| (Copyright) by Mark Swarbrick (United States) |
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| My Experience on the Carnivore Diet When I first heard of the Carnivore Diet, I thought it was nuts. “What? Eat only meat? No vegetables?” I had tried the Atkins diet and had heard of the Keto Diet, but the Carnivore Diet was new to me and it sounded crazy. Doesn’t everyone know that we need vegetables to be healthy? How are we going to get our vitamins and fiber without vegetables? I was challenged to investigate the science behind it, so I did. What I learned blew my mind and caused me to wonder: Had I been wrong all these years? I found that there were many medical doctors that were in favor of the diet. I saw video after video of healthy people who were formerly fat, sick and in pain but were now slender and healthy. I saw videos of people with horrendous diseases that the doctors could not cure, but who were wonderfully cured by this diet.  This went against everything that I had believed. You see, I was a vegetable-aholic. I loved veggies and ate them at every meal. Vegetables were always my main course. I ate some meat, but all of my meals consisted primarily of vegetables. I had known for a long time that high-carb meals of grains were bad for you, so I rarely ate grains or anything with any sugar. I thought I was eating very healthy. I was one of the few people who ate vegetables for breakfast! Yet, in spite of my “healthy diet” I was still diabetic, dependent on my insulin pump, and had uncontrolled high blood pressure in spite of taking four blood pressure medications. I also had glaucoma and had to put drops in my eyes every night to keep from going blind. I used to be skinny but after years of being on insulin (the fat storing hormone) I was close to four hundred pounds and could barely walk. And of course, my doctors said all my ailments were incurable and I had to take medicine until eventually my diabetes killed me. Yes, my doctor actually told me that. So, when I saw videos of people being cured of diabetes by this diet, I had to dig deeper into the science and see how this could be possible. What I found made me question my presuppositions. Was it possible that I had been misinformed all these years? Were vegetables killing me? Legal Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. Consult your own physician before dieting or following any advice. Plants Deficient in Nutrients I had thought that plants had every nutrient in them necessary for health and that if you didn’t eat plenty of vegetables you were going to be in poor health. I was wrong. The following nutrients are essential for optimal health, and they are only found in sufficient quantity in animal meats: Cobalamin (Vitamin B-12) Creatine Carnitine Choline Taurine Carnosine Consider what happens if you are missing just one of these essential nutrients. Let’s take the first one, B-12 for example. This nutrient is vital for DNA synthesis, energy production, and central nervous system function. Symptoms of B-12 deficiency include fatigue, headaches, depression, and gastrointestinal issues. Now just imagine how sick you will be if you are missing all six of those nutrients! And without meat, you will be missing them. But there is more, much more. Poor Bioavailability of Plant Nutrients I also learned that although plants do have many nutrients, they also contain phytic acid and oxalate, making it difficult for the human body to absorb the nutrients. The following minerals in plants have low bioavailability for humans, yet they are easily absorbed from meat. Zinc Iron Magnesium Selenium If you add together the nutrients missing from plants and the nutrients in plants that are not bioavailable, one is missing ten essential nutrients if you do not eat meat. I could see from this that being a vegetarian could lead to poor health. But I was not a vegetarian. I ate meat also, so why was I so sickly? Then I read about plant toxins and got my answer: Plant Toxins All plants have some level of toxicity. Think about this a moment. Most plants are poisonous. The only way we know what is safe to eat is because knowledge of what is edible has been handed down to us from our ancestors. From 2000 through 2009, there were 668,111 plant poisonings reported to U.S. poison centers. Most plant poisoning results in sickness, which can be mild or severe, yet most people recover. Still, about sixty people a year die from plant poisoning in the United States. You may even have plants in your garden that can sicken you. Rhubarb leaves or the wrong species of rhubarb are poisonous as are unripe tomatoes or potatoes. Green tomatoes typically won’t kill you, but if you eat enough, the poisonous alkaloid solanine contained in them will make you quite sick. Even the plants we consider edible contain some level of plant toxins. And every person has a different level of tolerance for these toxins. We have all heard of people who cannot eat peanuts. Why can’t they? They do not have tolerance for what they contain. For them, the peanut contains a plant toxin their body cannot deal with. It is the same with all plants. There are some plants that some people cannot tolerate. Most people are eating a vegetable or vegetables that causes them some degree of problem, yet it is mild enough that there is no problem for years, and when it does crop up, they have no idea what is causing it. Why do edible plants have toxins? By design, plants have developed chemicals to ward off insects and animals that would otherwise eat them. These are natural pesticides. A publication of the Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of California, states, “We calculate that 99.9 percent of the pesticides in the American