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Listen to Story In a bizarre case, a man from Florida, US, saw lipids (cholesterol) oozing from his blood vessels when he showed up at a Tampa hospital recently. He experienced painless, yellow eruptions on the palms of his hands, soles of his feet and elbows for three weeks. The man, in his 40s, told doctors that he had adopted the "carnivore diet" eight months prior to showing cholesterol on his body.
The carnivore diet is known to cause rapid weight loss. It includes eating only animal protein like meat, fish, and eggs and certain dairy products like butter. It is a type of ketogenic diet, which suggests that 70% to 75% of daily calories should come from fat, 20% from protein, and no more than 10% from carbohydrates.
The diet excludes fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, nuts, and seeds. Sharing the unique case in JAMA Cardiology , doctors revealed that the man's diet included over 2.7 kg of cheese, 4.
1 kg of butter and daily burgers that had additional fat in them. Since he was on this diet, the man claimed that his weight had dropped and his energy levels increased along with better mental clarity. The man showed painless yellowish nodules on the palms of his hands.
(Photo credit: JAMA Cardiology) Meanwhile, his cholesterol levels shot up to more than 1,000 mg/dL. The normal cholesterol level should be under 200 mg/dL while above 240 mg/dL is considered high. As per the report, cardiologists said that before the man went on this carnivore diet, his cholesterol had been between 210 mg/dL to 300 mg/dL.
The man has been diagnosed with xanthelasma, a condition in which excess blood lipids leak out of the blood vessels and form localised lipid deposits . Although in normal circumstances, these lipids would be taken up by white blood cells called macrophages, in this case, the amount of lipids was so large that it oozed out of the blood vessels and became visible deposits. The experts haven't shared with the man's treatment.
However, they have highlighted how the case emphasised the impact of dietary patterns on lipid levels and the importance of managing hypercholesterolemia to prevent complications. According to Harvard Medical School, being on a carnivore diet for a long time can lead to kidney stones, gout, and osteoporosis. Extremely high protein intake can lead to impaired kidney function as well.
While the carnivore diet has health benefits like muscle building and repair, it shouldn't be adopted for a long period of time..
