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Florida Man on a Carnivore Diet for 8 Months Noticed a Very Strange Thing Coming Out Of His Hands

The extreme meat diet's severe consequences showed up on his hands and he was later diagnosed with a rare medical condition.

BY TIYASA BISWAS

PUBLISHED 4 HOURS AGO

(L) A person using a fork to slice up the steak on their plate. (R) A man sitting on a bed upset about his sickness. (Representative Cover Image Source: (L) Pixabay | Javier RTG, (R) Pexels | Mart Productions)

While dieting has existed forever, the trend witnessed a surge in popularity by the early 19th century. Restrictive eating plans with hollow promises of weight loss and good health became prominent, per The Conversation. Among the many– the likes of keto, paleo, vegan, and others– a carnivore diet is one that only allows consumption of animal products, as explained by Harvard Health. It suggests a form of nutrition that supposedly our ancestors followed feeding on meat, poultry, eggs, fish, dairy products, and water. This diet plan turned the tables, in a negative way, on one 40-year-old man as his hands oozed with cholesterol. His case was studied and published in a paper published in the journal JAMA Network.

A man devouring steak at a restaurant. (Representative Image Source: Pexels | Kiro Wang)

A man from Florida, who preferred to remain unnamed, strictly adhered to the carnivore diet for eight months. Little did he know that his body would be sending out signals- seemingly a cry for help. His palms, soles of his feet, and elbows were covered in “asymptomatic yellowish nodules.” The state of his body, though not painful, was visibility alarming, and was admitted to Tampa General Hospital after enduring it for three weeks. “His dietary habits included a high intake of fats, consisting of 6 to 9 lbs of cheese, sticks of butter, and additional fat incorporated into his daily hamburgers,” the study stated.

A man shocked to look at his hands. (Representative Image Source: Pexels | Tima Miroshnichenko)

The man reportedly told the doctors that he had lost weight and felt more energetic than before with improved mental clarity. The doctors provided detailed records of his cholesterol levels as a result of the fatty intake of the carnivore diet. According to the study, the middle-aged man showed a cholesterol level above 1000 mg/dL whereas the baseline level appropriate for his body was marked as 210 to 300 mg/dL, about 70% higher than normal. Hence, he was diagnosed with a rare condition called xanthelasma, a harmless, yellowish deposit of cholesterol typically near the eyelids, per a report by Cleveland Clinic.

A doctor explaining the medical report to a patient. (Representative Image Source: Pexels | Tima Miroshnichenko)

In the patient’s case, there were no nodules near his eyes but rather in several parts of his body indicating high levels of cholesterol, so high that the body expelled the fats through his skin pores- an unpleasant sight. A xanthelasmic bump can be removed through surgery, laser surgery, liquid nitrogen cryotherapy, chemical peel, and radiofrequency ablation. However, there is a chance of recurrence if cholesterol levels do not improve. In the study, a special emphasis was placed on the need for healthy diets as one like the carnivore diet can have adverse impacts on lipid levels resulting in hypercholesterolemia. Marshall Elam, a professor of Pharmacology and Medicine at the University of Tennessee, thanked the doctors for bringing the case to public attention.

Two people dining at a restaurant eating a meat platter. (Representative Image Source: Pexels | Noel Walsh)

However, he further suggested an analysis of the patient’s familial history and genetic predisposition for accurate diagnosis of what he suggested was familial dysbetalipoproteinemia, per the source. Regardless of the technicalities, carnivore diets are ruled as unhealthy as they involve prolonged consumption of saturated fats, the unhealthiest type of fat that raises LDL cholesterol. The diet falls under the umbrella of keto diets but does not allow the intake of carbohydrates. It has added risks of kidney stones, gout, and osteoporosis. The high protein intakes could also potentially impair kidney function, Harvard Health reported.