diet are chemicals that plants produce to defend themselves.” Animals have sensitive taste and smell that warns them of these natural pesticides. Humans, not so much. We have to rely on man’s experience, handed down through the ages. And it is not as though there is a class of edible plants and another class of inedible plants. There is a gradation, meaning that even the plants we consider edible have some level of toxicity. Consuming too much of an edible plant that your body cannot tolerate can make you sick. A plant’s toxicity varies, depends upon the individual, how much is consumed, and how well it was cooked. For more information on plant toxins, see this article: https://www.doctorkiltz.com/what-vegetables-are-bad-for-you/ Cooking or fermentation help to eliminate much of this toxicity, though even this does not eliminate the toxins completely. A hundred years ago people knew this and that is why they thoroughly cooked their vegetables. This knowledge has been forgotten. Today the vogue is to eat lots of vegetables and only lightly steam them or eat them raw. You have heard the maxim, “too much of a good thing.” That certainly applies to vegetables. And while we are talking about raw vegetables it is worth pointing out that most incidences of food poisoning come from fresh produce, particularly spinach and other greens, especially lettuce. The most dangerous thing you can eat is a salad and the deadliest thing about a hamburger is not the meat. It is the lettuce, onion, and tomato in the burger. According to the NIH, between 1973 and 2012 there have been 20,003 illnesses, 1,030 hospitalizations, and 19 deaths caused by eating greens contaminated with E. coli. What about Fiber? Plants contain fiber. Don’t we need that? We have been told repeatedly about the importance of fiber to maintain a healthy digestive system. This is another case of the old science being mistaken. Dr. Sophia Le, PhD, writes: “You don’t need fiber on the carnivore diet because it has absolutely no nutritional value. Based on available evidence, fiber does not improve bowel function or provide any proven health benefits. In contrast, eliminating fiber has actually been found to be beneficial.” Recent studies have shown that fiber can actually make arthritis worse. A high fiber diet can cause an overgrowth of Prevotella copri causing exacerbation of rheumatoid arthritis. You can learn more about that on this video: https://youtu.be/QfHY43SMBEY What Great Grandmother Cooked  The Bible is clear in the book of Genesis that vegetables were intended to be part of man’s diet. But if God said we could eat vegetables along with meat, then why are vegetables making us sick? It is all part of living in a fallen world. Therefore, we must be wise in our food choices. We also need to consider that for most of man’s time on earth we did not live in a Walmart Supercenter culture. Two hundred years ago people were not dropping dead from cancer, heart disease and diabetes at the incredible rate we are today. What has changed? I’ll tell you. Back then, people did not go to the supermarket year-round and browse isles fifty yards long filled with vegetables from all over the world. Neither did they fill their carts full of sugary junk food labelled “low fat.” No, great grandmother did not do that. How did people get their food back then? In the summer they gathered a small amount of vegetable from their garden when they were in season, or they bought some from a local farmer. But only in the summer. They canned some to be used sparingly in the wintertime. There was no hype being fed to them (paid for by food companies) that they had to consume copious amounts of vegetables several times a day. Consequently, they did not pile their plates full of vegetables and avoid meat, as is often done in modern times. No, they had a small amount of vegetables when they were in season and they thoroughly cooked them. And they ate meat. Back then, there was no war on meat. They ate plenty of meat because there was no campaign to denigrate meat. No one was saying, “Don’t eat meat! It will give you cancer and heart disease!” There were no kids running around screaming that the sky is falling, and that “cows have flatulence and are causing global warming!” Great Grandma would have recommended such people for the insane asylum so they could get the help they needed for their delusions. But because people are eating more vegetables than ever, not cooking them thoroughly, and eating less meat than ever before in history, they are getting an abnormally high load of phytic acid, oxalate, and other plant toxins. This increased toxic load from too many vegetables is part of the reason the health of Americans is in serious decline. In addition to this, many vegetables carry an unhealthy high carbohydrate load. Add to this all the breads and processed junk food made from grains, you have a recipe for diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. I Tried the Carnivore Diet After reading a book by a medical doctor about the carnivore diet and watching many testimonials on YouTube of people who had been cured of all manner of sickness, I was convinced enough to give it a try. As of this writing, I have been on the Carnivore diet for three months.  