I started my carnivore journey in 2019. The carnivore way of eating includes meat, eggs, dairy, and allows for seasonings. It is easily the best way of eating for me. When I am on track my fibromyalgia symptoms are gone. I notice other befits as well. My skin looks better. My life is simpler. I have more energy. That is my story. I have shared it in more detail in Eat What Heals You (plenitudeco.com).
That is not everyone’s story. There are people I love and think highly of that are on a different journey or a different point in their journey. They are not carnivores. Some of them are vegans. Some of them are low caloric eaters. Some of them eat anything available.
The way they eat does not have an impact on me. The way I eat should not have an impact on them. Could the way I eat benefit them? Maybe.
We need to meet people with grace as we share our carnivore stories. Over the last four years I have been met with anger, frustration, annoyance, and confusion from those within and without the carnivore community. Knowing where these feelings come from has allowed me to give the other person some grace.
This way of eating does not align with general nutrition guidelines in most countries. This way of eating does not match most of the medical professional training. This way of eating involves death which can be hard for the masses to accept. This way of eating requires incredible discipline.
So, when faced with people’s initial thoughts of your carnivore journey, do the unexpected. Meet with calm, patience, tolerance, and education. While these are not characteristics of carnivore animals, they are characteristics of humanity.
If we understand that our carnivore way of eating threatens decades of expert advise it is easier to meet a person quoting these publications with a unique perspective. While telling people what you have learned on your journey shares your perspective, it does not allow them to reach their own conclusions. I encourage people to do their own research. I do not want them to believe me. I want them to explore and question on their own. I have found people come back to me with articles I have never read that support this way of eating. Here are a couple of good places to have them start:
If we understand that some people have a tough time with the death, they associate with eating meat we can meet them with patience. Some of the animals that carnivores deem as food are cute, smart, and friendly. Some of them can be trained to be pets. Setting a rabbit and a tomato next to each other it is much easier for people to accept eating the tomato than killing the rabbit. But our sources of food are not that simple. The industrialization of sourcing food for carnivores and vegans, alike, involves murder. We count and measure the number of animals killed to support meat production. What we cannot quantify is the number of small animals and insects killed in crop farming. If you have a chance, I encourage everyone to talk to a farmer about their experience in the fields. I also encourage people to look at carnivore communities. Many of us have gone away from industrialized food and support local farms.
If we understand how much discipline is required for eating this way, we can offer respect to carnivores. I see attacks when people mention seasons or dairy. There are some people who have gone to the lion level of this way of eating and only eat meat with salt and drink water. If that is what is working for them, I applaud them. In my journey I have had no aversion to dairy or seasonings. We should all be supporting one another for trying to discover what works best for us. We should be encouraging each other to share our stories. If someone shares, they are adding plant-based items it is a suitable time to question them about their reason for going carnivore. It is a suitable time to question if they are getting the benefits while including those plant-based items. These questions should be asked with respect.
Carnivores are not the experts on medicine or nutrition. Many of us are our own patient zero. We are on a journey to figure out what works best for us. This road gets tough, and we can all use support.