Dr. Anthony Chaffee addresses two critical questions about carnivore diet implementation: iodine needs and electrolyte requirements. Testing reveals that approximately 50% of both carnivores and non-carnivores have adequate iodine levels, largely dependent on soil health where animals graze. Wild-caught seafood provides the most reliable iodine source, as ocean water is naturally rich in iodine, while farm-raised fish should be avoided due to poor feed quality.
The discussion on electrolyte balance reveals why some people experience dizziness and fatigue when starting carnivore. As insulin levels drop rapidly on carnivore, kidneys that have adapted over decades to high insulin must readjust, potentially causing temporary electrolyte loss and low blood volume. This manifests as postural hypotension - dizziness when standing up. Unlike keto flu, which Dr. Anthony Chaffee attributes largely to plant toxins and sugar withdrawal, carnivore-related symptoms are purely metabolic and typically resolve as the body adapts.
Key Takeaways
- Test iodine levels regardless of diet - approximately 50% of people are deficient due to poor soil health, making wild-caught seafood the most reliable dietary source
- Expect potential electrolyte imbalances in the first few months of carnivore as insulin drops and kidneys readjust after decades of compensation
- Address postural hypotension (dizziness when standing) with 5-7 grams of additional salt daily and increased water intake during the adaptation period
- Avoid excessive electrolyte supplementation - add salt judiciously and temporarily, as most people's kidneys adapt naturally without long-term supplementation needs
- Iodine Requirements and Testing on Carnivore Diet
- Electrolyte Needs When Starting Carnivore - Insulin Drop Effects
- Managing Keto Flu and Electrolyte Symptoms
This is an auto-generated transcript from YouTube and may contain errors or inaccuracies.
what do you think about iodine do you have to add that to a carnival diet so in in my patients um I I I quite often will um test for iodine and I found that's it's about 50/50 for carnivores and non-c carnivores just everybody is about 5050 have enough iodine that's going to have to do that's has to do with with soil health for the plants that you're eating the soil that's grown in but the animals that you're eating that are on grass or feed and you know what's in the soil of that plant that they eat seafood has a lot of of iodine because the ocean is replete with iodine and so if you're eating you know fish and those sorts of things um Farm fish you want to avoid uh but uh wild caught fish is really good I do know of some people that are starting to come out with some farmed fish where they're actually because the whole point is they feed them a bunch of garbage they're not designed to eat either so they're not going to be as healthy because they're not eating the right food and so they're not going to have the right nutrients um but there are some companies that are that are trying to look into that and see okay well can we feed a fish's more you know natural fish food and allergies and things like that so they actually get the the proper nutrients and so they're healthy and so therefore you know we be healthy but at the moment it's you pretty much want to just stick to to wild caught so if you're eating Seafood usually people are okay if the soil health is good and has a lot of iodine and things like that then you know you're probably you're probably fine but I think it's worth testing it's um it's something that that I think a lot of people will will be surprised that it is interesting that um you know i' I've tested people and their thy their thyroid is perfect their health is perfect all these things are perfect and their eyey is like oh actually that's that's a bit lower than you want and um so you know easy enough you add in a bit more Seafood comes right up you know if they don't want to do that you do some Lugal drops things like that I don't think it's you know too horrible to to add any of these things I I don't think you need to supplement unless you need to supplement but it's easy enough to check you know just check just get your blood tested usually with urine you have to do a urine sample as well because they they correct it against your creatinine as well and your your your kidney function and so um just check and if you you need iodine then either add more seafood or or supplement but um plenty don't but it's it's about 50/50 I'd say for for everybody I I don't it just comes down to soil Health really okay do you think people would need electrolytes when you first start Carnival that's a big question that people have um some do so when your when your insulin is dropping insulin insulin um pulls in more electrolytes out of your kidneys from eliminating that in your urine and so your kidney has to overcompensate when your insulin starts going up up up up up up up because it'll draw in too many electrolytes you're not going to be able to sort of get rid of the Surplus and too many electrolytes in your blood will kill you just as fast as two little electrolytes so you have to maintain a homeostasis you have to maintain a perfect balance and so if you're drawing in too many with your with your um insulin then your kidneys have to overcompensate to draw out even more electrolytes so what happens when and that can take decades takes decades and decades and decades to sort of slowly creep up your insulin so your your kidneys have time to adapt to that so what happens when you all of a sudden go ketogenic carnivore and you're just insulin just drops down to normal in a couple of months well okay it doesn't have this it doesn't have the years to compensate for that and so you can get a bit of a drop off in your electrolytes and you can also spill out more water you can get uh low blood volume and you can get hypovolemia and so this generally manifests as uh dizziness especially when getting out of a chair it's called postural hypotension so you stand up and you go oh God you know mean we've all sort of got a bit of a Head Rush sometimes when we stand up too quickly uh but this would be happening like every time you do it right that by