Eating Carnivore means you eat real butter, eggs, and any kind of meat. I drink water or coffee. It does not mean I will never eat vegetables again. Since I do not know what vegetable toxins may be giving me trouble, I eliminate them all. They are not needed. Every nutrient one needs is in meat. Later, when I am healthy and at my target weight, I will add back in some well-cooked vegetables, in moderation, one vegetable at a time, watching carefully for any sign of problems. How am I doing? So far, I have lost 38 pounds. I feel much better, and I can walk a couple blocks now. Before I could barely manage making it across the living room. It is the easiest diet I have ever done. I had tried the Atkins or Keto diet in the past, but I could never stick to it. But this is different. I have no cravings at all. It is by far the easiest diet I have ever done. I can see the reason. Under the Atkins Diet you can have 30 grams of carbs per day. You can eat some grains and you eat vegetables. That is like telling an alcoholic they can have one shot of whiskey a day but no more. How do you think that would go? Under the carnivore diet you don’t eat any grains or vegetables. It is a zero-carb diet. And after you are on it a short time, your body adjusts so that it can metabolize fat and protein for fuel, and you don’t need any carbs at all. It does take time to adjust. A couple weeks to a couple months. I’m old, so it took me a couple months to get to where my body was used to it, and I had all my energy back. Younger people adapt in a couple weeks. What else has the diet done for me? Here is a list: I only need seven or eight hours of sleep. Before I needed 10 to 12 hours. My glaucoma is cured. My pressure is normal, and the doctor said at my next visit he is taking me off the eye drops. My blood sugars are normal for the first time in over a dozen years. I have stopped using my insulin pump. I barely need any insulin anymore. Soon my diabetes will be cured. My blood pressure is finally under control, and I have stopped one of my BP medications. My stamina is much increased. Tasks that used to exhaust me and have me gasping for breath I can now do without even being the least bit fatigued. I have lost 38 pounds. For the first time I have the hope and goal of getting down to a healthy weight. That’s pretty impressive for only three months, don’t you think? I am sure that in time I will be off all medications. What Does the Bible Say?  Scripture is mainly about spiritual matters and salvation through Jesus Christ. But it does say a few things about food, the most important of which is that food has no effect upon our spirituality or our relationship with Christ. That being said, Scripture does say a few things about what we eat. The War on Meat Today there is a war on meat as never before in the history of man. Supposedly, meat is harming people’s health and is destroying the planet. But if eating meat is as dangerous to humans as many people say, and if it was really destructive to the planet, then we could expect that the Bible would warn us of this. Instead, we find the exact opposite. While vegetarianism is not explicitly condemned, it is never spoken of favorably. For example, Paul warned Timothy against false teachers who forbade eating meat. “In later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons…commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.” (1 Timothy 4:3) Paul said such food was “created to be received with thanksgiving.” Instead of grieving over an animal dying to feed us, God says it was created for this purpose and that it should be “received with thanksgiving.” In Mark 7:19 we read: “Jesus declared all foods clean.” In Acts 10:11-16 Peter tells of a vision where he saw – “all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” When Peter objected God said: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” In Romans 14:2 Paul says that those who think they should eat only vegetables are “weak in faith.” While Paul is quick to explain that Christians should not denigrate anyone for thinking they should only eat vegetables, he nevertheless does not speak favorably of it. Today there is a virtual war on meat. The medical establishment has been wrong about meat and saturated fat for decades. It is not bad for you and study after study has proven that. But now the war on meat is being continued by global warming hysteria fanatics. Entire countries have had their food supply disrupted by foolish politicians who have passed laws to hinder beef production under the guise of saving the planet. But the fact is, according to a study done in 2016, beef cattle production was responsible for only 1.9 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Think of the devastation to family-owned cattle farms with entire businesses and livelihoods destroyed, resulting in meat shortages and high beef prices, all for a lie. The truth is plant agriculture is responsible for twice as much greenhouse gas emissions as cattle production. And to really put it in perspective, the production of electricity accounts for fifteen times as much greenhouse gas. So, driving an electric car and being vegetarian is wrecking the planet, if you believe in the myth of climate change, which by the way, is nothing more than a racket designed to make politicians rich. There is no such thing as man-made global warming. Atmospheric Physicist Siegfried Singer wrote: “there is no convincing evidence that the global climate is actually warming.” For more on the fallacy of global warming, see my article here: https://christiananswerman.com/global-warming-is-a-hoax/ The Bible says nothing about meat being bad for us. In fact, after Noah and his family left the Ark, God specifically told them to begin eating meat. The only caution the Bible has about meat is found in Proverbs 23:20 where it says: “Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat.” Of course, the admonition is only to not drink too much wine or eat too much meat. It does not forbid meat. On the carnivore diet you are not to gorge yourself but to eat until comfortably satisfied. So, If meat is not bad for you and is not harming the planet, why then is there such a ruckus about it? I’ll tell you why: It is because God’s Word, the Holy Bible, says to eat meat. Satan hates anything God says, so he influences people to say things counter to the Word of God. It is the same as with gender. Why is it popular today to imagine there are more than two genders? Because God said, “male and female He made them.” The devil attacks that truth, and people who don’t know God go about repeating the devil’s mantra because they are under his power. 