Carnivore Diet

[Daz1113]

Hi, I am just wondering has anyone tried the carnivore diet to help treat IBS? I have just listened to a podcast by Joe Rogan and some of the comments have said it’s great for IBS. Thanks

[corpgov10]

I'm not exclusively carnivore but eat meat every day, sometimes twice and it is helping. Lean meats, fish and the occasional steak.

But I'm also doing regular resistance training - something Joe Rogan also mentions!

[xjrs]

I wouldn't recommend unnecessarily restrictive diets for IBS. Your gut microbiome is at its most healthy when you eat a variety of foods including plenty of fibre. A healthy microbiome is much better for IBS.

Additionally, scientific studies have proven that high protein, low fibre and low carb diets cause inflammation in the body which could lead to other diseases. I experienced this when I was put on a high protein, low fibre, low carb diet to treat SIBO which I didn't have. My calprotectin markers (an indicator of inflammation) went from being completely normal, to ending up through the roof.

The reason why low fibre/low carb might help symptoms in the short run is that they reduce feed for the microbiome. If you have any dominant bad bugs in the gut, these won't be being fed, this giving temporary relief from symptoms. Dominant bad bugs can be the cause of IBS for some people. However, you are also not feeding your good gut bacteria, which are required to help keep bad bugs under control. They also help protect your intestines by creating a strong barrier, producing mucus etc. Therefore, this is catch 22 so in the end the bad bugs could end up becoming more dominant.

The best way to shift the balance from these bad bugs to having the good ones being dominant, thus keeping the bad bugs in lower numbers, is to take a good probiotic. This helps to kick the bad bugs into touch, helping to reduce symptoms, so that you can eat a wider variety of foods and in doing so increase the good bug numbers. Hopefully in the long run this means that the good bugs will keep the gut healthy, and you may not need probiotics anymore. The one that worked best for me and has been scientifically studied for IBS is Alflorex. This contains a strong strain that is passed from mother to baby during the natural birthing process, in order to prime the gut's defences.

Note that all guts will have a mixture of good bugs and bad. It's probably impossible to completely irradicate all of the bad bugs in your gut. What is important, though, is for the good bugs to be the dominant ones and for the bad bugs to be in lower numbers.

The best diet for your microbiome is the Mediterranean diet, which includes olive oil, oily fish, fruit, vegetables, cereal fibre, nuts and seeds, small amounts of lean meat and pulses. It has been proven that those who eat 30 different plant foods across a week, have an extremely healthy microbiome. A healthy microbiome helps to guard against IBS.