Episode 155
Sylwia Tabor:My Transition to Carnivore for Autoimmune Wellness
Sylwia Tabor:
My Transition to Carnivore for Autoimmune Wellness
In this revealing episode, Sylwia Tabor shares her transformative journey from veganism to a carnivore diet, driven by severe autoimmune issues. She details the health struggles that led to this dramatic dietary shift and how it significantly improved her wellness. Sylwia offers insights into the challenges of transitioning, the importance of clean protein, and her evolving approach to nutrition. Her story highlights the potential benefits of personalized dietary choices in managing autoimmune conditions.
First Aired on: Sep 2, 2024
Episode 155
Sylwia Tabor:My Transition to Carnivore for Autoimmune Wellness
Sylwia Tabor:
My Transition to Carnivore for Autoimmune Wellness
In this revealing episode, Sylwia Tabor shares her transformative journey from veganism to a carnivore diet, driven by severe autoimmune issues. She details the health struggles that led to this dramatic dietary shift and how it significantly improved her wellness. Sylwia offers insights into the challenges of transitioning, the importance of clean protein, and her evolving approach to nutrition. Her story highlights the potential benefits of personalized dietary choices in managing autoimmune conditions.
First Aired on: Sep 2, 2024
Table of Contents:
Table of Contents:
In this episode:
In this episode:
Introduction
Sylwia Tabor, founder of Carnivore Snacks, joins me to discuss her journey from veganism to creating a clean protein snack company. We explore her health struggles, including autoimmune issues, mold toxicity, and Lyme disease, and how dietary changes played a crucial role in her recovery.
Episode Highlights
Sylwia's Journey from Veganism to Carnivore
Sylwia shares her experience transitioning from a vegan diet to a carnivore diet due to severe health issues.
- Started as a vegetarian, then transitioned to raw vegan
- Experienced declining health despite supplementation
- Switched to a carnivore diet after medical intervention
The Birth of Carnivore Snacks
Sylwia explains how her personal need for clean protein led to the creation of Carnivore Snacks.
- Struggled to find suitable protein options while traveling
- Started experimenting with making meat snacks at home
- Grew the business from a small operation to over 12,000 square feet
Mold Toxicity and Lyme Disease
Sylwia discusses her ongoing battle with mold illness and past experience with Lyme disease.
- Grew up in a house with black mold, affecting family health
- Lyme disease exacerbated mold sensitivity
- Continues to work on recovery from mold illness
The Importance of Clean Protein
Discussion on the significance of high-quality, clean protein sources.
- Carnivore Snacks uses only meat and salt
- Focuses on different cuts of meat for variety
- Sources from regenerative farms for superior quality
Balancing Diet and Health
Sylwia shares her current approach to diet and nutrition.
- No longer strictly carnivore, includes fruits and vegetables
- Emphasizes the importance of personalized nutrition
- Advocates for finding what works best for individual health needs
Notable Quotes from this Episode
Honestly, if you're not struggling with any autoimmune or anything crazy, I would not advise anybody to go carnivore full time and for the rest of their lives.
Sylwia Tabor
Figure out the way that works best for you in order to implement whatever changes you want to make and do it your way.
Sylwia Tabor
Other Resources:
Other Resources:
Connect with Sylwia Tabor
Connect with Sylwia Tabor
Watch this interview:
Watch this interview:
Episode Transcript
Sylwia Tabor:[00:00:00] I got poisoned with it. lead. And then eventually I decided, well, let me just try eat fruit, nothing but fruits. I was very close to basically taking my own life because my mental health declined. severely. It was really, really bad. I got to a point where, my doctor said that I have to start including animal foods in my diet. My body already that started breaking down my bones were, , my bones were breaking for no reason.
Julie Michelson:[00:01:00] Welcome back to the inspired living with auto immunity podcast. I'm your host, Julie Michelson. And today we're joined by Sylvia Tabor, the co founder of Carnivore Snacks. Sylvia is a self experimenter who's on a mission of finding new ways and rediscovering ancestral ways of achieving optimal physical, mental, and spiritual health while helping others along the way.
Julie Michelson: After years on a vegan diet and struggling with mold illness, Sears, and Lyme disease, along with other co infections, she found healing through the carnivore diet. Her passion for high quality food and supporting local businesses led her to creating Carnivore Snacks. In today's conversation, Sylvia shares her healing journey, and we talk about the importance of including clean protein in your diet for optimal health.
