The Ancestral Indigenous Diet: A Whole Foods Meat-Based Carnivore Diet

by Frank Tufano

  The main problems people have are related to not eating enough fat (throwing off your fat-to-protein ratio) or not getting enough nutrients. (The most common things I see are people not getting enough Vitamin A, usually because they are not eating liver, or Vitamin D3, due to lack of sunlight or proper supplementation.) Secondary issues can come up due to allergies to certain foods or a histamine intolerance, which can generally be recognized fairly easily.

  The adaptation period could also be more difficult for anyone suffering from more severe damage to their gut and overall health due to years of eating a terrible diet or other individual factors. In general, this diet will make you healthier and is not just safe but overwhelmingly beneficial for almost everyone.

  But the stress of change — especially psychologically — on top of an already over-stressed body can be hard for some people. As always, monitor you own health, watch for potential warning signs, and consult your doctor if you are concerned that you are responding especially poorly.

  What about cholesterol and saturated fat? Won’t I have a heart attack if all I eat is meat?

  The war over cholesterol has been waging for years and shows no signs of ending anytime soon. The same goes for different types of fats. Detailing it all would take an entire book, so it is not something I can cover in depth here. But the principles of this diet are rooted in the notion that ancient humans ate high-fat, animal-based diets for tens of thousands of years and lived largely free from degenerative diseases, including heart disease.

  To the degree that health industry bogeymen like saturated fat and cholesterol can be linked to heart problems, it is my belief that this is largely all wrapped up in the larger problem of inflammation. This is the true culprit in most aspects of our negative health. More and more evidence is showing that sugar and modern processed food is what are poisoning us from within. Specific to heart disease, the combination of high carbohydrate diets and vegetable seed oils are the driving causes. Each disease we suffer from as humans has a specific cause, which is camouflaged by the illusion of what we’ve been told our whole lives. By understanding the functions in the body associated with any issues you are having, you can address the root cause.

  While some people who follow a carnivore diet long-term do have cholesterol panels that may seem alarming by conventional standards, the fact that this way of eating greatly reduces inflammation means that there is little to worry about. This is what I believe based upon combing through endless studies and research on the topic over the years.

  Consultations with doctors are always advisable if you don’t feel well. But eating high-quality animal foods will make you and your heart healthier — not worse. More up-to-date medical doctors will look at much more than just cholesterol, examining inflammatory markers, blood sugar, and triglycerides, for instance.

  How many cheat days do I get? How strict do I have to be?

  Most diets you read about in a book advocate moderation and give you the flexibility to go crazy once in awhile. But this diet really is a way of achieving excellent health. There is no built-in room for cheating.

  Clearly, you will not go the rest of your entire life without having a few bad foods that you once enjoyed. Most people will have some alcohol here and there as well. But the goal here is health — not simply weight loss or some short-term benefit — and every time you stray from the path, it is a step in the wrong direction.

  That said, there is a big difference between putting some sauce on your steak vs. eating a slice of pizza. It’s also important to know that certain preparation methods — as with sour dough bread or homemade ice cream from high-quality dairy — will allow you to enjoy some foods that should never be consumed in their store-bought form. Granted, sourcing these ingredients can get expensive, and the preparation required is far more laborious than stopping by an ice cream parlor for 10 minutes.

  That said, few people are monks and there will be slip ups. So any time you are going to consume something that you know is negative for you health, the first consideration should be tolerance. If you are allergic or have low-level inflammatory reactions to the food, then the damage to your gut may be too great to risk your health goals. Think about it like this: Eating excess calories — and thus impairing weight loss — is not as big of an issue as eating something that will cause gut microbiome imbalances.

  If you are cheating, try to stick to minimally inflammatory alternatives you are not allergic to. Do you really need that slice of pie or can you just over-eat steak or macadamia nuts and get through this bad day? Would some harmful, but not disastrous, chicken wings get you through this urge? Consider actual bad foods a last resort if emotional stress or lack of sleep leaves you feeling like you have to stuff yourself.

  It’s important to realize if a craving is psychological or an actual craving. In most cases, this is also a temporary issue at the start of the adaptation period that will pass in time. Beyond two to three weeks of strict dieting, cravings that were once rooted in a carb withdrawal will start to go away. Any remaining cravings will likely be related to micronutrient deficiency (eat some liver or cheese and get some sun) or macronutrient deficiency, a lack of protein or energy calories in the diet (fat or carbohydrate).

  Ultimately, consistently consuming high-nutrient foods — like organ meats, wild-caught fish, and salmon roe — along with enough high-quality fat will ensure you are satiated. You will operate on a fat-based metabolism and not find yourself panicking for the comfort foods of your past in between your large, satiating meals. You will stop being hungry for “cheat meals.”

  The biggest temptations will then come from social situations. With enough self confidence and belief in the principles of this way of eating, you will be able to control yourself and not end up snacking on potato chips just to fit in with the crowd. For extra motivation, just glance around to remind yourself how sickly most people look. You can live and feel better than that. If you want to.