1 John 5:19 says, “The whole world is under the power of the evil one.” So, we should not be surprised that worldly people under Satan’s power say “meat is bad.” They say it because God said meat is good. We live in an evil time, a day when people call “evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness.” (Isaiah 5:20) In the Beginning In the Garden of Eden before the fall, man ate only vegetables. The Bible is clear that there was no death until Adam and Eve sinned. After they sinned, then death entered the world. Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin… (Romans 5:12) Not even the animals died. Nature was entirely different then. The Bible teaches that both man and all the animals were plant eaters. Genesis 1:29-30 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” However, after the fall nature gradually began to change. It didn’t happen in an instant, but over time. As time went on animals mutated and some began to eat other animals. While this was happening, the plants began to change. Thorns and thistles grew. They began to develop chemicals that were harmful. Some plants became poisonous. The nutrient content of the plants diminished. As time went on there came a point where there was not enough nutrient content in plants for healthy human life. That is why after the flood God said to Noah: Genesis 9:2-3 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. God instituted a change. He made wild animals afraid of man. Before this, they were not afraid. But now God put a fear of man into them and God commanded Noah to eat meat. Animals who ate plants concentrated the nutrients into their bodies, so when Noah and his family ate them, they were able to get enough nutrients. Why did God let nature become corrupted so that we need to eat meat? It was the result of our sin and when we eat meat we are acknowledging that sin costs and should be avoided. We are also reminded of the first animal death in the world, where God killed an animal to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness with the animal skin. When we eat steak we are reminded of God’s loving provision for us and we think about Christ’s death on the cross that was foreshadowed by that first animal sacrifice. Incidentally, after the Second Coming of Christ, nature will revert to how it was in the Garden of Eden. Animals will no longer eat one another, and wild animals will lose their fear of man, for Isaiah 11:6-7 tells us that in that day: The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. For those who don’t like to see any animal die, realize that is the way of things now, but take comfort in the knowledge that one day all death shall be done away with. The American Indian Diet  I heard a doctor talking on YouTube, admitting that the Carnivore diet seems to work but we should be cautious because “there are no studies, and no record of any people group ever eating strictly carnivore so we don’t know what the long-term effects are.” As soon as I heard him say this, I realized he had very little knowledge of “people groups” and their diets. I thought, what about the plains Indians? That is an entire civilization that lived off the buffalo. They were not farmers. Although a few Indian tribes planted crops, most did not, and the plains Indians certainly were not farmers. They ate the carnivore diet. They lived off the buffalo and other wild animals they killed. That is why the white man exterminated the buffalo, nearly to extinction. They knew the Indians could not live without the buffalo. When the Indians were forced onto reservations, they rebelled at the idea of being made to farm crops. It had never been their way of life. The Indians ate the whole buffalo, from nose to tail. Their diet was based entirely on animal foods of every type and description, not only large game like deer, buffalo, wild sheep, goat, antelope, moose, elk, caribou, bear and peccary, but also small animals such as beaver, rabbit, squirrel, muskrat and raccoon. They may have had a few berries as they were able to find them in the fall, but this was a treat, not their regular diet. According to modern dogma, these Indians should have been weak, sickly, and low on energy, for they had no vegetables. Yet, General Custer and his men did not find them weak or fatigued. Indeed, white men never wanted to go into hand-to-hand combat with an Indian because they were known to be strong and agile. Indeed, one anthropologist writes: “The Plains Indians had a remarkable record of nutritional and health success, despite the enormous pressures they were under. They developed a healthy lifestyle that the white Americans couldn’t match, even with all of their technological advantages.” One study of skeletal remains of the Indians showed a virtual absence of tooth decay, arthritis, and any other kind of bone deformity. Dr. Romig, who studied the carnivorous natives in Alaska stated: “In my thirty-six years of contact with these people I have never seen a case of malignant disease among the truly primitive Eskimos and Indians, although it frequently occurs when they become modernized.” The early explorers in America consistently described the meat-eating native Americans as tall and well formed. Of the Indians of Texas, the explorer Cabeza de