Julie Michelson: Sylvia, welcome to the podcast.
Sylwia Tabor: Hello. Thank you for having me.
Julie Michelson: I am so excited that you're here. [00:02:00] Um, because you are doing something that I think is going to make a really big impact for people and is already a great resource for my clients. So I'd love to hear how you got into this business of providing clean protein for people.
Sylwia Tabor: Well, it's been a quite a journey. Um, I feel like most businesses start from, from some sort of need. Um, and it was a selfish need for myself when, you know, I started out, I was vegan for many years and my gut health, um, got really, really bad during those years. And then, um, eventually on the vegan diet, I wasn't even able to digest nuts, which were my main protein source.
Sylwia Tabor: So, and I tried pea protein and I was really, um, overloaded with lead because as I've learned later that [00:03:00] there's no P protein, um, is basically we cannot manufacture it without the byproduct, uh, of lead. Um, unfortunately, but maybe hopefully in the future that will be possible. Um, so then I, I got very, um, I got poisoned with it.
Sylwia Tabor: lead. And then eventually I decided, well, let me just try eat fruit, nothing but fruits. So I did that for a year. Um, Oh my gosh. I'm glad you're still here. Yes. And I was very close to basically taking my own life because my mental health declined. severely. It was really, really bad. Um, and then I got to a point where, um, my doctor said that I have to start including animal foods in my diet.
Sylwia Tabor: Otherwise, you know, I'm just gonna, uh, my body's just [00:04:00] gonna basically shut down. Yeah. Yeah. And my body already that started breaking down my bones were, um, my bones were breaking for no reason. Um, just a small pressure would break my ribs. And, um, yeah, I, I finally, um, gave in and I started eating eggs and a little bit of fish.
Sylwia Tabor: Um, then I, fortunately I, um, had a very bad infection. It was necrotizing fasciitis. It was another thing that almost took my life. Um, And it was right after I got, um, infected with Lyme, I, I was bitten by brown recluse. And at that time I had no idea that brown recluse can transmit, um, Lyme disease. Um, but, and I had, first it was MRSA, then it got in, uh, turned into necrotizing fasciitis.
Sylwia Tabor: I ended up in a hospital, um, an ICU [00:05:00] for a week. And, The doctors were very puzzled because they couldn't figure out what that infection was. It looked, um, very bizarre because it looked like I had a snake under the skin around my torso. The infection was spreading pretty quickly as well. Um, and they were basically pumping me with a lot of antibiotics and I had in both arms, I had, uh, IVs with antibiotics, nothing was helping.
Sylwia Tabor: It was surgery, three surgeries, uh, back to back every three days in a row. Um, finally they found a solution, but after this whole thing, um, I went back home and even drinking water hurt my gut. After all these antibiotics. Um, and I remember my friend send me Uh, video to Dr. Baker's, uh, Sean, Dr. Sean Baker, uh, interview.
Sylwia Tabor: It wasn't with [00:06:00] Joe Rogan because I know everybody knows, uh, Dr. Sean Baker from Joe Rogan's podcast, but it was from, I forgot the name, uh, but I watched it and I was thinking to myself, like, this guy is nuts. He's going to get a colon cancer and this and that and all kinds of diseases. But at that point I was so desperate, I, I decided to try a carnivore diet.
Sylwia Tabor: And at that point I started eating nothing but meat. Um, And for me, it was simple was just meat and water and salt. I never really cared for spices or for herbs or anything like that. And then while I lived in Chicago, and I had a corporate job, it was pretty easy to, to sustain my carnivore diet. But then I decided to move to California, my job involved a lot of travel and it was pretty hard to stop very quickly and find a [00:07:00] place where I could find a good quality meat because I always cared about, um, sustainability and very good quality of meat.
Sylwia Tabor: So, um, even though those places do exist, like the time limit that I had, it just wasn't possible for me to do that. also had very little time at home once I got back from working to prep everything to take with me on the road. Um, so that's kind of like how I started thinking, I'm like, Oh my God, it will be.
