I've always had an interest in health. I grew up with home cooked "healthy" meals. Our dinners were well rounded, typically having a vegetable, starch, and a lean meat. While attending the University of Southern California as a business student, I took several health and nutrition classes. In 2004 I owned a health and fitness center where the philosophy was to have clients map their meals to the food guide pyramid.
In my 30s I started to have health issues with hyperthyroidism and worsening asthma. I extensively researched health information and adopted a plant heavy diet. I lived very close to a farmers market where I would stock up on fresh produce each week. I had a Norwalk Juicer that I used to make green drinks. I was motivated to eat raw food after reading books by David Wolfe. Despite these efforts, my health was worsening. I developed skin issues and my asthma was becoming chronic. I also had a bone scan which showed I had osteoporosis in my 30s! My stomach also started to bloat and ache after most meals. It could be horribly painful.
At this point I hired a nutritionist. She had me regularly take numerous lab tests so she could determine how to fix my health issues. Since I was already eating "healthy," the recommendations were largely in the form of supplements. I also started eating more meat. I had a huge list of supplements to take every morning and evening... Vitamins, minerals, etc. These did help some of my lab results a little, but the pile of supplements was ridiculous. My stomach was also continuing to hurt after most meals, and I couldn't figure out why. I tried cutting gluten and a few other suspected foods, but it didn't help.
Eventually in my early 40s, someone recommended a book called "The Plant Paradox" by Dr. Steven Gundry. I learned about lectins, which are plant proteins found in several plants. They can do all kinds of horrible things to the body. With this knowledge, I stopped eating all plants with lectins. My stomach aches mostly went away! I did start to feel much better. However... my lab tests still weren't great. My thyroid continued to get worse, and my neurotransmitters were off. I saw this a signs that my body still wasn't happy. I was careful with environmental toxins, so I found it likely to be diet.
Further research led me to discover the dangers of oxalates. I also knew that too much fructose wasn't healthy... I tried to limit my fruit. Between lectins, oxalates, and fructose, it seemed that all that was left was animal products! Around this time someone told me about an interview they watched with Dr. Paul Saladino about the Carnivore nose to tail way of eating. A light went off in me! You can do that?! What about fiber? What about vitamin C? I was told that he covered all of these questions in his podcasts. I watched a few, and I knew it was for me.
This is my goal with this website... if you heard about carnivore, and a light went off for you, as it did for me, I want to make easy to find resources to help answer any questions. There are numerous resources on-line. However, they can be a bit overwhelming to sort through as you're getting started.
My goal is also to contribute to what is going to have to be a grass-routes effort to educate people about the carnivore way of eating. The nutritional guidelines are misleading. The food guide pyramid and other guidelines have been based on ideology, not science. Studies have been backed by special interests, and have skewed results.