A carnivore diet is a restrictive diet that only includes meat, fish, and other animal products like dairy and eggs. More recently, it has been brought into the limelight by influencers and social media personalities. In fact, there is a whole community of "meatfluencer" who are sharing their meat-eating plans. One of them is Dr Paul Saladino MD, whose belief that there was no better way to prevent chronic diseases than a carnivore diet prompted him to write books and post videos regarding the same. He believed so much in this eating plan that he became a go-to person for many following the same plan, until recently, when he decided to quit.

Here Are Seven Reasons Why He Decided To Quit

Carnivore Diet Disrupted His Sleep

Switching to an all-meat diet isn't always straightforward, especially when it comes to digestion—a lesson Dr Saladino learned firsthand. He experienced sleep disturbances, likely due to the difficulty of digesting high-protein meals. Since protein takes longer to break down, it demands more energy from the body, which can interfere with rest.

According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, digestion slows by up to 50% during sleep. Additionally, many types of meat contain tyramine, a compound derived from the amino acid tyrosine. Increased tyramine intake can lead to health issues and also triggers the release of norepinephrine, a hormone that raises heart rate and blood pressure, making restful sleep harder to achieve.

He also experienced hypnagogic jerks—sudden muscle spasms that jolt the body awake. "I would fall asleep but then jerk myself awake like I was falling multiple times. It was stressful and traumatic, leading to poor sleep," he shared in his YouTube video.

Eating Only Meat May Have Triggered Heart Palpitations

Another concerning side effect Dr Saladino experienced was heart palpitations—episodes where his heart felt like it was racing or fluttering. While stress is a common cause, few would immediately link palpitations to meat consumption.

However, a sudden shift to an all-meat diet can lead to electrolyte imbalances. The elimination of carbohydrates lowers insulin levels, prompting the kidneys to excrete more sodium. This disrupts the balance of essential minerals like potassium and magnesium, which are crucial for heart function.

Muscle Cramps Became Persistent

Dr Saladino also suffered from frequent muscle cramps while following the carnivore diet. In a post on X, he emphasized the importance of maintaining adequate magnesium, calcium, and potassium levels to prevent cramping. He initially believed that animal-based foods provided sufficient minerals, but his ongoing cramps led him to reconsider.

"I started to think maybe long-term ketosis is not great for me,” he admitted on the *More Plates More Dates* podcast. “Probably not a great thing for most humans."

His Testosterone Levels Dropped Significantly

Dr Saladino also saw a decline in his testosterone levels after following the carnivore diet for over a year. "At the beginning of my carnivore experiment, my testosterone was about 800. After a year to a year and a half, it had dropped to around 500," he revealed.

The issue likely stems from excessive protein intake, which can elevate inflammation and disrupt hormone levels. A 2022 study published in Nutrition and Health found that consuming more than 35% of daily calories from protein can lead to various negative effects, including reduced testosterone.

He Had Chronically Low Insulin Levels

Because he largely eliminated carbohydrates—except for a small amount of fruit—Dr Saladino developed persistently low blood sugar. In his YouTube video, he explained, "I had very low insulin because I wasn’t eating carbohydrates, and the protein I consumed wasn’t insulinogenic enough."

While some diabetics report improved blood sugar control on the carnivore diet, its effects vary based on individual metabolic responses. For non-diabetics, low insulin can lead to hypoglycemia, causing symptoms like dizziness, confusion, a racing heart, and, in extreme cases, seizures or coma. Mild cases can be managed with fast-acting carbohydrates like juice or candy, but severe episodes require medical attention.

His Blood Test Results Showed Concerning Imbalances

Lab tests revealed that his magnesium levels were low, while his sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) was elevated—both potential red flags for long-term health issues.

A magnesium deficiency can cause numbness, tingling, fatigue, nausea, headaches, and muscle cramps. Since cramps often strike at night, low magnesium may also contribute to sleep disturbances.

High SHBG levels indicate an excess of circulating protein in the blood, which can increase the risk of heart disease, osteoporosis, and depression. To counteract these imbalances, introducing more magnesium-rich foods—such as leafy greens, nuts, beans, and yogurt—could be beneficial.

He Felt Cold All The Time

Electrolyte imbalances and metabolic disruptions can even affect body temperature, which Dr. Saladino experienced firsthand. "I was always cold,"he shared in his YouTube video.

Upon testing his thyroid function, he discovered that his total T3 and free T3 hormone levels were "not ideal." These hormones regulate metabolism, and low levels can slow down metabolic processes, leading to cold intolerance.