Sylwia Tabor: And I searched everywhere for just, you know, a meat that it was just meat and sulfur product that I could take with me that was already, uh, done. It was in a bag that I wouldn't have to worry, you know, bring a knife or steak knife with me. Um, And I couldn't find anything there were there's there were certainly a lot of brands of built on that were a little bit cleaner, but for me at that time, I still [00:08:00] reacted to things like vinegar.
Sylwia Tabor: So, even little thing like that was bothering my stomach so. and garlic gave me huge headaches. Same thing with onion powder. And most of those, uh, products contain, uh, these type of, you know, spices and whatnot and pepper, like anything spices, uh, irritated my stomach. So that, that's kind of how I started, you know, thinking about, you know, like, why doesn't this product exist?
Sylwia Tabor: You know? And, and I thought to myself, there's gotta be other people out there who. Want something simple or appreciate even the taste of just meat and salt, you know, so that's kind of like how I started thinking about it. And one day I visited my, uh, my family in Arizona and my aunt, she already had a business that where she had the equipment that I could sort of try out the ideas that I, that I had.
Sylwia Tabor: And, and I [00:09:00] did when I visited, I would always buy my rib eye by, you know, I experimented with fish. Um, and I would make all these, um, I called them chips, meat chips. Um, and I would make a bunch and just bring with me on a plane. And, you know, And from then on, my aunt was like, why won't you just start selling this?
Sylwia Tabor: And I'm like, Oh no, nobody's going to buy it. And, you know, I had all kinds of excuses. And then one thing led to another and it turned into carnivore snacks. Uh, what we now know carnivore snacks. It's definitely been a crazy ride, but you know, I was. fortunate enough to meet the right people in my life who now, you know, Mark, who you probably met, I think, maybe not, but Mark has been, you know, huge, huge, uh, part of Carnivore Snacks.
Sylwia Tabor: Um, and without him, we probably would not be, um, where we are right now. Cause doing [00:10:00] everything Both sides of the business, uh, you know, manufacturing, cause we've decided to make everything on our own. Um, we're not, we were seeking, um, the right, uh, beef jerky manufacturer, but as we were in search and everybody was telling us that nobody's going to make this product for us because it's too time consuming, The process is too long, it's too hands on, and the profit, the margins are not big.
Sylwia Tabor: So nobody's gonna take this on and it's gonna be super expensive. And they were pretty much right, like we could not find any jerky manufacturer that would be willing to make this for us. So Um, we decided that we're just going to make it on our own and slowly but surely, you know, like after a year, we ended up moving from 2000 square feet, a place to now, I believe it's over 12, [00:11:00] 000 square feet.
Sylwia Tabor: Wow. And, and we've been growing and growing. And, um, it's thanks to the people who do, you know, All of our customers appreciate the, the pureness, cleanness, the quality, the fact that we source from, you know, us farmers, um, because sure we could source our meat from places like Brazil, places like Argentina and safe, probably 75%.
Sylwia Tabor: Wow. It's insane. When I heard the prices for that, we, that we could pay. Uh, sourcing from other countries was insane. I'm like, how is this possible? Even with the shipping, right? Um, it will be less, way less expensive. It's insane. Um, but we've decided to support, you know, American, uh, uh, farmers and, and that's the route we took.
Sylwia Tabor: And we're very happy about that. We, we, we are. And I think [00:12:00] it makes it
Julie Michelson: yeah, it makes a big difference for I think you have a very specific, well educated customer base. And that's what we're looking for. Right. And we want regenerative farming and good, you know, animal processes. So to be available and to continue right we want our I live in Colorado so I live in.
Sylwia Tabor: Oh my god,
Julie Michelson: ranching country but you know and so I want my local rancher to continue because he's raising beautiful, happy grass fed grass finished animals. So I just. You know, fell in love with not only the product, I do want, and I want to talk about that, but I want to touch on a little more of your story.
Julie Michelson: So, question, when, when did you go from vegan to, I want to highlight this because so many people that come to me with, [00:13:00] You know, multiple autoimmune conditions had been or still were vegan. So this is, it's a really common issue and, and often that change to veganism feels good. Like people feel good for six months or whatever their time period is.
Julie Michelson: And, and, and I've seen the same with something like, I think anytime we make a big change, We can like feel that boost. Um, but so I'm just curious, how long has it been since, since you were a practicing vegan?
