August 2020 – The Raw Raw Newsletter

The worst PMS & Period Symptoms cured by Carnivore

Since my first period arrived I have always had the classic symptoms of headaches, cramps, bloating, SUPER irritability, depression, and anxiety. There was always 2-3 days per month in beginning of my period or right before my period happened where I was in such a bad place mentally. Depression would sink in and I would cry my f*cking eyes out. Half the time I didn’t even know what I was crying about but I felt worthless, empty and extremely sad (no matter what was happening in my life during that time). Birth control didn’t seem to change anything and so when I went on birth control at 15 years old I thought, maybe this will help…

I remember going to my doctor when I was 20 years old and telling her about some of these symptoms. At the time, I was following a more plant based diet. Since I saw her during my 2-3 days of dark time I was at a low and cried to her about the thoughts and depression that would creep in. Without asking too many questions she prescribed me Paxil, a widely used antidepressant. I was explaining to her through tears “but I’m not depressed, it’s just around my period that this happens.” However, she advised me to try them. I was on them for less than 2 weeks and the depressed thoughts intensified and I was having suicidal thoughts. I informed my doctor immediately and was advised to stop taking them. She then suggested another anti depressant and I said no way. It’s still shocking to me that she never asked about my diet or ask about what was going on in my life. Many people have experienced this I’m sure, a doctor immediately jumping to write prescriptions instead of looking into the root of the problem itself. Always correcting things with pills but never really being preventative.

Fast forward to 24 years old… the PMS and period symptoms were getting more intense. I was now getting horrible, crippling migraines that I have never had before. I would have to climb into bed, turn off all the lights, close the black our curtains and be in a dark and quiet place. My cramps were getting way worse and the bloating was preventing me from wearing certain clothes or even wanting people to see me like this. Additionally, the depression and those 2-3 days of mental hell and crying weren’t going away. When I would again bring up the symptoms getting more intense to my doctor, she would say it’s your hormones and it’s all “hormonal”. OK. Still no questions about what I ate or anything about nutrition.

At this point, I had been gluten free for about a year and although that had significantly helped with some digestive issues, sugar and processed crap, and vegetables were still part of my diet and my period symptoms didn’t change. Fast forward a year, I looked into the ketogenic diet. I had done some research and reading and learned that the Keto diet helped with endometriosis and PCOS, both of these conditions generated excruciating PMS and period type symptoms. So I gave that a try! Keto was less than 50 net carbs per day, however you were still able to eat vegetables since it was all about net carbs (carbs-fiber=net carbs). My mood stabilized when I tried keto, I still had some bloating on that time of the month but I wasn’t breaking down during those depressive days. At this point, a little relief was worth it to me. I continued to do Keto and low carb on and off for the next two years.

Again we fast forward to April 2020. I had just switched from two months of being on the keto diet to now starting the carnivore diet. Carnivore was simple, no elaborate recipes, no carbs, no sugar, no processed sh*t, and no vegetables. No joke, the first period I had on carnivore I think was maybe 2-3 weeks in… I had no signs or indications like usual that my period was even coming. PMS symptoms of migraines, bloating, sadness, depression, cramps etc, THEY WERE GONE. I was thinking what the actual f*ck is going on… the only thing that had changed was my diet. The periods that followed were again, no period or PMS symptoms. The only thing I could attribute it to was being carnivore. Finally, my body wasn’t calling out to me, it was happy, full, content and clearly whatever foods I was eating before were the cause. To me that is powerful enough to never want to go back. Carnivore gave me a part of my life back. I don’t have to worry about those symptoms that would get in the way of living my life. I strongly believe that these PMS and period symptoms people endure are brought on by the food we consume as I discovered through my own experience.

Here’s where things get nuts… I was talking to my sister and she had tried carnivore for about 1-2 months and she had the same experience. All of her period and PMS symptoms had also gone away while she was eating carnivore. To me, this was all the proof I needed. Through my own experience and my sisters’ experience on the same diet we had relieved our symptoms. That’s insane to think about. I went 10+ years feeling those awful symptoms and I had relieved them in 3 weeks by changing my diet to carnivore. THAT’S INSANE! What is more insane to me is that my symptoms weren’t relieved on Keto, but it wasn’t until I completely cut out vegetables that my symptoms all went away… you do the math!

Here I am now, on the carnivore diet. This is day 1 of my period. Bloating completely gone. I can’t even tell I’m on my period!

For the next 30 days I am going to record what I eat on this carnivore diet daily so people can see what exactly goes into the diet. Typically, I try to keep things 90% carnivore and 10% keto. However, through the whole thing I will be in ketosis and will be showing the break down of my macro nutrients.

I don’t usually record what I eat because I don’t have to and honestly it’s a bit of a hassle. But I think it’s beneficial to see what others eat in a day following a zero to minimal carb diet like carnivore.

Carnivore is really going back to the way our ancestors used to eat. Meat was the most sought after food, for all of its nutrients and the greatest benefit, being full and nourishing their bodies. There wasn’t an obesity issue like we currently face here in the US today. Carnivore gets rid of all the processed food aka carbs, sugar, and goes back to a simpler time when there was less processed food/sugar readily available. As we have seen over the last 70 years, with the introduction of processed foods continually going up, so has the amount of chronic disease, obesity, heart issues, autoimmune disease, etc. However, we are eating less meat and more processed crap…. it’s NOT a coincidence. There is ton of literature out there for you to do your own research. This has worked for me and I looked into it and made the decision for myself. Once I saw the results and my bad symptoms went away, I knew this was the way to go for my body.

Nothing crazy to the carnivore diet here just an array of different meats, eggs, butter, some cheese products, and the occasional garnishing of grilled onions on a burger. However, I don’t eat vegetables. And guess what…. I poop just fine thank you. (More on that soon lol) If I ever do eat vegetables, they are typically cooked to avoid any stomach/GI upset that I have continuously had in my life from vegetables. (More on that later!)

But I want to be realistic… I’m not perfect at all with this diet. The month of July was full of moving and birthdays which brought on some not so low carb meals. But that’s OK. I’m still enjoying my life to the fullest. I aim for 90% carnivore and 10% keto. To be completely honest, I sometimes enjoy having those days of eating gluten or carbs to remind me of how shitty I feel when I do. Those symptoms that carnivore has relieved start creeping back and it’s painful. Not everyone needs to follow the same diet, I purely want to share my results and what I eat to provide more evidence and information to the carnivore diet.

So here we go…

Here is the macro breakdown and my food log from Monday August 3rd: