Crohn's, Ulcerative Colitis and the Carnivore Diet
Personal stories, not medical advice. If you take medication (especially for blood sugar, blood pressure or mood), change your diet with your doctor in the loop.
What it feels like
You map out every bathroom before you leave the house. You've cancelled plans, hidden blood and pain from friends, and cycled through steroids, biologics and a long list of "gut-friendly" diets. Dr. Nick Norwitz, who lived with ulcerative colitis, describes being thrown "from being an athlete and top academician into being a fragile emotionally shattered socially withdrawn shell of a human being."
Real people, real stories (N=1)
- Dr. Nick Norwitz says an experimental ketogenic diet put his ulcerative colitis into remission and, in his words, saved his life or at least his colon. He also notes that rigorous dietary trials are lacking. YouTube
- Dr. Nick Norwitz describes his 10-patient case series: people with IBD in remission on ketogenic, mostly carnivore diets, all off their IBD medications. YouTube
Dr. Anthony Chaffee answers a viewer with 15 years of Crohn's who feels better after five weeks of carnivore. He argues that high-fiber advice for Crohn's isn't based on evidence.
- Dr. Anthony Chaffee's chapter on the evidence for meat-based diets in Crohn's disease. YouTube
- Dr. Ken Berry lists autoimmune conditions he says benefit from a carnivore diet, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and says he has received scores if not hundreds of reports about them. YouTube
- Brett Ender's chapter on being off all drugs for ulcerative colitis since March 2021 and completing his first full-distance Ironman. YouTube
- Susan Allenbach tells Adam Lacy her ulcerative colitis is in remission and her blood pressure and A1C have gone down. YouTube
Read the full notes
Dr. Nick Norwitz (his own story). Watch at 1:33 He says he reached remission on an experimental ketogenic diet: "there's no doubt in my mind that it saved my life or at least my colon."
John V, on Dr. Shawn Baker's channel. Watch at 1:12 He was diagnosed with Crohn's at about 21 and had been on medication. At 1:34 he says: "I don't have Crohn's anymore. Got a negative biopsy this Monday."
Brett Ender, on Dr. Shawn Baker's channel. Carnivore Defeats Ulcerative Colitis, at 11:13 The chapter "Off all drugs since March 2021 and first full-distance ironman" starts here. He'd had full-blown ulcerative colitis and lost almost 30 pounds (6:18).
Susan Allenbach, interviewed by Adam Lacy. Watch at 8:49 "Ulcerative colitis is [in] remission. My blood pressure's gone down. My A1C's gone down."
Holden, on Dr. Shawn Baker's channel. Desperation to Remission, at 4:08 He describes his ulcerative colitis diagnosis. The chapter "Managing ulcerative colitis symptoms" starts at 22:25. (He describes choosing not to see a doctor (chapter at 23:54). We don't recommend that; keep your GI in the loop.)
Coach Michael C, on Dr. Shawn Baker's channel. Watch at 11:20 He was told he most likely had inflammatory bowel disease, and his chapter "Autoimmune recovery" starts at 19:51.
If you've tried everything else, these stories may be worth bringing to your GI doctor as a structured, monitored trial.
Our thesis
Our thesis: We think that for many people with Crohn's or colitis, the gut is reacting to modern and plant-derived foods it didn't evolve to handle in today's quantities. We think a simple animal-based, ketogenic diet removes most of that load and may let the gut calm down for some people. This is understudied: the best evidence we can cite is one 10-patient case series and a self-reported survey, with no controlled trials of carnivore for IBD.
The bet
- A directional shift. The stories above come from real people, on camera and in their own words. They are anecdotes, but they point the same way, and we think that's worth taking seriously.
- Lower risk with your doctor in the loop. Eating meat, eggs, salt and water for a set trial period is a reversible experiment. Stopping steroids, biologics or immunomodulators suddenly can be dangerous, so any change goes through your gastroenterologist. The trial happens with your doctor in the loop, not around them; see the Safety check above for the details.
- Why the research is thin. Randomized trials are built for drugs and are expensive. No one can patent a steak, so the industry has little incentive to fund primal-diet research. A missing trial isn't proof that it works, and it isn't proof that it doesn't.
- The primal lens. The human body was shaped long before refined sugar, seed oils and ultra-processed food existed. We see the modern diet as the uncontrolled experiment, and a meat-based trial as a step back toward the conditions our biology evolved in.
Overview: the condition, holistically
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) mainly means Crohn's disease, which can affect any part of the gut, and ulcerative colitis, which affects the colon. In both, the immune system keeps the gut lining inflamed. Drivers seem to include genetics, the gut microbiome, the barrier function of the gut lining, diet, smoking, stress and some medications. IBD is part of a broader family of autoimmune conditions that often overlap in the same person.
Standard care is step-up drug therapy: aminosalicylates, corticosteroids, immunomodulators, biologics and newer small molecules, with surgery for severe disease. Few rigorous trials have tested ketogenic or carnivore diets for IBD.
How carnivore is claimed to help
What advocates say, attributed to them:
- Ketones and elimination. Dr. Norwitz points to animal data showing therapeutic effects of ketones in IBD, a correlation in humans between lower colonic ketone levels and worse IBD activity, and the idea that removing certain fibers "can shift microbiome metabolism in a therapeutic manner" (chapter at 2:02).
- Fiber is not your friend here. Dr. Anthony Chaffee argues that high-fiber advice for Crohn's is a preconceived notion rather than evidence, and that removing plants and fiber lets the gut heal (0:00; "Evidence for meat diets" at 6:14).
- Paleolithic ketogenic diet. Dr. Zsófia Clemens of Paleomedicina describes Crohn's remissions in her clinic on a fat-and-meat, organ-inclusive diet. She separates it from the mainstream carnivore diet (25:19).
Doctors and advocates
Dr. Nick Norwitz
MD PhD; presents his published 10-patient IBD case series and his own colitis remission.
Dr. Shawn Baker
Carnivore advocate and podcast host; talks Crohn's and hosts IBD success stories.
Dr. Anthony Chaffee
Host of the Anthony Chaffee MD channel; argues high-fiber advice for Crohn's isn't evidence-based.
Dr. Paul Saladino
MD; hosts Dr. Zsófia Clemens on Crohn's remissions with a paleolithic ketogenic diet.
Dr. Ken Berry
Family physician; lists Crohn's and ulcerative colitis among conditions he says improve on carnivore.
Read the full notes
Dr. Nick Norwitz, MD PhD. Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@nicknorwitzMDPhD
- Could the Carnivore Diet Revolutionize Inflammatory Bowel Disease Treatment?. He presents his published 10-patient case series. At 3:46 he says all the patients "are also off all medications for inflammatory bowel disease."
Dr. Anthony Chaffee, physician. Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@anthonychaffeemd
- What Happens To Crohn's Disease On a Carnivore Diet?. He answers a viewer with 15 years of Crohn's who says, after five weeks of carnivore, they've "never felt better" (0:11). The chapter "Evidence for meat diets" starts at 6:14.
Dr. Shawn Baker, orthopedic surgeon. Channels: https://www.youtube.com/@ShawnBakerMD and https://www.youtube.com/@DrShawnBakerPodcast
- Curing Mr. Beast's CROHN'S DISEASE In 90 Days (new science!). An open video to MrBeast. At 0:09 he explains what Crohn's is, and at 4:45 he lays out "the plan." (The title is Dr. Baker's own framing.)
Dr. Paul Saladino, physician. Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Paulsaladinomd
- Zsofia Clemens on reversing Type 1 diabetes, Crohns, and cancer with a nose to tail carnivore diet.. At 1:32 the episode intro lists "remission of Crohn's disease" among the cases discussed. Note that Saladino is the host and Dr. Clemens is the clinician.
Dr. Ken Berry, family physician. Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@KenDBerryMD
- 10 AUTOIMMUNE Conditions Benefit from CARNIVORE Diet (Research). At 2:07 he lists Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis among the conditions he has received "scores if not hundreds" of reports about (2:25).
Questions to ask your doctor
Ask: "Can we run a monitored diet trial alongside my current treatment?" "Which markers (like calprotectin) should we track to see if it's helping?" Not sure your concerns are being heard? See when to question the advice.
Try it
- Go through the Safety check above with your doctor before you start.
- Start simple: ruminant meat, salt and water. Add foods back one at a time.
- Plan portions with the KC Meatup calculator.
- Find KC butchers and clinicians in the directory.
Not medical advice
Personal stories, not medical advice. If you take medication (especially for blood sugar, blood pressure or mood), change your diet with your doctor in the loop.
Sources
Research
- Norwitz NG, Soto-Mota A (2024). Carnivore–ketogenic diet for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease: a case series of 10 patients. Frontiers in Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2024.1467475. This is a case series of people recruited through social media, not a controlled trial.
- Lennerz BS et al. (2021). Carnivore diet survey (self-reported). https://doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzab133
Videos (all verified by oEmbed. Timestamps are confirmed against YouTube auto-captions or YouTube chapters. Quotes are from the auto-captions.)
- Could the Carnivore Diet Revolutionize Inflammatory Bowel Disease Treatment?, Nick Norwitz MD PhD, uploaded 2024-09-02
- 🔴 What Happens To Crohn's Disease On a Carnivore Diet?, Anthony Chaffee MD, uploaded 2024-11-02
- Curing Mr. Beast's CROHN'S DISEASE In 90 Days (new science!), Shawn Baker MD, uploaded 2025-07-25
- Zsofia Clemens on reversing Type 1 diabetes, Crohns, and cancer with a nose to tail carnivore diet., Paul Saladino MD, uploaded 2019-09-17
- 10 AUTOIMMUNE Conditions Benefit from CARNIVORE Diet (Research) 2026, KenDBerryMD, uploaded 2020-08-06
- Carnivore Defeats Ulcerative Colitis | Dr Shawn Baker & Brett Ender, Dr. Shawn Baker Podcast, uploaded 2022-03-28
- John V healed Crohn's disease on a carnivore diet, Dr. Shawn Baker Podcast, uploaded 2021-02-16
- Coach Michael C healed eczema, leaky gut, and inflammatory bowel disease on a carnivore diet, Dr. Shawn Baker Podcast, uploaded 2021-06-01
- Susan's Healing Story: Carnivore Diet & Ulcerative Colitis Recovery, Adam Lacy, uploaded 2024-03-18
- Desperation to Remission: A Journey with Ulcerative Colitis and Carnivore | Dr. Shawn Baker & Holden, Dr. Shawn Baker Podcast, uploaded 2026-05-14