The Carnivore Diet…but Marcus what about fiber!? How do you go to the bathroom!?

I’m sure you’ve either heard this before or maybe you’re curious about fiber in relation to the Carnivore Diet yourself…

I’m going to cover the 3 key things that you need to know as well as exactly how to remedy any digestion troubles if you’re experiencing them!

Conditionally Beneficial ≠ Essential

As you know there are 3 macronutrients which are protein, carbs and fat…protein and fat are essential meaning we must eat them to survive…

Carbohydrates on the other hand are not essential because if we don’t eat them, our body just manufactures them itself…pretty cool right!?

Fiber is a carbohydrate and so by definition it is not essential.

Having said that in the context of eating a higher carb diet which the vast majority of people do…

Fiber may be conditionally beneficial because it can dampen the blood sugar response and keep these individuals full for longer.

The kicker is that elevated blood sugar doesn’t tend to be much of an issue on Carnivore because it doesn’t include carbohydrates aside from small amounts in dairy if you choose to include it…

Also as I’m sure you know via experience, it’s just about the most filling nutritional approach out there and so Carnivore’s typically don’t need rely on fiber for satiety.

Stool Size

There are 2 main types of fiber, soluble and insoluble and neither of them are absorbable by humans…

Soluble fiber ferments in the gut which can often lead to feelings of abdominal distention, gas, bloating and even pain.

Insoluble fiber adds bulk to stool which is just a fancy way of saying that it makes your poops bigger.

You may have noticed that on Carnivore your bowel movements are less frequent and/or when you do go, they’re much smaller…

This is entirely normal because meat, fish, seafood and eggs are so well-absorbed that they just don’t produce very much waste…

And so you typically don’t need to hit the bathroom as often and when ya do, there’s far less to excrete.

Fiber is an anti-nutrient?

Some folks are of the opinion that fiber is an antinutrient because it may bind minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium and zinc and reduce their absorption…

Is this because of the fiber itself or the other chemicals present in fiber containing foods like phytates, oxalates, lectins and tannins…

It’s tough to say, but the thing is that it’s happening either way and ideally we want all those minerals!

What about constipation or loose stool on Carnivore?

If someone even whispers the word constipation everyone and their Mom is like, ‘well you’re clearly not eating enough fiber’…

Like we mentioned, soluble fiber ferments in the gut and insoluble fiber adds bulk to stool…

If you’re having a hard time passing something through a very small hole, do you really want that something to be bulkier!?

Probably not and there is interesting research to support this…

This study took 63 folks with idiopathic constipation which is just a fancy term for ‘the cause is unknown’…

And they put them on a high fiber diet, a reduced fiber diet and a zero fiber diet…

As you can see on the zero fiber diet everyone was completely asymptomatic meaning, they had zero constipation, bloating, bleeding or pain.

On the zero fiber diet folks had an average of 1 bowel movement per day…

On the high fiber diet people had an average of 1 bowel movement every 6.83 days…

Now some folks do experience constipation on Carnivore and if you’re one of those people…

I would recommend opting for fattier sources of protein because too much lean protein and/or not eating enough fat can result in constipation.

On the other hand, if you’re experiencing loose stools, you’re probably eating too much fat and so I’d recommend scaling it back until your bowel movements regulate.

Dairy is an interesting one because it can lead to constipation for some people and actually loose stools for others…

So listen to your body on the diary front and I do think that it’s worth eliminating for say 30 days especially if you’re having digestion troubles just to see how your body responds.

As a personal anecdote, my digestion has never been better than on Carnivore and the less fiber that I eat, the better!

That’s not necessarily the case for everyone, some people seem to do better with the inclusion of dietary fiber and if you’re one of those people by all means eat it.

The point of this video is to provide you with options because all we hear via mainstream health advice is that fiber is amazing across the board and the more ya eat, the better…

Which is absolutely not the case for everyone.

I’m curious to know, how’s your digestion on Carnivore?