Dr. Sarah Myhill on Cutting Carbs and the Carnivore Diet

Embracing a Low-Carb or Carnivore Diet

• 💡 Dr. Myhill suggests a "cold turkey" approach to cutting out addictive foods, acknowledging potential withdrawal symptoms similar to addiction.
• 🥩 A carnivore diet (meat, fish, eggs, and fatty meats) is presented as a healthy and sustainable starting point, with no inherent unhealthiness.
• 🧠 This diet is recommended for various conditions, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and manic depression, with patients often doing "fantastically well."

Addressing Microbiome Concerns

• 🦠 While fiber is conventionally seen as crucial for the microbiome, Dr. Myhill explains that "meat fiber" (connective tissue, gut, organ meats) can be digested by bacteria and yeast.
• 🍽️ Eating cheaper cuts and organ meats is encouraged to provide this "meat fiber."
• ⚖️ Although carnivores often show diverse microbiomes, Dr. Myhill notes personal experience with constipation and suggests adding high-fiber foods like linseed if needed.

Navigating Initial Diet Transition Challenges

• ⚡ The "keto flu" can be a sign of poor metabolic flexibility or an underactive thyroid, where the body struggles to switch between burning carbs and fat.
• 🦠 A Herxheimer reaction can occur as dying microbes from an upper fermenting gut are digested, potentially causing allergic responses.
• ⚠️ Mobilizing toxins stored in fat during ketosis can lead to acute poisoning, detailed on Dr. Myhill's website under "DD reactions."
• 💧 Sipping salty water or bone broth may help mitigate hunger pangs during this difficult transition phase.

Understanding Thyroid Health and Diet

• 📉 An underactive thyroid is common, especially in women, and can be exacerbated by toxins, fire retardants, heavy metals, and viral infections.
• 🩺 Conventional diagnosis often relies solely on blood tests, ignoring clinical signs like fatigue, slow pulse, low core temperature, and hair loss.
• 💡 Dr. Myhill emphasizes that diagnosis is often retrospective, confirmed by improvement after intervention.
• 🧠 For younger individuals, issues like ketogenic hypoglycemia may resolve over time, but an underactive thyroid is a persistent problem for many.