With different careers come different work expectations. Some jobs have routine day shifts with regular working hours, popularly known as the ‘9-5’. While other jobs require round-the-clock service. However, did you know what shifts you chose to do have an effect on your health as well?

Ranking the best to worst shifts, Dr Sudhir Kumar, a Hyderabad-based neurologist, recently made a post on his social media platform. He explained that the way you schedule your work shifts can have a major impact on your long-term health. The ideal work schedule is one that matches your body's natural clock. Below is a ranking of three common shift types, based on their effects on your health.

Day Shifts: The Healthiest Option

Why Day Shifts are Best for Your Body

Working during the day perfectly matches your circadian rhythm, or internal clock. Your body is naturally built to be awake when it's light and rest when it's dark, allowing vital processes like hormone production and cell repair to function efficiently and keep your system stable.

Benefits of a Stable Schedule

Day shifts allow for quality, full sleep, which is crucial for long-term health. Workers face a lower risk of serious issues like obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. This stable routine also lowers the risk of depression, anxiety, and certain cancers, making it the healthiest choice.

Fixed Night Shifts: Acceptable but Not Ideal

Partial Adaptation to Night Work

If night work is unavoidable, a consistent fixed night shift is superior to a constantly changing schedule. The benefit is that the body can establish a slightly more consistent sleep routine over time, allowing for a better partial adjustment to the reversed daytime sleep schedule than an erratic one.

Significant Remaining Health Risks

However, stable night shifts still cause chronic misalignment with the natural day-night cycle. This leads to higher long-term risks of metabolic disorders, insulin resistance, and mood problems. Additionally, it disrupts social and family life, contributing to ongoing sleep deprivation and substantial health risks.

Rotating Shifts: The Worst for Health

Maximum Disruption to the Body Clock

Constantly changing shifts are the most harmful because the internal clock cannot adapt to the varying schedule. This causes the maximum possible circadian rhythm disruption, confusing the body about when it should be awake, resting, or performing essential processes.

Increased Risk of Serious Illness

This chaotic schedule is linked to severe sleep issues and unhealthy fluctuations in stress hormones. This increases the risk of serious illnesses, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and mood disorders. Rapid shifts, like moving from night to morning duty, dangerously increase fatigue, raising the risk of accidents.

Final Ranking for Long-Term Health

At the end of the post Dr Kumar reiterated that the best to worst working hours for your body.

• Day Shift (Best)
• Fixed Night Shifts (Moderate Risk)
• Rotating Shifts (Worst Risk)

While there are ways to manage your health around your working hours, it is important to make sure you give your body as much stability as possible. Make sure you speak to a healthcare professional and build a routine that will help your body maintain its level of functioning while also keeping your health in check.

Have you or someone around you experienced nightly leg cramps that disrupt their sleep? While you may think of it as harmless, it is more dangerous than you realize. Warning people about the same, in a recent video on social media, Dr. Rema Malik Board-Certified Vascular Surgeon in Houston, reveals that this persistent, painful nighttime leg cramps are often a distress signal from your blood vessels, not just a simple mineral imbalance.

The doctor explains that this is not just a simple case of ‘charley horse’, which are muscle cramps that occur in the body, often legs. It is a phenomenon where the muscles in the body go through a spasm, meaning it contracts without your control and does not relax. While these may be the cause behind your leg cramps at night, there could be more to it than you realize.

What Causes Night Leg Cramps?

The most common reason for nighttime cramping is Venous Insufficiency. This condition occurs when the tiny one-way valves inside the leg veins weaken or become damaged. After spending hours sitting or standing throughout the day, these faulty valves allow blood to flow backward and pool in the lower legs due to gravity.

At night, this buildup of stagnant blood and fluid, which is full of metabolic waste products, irritates the local nerves and muscles. This irritation then triggers the intense, involuntary muscle contractions known as cramps, and it is also often associated with that uncomfortable, crawling sensation known as "restless legs."

Why Are Night Leg Cramps Dangerous?

A more serious cause of these cramps is Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), particularly in its advanced stages, which is sometimes referred to as "rest pain." PAD develops when the arteries supplying blood to the legs become narrow or blocked by plaque buildup (atherosclerosis).

When the leg muscles are not receiving enough oxygen-rich blood—a state called ischemia—they begin to signal distress. If the blockage is severe, the muscles can be starved of oxygen even when the body is completely at rest, leading to crippling pain that serves as a critical, limb-threatening warning sign that requires urgent medical investigation.

