In my previous post, I mentioned being down to just 84 lbs and being very ill from eating beans and grains to save on my retirement budget. I actually got down to 83 lbs the next day. Very bad! So beans and grains were not cutting it for me. I felt awful awful awful. I tried adding rice protein powder. That worked to get my weight up. In fact, I gained a pound a day! Now I am at 91 lbs (which takes me from under 15 BMI to 16). However, I am having gut discomfort and really think I need to come back to carnivore for survival.
I was thinking about what I have learned in all this. Prior to becoming carnivore, I came to the conclusion that fructans and casein were my problem. So carnivore made a lot of sense. It worked well for me for five years, especially after switching from pork and dairy and eggs (way too much omega 6) to just grassfed ruminant meat and wild caught coldwater fish. But, I still had issues time to time, mostly from eating too much fat or too lean. Too fat causes too quick gut motility (diarrhea and intestinal cramping, even fainting from POTS [postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome]). Too lean causes constipation and weight gain and thyroid issues.
I have done so much research on fructans! I really wanted to be able to eat beans and grains to make my retirement budget work! But even with low-fructan plant matter, there is still such variation in fructan level based on growing conditions. Drought, cold snaps, even time of day of harvest can all affect fructan levels. So even though some foods are supposedly low in fructans, they are not necessarily actually low in them.
Mammals are not able to digest fructans (which are chains of fructose molecules). Mammals rely on gut bacteria to snip them up into the fructose molecules. Some of us have problems with that process, lacking the needed gut bacteria. I just read a research article [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3576823/] which showed that the bacteria breakdown of fructan to fructose process can lead to obesity and insulin resistance, a typical reaction to fructose. Which in turn causes heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. Fructans are also implicated in causing dental caries when broken down by our mouth bacteria. So maybe it is good to listen to our bodies and just avoid fructans altogether, which are in _all_ plant matter.
Another thing that I wanted to add is that people with "IBS" are sometimes recommended to follow a "low-residue" diet. That means concentrating on foods that are easily digested and do not create overly much "residue". So again, carnivore diet makes sense for that as well.
I believe a carnivorous diet should be focused on grassfed ruminant animals and wild caught coldwater fish, which are much lower in omega 6 fatty acids than pork, poultry, or eggs. A high omega 6 diet causes inflammation and related diseases such as asthma, postnasal drip/sore throat/"colds", weight gain, swelling, skin problems, depression, Alzheimer's, etc.
So that leads us to a grassfed ruminant animal and wild caught coldwater fish diet! And one that has a good protein to fat ratio, not being too lean or too fat. "Goldilocks" carnivore!
Now, trying to do that on an early retirement budget is not easy! I plan to use saury (pike mackerel/sanma) and Atlantic mackerel from the Asian grocery store. They tend to be around $3-4 per pound, and it takes around a pound to a pound and a half per day for my caloric needs. I can also occasionally get a few beef cuts such as tongue which are higher fat but still affordable. I wish I could get mutton, which is my favorite ruminant meat, but I just cannot find it. Only lamb, which is too expensive. A friend was able to get me some ground venison, which is great but very lean. But along with the coldwater fish maybe it can be OK!
So, here I come right back to where I was - a good carnivore diet! For survival!
##
Comments
Post a Comment