.
Some more interesting articles:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5355078/
"...a maternal butyrate diet during gestation and lactation leads to insulin
resistance and accumulation of ectopic lipids in skeletal muscle of
female offspring. This is associated with reductions in protein levels
of key insulin signaling molecules and increase in protein expressions
of molecules involved in lipid accumulation in skeletal muscle."
This article from Dr. Axe listing food sources of butyrate is a perfect list of foods that always cause me gut issues:
https://draxe.com/nutrition/butyric-acid/
This article explains that in mice with colitis, butyrate actually increased mortality!
https://www.lucymailing.com/scfas-part-3-decrypting-the-butyrate-paradox-can-excess-butyrate-be-toxic/
"...they found that using antibiotics to knock down butyrate-producing microbes reduced ulcer size after a colitis insult. Reintroduction of butyrate or butyrate-producing organisms resulted in a return to large ulcers...In experimental colitis, mice receiving A. hadrus displayed increased disease activity and greater mortality.5the soluble fiber inulin, known to stimulate the production of butyrate, resulted in increased pro-inflammatory gene expression in the colon of IBD-prone (IL-10 knockout) mice...Together, these studies suggests that the benefits of butyrate, butyrate producers, and even potentially fermentable fibers, depends on the condition of the gut. These data may also partly explain why some inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients seem to improve upon reducing FODMAP intake.7"
"..high concentration butyrate enemas have also been found to induce apoptosis and UC-like lesions in mice22. In a mouse model of colorectal cancer, both inulin and intrarectal butyrate have both been shown to transform the colonic epithelium and increase the formation of tumors.23,24
"...at high concentrations (8 mM), butyrate increases barrier permeability.28 Butyrate also promotes the expression of virulence factors in pathogenic E.coli. These E.coli thus tend to colonize the colon where levels of butyrate are highest.30"
So I think there might be something to my theory! I will avoid side fats, just like I avoid fructans, since they both contribute to more butyrate in the gut. Instead, I will focus on inherently fatty ruminant cuts, or eat a fatty cut alongside a lean cut. For example, I put some beef kidney (lean) along with beef sweetbreads (fatty) and some beef tongue (fatty) all in the same empty mini-slow cooker overnight. Works great! And I love the "gravy", the thickened juices at the bottom. I don't eat the visible fat, and I filter off the solids from the grease and throw out the grease. Oh that gravy is so good!!!
And for now, I am going with locally raised grain-finished beef. Yes, grain-finished! It is more easy to get than my local grass-finished beef, and they have all the cuts I like in stock almost all the time. And I can avoid having to eat side fats. The local grain-finished is still on grass for 6-12 months, and they use regenerative methods, so it should have some vitamin K2, and the land is actually gaining topsoil when growing their corn because of bringing the cattle onto that land afterward. So I feel OK about the nutrition and environmental impacts.
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Some more interesting notes on butyrate and ketosis:
https://www.lucymailing.com/is-a-high-fat-or-ketogenic-diet-bad-for-your-gut/
"Published estimates suggest that butyrate provides about 70 percent
of the energy requirements for colon epithelial cells. And we need a
regular supply of butyrate to maintain gut barrier function…right?
"Nope. Turns out that there are several other molecules than can perform many of the signaling functions of butyrate and
serve as a source of fuel for the gut epithelial cells! In fact, this
idea of a “preferred” fuel source may be skewed from studying people
(and rodents) who are eating large amounts of carbohydrates. In
other words, butyrate production may be reduced on a ketogenic diet, but
other molecules can take its place to help maintain gut barrier
function.
"....The ability to use ketones instead of butyrate may not seem
advantageous, until you consider that many people with inflamed guts
have mucosal damage where butyrate uptake is impaired."
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In other news, I have decided to go back to ballet barre exercise instead of bodyweight exercise. The bodyweight exercise was just bulking me up too much. I feel that ballet barre exercise is better for keeping slender, taut muscles instead of heavy, bulky ones.
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