Re-Thinking Meat
- jeaniemaree
- May 22
- 5 min read
Updated: May 23
I was a pescatarian for about 12 years. (A pescatarian is basically a vegetarian who eats fish). Based on the information I had at the time (including my naturopathic training) I thought it was a very healthy diet. When I became pregnant, I instinctively felt that my body needed red meat so I started eating organic, grass-fed meat from local farms. I felt good, so I continued to include meat in my diet.
When my son was 4, I discovered the Autoimmune Protocol and learned a lot from listening to Dr Amy Myers podcasts. You can visit her website here.
Amy's speciality is autoimmune thyroid conditions, however my understanding (and I know that Amy would agree with this) is, that all autoimmune conditions have one thing in common and that is ... A LEAKY GUT.
Now, I have Type 1 Diabetes (diagnosed at age 10), this is an autoimmune condition, where my immune system has attacked and killed my insulin producing cells, so I need to inject insulin to survive. And it is not uncommon for people with an autoimmune condition to develop another autoimmune condition. Believe me, one is enough!
Through listening to Amy's podcasts and reading her book, The Autoimmune Solution, I learned that there are 3 things required to develop an autoimmune disease:
A genetic susceptibility to autoimmunity (ie a family history of autoimmune conditions)
Stress
A leaky gut
I have a strong family history of autoimmune conditions.
Life is stressfull - I don't really think that can be avoided! It can be managed, of course.
Number 3 though, the leaky gut, that, we can do something about!
I was aware that I had probably passed on my genetic susceptibility to autoimmunity to my son. And I really didn't want to develop any other autoimmune conditions ...
So we embarked on the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP).
The AIP honestly changed my life. I think I was permanently bloated until I healed my gut by doing the AIP. The AIP is a modified Paleo Diet. The Paleo Diet is a wholefoods diet in which processed foods, refined sugar, grains, dairy and legumes are avoided (you can learn more about The Paleo Diet here). In the AIP you avoid grains, dairy, nuts, seeds, legumes, eggs, nightshade vegetables, coffee, chocolate, refined sugar and alcohol. You can find more details about The AIP here.
In short, you're removing the most inflammatory foods and as a result, inflammation in the gut settles down and then inflammation everywhere else in the body settles down.
Basically all chronic health conditions have inflammation happening somewhere, so a diet that dramatically reduces inflammation is a powerful healing tool for just about any chronic health problem. So I became an enthusiastic promoter of the Autoimmune Protocol and I had a lot of success with it.
Of course when you remove all of those potentially inflammatory foods, you're basically left eating: beef, lamb, fish, chicken, pork, bone broth, non-nightshade veggies, coconut milk and fruit. Not everyone is happy to do that, it does take significant effort. But in my experience, the results are well worth it.
After the initial 30 days on the AIP, you are able to re-introduce some of the foods you have been avoiding and see how your body responds to them. This is a fascinating process and if you're interested in doing it, reach out so I can explain the best way to do it.
Anyway, back to my story ... We continued on the AIP for a few years, we were able to successfully re-introduce eggs, sheep cheese, sheep yoghurt, a little bit of dark chocolate and the odd glass of wine! 🥂
Gradually I moved towards a more ketogenic diet, because as a diabetic, I found my blood sugar levels were much easier to manage if I ate less carbs, and a keto diet is very low carb. So out went the sweet potato and the pumpkin.
If you're a Type 1 diabetic reading this, I highly recommend you look up Dr Bernstein. He advocates a ketogenic diet for diabetics and thousands of diabetics around the world have followed his teachings with great success.
This is his book: Dr Bernstein's Diabetes Solution: A Complete Guide To Achieving Normal Blood Sugars by Richard K. Bernstein
If you're a Type 2 diabetic or pre-diabetic, I highly recommend this book: The Diabetes Code: Prevent and Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Naturally by Dr Jason Fung
For the last few years we've been more animal-based, keto-vore and carnivore. And I can honestly say that I'm the healthiest I've ever been! After avoiding dairy for several years, I'm able to include butter and cream with no problem. My blood sugars are easier to manage than they've ever been and I'm taking very small doses of insulin because I don't eat carbs!
I believe diabetes should be considered a carbohydrate intolerance. We can't process it, so we're better off avoiding it. And there are no essential carbohydrates. We need protein and we need fat, we do not need carbs.
So I started this story as an 18 year old pescatarian and I've now come to the point (in my mid 40's) where I'm a carnivore! I have been hesitant to talk about this transition with people because I feel there is a lot of judgement about the carnivore diet. But as I said, it has been a few years now and I am convinced that not only is carnivore the easiest and most effective elimination diet, but it is probably the healthiest diet for most people, especially if they want optimal health. Red meat is the most nutrient-dense food we can eat and if you have a sensitive gut it is the best option, because the nutrients are easily absorbed and it wont cause any inflammation! 🥩
Here are some links to some great resources from experts I respect:
There, I said it ... I'm a carnivore! It may not be for everyone, but it certainly is very healing and it works for me! If you made it this far, thanks for reading and I really encourage you to look up some (or all) of the links above.
One more link, have you heard of Mikhaila Peterson? She is Jordan Peterson's daughter. Her story about the healing power of the carnivore diet is very inspiring. Learn more about Mikhaila here.
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