Sylwia Tabor: It was, I was, uh, I started out. So prior to what I consider, uh, raw vegan, I was a vegetarian, but for me, Um, being Polish, vegetarian basically meant vegan because for us, uh, vegetarian is vegetation.
Sylwia Tabor: Exactly. So that meant basically I was [00:14:00] eating, uh, mostly vegetables, some fruit, and I would make, um, I would have like sauerkraut and I remember I would use like things like canola oil. Sure. Because that was, we didn't know.
Julie Michelson: Yeah.
Sylwia Tabor: Yeah. I consider that healthy. Um, that didn't last long because, um, I will actually, I wasn't feeling great eating canola oil, but before I went, um, vegetarian, um, my diet was very clean.
Sylwia Tabor: Um, I never, um, Transition. When I moved to, um, us, I was 13 and I never fully transitioned into like eating fast food. My mom always cooked, um, uh, home and it was pretty healthy meals. Never got into, um, eating things like McDonald's. I never actually had a meal at McDonald's ever. Burger King. None. I would go with my family.
Sylwia Tabor: Uh, friends in high [00:15:00] school, but I would just sit there and watch them eat because I never, it really, first of all, the oil, the burn oil made me feel nauseous. So it was just in my head that if it smells this bad, like it cannot taste good. So I was never really tempted to try it. Um, so when I went into like the vegetarian style of eating, I wasn't feeling good.
Sylwia Tabor: And then I You know what? I'm gonna try re uh, uh, a raw vegan diet. Um, so I, I went into that and things for me still didn't improve because like prior to that I was eating, uh, fruits, vegetables, I was eating, um, some meat. Um, I eliminated dairy because I figured out that dairy was causing me some issues.
Sylwia Tabor: So I eliminated that. Um, and I also eliminated wheat, um, and pretty much all grains. So my. The base of my diet was vegetables, meat, fish, and then some fruit here and there. Um, so [00:16:00] then I transitioned from that into the vegetarian diet and I was feeling worse. Then I went into raw vegan and that made me feel even worse, but I was so convinced that I was doing a good service to the planet by saving all the animals.
Sylwia Tabor: Um, so I just stuck with it. And for three years on the raw vegan diet, things just. started getting really bad. Um, and I was, I thought I was doing things right. I was supplementing with a lot of things. Um, all the, all the A vitamins, the D vitamins, B12. And I made sure that was like super high quality. It wasn't anything from like that you get at Costco or Walgreens.
Sylwia Tabor: I would spend probably 100 on a bottle of B12 that was like, fermented, didn't have any crazy additives to it. And I, at that point I was a college student and I was working full time and all my money was going towards [00:17:00] supplements and trying to buy Like the newest sprouter to sprout on my, you know, nuts and seeds and I was trying to do all the right things.
Sylwia Tabor: And in spite of that, like I was just not feeling well. Um, and I was getting very, very weak. You could see that. The my, my arms were so thin that, you know, my family was worried, but I wouldn't say anything because, you know, here I am thinking that I'm, I'm so healthy because I'm only eating fruits, vegetables, and I trying to convince my entire family to go vegan.
Sylwia Tabor: Thank God. Um, and yeah, and here I am just getting weaker and weaker and, you know, it got to a point where I started pooping blood and I'm like, Oh my God, like what's going on? And I was not digesting any of the nuts and almonds after eating almonds. That was happening every single time. And until [00:18:00] this day, I still have friends who, uh, Who are vegan or eat almonds and the same thing happens to them.
Sylwia Tabor: And I tell them, you know, I just started to stop eating almonds, no matter how great they are, how amazing it is. Like, I don't think your body
Julie Michelson: can give you a clearer sign. Something exactly. Yes. Yes. Oh my goodness. But like the,
Sylwia Tabor: I don't, that was like almonds and nuts. It was like the only thing in the raw vegan diet that like I truly enjoyed, like, like literally enjoyed.
Sylwia Tabor: Sure, because there
Julie Michelson: was some protein. Your body was probably happy about, oh my gosh, a little bit of protein and some fats. Good facts.
Sylwia Tabor: But if you truly think about it, like how much of that protein you really absorb when you know, like when you put it out, it's like, Oh
Julie Michelson: my goodness. So I know, um, You also, I believe, had mold toxicity and, and [00:19:00] struggled with SERS as well.
