How the Carnivore Diet Saved My Health

I became fascinated with the carnivore diet in April 2023, after realizing that my years of vegetarianism had led me to serious health problems. Looking back, I see now how far I had strayed from the diet I grew up with.

My Childhood Diet: Meat, Dairy, and Farm Life

I was born and raised in France, where red meat, raw dairy, fresh eggs, and organ meats were a staple of my diet. My childhood meals included:

• Meat and organ meats like beef tongue, liver, heart, and brain.

• Raw dairy and cheeses, including rich, creamy varieties unique to France.

• Charcuterie such as beef liver pâté and rillettes.

• Fresh, seasonal produce—salads at the end of our meal along with creamy cheeses, and vegetables when in season.

• Bread, lots of bread—a meal in France isn’t complete without it! Side note: there is a law that was implemented in 1798 "the right to bread" so there would always be one bakery open in every town every day of the week so people would not starve to death!

• Fish every Friday, as part of our Catholic traditions.

• Summer feasts of fruit, picked straight from the trees at my family's farm.

  
  

Life was simple, full of good food, hard work, and strong family connections. In my teens, I spent summers working in the fields alongside my cousins, uncles, and aunts, learning stories about my ancestors and feeling deeply connected to the land.

The Vegetarian Shift—And the Decline of My Health

When I moved to the USA in late 1987, I was swept up in the growing trend of vegetarianism. In big cities like New York and Los Angeles, I kept hearing the same claims:

• "Meat is bad for you!"

• "A vegetarian diet is healthier!"

• "You’ll feel amazing without animal products!"

• You can lose weight by being vegetarian.

  
  

I was only 20 and didn’t know any better. Even though I had a degree in nutrition and restaurant business management, I ignored my instincts and embraced this new way of eating.

For 15 years, I was vegetarian.

• Three of those years, I was vegan—until I became too weak to sustain it.

• I had to switch to an Indian vegetarian diet that included dairy, ghee, eggs, and cheese just to stay somewhat functional.

• I got sick. Really sick; I contracted mononeucleosis which was dormant in my body since I was born. This infection can be passed on by your mom.

  
  

In 2000, I finally gave in and ate fish again. The change was immediate.

• I felt 100% better that very day.

• The next day, my strength returned. I felt less physically vulnerable

• My mind was clearer.

That should have been my wake-up call, but instead, I convinced myself that fish alone was enough and continued as a pescatarian.

My Wake-Up Call—And a Return to Meat

By 2011, in my mid 40s and entering perimenopause, my body was struggling. Then one day, I had a revelation—a moment of undeniable clarity. I was graced by the Beloved with an undeniable reality.

I saw the truth:

• All those years as a vegetarian had damaged my health.

• My body, brain, and cells had been starved of the nutrients they needed.

• Humans cannot thrive without animal protein and fat.

  
  

We’re seeing the consequences of this nutrient deficiency everywhere:

• Rising infertility rates—many couples today struggle to conceive.

• Weakened bodies—a lack of animal protein leads to loss of muscle, strength, and resilience.

• Obesity epidemic—people try to follow the USA's food pyramid to only gain more weight and get addicted to more carbs and sugary foods.

• Mental health issues—depression, anxiety, and cognitive decline are everywhere.

• Diseases of the modern age—osteoporosis, dementia, Alzheimer’s, and chronic inflammation.

• A generation of fragile, nutrient-deficient people—due to processed food and plant-based misinformation.

Even research confirms this: vegetarians have smaller brains (check out the book “Vegetarians Have Smaller Brains” by David Ellis).

So I started adding meat back into my diet—slowly, cautiously, once or twice a week.

• Eggs became my staple. I craved them, likely because my body was screaming for the vitamins and minerals I had been missing (B12 and B vitamins in general, thiamin, zinc, copper, vitamin D, selenium, omegas, amino acid, and selenium ).

• I still didn’t understand that red meat was the key.

The Traumatic Brain Injury That Changed Everything

Then, in 2016, disaster struck. I was rear-ended stopped at a red light by a Toyota 4Runner. My Subaru was totaled. The driver had been texting while driving while doing 35 mph!

A week later, I was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury (TBI).

My life completely stopped.

• I couldn’t function, perform everyday tasks, chores like attending to my hygiene, making myself a meal, putting on clothes, all the simple things we do everyday that no one needs to think about!  I didn’t understand why?

• I couldn’t even write a simple email to cancel my yoga classes.

• Walking 400 feet to my gate felt impossible.

• I was constantly nauseous and exhausted.

And then… I started craving red meat.

I had never experienced cravings like this before. All I wanted was a rare, juicy bloody steak with lots of fat.

Something inside me knew what I needed to heal. My body was screaming for protein and saturated fat.

How the Carnivore Diet Saved My Brain

Without realizing it, I instinctively started following a ketogenic diet:

• Very low carb.

• Mostly meat-based.

I listened to my body:

• Red meat = good.

• Pasta, potatoes, grains = brain on fire. Not good!

Every time I ate carbs, dairy, or sugar, my brain felt like it was burning up.

• I was exhausted and had to sleep for five hours straight.

• My mouth would break out in canker sores that lasted for weeks.

• I felt weak, foggy, and depressed, my body was in pain.

But when I ate meat and animal fat—I felt alive again. I could teach (instruct not perform) a yoga class for a couple of hours and manage a somewhat existence for a few hours until I needed to sleep again to heal.

This way of eating saved my life.

For eight years, I suffered from TBI symptoms, but this diet helped me survive.

Final Thoughts

If there’s one thing I want you to take away from my experience, it’s this:

👉 Your body knows what it needs. Listen to it. 

👉 Meat is not the enemy. It’s the most bioavailable source of nutrition for the human species. 

👉 The modern diet is making us sick. The rise in chronic disease isn’t a coincidence.

If you're struggling with health issues, brain fog, fatigue, autoimmune diseases, or unexplained symptoms—consider looking at your diet. It might just save your life like it saved mine.