Why You Should Not Ignore Random Aches And Pains

It is important to understand that persistent nighttime leg cramps should not be dismissed as simply a "normal part of aging."

While the risk of vascular issues like Venous Insufficiency increases after age 40 and PAD after age 50, the pain is a clear message from the body that something is structurally wrong with the blood vessels.

Ignoring this persistent pain can lead to serious health complications down the line. Therefore, if these cramps are a regular occurrence, seeking a consultation with a specialist, like a vascular surgeon, is necessary to correctly diagnose the underlying cause and begin appropriate treatment.

When Should You Get Your Muscle Cramps Checked?

According to MedlinePlus, most muscle cramps are harmless and disappear quickly, usually within a few minutes. However, you should call your doctor or healthcare provider if your cramps become severe or happen frequently. It's also important to seek medical attention if the cramps don't improve after stretching or drinking enough water, last a long time, or if they occur along with other concerning symptoms such as swelling, redness, a warm feeling in the area, or if you also experience muscle weakness.

A major new study published in the Lancet has found that record numbers of people around the world now have reduced kidney function, a condition known as Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). This makes CKD one of the most critical public health issues facing the world today.

The number of people struggling with CKD has more than doubled since 1990, jumping from 378 million to a staggering 788 million in 2023. This huge increase is primarily happening because the world's population is both growing and getting older, and CKD is more common in older age.

As a result, CKD is now one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide for the very first time. Approximately 1.5 million people died directly from the condition in 2023. This rapid growth shows just how quickly this disease is spreading and affecting lives globally.

How Does Kidney Affect Other Organ Health?

The study revealed that CKD is dangerous not just because it causes kidney failure, but because it also has a deadly connection to your heart.

Impaired kidney function puts stress on the cardiovascular system and is a key risk factor for heart attacks and strokes, contributing to about 12 percent of all heart disease deaths globally.

Furthermore, the condition severely impacts quality of life, ranking as the 12th leading cause of disability by limiting what people can do. The research also clearly pointed out the three biggest lifestyle and health factors that cause CKD: High Blood Sugar (usually from diabetes), High Blood Pressure, and High Body Mass Index (which is a measure of obesity).

What Are Some Early Signs of Poor Kidney Health?

To ensure you get timely help, it is important to know what some early signs of kidney disease are, according to the National Kidney Foundation.

Less Energy or Trouble Concentrating

A buildup of toxins and waste in your blood, caused by poor kidney function, can make you feel very tired, weak, and may lead to difficulty focusing on tasks or thinking clearly.

Trouble Sleeping

Toxins that are not properly filtered out of the blood by the kidneys can remain in your system, making it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep throughout the night.

Dry and Itchy Skin

When the kidneys can no longer keep the right balance of minerals and nutrients in the blood, it can lead to mineral and bone disease, causing persistent dry and itchy skin.

Urinating More Frequently

A need to urinate more often than usual, especially late at night, can signal damaged kidney filters, which increases the urge to go. This needs medical checking.

Blood in Urine

Healthy kidneys keep blood cells in the body, but damaged filters allow blood to leak into the urine. This may also indicate an infection or kidney stones.

Foamy Urine

Excessive bubbles or foam in your urine that look like beaten eggs and require multiple flushes to disappear can mean there is a large amount of protein (albumin) leaking into your urine.

Persistent Puffiness Around Eyes

Puffiness, especially around the eyes, is often a sign that your kidneys are damaged and leaking large amounts of protein into the urine instead of keeping it in your body.

Swollen Ankles and Feet

Decreased kidney function can cause your body to hold onto sodium (salt). This excess fluid retention then leads to noticeable swelling in your feet and ankles.

Poor Appetite

A general but important sign, a reduced appetite or feeling of sickness can be caused by the buildup of waste products and toxins in the body due to reduced kidney filtering ability.

Muscle Cramping

Impaired kidney function can lead to an imbalance of essential electrolytes, such as low calcium or poorly controlled phosphorus, which often contributes to painful muscle cramping.

Why Do We Need Early Intervention for Kidney Diseases?

The most hopeful finding is that most people with CKD are still in the early stages of the condition.

This is important because early detection and swift treatment can often prevent the disease from progressing to the point where dialysis or a transplant is needed, which are both dramatic and expensive interventions.

Doctors are urging for more urine testing to catch CKD before symptoms even appear. New medications have also become available in recent years that can slow down the disease and protect the heart.

Ultimately, the report strongly argues that since CKD is currently "underdiagnosed and undertreated," a massive, focused effort is needed globally to make sure patients can afford and access treatment as soon as they are diagnosed.