Vaca wrote: “The men could run after a deer for an entire day without resting and without apparent fatigue. One man, near seven feet in stature, can run down a buffalo on foot and slay it with his knife or lance, as he runs by its side. The men have amazing physical prowess. They go naked in the most burning sun, in winter they go out in early dawn to take a bath, breaking the ice with their body.” And then there is the longevity of many of these Indians. Chief John Smith, a Chippewa Indian born in 1822 lived to the amazing age of 137. Chief Red Cloud was an Indian chief, who like all plains Indians, ate a carnivore diet. He was healthy enough to lead his warriors to victory, defeating the United States Army in the fight over the Powder River Country. He did not eat vegetables. He ate red meat cooked over a smoky fire. Yet he lived to be 87 without the benefit of vegetables or modern medicine. The Inuit are an indigenous people who inhabit the Arctic regions of Canada, Greenland, and parts of Alaska who also have a diet primarily of animal-based foods due to the limited vegetation in their environment. Their traditional diet is known for its high fat and protein content, as it relies heavily on fish, marine mammals such as seals and whales, plus land mammals like caribou and muskox, and birds. They do just fine without vegetables. I could go on. There are many more examples, but I think you get the point. Yes, we do have examples of societies that lived only on meat and not only did they get by, they thrived, living robust and healthy lives. Cruelty to Animals A common lie told in regard to eating meat is that it is cruel to animals. First of all, the Bible says we are to eat animals and the New Testament speaks of: “animals, mere creatures of instinct, born to be caught and killed.” (2 Peter 2:12) So that is their purpose, to be food for us. If any don’t like that, their argument is not with me but with the Almighty.  Farmers know full well that a cow has the best life of all animals. They are well-fed with high-quality food, sheltered, cared for, loved, watched over their entire lives, and given medicine when needed. And when it is their time, they are killed quickly and with little pain. Contrast that to how an animal lives in the wild, often hungry, and cold, scavenging desperately for food, and living without shelter. Consider also how they die in the wild. A wild animal eventually becomes sick and hobbles around in pain for some time. Eventually it is too weak to escape the predators. A pack of coyotes, wolves, or a mountain lion takes it down. It dies in terrible fear, often having its entrails eaten before it has expired. I have often thought of the anti-hunting fanatics and how they are ignorant of how a deer dying quickly from a rifle shot through the heart is far more merciful than the fate it would normally meet in the wild. Farm animals not only have a better life than any animal in the wild, but they also have a more merciful death. We must remember that all animals die. It is just a matter of when. There is nothing we can do to stop it any more than we can prevent our own eventual deaths. Vegetarians imagine they are saving the lives of animals by not eating meat. It is not so. No one can really prevent the death of an animal. It is possible to delay the death of an animal by a few short years, but it is still going to die. So “saving the life” of an animal is not something that can really be done. You can only temporarily delay the inevitable. Nearly all animals have a short lifespan. Sheep live for about ten years. Pigs, fifteen years. Cows, about twenty years. And if not harvested, long before that age they become sickly and feeble and spend their final years in pain and suffering. How much better it is to let them fulfill their God-ordained calling and be used to feed the hungry before they become old and sick. Furthermore, those who wish to curtail meat production are really not thinking of the world-wide hunger their idealistic altruisms could cause. It also must be remembered that God has decreed that we are to eat animals. Those who don’t like that will have to take their argument up with God. God has given mankind dominion over the animals and by exercising wise stewardship we can see to it that the animals that sustain us can be humanely cared for and that they die easily and quickly at the proper time. Veggies Kill Animals Besides all that, eating vegetables kills animals too. Most people have no idea how many animals have to die for them to have their vegetables. In Australia alone, approximately 40,000 ducks are killed annually for rice production, while a billion mice are poisoned to protect the countries wheat. Birds, rabbits, frogs, lizards, moles, possums, snakes, insects, all lose their lives to agriculture. They can be killed intentionally but also unintentionally by tractors and other machinery, as well as pesticides. Some are poisoned on purpose to protect crops. Fertilizer and pesticide runoff into local waterbodies kill fish and other marine life. A research study published in 2018 estimated that more than 7.3 billion animals die each year from harvested cropland in the United States alone. And then there are the bees. Their population worldwide has been devastated by the pesticides used in agriculture. And without bees, plants will not be pollinated, and we will have no crops and there won’t be any vegetables for animals or humans to eat. So next time you take a bite of spinach, know that animals had to die so you could enjoy that. Just as God killed an animal to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness, so also animals must die to feed us, whether we eat vegetables or meat. It is the current state of