Nowadays, more and more people are turning to veganism as an alternative lifestyle. But Jillian Faith, a 34-year-old former military musician, has done the opposite.
She says she's managed to transform her body and mind by a purely carnivorous diet, and that eating only meat has actually helped ease her PTSD symptoms, which include anxiety, nightmares, insomnia and depression.
Jillian first spotted the diet on social media, and now feasts each day on a breakfast of elk meat and beef with beef fat, followed by a bowl of bone broth for lunch, and dinner consisting of beef brains, liver and beef fat.
The 34-year-old had been left traumatised after being sexually assaulted as a teenager and turned to music as an outlet to express herself. But after taking time off work due to her illness, she decided to give the meat-only diet a go - with supervision from a team of nutritional experts and specialist doctors at a Hungarian centre.
Commenting on her new diet in a recent interview, Jillian stated: "I was scared and young, so I didn’t report it and now I’d rather leave that in my past and focus on moving forwards ... I’ve lost weight before but always put it back on again and, although I didn’t start the carnivore diet to lose weight, but to try and eliminate chemicals from my diet, slimming down and keeping it off has been effortless.
"I only eat now when I am hungry and because this diet is so high in fat, I’m not very hungry throughout the day. I don’t snack or graze, I don’t have any cravings and I only eat high quality, grass-fed meats ... They have recommended that I try and eat 500g of liver and 200g of brain or bone marrow every week. They are all really high in nutrients that are good for the intestine which is what I need most."
She added: "I was raised on fast food, so I do find some of the meals quite difficult to eat, especially the liver, which I chop into tiny pieces and have to swallow with water, but your body quickly gets used to it. And there are huge benefits.
"My mind is now so much clearer, my memory has improved, I sleep better and I feel ready now to tackle the PTSD I’ve suffered from since my teens ... I know I am going to upset a bunch of vegans eating this way and will probably get hate mail, but all I can say is that eating this way is really working for me."
Although Jillian is convinced that the benefits of her diet have been profound, not everyone is totally convinced. Speaking to the Press Association, UK nutritionist and British Dietetic Association spokeswoman Linia Patel stated that Jillian is probably feeling much better on her high protein, high animal fat diet, because getting rid of carbohydrates has helped to stabilise her blood sugar levels.
Although this has led to weight loss, Linia says that Jillian is still missing out on whole grains and plant foods and that she may still struggle with high-intensity workouts as a result of this carb and vitamin deficit.