Julie Michelson: And I, I want to touch on that because we all come into contact with things and, and I have struggled with both of those in my past as well. And what I've come to learn through my work is that the body should be able to fight stuff off. And so you were so compromised that you couldn't, um, how are you now?
Julie Michelson: Are you well, is it something you're still working on?
Sylwia Tabor: It's definitely a work in progress. It was worse. Um, after, uh, before Lyme, I didn't even No, that I was struggling with mold. Like, I don't think, um, I even noticed any changes. And I, I grew up in a house that had black mold and we, as a family, I remember we struggled, like it was back in Poland, we, all of us had a lot [00:20:00] of health issues.
Sylwia Tabor: My sisters, my sister struggled with asthma. My brother had all these weird infections going on. My dad had a constant ear infections and staff, um, uh, staff infections. Um, and now that I think about it, it all makes sense. Um, and for me, the issues that I always struggled with, uh, as a kid, when we lived in that house was.
Sylwia Tabor: digestive issues. And then going into the raw vegan, I feel like that got even worse. And then Lyme after Lyme, things got so bad. Um, I would be stuck in bed for a couple of weeks, unable to get up. Um, I physically, I just, I couldn't get out of the bad mentally. I was thinking to myself, like, I know I'm not lazy and I want to do things.
Sylwia Tabor:[00:21:00] I'm very motivated, but I can't like physically, it was like somebody or something drained all the energy I had in my body and I just couldn't move. And then on the other side, it was the opposite. Whenever I would get, um, exposed to mold, um, my brain would stop functioning. So some days it was more physical.
Sylwia Tabor: Other days it was more mental. And I remember one day, my, my parents now live in Wisconsin and I finally figured out that they have a lot of mold in there. Um, and there's a, it's a spragillus mold, which is the sport that I'm mostly intolerant to allergic to. Um, And every time I would go visit, I would come back home and I could not function.
Sylwia Tabor: It would take me two days in bed. And then I remember one day. Looking at my phone after I was exposed and I could not understand the letters. Oh my goodness. It just looked like numbers and that's when I got so [00:22:00] scared. I'm like, I'm like, I know, I, I know how to read. Right. All of it just looked like symbols to me.
Sylwia Tabor: I had no idea what it meant. So scary. Yeah, Lyme definitely had things like the mold illness. It definitely brought it up to the surface and made things worse. So I've, I I worked with a doctor here in Columbus, and, um, I was able to actually get rid of Lyme, and now I'm working on mold illness, and I'm on a lot of stuff right now, but it's definitely helping.
Sylwia Tabor: And
Julie Michelson: it is, it's a process. I mean, it is. And you mentioned. You know, about the house in Poland. I mean, that's the tricky thing about mold. You know, if you all had been sick with the same thing, perhaps people would have been looking for, you know, is it the house or, [00:23:00] but it is the tricky thing that you can have any, you know, people always ask me, well, what are the symptoms of mold toxicity?
Julie Michelson: And I'm like, name a symptom. It could be, you know, Um, so, you know, I'm grateful for you that you're, you're continuing to work on it because it is a, it's a, it's a process for sure.
Sylwia Tabor: It is. And like you said, I am shocked that my parents are living in the house in Wisconsin and are feeling normal. I mean, normal to them, you know, but they do complain of being tired of this and that, that experience.
Sylwia Tabor: Uh, aches and pains, but whenever I mention mold illness like that, they don't listen. They won't go there. Yeah. It's not a
Julie Michelson: thing, it's not a thing
Sylwia Tabor: um, but, you know, and it's hard. It's hard because your family will look at you like you're some sort of weirdo like you are coming up with, with stuff, you know.
Sylwia Tabor: And it's hard to tell your parents, listen, I'm sorry, like I cannot come visit you anymore for Christmas or holidays [00:24:00] because I cannot afford to digress like all the progress I have made. If I go and visit them, I'm going to be back to square one and getting out of that, you know, that dark hole that, that, you know, small exposure brings.
Sylwia Tabor: It's just for me, it's not worth it. Like I love my parents, but it's just, it's hard.