  What about mercury and ocean pollution? Should I really be eating seafood?

  It’s pretty rich to hear people who regularly eat Taco Bell, microwave lasagna, and “tofurkey” laboratory concoctions stay away from Alaskan salmon and oysters because they are worried about their health.

  Yeah, the ocean is definitely dirty. And these fish are likely quite a bit worse in quality than they were even just a century ago. But they are still real food with real nutrition — not inflammatory calorie bombs that offer up no legitimate benefits like most of the stuff people eat every day.

  Heavy metal toxicity really isn’t a concern with the fatty fish and shellfish I am recommending. Species very high on the food chain, like shark and swordfish, can potentially present more problems. And eating wild-caught salmon at every single meal may be pushing it.

  But having enough seafood each week to help meet your DHA needs, in lieu of brains and dozens upon dozens of eggs, is probably not going to fill your blood with mercury or otherwise cause any real problem.

  If you are truly scared, what can I say? The important part really is just to get your Omega 3s in. If you want to only dine on sardines and lamb brains instead, be my guest. But we need this stuff to live — and algae and flaxseed oil will not get the job done.

  What the crap? Won’t I constipated constantly without any fiber?

  Not quite. All of our indigenous ancestors consumed fiber in some form. Some consumed a lot, some maybe once per year. But it has no necessary function in our diets, and believe it or not, you will not have any bowel or constipation issues due to a lack of fiber.

  Different foods digest at different rates. When we consume only meat our digestion rate slows, as meat and fat (animal foods) digest very slowly compared to plant foods. This is because the body absorbs far more nutrition and it takes time to extract it.

  So before you get worried, ask yourself this: Are you actually constipated, meaning stuff down there is uncomfortable? Or are you just going to the bathroom less? You will likely continue not going to the
toilet as often as you used to — and that is not a problem. If there isn’t any discomfort involved, it probably isn’t actually constipation. (And consider troubleshooting your water and hydration levels as well. Meat probably won’t be the problem when it comes to digestion.)

  Actual digestive problems that arise on this diet usually can be traced to three possibilities: food quality, cooking temperature, and cross contamination.

  If you’re consuming high-Omega-6 food (like poor-quality pork), it might not digest well at all. If the fat you consume is overcooked (heavily rendered), the body may not be able to produce enough enzymes and bile to properly break it all down and this often results in diarrhea. If the meat has harmful bacteria from cross contamination introduced during processing, that can obviously create significant issues in the gut.

  Again, the ratio of fat to protein should not be ignored, as too much of either will put stress on digestion. You may experience some issues at the beginning as you transition. But most people, within a few weeks, report feeling better in their gut than they ever have. Inflammation is largely removed and you will finally be digesting — and crapping — as nature intended.

  What about coffee? Yeah, it comes from a plant, but I can still drink it, right?

  No. I have never drank coffee — nor have I ever needed coffee. For me Vitamin D3 has always been my energy booster. You should avoid it too. The reason we want to eliminate it is because of the anti-nutrient content, in the form of phytic acid, that can potentially harm our absorption of minerals. Coffee is also just inflammatory in general, and caffeine stresses the adrenals, something that can be more of a problem for women.

  Of course, I know many people won’t give this up. You should at least try to limit consumption though, and one alternatives is espresso (or an “Americano,” which is an espresso with extra hot water added). Because the brew time is quicker, the water has less exposure to the beans and this means it has fewer anti-nutrients. It also has less caffeine despite its reputation as a pick-me-up. Tea is also another option that is probably better in most cases.

  Will I develop allergies? What are the signs? And what are histamines?

  One of the best parts about this the Ancestral Indigenous Diet is that it serves as an “elimination diet.” You mainly will be eating a limited menu of items that will expand in time as you improve your food sourcing ability. And this will make it relatively easy to identify any foods that are introduced and cause poor reactions.

  What is a poor reaction? What are you looking for? If you’ve been living with high levels of inflammation for years — or decades — it may be tougher to identify at first. Acute allergies should be relatively easy to spot. Whether it’s digestive problems, gas, skin breakouts, or more severe issues like nausea or vomiting, you will know it when it happens.

  Another issue may a histamine response from high-histamine foods. We see this most often with aged and fermented foods such as cheese, yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles, kombucha, or cured meats. Alcohol and vinegar are common culprits. So are seemingly safe items like frozen/salted/canned fish, citrus, or even egg whites. Common histamine side effects are headaches, congestion, fatigue, hives, digestive issues, nausea, vomiting, and heart palpitations.

  Histamine is an organic nitrogen compound that may trigger an allergic response in human and mammalian systems. Other biogenic amines such as cadaverine are contained in certain foods as well. When a food ages, as most meats we eat has for many weeks, the histamine content increases. When you are consuming mostly animal foods, this increased histamine load causes issues in a certain percentage of people.