affairs. It has been that way ever since man’s fall into sin. For thousands of years no one questioned this until mankind began to imagine they knew better than God. And if someone finds a way to extend the lives of animals a few short years by never eating them or vegetables, then all that has been accomplished is to delay their death by just a handful of years and ensure they will spend their final years in pain and suffering. And they would accomplish one more thing; they would destroy the livelihood of farmers and guarantee worldwide famines. The Daniel Anomaly In Daniel 1:8-16 we have the story of Daniel and his companions, during their Babylonian captivity, refusing to eat “the king’s rich food.” Daniel chose to eat vegetables instead and it is reported that Daniel and his people were healthier than those who ate the king’s food. This is often used to claim that the Bible teaches that vegetarianism is the healthiest diet. There are several fallacies to that theory. First of all, Daniel did not refuse the king’s food for health reasons. He said that the king’s food would defile him spiritually. Why? Because God had given very strict dietary laws for the Jews to follow at that time. This was abolished by Christ under the New Covenant, but then, it was God’s law for Israel. Daniel was not a vegetarian. He could eat meat. All Jews ate meat. This was not forbidden by God’s law. In fact, God gave the Israelites quail to eat when they were sojourning in the wilderness. But there were only certain meats, outlined in the book of Leviticus, that Jews could eat. Pigs, for example were not to be eaten. There is a detailed list in the Bible of what animals the Jews could eat. And it had to be properly prepared. One thing that was forbidden was eating blood. No animals could be killed by strangling. It had to be cut and the blood allowed to drain. The actual Hebrew word used in Scripture to describe the King’s food meant, “a portion of delicacies.” What were the “delicacies” that the King ate? What animals did they come from? How was the meat prepared? Pagan nations often strangled animals before butchering them because they felt it made the meat tastier. It was probably common knowledge that the Babylonians followed this practice. Daniel would have been aware of this, and Daniel knew the Scripture strictly forbade Israelites to eat meat with the blood in it. Daniel, as a captive in Babylon, would have no idea what animal the meat came from so he would not know if it was an allowed meat (Kosher) or not. He also would not know how it was killed and butchered. He probably assumed correctly the animals were strangled with the blood in it. Because of these factors, Daniel could not eat any of the meat without disobeying God. That is why Daniel said he could not defile himself with such meat. The fact that Daniel’s health was improved came primarily from the fact that he was obeying God and thus enjoying His blessings. Just as he was later preserved in the lion’s den by God’s power, so also God miraculously nourished Daniel as a reward for his obedience, in spite of the fact that his vegetarian diet was lacking in nutrients. No doubt the King’s rich delicacies also included sweets, grapes, breads, cakes, and other high-carbohydrate grain-based foods that we know destroy one’s health. By only eating vegetables, Daniel was avoiding the high-carb sweets. So, it is no wonder that his health was better than those who ate “the king’s rich food.” Avoiding meat had nothing to do with Daniels’s robust health. Obeying God and avoiding junk food was the key. The Cholesterol Myth “A carnivore diet will give you heart disease! Saturated fat will give you high cholesterol and plug up your arteries!” So, they say, but it is not true. That old myth of science has been debunked. To quote Mark Twain, “There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact.” In 2015 the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) published their Dietary Guidelines for Americans Report. This report reversed their former stance on cholesterol, stating: “Available evidence shows no appreciable relationship between consumption of dietary cholesterol and serum cholesterol…cholesterol is not a nutrient of concern for over-consumption.” In the same year a study published in the Annuls of Nutrition and Metabolism reported that high cholesterol does not lead to heart disease. Recent research has revealed that elderly people with the highest cholesterol levels have better memories and less dementia than those with lower cholesterol levels. Cholesterol is essential for human life. Without it, we will all collapse and die instantly. It used to be thought that HDL cholesterol was the “good cholesterol” and that LDL cholesterol was the “bad cholesterol.” Many doctors, unaware of the current studies, still think this. What we know now – and was proven in a 2018 study – is that it is the size of the cholesterol particle that matters. It is small particles of LDL cholesterol that are bad, as they are small enough to have greater arterial entry and retention. Additionally, smaller particles are more prone to oxidation. In short, small LDL particles promote the formation of plaque in arteries which will restrict them. Big particles don’t do that. And guess what – the latest research shows that low-carb diets such as the carnivore diet cause the body to produce far fewer small LDL particles and more large LDL particles. Although a person’s LDL cholesterol may go up under the carnivore diet, these LDL particles are mostly of the large variety that do not harm arteries. That is why the carnivore diet has a beneficial effect on heart health, not the reverse. As a point of fact, the study that showed saturated fat