the way can happen too when you're on blood pressure medications and your blood pressure starts correcting because your insulin comes down your homocysteine goes down all these other sorts of things that can cause high blood pressure correct now of a sudden you're on too much medication and you're you're just dizzy and Wacko and out of it so you need to be careful of that as well but you can lose too many electrolytes early on as your insulin's adjusting hey guys just want to take a second to thank our sponsor carnivore bar I don't promote many products because honestly all you need to be healthy is to just eat meat for those times that you're out hiking road tripping or stuck at work and you want nutritious snack that is just meat fat and salt if you want it the carnivore bar is a great option so I like this product not because it's just pure meat but also Al because I want the carnivore Market to thrive as well and the more we support meet only products the more meet only products there will be available in the mainstream so if this sounds like something you'd like to get behind check it out using my discount code Anthony to get 10% off which also applies to subscriptions giving you 25% off total all right thanks guys but just like your in your kidney is adjusted on the way up it can adjust on the way down it's just sometimes there's a bit of a lag and you can lose too many so if you're finding you're symptomatic like that you just you're not feeling well and you don't feel good and some people attribute that the the keto flu to that I think a lot of the keto flu is also going to be withdrawals and and keto specifically when you're going ketogenic um people start eating massive amounts of vegetables as well that have massive amounts of plant toxins and you're just poisoning yourself and you're just like oh God I don't feel well like well I I don't doubt it you're withdrawing from a bunch of drugs like sugar and you're adding in a whole bunch of toxins from plants and like yeah that I wouldn't feel good either um with carnivore you can get that as well again you're going to feel some withdrawals but you can also feel a bit crummy because of the low electrolytes if you are going to have electrolytes you do feel that that would benefit you and you try it and it helps you great but don't do the ones that with artificial sweeteners or artificial flavoring just do the plain old you know electrolytes um but it it's should be uh temporary you shouldn't really need to do this long term I I do know of one individual who really needs to salt a lot his food like a lot get like seven grams of salt a day um and that's Dave Felman he's been doing keto for a long time and he just feels um you know pretty awful if he doesn't salt the living hell out of his out of his food and he us he uses quite a a bit of salt it's actually a bit funny because you know we'll be you know when we're at different conferences and things like that you know he'll be he'll be salting his food and we'll be halfway done with our meal and he's like still salting and things like that so um it's kind of funny but you know that that works for him and and that's fine you know there is work from uh Professor Steve finy has actually shown that certainly in that that adjustment period you you will often need to add five to seven grams of salt to um to a ketogenic diet um or or else you could you can feel a bit rotten but but um in practice I find that that a lot of people uh are fine um it could be that you know if you have that that I can help you through the early stages and it might be something to do with with um your electrolytes but I I I find that quite a lot of people just do fine they they weather the early stages little teething periods just fine um and um they don't necessarily need that I've certainly never tested anybody's blood tests and found their electrolytes were low as then their potassium went low or their sodium went low you get you get very sick if that happens um and they go too low and so and you can die actually uh I've never seen that I haven't seen that in anybody's blood work um did see one person I did a a um consultation with and his potassium was you know a couple points below where you'd want it and he said by you know I feel fine I feel great I said okay why don't you just test it again because it could have just been a you know lab error and he tested again and it was completely normal so you know whatever it was if it was just a weird day and it didn't really affect him and it went back up or it was just a lab error you know it was fine so yeah I mean long story short those are the symptoms to look for lightheadedness sort of fluish just feeling just unwell in general if that's the case you can add in more salt you can add in more electrolytes if that makes you feel better wonderful um drink more water too that's uh that's helpful as well there are some people that overdo it and they just take massive amounts of electrolytes and they're just dumping salt in they they basically just drinking sea water or something like that and you know and and then they're feeling awful like I don't know what's going on it's just like well that's that's going on don't do that um so be you know be a bit circumspect with it you know if you're having a problem and you think that might be it you know you can add these things on but but do it judiciously don't don't add in just you know mountains and mountains and mountains of salt you know just ease your way into it and get the right amount for you and they're finding that they're they're massively improving the health of their microbiome um in fact there was um we're seeing this just just all over the place and let many people are publishing this you know Ken Dr kenberry has published this you know benaza has published this um Dr sha omara has published this and U in fact Dr sha omara his microbiome was so good that the you know the president or whomever of the company that he used to test his microbiome personally called him and said you have the best micob biome our company has ever tested what the hell are you doing he's like all right I'll tell you and um benaza who's been doing a a clean omnivorous Carn ketogenic diet so