Pleasures Of The Flesh

he was already experiencing. “I’m way more active than I used to be. I have more mental energy. I don’t understand why…”

Chewing the Fat

Ryan, 29 (who asked that we change his name), a researcher at Liverpool University, had a similar experience. “Growing up, we didn’t have a lot of money, so we’d mostly eat plain pasta, or tinned food,” he says. Many of his family are obese. Food was “entertainment” in his household: “If something good happened, we’d celebrate with ice cream. If something bad happened, we’d cheer ourselves up with a nice meal.” He had been plagued by poor digestion and weight issues throughout his life but, after turning carnivore in July, he finally has a functional relationship with food.

Like many carnivores, he made the transition in stages, gradually dropping his carbohydrate intake and then trying the ketogenic diet. “Keto” is a very lowcarb, high-fat diet that was originally designed to help prevent fits in children with epilepsy. More recently, it has gained a cult following among factions of the fitness community. When deprived of carbohydrates, your body switches its energy supply from glucose to ketones, which are derived from your fat reserves. Many people lose weight on the keto diet, and its advocates claim that it eases the symptoms of a suite of conditions including Alzheimer’s and type 2 diabetes. But it also comes with significant risks, particularly to kidney and liver function, and is notoriously hard to maintain.

At first, Ryan says, the idea of eating all of that butter, cream and meat made him feel ill. However, he found his tastes changed over time. “Not everyone benefits to the same degree, but I experienced pretty much everything you could ask for: improved skin, energy, mood – to the point of feeling euphoric sometimes,” he tells me. It wasn’t much of a leap to drop the leafy greens. “I did a bit more research and came to the conclusion that it wasn’t something I needed. They were an extra hassle to cook, anyway.” He says he only eats when he’s hungry and often ends up “unintentionally” fasting for hours.