I find that I am naturally eating fewer and fewer vegetables. And I feel better and better. I do take vitamin C and D3, and fish oil every morning as well as magnesium in the evening.

I think there is a little voice in our heads that nags us to eat our veggies ! But I m not listening to it anymore.....and I have always been a fierce veggie lover. I fasted all day today, then just ate all my calories in one meal at supper. Two beef/pork burger patties, topped with cheese and a fried egg. The only vegetable matter was about 1/2 Tbsp of minced onion and a bit of pickle for flavour. My carbs are within my goal of under 20 g, and most of my carbs came from the almond meal chocolate chip cookie I just ate, as well as eggs and cheese.

I feel really balanced, and what I ate feels balanced to me. My concept of what constitutes a balanced diet has changed considerably.

To those who don't eat fruit or vegies, do you keep an eye on your micros? Do you get a good percentage of those?

Christine_72 wrote: »

To those who don't eat fruit or vegies, do you keep an eye on your micros? Do you get a good percentage of those?

kirkor wrote: »

Some zero carb folks incorporate offal for micros, but others don't think it's necessary. I wish we had more long term human studies on this stuff, but I suppose like so many other areas in life there's no "one answer".

I would also add that unless someone were taking very specific supplements they probably aren't hitting the micro goals anyway. We know theyre important, but not really how important in the long run.

I don't watch micros. I've found a balance of macros that's working great, and the rest seems to work itself out, albeit very sloooowly!

Don't human carnivores need vitamin C from spinach or a supplement? I am thinking rabbit starvation. I trust you folk more than internet scaremongering, so what is your experience?

SamandaIndia wrote: »

Don't human carnivores need vitamin C from spinach or a supplement? I am thinking rabbit starvation. I trust you folk more than internet scaremongering, so what is your experience?

I'm not sure on this, but I believe vitamin c can be obtained from rare meat. Definitely lots in spinach too.

I think rabbit starvation is more about a lack of fat and too much protein. I think...

SamandaIndia wrote: »

Don't human carnivores need vitamin C from spinach or a supplement? I am thinking rabbit starvation. I trust you folk more than internet scaremongering, so what is your experience?

No. You do not need any vitamins at all eating just meat. That includes vitamin C. I have gone over a year without any dietary source of vitamin c, still have not got scurvy. And, I am at no risk of it either. That is even without eating organ meats. There is enough antiscorbutic properties in fresh meat (even cooked muscle meat) to avoid scurvy. Even enough to reverse scurvy in those who develop it. Stefansson used fresh meat as a cure for scurvy when on his arctic explorations when some men had developed it by avoiding meat and eating biscuits and crap. It doesn't have vitamin c, exactly, but it seems unnecessary to consume vitamin c when eating fresh meat.

Rabbit starvation is extremely rare. It requires meat so lean that you won't get it that lean even from rabbits who weren't already starving themselves. You basically need to avoid all sources of fat and carbs. With enough of either of those, you won't develop it. It happens when you try and subsist entirely on protein alone (350g+ a day depending on body weight for extended periods). You will feel like crap so quickly that you will certainly stop before you hurt yourself. If the meat is extremely lean, the onset of negative physical effects can happen in days. Stefansson started experiencing them extremely quickly when they intentionally removed all possible fat from his meat.

In short, both of these are non-issues for carnivores. We eat fatty meat, even when I hit 40% protein, I am still getting plenty of fat, enough to avoid rabbit starvation.

Edit: I don't supplement at all and I don't watch my macros or micros. There is an abundance, if not a super-abundance, of all the required nutrients for perfect health in muscle meat alone. I will sometimes eat organ meats (marrow, chicken livers, liverwurst, sweetbreads, etc.) but not specifically for any nutrients. I eat those because they are tasty and I enjoy them. If I didn't (or I try a meat I am not fond of, like kidney) I wouldn't eat them any more.