The Carnivore Code: Unlocking the Secrets to Optimal Health by Returning to Our Ancestral Diet Paperback – August 4, 2020

This book says it all about the mis-information I, and most have been subject to for over 40 years. Currently listening to the audio book but buying the paperback because it is definitely a repeat read.

I started suffering from hypoglycemia in high school never knowing what was wrong until the diagnosis in my late 20's. I managed it with conventional advice to eat all the time and bring food with me where ever I went, but I was gaining weight and never able to trust my body not to fail me. I rode the blood sugar roller coaster daily with fatigue, brain fog, post-meal naps, shakiness, anxiety, and depression until I found Mark Sisson back in November of 2011. The Paleo lifestyle gave me a new lease on life as I got rid of all grains in my diet my energy, brain focus, and mood all greatly improved. I even got a new job and life took a new direction but there were still some things that plagued me until...Until I found Paul Saladino on High Intensity Health with Mike Mutzel. The principles of returning our diet to ancestral roots just made so much since with a Paleo lifestyle but I wasn't taking it far enough. I started to learning about Oxalates for the first time and started to change the picture of what plants are in my mind. Decades of mainstream brainwashing is now replaced with the reality of what the Plant Kingdom is doing to the human body.Before I started making changes to a Carnivore diet I still had a little muffin top no matter how keto I was, I got headaches with light sensitivity, itchy skin with rashes and bumps, and although my pre-Paleo IBS tendency was long gone I was still more than regular in the bathroom department. I honestly thought I was just healthy and the gas I was getting from beans, onions, and garlic was good for me. But I'm happy to report I am now a one and done kind of guy and the last 5 lbs are gone!As I've started removing things from my diet I was dumbfounded, and a little depressed, how many things I've been sensitive to and really never knew it. I loved having some chocolate and nuts for an afternoon pickup. But the chocolate was causing my light sensitivity and debilitating headaches; and nuts make the skin on the crook of my elbow itch so bad I couldn't stand it. Shortly before switching I decided blending up raw onion, garlic, and kale was a good idea, like everyone tells ya, and I went into such a mind melting reaction it put me down for the rest of the day.The latest and hardest thing I recently gave up was coffee and all caffeine. I've come to finally admit it's too much of a nervous system stress because my Oura ring is proving it. Without fail the amount of caffeine and especially coffee has a direct effect on the amount of deep sleep I get at night. Plus caffeine plugs up the eustachian tube of my left ear after a workout so bad that I can't talk or hear well. I finally convinced myself today I could workout without caffeine and the symptoms were gone!I think the real question with this kind of living is what are you willing to give up in order to achieve a truly healthy body and live a radical life. Even though Asprey wrote a praise blurb I wish he and other leader in the space would get behind this moment more because it is truly life changing. I think they are too busy selling polyphenols but I am so incredibly grateful to Paul Saladino because he is saving lives. I have to mention Ancestral Supplements Intestines formula because it's repairing the damage plants have caused. My mother is suffering from dementia after a lifetime of the SAD, and western medicine intervention made it much worse, but the moment we introduced Ancestral Supplements Intestines she started sleeping so much better with improved mood and word recall.I can not recommend the Carnivore Code book and lifestyle more highly for all of those who believe the human body is not broken by design. We have the ability to change our gene expression and it all starts with the willingness to step away from conventional wisdom and listen to Paul. Knowledge is power. When I went Paleo was just starting my health journey and I've finally found the last piece to my diet puzzle. I can't thank you enough Paul for changing my life and leading the charge in this space so strongly. I'm 95% Carnivore at 45 years old gaining real muscle and getting better everyday and I'm not looking back either. To be honest the thought of having to return to any other way of eating scares the crap out of me.Sincerely,Brent Johnson

Read this book ONLY if you can consider an idea while holding a very different one!I'm a type 1 diabetic and it is important to me that I maintain normal blood glucose. I already know how to do this. However, it's also important to me to avoid acquiring any additional autoimmune conditions for which I'm at high risk and if plant foods are potential triggers for another condition, I certainly want to think long and hard before maintaining triggers in my environment. This was my primary motivation for reading this book. Second to that was the concern that I may need to incorporate different parts of the animal into my family's meat-based diet. Dr. Saladino makes a compelling case for doing so.I don't have the scientific or medical knowledge necessary to properly review many of Dr. Saladino's scientific arguments. I'm certainly going to follow any criticism of the book closely.All I have to go on is my experience, which sounds a lot like the purported benefits Dr. Saladino has seen with meat-based diets. Here's what I've observed over the years regarding the power of food choices: a) my health dramatically improved when I lowered blood sugars with a low carb diet b) continued improvements were observed when I dropped all grain consumption entirely, c) no more kidney stones since severely reducing oxalates (tests confirmed I was making the calcium-oxalate kind), d) When I ate carnivore (plus coffee) for 3 months, joint pain greatly decreased, skin improved (eczema), energy increased, mood was the most stable it's ever been, and more. e) I have since been eating mostly meat with limited plant foods over the last 3 years and tendonitis and frozen shoulder have almost disappeared, f) menstruation cycle has normalized for the first time EVER. f) digestion is good for the first time ever and stomach pain which used to be frequent is completely gone. g) Depression is gone. (This is a biggie). h) normalized lipids, lowered bp and heart rate, and normalized liver enzymes and weight.My family has done better, too. My husband has cured his severe sleep apnea and gained muscle. Our son has had a marked improvement in his mood and he is no longer underweight, and our daughter, who recently was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, has been using a small amount of insulin and keeping normal blood sugars. It appears she still is maintaining some beta cell activity of her own, which is an asset to any diabetic. We particularly hope to maintain that in the case future therapies work via that route.All this improvement stated above is admittedly severely confounded by improved blood sugars and metabolic health during the same time period which undoubtedly make an impact on one's mood as well as many numerous bodily functions. I don't know how much can be attributed to anything outside of improved blood glucose, actually. Though it may just be that blood sugar is among more critical factors compared to plant toxins and other health nagging agents. Either way, I'd recommend a carnivore-ish way of eating to anyone with diabetes, excess weight, or metabolic dysfunction in a heart beat because we've got rampant metabolic disease going on and a ton of autoimmune conditions making people suffer greatly with no adequate relief other than medications with high costs and serious side effects and if a carnivore or carnivore-ish diet can help one or both of these issues, I say this book deserves a chance. Yes, you have to weigh so much against what you've been programmed to believe, but there's nothing dangerous in merely hearing Dr. Saladino out. (Some will say there is and you should be veryyy suspicious of these types.)In the book, Dr. Saladino walks you through the biology, chemistry, and human physiology so you can follow along to the best of your ability. His tone is like man's best friend, super enthusiastic and positive but straight forward and honest. If you're worried about getting through this large book, don't. It's an easy, pleasant read.I can't wait to observe the wonderful debates this book will surely spark. I think we're going to keep learning a lot!! As for me, I'm going to try refining my diet a bit more using this book as a guide. Because if you've been really sick as I have in the past, trust me, nothing tastes as good as healthy feels and experimenting with food has paid off for me. And funny thing about humans is that when we reach a goal, we tend to make a new, higher one. So I'm far from done with my health journey. I want to get better and better.Good luck in your health journeys.