led to high cholesterol which led to heart disease was a flawed study. It all started with Ancel Keys in 1952. He performed a flawed observational study of seven countries which he claimed showed an association between saturated fat consumption and risk of heart disease. But the study was bogus. It was intentionally tweaked. Ancel Keys left out 15 countries that did not support his hypothesis. When all 22 countries were included, no such association is found. Thus, the argument that dietary cholesterol leads to the development of cardiovascular disease was erroneous from the start. How to Do the Carnivore Diet If you want to give the carnivore diet a try, I recommend starting by watching a number of YouTube videos about the diet. Just search “carnivore diet” on YouTube. There are many people there eager to help you with advice. I particularly recommend the videos by Dr. Ken Berry, M.D. You will undoubtedly have naysayers in your life saying you are nuts. That is why it is important to arm yourself with the science. I recommend the book, The Carnivore Code by Dr. Paul Saladino, M.D. There you will read about the solid science behind the diet and about the plant toxins in vegetables. On the carnivore diet you will be eating any kind of meat, real butter, and eggs. Do not use any kind of buttery spread, or margarine. Real butter only. You will want to eat liver at least once a month, as liver is loaded with nutrients. Eggs are important too, as egg yoke is like a super vitamin. Sardines are a superfood as well. If you can stomach them, you will feel the difference. Expect the first few weeks to be rough. You will experience fatigue and diarrhea until your body adjusts and your gut biome changes. The older you are the longer the transition takes. It took me nine weeks before I got used to it. If you are overweight, you will be pleased to see rapid weight loss the first month. After the adjustment period you will feel your energy levels rise and exceed what you had before. Some people go cold turkey and eat nothing but meat while others ease their way into the diet, cutting out grains and then gradually reducing their vegetable intake. How ever you decide to do it, I recommend having your physician on-board with you. He will want to monitor your blood levels as you proceed. Hopefully you will have a doctor that is up to speed on the latest science. I am fortunate to have a certified dietician who is well informed on the latest science regarding the carnivore diet. She advised me, “think of meat as your food, and vegetables as your medicine. One does not fill their plate with medicine.” Unfortunately, many doctors do not have this knowledge. They are too busy to keep up on the latest studies and are only aware of the latest pills Big Pharma is pushing. The Big Food–Industrial Complex Do not underestimate the lobbying power of the food industry upon our government. Allow me to explain. We have all seen the USDA’s “food pyramid” illustration in grade school. It told us what our food priorities should be, based upon the latest “science.” It told us to eat primarily, eleven helpings of bread, rice, and pasta per day. Think about that – a whopping eleven servings a day! When would a person have time to do anything but eat?  Along with this we were to eat up to four servings of sugary fruits. After that, five servings of vegetables and three servings of dairy. No wonder Americans are fat and sick! After that the food pyramid showed what was considered the “lesser important foods” such as meat, eggs, nuts, and beans. We were told only two servings of that. And last and least to be eaten was fat. Fat was demonized as a deadly poison, giving rise to Americans eating instead, cart loads of sugary junk food that was labelled “healthy low fat.”  YOU ARE NOT A HORSE. YOU ARE NOT A COW. SERIOUSLY, Y’ALL. STOP IT Grains are good for horses and cows, but not so much for people. This diet of excess flour, grains, sugar, and starches is what has led to America’s diabetes epidemic. How did the USDA get it so wrong? To find the answer, simply follow the money. The food pyramid was put together based upon the input from the food manufacturers. In short, in order to make more profit, Big Food conspired to push cheap sugary junk food in order to make higher profits. Luise Light, the architect of the original version of the food pyramid was a nutritional expert who made her recommendations based on the available (but flawed) food science of the 1980’s. Unfortunately, her food pyramid was submitted to the food industry for acceptance and Big Food sent it back radically changed. In her book, A Fatally Flawed Food Guide, Light says, “When our version of the Food Guide came back to us revised, we were shocked to find that it was vastly different from the one we had developed. As I later discovered, the wholesale changes made to the guide by the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture were calculated to win the acceptance of the food industry. It appears our nutritional needs are being sold to the highest bidder!” When you discount the distortions from Big Food and take into account the latest science, we see that the food pyramid recommended by the USDA is not only excessive in quantity, but it is exactly backwards and upside down. Our main food should be meat and saturated fat. After that some vegetables, and last and certainly least, flour, grains, and sugar. This is how our ancestors ate. A cherry pie was a treat for special occasions, not something eaten daily. Vegetables were eaten from the garden when in season, in moderation, and were thoroughly cooked or fermented. Meat was the staple. Conclusion on the Carnivore Diet There is an old adage, “You cannot argue with