  One cause of histamine intolerance lies within the body’s ability, or lack thereof, to produce histamine-removing enzymes, hypothetically from a lack of certain nutrients. The more common cause is dysbiosis (a gut bacterial imbalance), resulting in more histamine-producing bacteria in your stomach, as opposed to histamine-degrading bacteria.

  It seems like a simple problem to fix. Restore nutrients and fix the microbiome. And that does work for many. But to fix the microbiome you generally have to consume high-histamine probiotic foods, so it needs to be addressed carefully on an individual basis.

  Can I follow the Ancestral Indigenous Diet without a gallbladder?

  Yes, you can make this work without a gallbladder. Initially, your body will have to adapt to a higher fat intake and you should be careful to not go overboard. In general, adjusting away from carbs might require more frequent meals of lower volumes of fat compared to higher-protein intake.

  But, yes, you can still live — and thrive — on a nutrient-dense, animal-food diet. Be careful and look for warning signs of problems if you think your digestion is not working properly. Just know that there are many people following a high-fat diet, both ketogenic and carnivore, without a gallbladder and they do just fine.

  Chapter 12

  Beyond Nutrition: Water, Sleep, Sun, Exercise, and Modern Problems

  Clever readers may remember that this book is called the Ancestral Indigenous Diet. So it should go without saying that the primary goal is to help you eat in a natural way. This is the biggest factor in getting as close as possible to your optimal health.

  But it would be incomplete to focus solely on food. Frankie Boy has much more wisdom about health to share, and there are several other factors that you must consider in your daily life if you want to hit that goal.

  Paying close attention to these areas can be particularly helpful when it comes to troubleshooting. If you think you are already eating perfectly but continue to have health issues, your problem might be solved by fixing stuff outside the kitchen.

  The four other areas you need to understand are: water, exercise, sun exposure, and sleep. Our ancestors living long ago didn’t really have to worry about any of these.

  Well, water was likely always an issue — but only in terms of finding it and boiling it. Beyond some naturally occurring bugs and parasites, their water would have been clean and unaffected by the modern contaminants that are almost unavoidable today.

  As in the rest of the book, that is the general theme here: We may have it easy living in modern society in many ways, but our new problems are subtly destroying our health. Unfortunately, in today’s modern world, these once-customary elements of life have become a lot more complicated. From artificial pollutants and sedentary desk work to sunburns and insomnia, we are dealing with a lot issues that are relatively new in human history.

  I won’t go in depth on any of these factors for simplicity’s sake. You do need to pay close attention to each of them though. Because they intersect with your diet in very important ways, and it is impossible to truly feel your best without getting them all right. Even after getting your diet on point, you will have to overcome modern pitfalls in a few other key areas if you want to achieve natural, ancestral health.

  Water

  Just about everyone would agree that staying hydrated is important. It is one of the three essential components of life. One old adage says that a person can survive three weeks without food, three days without water, and three minutes without air.

  Even though everyone understands this, most people still give little thought to what water they are drinking. We are taught to hydrate — eight glasses a day — and replenish electrolytes after exercise. But consuming chemical contaminants like fluoride (which they say is good for your teeth) or chlorine (which they use to remove bacteria) is far from what nature intended.

  This is made even worse by the other substances found in modern water. Aging plumbing, pollution, and other factors means that are taps water may have both physical problems (measured in parts per million, or PPM, as total dissolved solids like lead, other heavy metals, and various toxins) and chemical problems (including those mentioned above as well as antibiotics, pesticides, and herbicides).

  Fluoride may be associated with brain damage, reduced IQ, impaired ability to learn and remember, and impaired fetal brain development. Chlorine, like fl
ouride, can block iodine receptors and in high doses may be a toxic chemical with links to heart attacks, asthma, and organ damage. Pharmaceuticals like birth control can disrupt hormones. Other toxins and chemicals cause oxidative stress. And, across the board, we need to worry about various herbicides, pesticides, and antibiotics.

  Many people are well aware of how dirty municipal water supplies have become. But turning to bottled water often isn’t a great solution. Often, there are other problems introduced from plastic leaching from bottles that sit in the sun and heat for hours on a pallet.

  Mineral water in glass bottles from good (often European) sources can be a good option. But this becomes expensive and unrealistic for most people on an everyday basis. That said, transitioning to glass bottles for a few weeks can be a good experiment. If you try this and notice an improvement in your energy levels and how you feel overall, it may mean that your previous water sources may be inadequate and you need to take more extreme actions.

  The sad reality in modern society is that we can only go so far in some cases when it comes to optimizing our water source. The best advice is to start by doing an in-home test (kits are available on Amazon) and, if necessary, install an in-home filtration system. The time and money you invest is almost always worth it.

  A more in-depth look at all this can be found on my YouTube channel, and it is definitely easier to follow a video How To explanation about filtration. But most people will do very well by installing a reverse-osmosis filter. It is relatively easy to set up and very affordable — especially when you consider how much it will help your health. Reverse osmosis and distillation still may not remove all the chemical and antibiotic concerns, but the water will still be infinitely better than anything straight out of the tap.