How to Solve Constipation on a Carnivore Diet

Takeaway

• Take magnesium supplements (glycinate).
• Drink and move more.
• Eat foods that make your intestine move (usually fiber).
• Avoid foods that make you constipated (alcohol, dairy, fried food).

Constipation was a big problem during my experience with the carnivore diet.

Find out below the different ways I have managed to solve it.

This article was written for educational purposes and should not be construed as medical advice.

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Table of Contents

• Takeaway
• Solving Constipation While Staying on a Carnivore Diet
  • 1. Slow intestinal transit
  • 2. Drying phenomenon
  • 3. Unhealthy gut microbiome
• Conclusion
  • Will eating more fat help me get rid of constipation?

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Solving Constipation While Staying on a Carnivore Diet

While it’s possible to solve constipation on a carnivore diet, you may need to get away from it if taking magnesium supplements and drinking more water aren’t enough.

Indeed, magnesium and drinking are the only ways to solve constipation on a strict carnivore diet.

Constipation is caused by three phenomena:

1. Slow intestinal transit. Food remains longer in your intestine and dries up, which creates constipation in the first place.
2. Drying phenomenon: certain foods like alcohol dry up your body which dries up your stool and causes constipation.
3. Unhealthy gut microbiome: whatever gets out of your body is the result of the food you ate decomposed by your microbiome, the hundreds of billions of bacteria in your intestine. An unhealthy microbiome leads to unhealthy output.

We’ll see below how to fix those three problems.

Funny: the French equivalent of how are you (comment vas-tu) actually means how are you going to the bathroom. It was one of the few ways that people could judge their health in the past and remained in the vocabulary (while losing its original meaning).

1. Slow intestinal transit

Slow intestinal transit can be solved with laxative foods rich in fiber or magnesium glycinate.

There’s a clear link between a lack of magnesium and constipation. In fact, taking magnesium often leads to diarrhea in the beginning but the problem is usually resolved within a week.

Start by supplementing 200 mg, then increase to 400 mg. Some people go up to 800 mg, but it’s likely too much for most people. 400 mg is probably the sweet spot, but you need to investigate that for yourself.

Then eat some fiber.

1. Fibers aren’t digested by the intestine which then seeks to get rid of them as soon as possible, hence preventing the stool from drying over time. This explains why vegans go so much to the bathroom all the time.
2. Fibers absorb water and make your stool bulky which helps get rid of it.

Beware of coffee. Coffee is a laxative food but it may also worsen constipation for some people.

Likewise, too much fiber will have negative consequences on your intestine because going to the bathroom essentially empties your stomach of its bacteria.

A slow intestinal transit can also be caused by sitting down for too long and not moving enough.

2. Drying phenomenon

Constipation happens because:

1. Your stool is too dry because you eat foods that dry your body like salt and alcohol.
2. Stools are not evacuated fast enough and so dry up in your intestine.

So drink more and avoid the following:

1. Alcohol: alcohol dries your body and kills your gut flora, which worsens your constipation problems by a huge degree.
2. Coffee
3. Black Tea
4. Salty Snacks
5. Soy Sauce
6. Processed Meats (e.g., deli meats, bacon)
7. Sugary Sodas
8. Energy Drinks
9. Anything fried in vegetable oil.
10. High-Protein Bars

To speed up intestinal transit, eat some fiber, take magnesium supplements, and move more.

3. Unhealthy gut microbiome

Unhealthy gut microbiome is caused by low-quality foods and alcohol and going too much to the bathroom (re: vegan and vegetarian diets).

Every time you go to the bathroom, you get rid of a part of bacteria which with time, weakens your intestine.

There are several ways to fix it, from taking pro-biotics if you digest them, to (not kidding) stool transplant.

From experience, the best is to go on a ketogenic diet heavy in non-processed food.

Eat mostly cooked (easier to digest) meat and vegetables and dairy if you digest them, and drink water.

Do not eat or drink anything else. No sauce, no juice, no tea (tea dries up your body), nothing else.

Here’s a list of foods to help out:

• Meat: chicken, beef, pork, rabbit, turkey, lamb, goat, horse, eggs, fish, seafood.
• Vegetables: tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, peas, leek, green beans, salad, spinach, cauliflower, bell pepper, zucchini, cucumber, eggplant.

Not everyone can digest all of these so you need to test them out. In my case, I digest milk well but stopped digesting yogurt and cheese at 25 years old. I have no idea why.

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Conclusion

1. Take magnesium and anything else that speeds up the intestinal transit.
2. Drink and move more.
3. Avoid foods that dry up your body.
4. Heal your gut microbiome with a ketogenic diet.

Will eating more fat help me get rid of constipation?

From experience, eating more fat does not solve constipation. It’s mostly a myth propagated by the carnivore community.

For more articles, head to auresnotes.com.

Photo by OC Gonzalez on Unsplash