success.” This diet is working for me. It worked for the plains Indians. It is working for tens of thousands of others today. UPDATE: I have lost 50 pounds on the diet. My doctor says my A1C shows I am no longer in the diabetic range. Not even prediabetic. Blood sugars are in the normal range. The doc says, “Good job! Keep doing what you’re doing!” My glaucoma has disappeared, and the eye doctor says I no longer need the eye drops. My digestive problems I have had ever since they took my gall bladder are gone. Completely. This is no longer a diet, it is the way I eat now, and I love it. The side effects one feels when beginning the diet all went away at about the 4-month marker. God gave us both meat and plant foods to eat. Unfortunately, the conventional wisdom on how much to eat and what to eat has been influenced by the Big Food–industrial complex. In this writing we have seen: The diet works for me. The Plains Indians thrived on a carnivore diet, and it is working for tens of thousands of people today. Plants are deficient in ten essential nutrients. Meat is necessary. Additionally, many plant nutrients are not bioavailable when eaten. Plants contain toxins and excessive consumption can be damaging to the health of many individuals. The way we eat today is nothing like how our ancestors ate. The Bible does not warn against eating meat, rather it says to eat meat and thank God for it. The war on meat is fueled by bad science and politically fueled climate alarmism. The Big Food industrial complex has jumped on the bandwagon because there is more profit in junk food than in real food such as meat. Eating meat does not equate to cruelty to animals. It is actually merciful and besides, vegetables kill animals too. Saturated fat and cholesterol are not bad for you. The science that demonized them was faulty. The latest science has reversed that opinion. That is a fact that some doctors are not yet aware of. ————————————————————————————————————- Reprinted with permission from: The Christian Answer Man https://christiananswerman.com/ ————————————————————————————————————- |
| Iron Sharpening Iron In regard to: The Carnivore Diet Article by Mark Swarbrick Comments by Laura Lee (Bismarck, North Dakota) |
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| Some scriptures mentioned in the article to say that people can eat any meat need to be mentioned here. Mar 7:18 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Mar 7:19 Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? Mar 7:20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. Mar 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, This set of scriptures is not even talking about food/meat. It is an analogy about what comes out of a mans heart/mind is what defiles him and not what goes into a man. It in no way is telling us that we may break the law of God by eating unclean meats. Act 10:9 On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: Act 10:10 And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, Act 10:11 And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: Act 10:12 Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. Act 10:13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. Act 10:14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. Act 10:15 And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. Act 10:16 This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven. Act 10:17 Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made enquiry for Simon’s house, and stood before the gate, Act 10:18 And called, and asked whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter, were lodged there. Act 10:19 While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee. Act 10:20 Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them. Act 10:21 Then Peter went down to the men which were sent unto him from Cornelius; and said, Behold, I am he whom ye seek: what is the cause wherefore ye are come? Act 10:22 And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee. Act 10:23 Then called he them in and lodged them. And on the morrow Peter went away with them, and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him. Act 10:24 And the morrow after they entered into Caesarea. And Cornelius waited for them and had called together his kinsmen and near friends. Act 10:25 And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. Act 10:26 But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man. Act 10:27 And as he talked with him, he went in, and found many that were come together. Act 10:28 And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Again scripture is not talking about food/meat here. It is talking about men and how we should not call men/women common or unclean. Rom 14:2 For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Here scripture is telling us that some people believe you can eat all things and others believe they should only eat plants. If all you are eating is plants you will become physically sickly overall which weakens your entire body. On the other hand if you are eating everything you are setting yourself up for both physical sickness and spiritual sickness. For example many things people eat such as pork cause cancer and many shell fish can kill you almost instantly if you eat the right one. I don’t care what diet you want to partake in, the law of God has not been done away, so the only meat you should be eating is what scripture says you can eat in Leviticus 11. The carnivore diet is a healing diet but only if you eat what God tells you to eat. The rest of it can make you sick or bring death to you despite a healing diet. Other than that, this is an excellent article. |
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