So while I was researching what long time carnivores have issues with I came across basically nothing, including that they weren't sucking down supplements like candy either.
When I read about this online the sites I find tend to stick to the same incorrect belief of Vitamin C, and other plant-based nutrients like fiber so you can poo correctly. None of this is true and is more intended to cause you stress.
What supplements should I take on the carnivore diet? To manage your diet transition you should take a high-quality electrolyte like LMNT. In addition, it would be suggested to open up to trying organ meats like liver and heart. If it makes you queasy, ask the butcher to mix it into hamburger meat which will give you the benefit without the queasy feeling!
Now that we have outlined the options above as to possible choices that can actually help you in performance and living the lifestyle we are going to dive into whether they are necessary or by choice.
Along with this, we will talk about reasons why you may choose to supplement your diet, typically to achieve specific targeted goals and what we view as quality options.
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While there are many people and news agencies which will speak about the carnivore diet, unfortunately, most have no understanding at all as to how human bodies work and are just parrots for other "advice" they hear online or on television.
A carnivore diet itself requires no specific supplementation to provide your body everything it needs. As our diets evolved we began making choices to move away from meat and instead sustain our civiliation on grains. This drastic change led to the need to supplement.
Josh
Instead, you should choose to supplement based on the output you are doing, if you are drinking a lot of water then you will need to add electrolytes to maintain energy and combat cramps.
Make the switch to a cause-based approach and you will save yourself a lot of money and headache.
Today, we live in an age that has been told that everything can be resolved if you take the right pill or potion. This has led people to believe it is REQUIRED to get where they want to go, nothing can be further from the truth.
Now I am not saying that they can't be beneficial or meaningful to help get specific results, but they aren't what gets you there, they can't GIVE your results. Instead, you must place in your hard work, dedication, and willpower to achieve greatness.
While all supplementation is entirely unnecessary for a large part of the people choosing a carnivore diet you may have needs that go beyond the normal.
These typically come down to those who exercise long and hard frequently, meaning you use resources faster than a normal person. Or you have a medical issue that limits your ability to get specific nutrients due to the condition itself.
If you are a part of the medical condition side then you really need to bring in your physician on how to best ensure you keep those levels up, they have to be a part of your conversation as it is a serious part of your wellbeing.
The one core supplement many carnivore dieters will want to add on as a supplement is the core electrolytes, magnesium, potassium, and sodium.
As these will be lost fast once you stop eating carbohydrates due to the water loss which typically holds the stored electrolytes.
I personally love the LMNT electrolyte mix which was created by the team over at Ketogains. They are big proponents of working out and doing good fundamental strength building, with none of the BS.
Check out the Ketogain 5x5 workout if interested in getting started getting in better physical shape.
Bone broth contains electrolytes but also contains a bunch more minerals and vitamins which are stored long term in the bones and cartilage.
Additionally, the collagen content is higher within bone broth which can help provide your body high-quality resources for skin, hair, and more.
I took a bit to adjust to bone broth coming from chicken broth and similar highly flavored versions. To me bone broth tends to have less flavor, for myself I got over this by adding some sea salt and mixing it together which helped bring out more flavor to me.
For people who don't want to drink bone broth, there are bone broth powders available that you could add into other foods to help give some of these benefits in a simple way.
This needs to be a full protein-based powder, not the collagen protein that is found in most supermarkets. This will typically tend to increase your cost but the benefits are worth the little increase in your overall costs.
Next, you want to ensure there is essentially zero added sugars or carbohydrates. You really want to always work to ensure you keep this number low but in protein, there is a tendency to add in sugars to give a better taste.
I prefer Ketogenics from ketoshop.com, I get no kickbacks from them but they have always had higher quality protein powders that fill all my needs.
For better overall health we should have a decent balance of Omega-3 to Omega-6 in our diets. This can be helped with an increase in quality fish intake but you would have to know the source of your food.
Instead, I use these packets as I don't like the aftertaste pills will frequently give me. These have a citrus taste for easy taking on the go.
Choosing to supplement isn't a bad thing, but you need to make sure you are doing it for benefits it provides you and not just as an expenditure for more expensive pee.
This is why I am not a fan of multi-vitamins and similar broad-use supplementation as taken at one time means processed once and discarded when not needed.
Like when you take B vitamins and your pee becomes super yellow, all you did was purchase something you were led to believe you "NEEDED".
Your body doesn't use it like that though so it takes what it needs and discards the rest, instead take some time and try to figure out the best foods to give you this nutrition.
If you read this far you are amazing! I would love to hear from you in the comments below if I helped you gain knowledge and useful information, additionally I would like to know if I got anything incorrect that you believe should be researched more and updated. As always to get the word out please join our new Carnivore Rx group on Facebook and share this out on social media!
