Vegan Of 15 Years Shares Body Transformation After Switching To All-Meat Diet

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A woman who was vegan for 15 years claims she is much healthier after switching to an all-meat diet.

Nicole Carter, 44, became vegan at the age of 18, eating a diet of whole foods, salad and berries while also cutting out sugar and alcohol.

The mum-of-two claims her vegan diet destroyed her immune system and says that, since switching to an exclusively carnivore diet, she has more energy and is much healthier.

Nicole, who lives in California, developed a range of health problems while following a vegan diet, including joint pain, anxiety, depression, low energy and insomnia.

The 44-year-old also suffered with constipation and digestive problems, before eventually being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 2012.

Nicole explained:

I had raging candida overgrowth, hair loss, joint pain, fatigue and insomnia. My blood tests showed almost non-existent levels of iron and Vitamin D. My hormones were low and my thyroid hormones were low despite natural supplements.
I had gall stones and pancreatitis which led to gall bladder removal in 2006. I had chronic constipation, gas, bloating and eventually ulcerative colitis. I was hypoglycaemic. I had insomnia at night and no energy all day.
I didn’t drink coffee, only organic green tea. I was depressed, had anxiety and felt lost as to how to improve my health.

The mum-of-two says she tried everything to ease her condition but was ultimately unsuccessful, until she turned to an almost exclusively meat-based diet.

Now, she says she feels healthier both in her mood and her body, and has even lost weight – going from 9st 4lb (59kg) when she was vegan to 8st 6lb (54kg) now.

Nicole said:

I read about [diet researcher] Amber O’Hearn doing it [a carnivore diet] for mood disorder. I was curious if it would cure my autoimmune disease, ulcerative colitis.
It is the elimination of all plant and non-animal foods. There are varying degrees, but most carnivores focus on beef and ruminant animals and add in pork, chicken, fish, eggs and dairy to some degree.
It is extremely nutritious because the nutrients are all bioavailable as opposed to the nutrients in the plants which are bound by oxalates and phytates. It also eliminates foods that are destructive to the human gut such as fibre.

CALIFORNIA, USA: Nicole now (left) and when she was vegan (right). THIS MUM-of-two has ditched the vegan diet she followed for FIFTEEN-YEARS after it caused her immune system to crash and now only eats MEAT which she says has given her more energy than ever before – she also adds that contrary to popular belief it ISN’T BAD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT. Health coach, Nicole Carter (44) from California, USA, went vegan when she was 18 thinking it was the best thing to do for her health and to protect the environment. For 15-years Nicole lived on a diet rich in whole foods, packed with leafy greens, berries and freshly squeezed juices. She also cut out sugar and alcohol and spent her days scouring local food markets, growing vegetables in her garden and making her own flaxseed crackers, veggie burgers and nut milks. Initially Nicole felt great but this soon changed as her immune system crashed and she started to suffer with candida overgrowth, joint pain, anxiety, depression, low energy, insomnia, constipation, digestive problems and was eventually diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in September, 2012. Nicole tried everything to try to improve her health and took natural supplements to give herself a boost, but nothing worked. A year ago, Nicole started to research the carnivore diet, and after reading of the positive ways it had helped others thought she would give it a go to see if it could relive her ulcerative colitis. Almost immediately she noticed an improvement in her gut health, energy levels and mood and found she had more spare time. Typically, Nicole eats a pound-and-a-half of red meat a day and sometimes adds in bacon and eggs, drinking coffee, water and sparkling water. She has also lost weight, going from 9st 4lb when she was vegan to 8st 6lb now and feels better than ever before. MDWfeatures / Nicole Carter

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Believing she was malnourished while following a vegan lifestyle, Nicole now eats a pound-and-a-half of red meat a day, and says her ulcerative colitis symptoms have improved.

However, it’s important to note that experts say a high-meat and low-vegetable diet lacks essential vitamins and minerals and is linked to cancers, digestive problems, and heart disease.

The environmental impact of the meat industry is also highly debated with some studies pointing out certain vegetation has larger carbon emissions than some livestock, while others claim abandoning, or at least cutting down on, meat is the best thing an individual can do in the fight against climate change. There are also a myriad of ethical considerations attached to meat consumption.

Nicole disagrees with these arguments though, saying:

People think that meat causes cancer, that it causes high cholesterol which may kill you, that it causes diabetes and that it is bad for the environment. None of this is true.
My life is entirely better. My health is better, my gut, my energy and my mood. I also have a lot more time for other things now that I don’t spend all my time in the kitchen cooking and cleaning up. I also save a lot of money this way.
All of the symptoms I mentioned before are gone. I no longer have a life-threatening disease nor any of the annoying symptoms or problems I had before. My autoimmune disease is gone and I am so grateful for what I have learned that got me here.

Each to their own, I guess.

If you have a story you want to tell, send it to [email protected].

Lucy Connolly

A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).