Julie Michelson: No, I could imagine. So I want to shift. I'm glad you're doing better and I'm glad you're still working on it. Are you still carnivore or do you include some fruits and vegetables in your diet?
Sylwia Tabor: I do include fruits and vegetables.
Sylwia Tabor: Um, yeah, I was hoping,
Julie Michelson: I think it's, it can be an amazing reset, especially when somebody has, You know, really intense gut issues. Like you did. Um, I I've had some clients that have gone that route and, and I always make a deal with them, like, let's do it as a reset and, and then stay clean. Um, so yay. I want to [00:25:00] go ahead.
Julie Michelson: No, go ahead.
Sylwia Tabor: No, I just wanted to say, uh, you know, I've, I used to do consulting, uh, nutritional consulting with a lot of people and many people came to me, um, wanting to. transition to carnivore diet for just to lose weight. And I wanted to talk them out of it because I honestly, if you're not struggling with any autoimmune or anything crazy, I would not advise anybody to go carnivore, carnivore full time and just, you know, for the rest of their lives.
Sylwia Tabor: I do believe, um, there's, you know, there's vegetables even for detoxification purposes. They're so important. Like even now for me with the mold, um, illness, vegetables help me, like I, sometimes I do feel like I swell up if I eat vegetables, like I feel like that fiber soaks up whatever toxins are in, in my body at that time.
Sylwia Tabor: And then [00:26:00] I get rid of it. You know, I understand and I love carnivore community. And I understand that some people do it because they struggle with maybe, um, addictions and whatnot. And if they have a little bite of fruit and that sweetness just, you know, turn something in their brain and then binge on pounds and pounds of fruit, which of course it's not healthy.
Sylwia Tabor: And I understand that. But it's almost like a crutch, you know, and you have to figure out why that is because that is not normal. But for some, for some, for some people, it's fine. It's fine to be carnivore. If they have to be carnivore for the rest of their lives, it's okay. And that's okay. You know, I just don't believe that is the way that is a healthy way.
Julie Michelson: Yay. And I see, I didn't know. I was afraid to ask.
Sylwia Tabor: No. Yeah.
Julie Michelson: And we're all, you know, everybody has a different journey, um, but I believe in, [00:27:00] you know, with the most varied diet that supports us, which is going to look different from person to person, but always includes clean protein. I know. So I want to talk about clean protein.
Julie Michelson: I want to talk about carnivore snacks because as somebody who. has been on her own health journey and supports others. Again, like I said, I'm always looking for ways to support not a, always starts with myself and I never recommend anything for people that I don't enjoy or use. Um, and so same thing. I mean, I, I travel with clean protein in, in my bag and in my suitcase.
Julie Michelson: And, um, I, what I love so much about your company is not only the, the sourcing and the care that you put in to making sure that this is, you know, truly high quality protein, but like you said, it's just the meat and salt. And what [00:28:00] blows me away, even though I am a grass fed beef lover, is how you can get really like showcase the different cuts of meat.
Julie Michelson: They taste different. Like they literally, we were recently at a conference and Carnivore Snacks was there and so it was my chance to literally go down the line and taste all of the different cuts. And it was so good. And we were blown away. And it was funny because it was like, well, which one do you want?
Julie Michelson: You know, we wanted all of them. Um, and so I, I think that that is, is so amazing. So I wanted to talk about that a little bit. Obviously it started with what you could tolerate, but also you don't need anything other than the meat and salt. Like, you just don't, it's, it's amazing. So how did that come up? How did you decide, well, we want ribeye and we want strip and we like all the different cuts.
Julie Michelson: Cause that is really unusual. I don't know if there is another company doing that.
Sylwia Tabor: Um, so for [00:29:00] me, when I started making things for myself, um, I started with ribeye just because, um, I was eating ribeye. That's something that I bought for myself. So, uh, I already had it and I would just like slice it. And then I round, I enjoyed eye round and, um, I figured it would, uh, make a nice, like a leaner, uh, option.
Sylwia Tabor: And then pork loin, um, Pork loin was basically just because my aunt, she had some left over and I'm like, Oh, and I asked her like, Oh, are you doing anything with, I said, Oh no, you can use it. So I ended up making that and it was like the most flavorful out of all the cuts I made. So those were like my top three, I was making for myself.
Sylwia Tabor: So basically, this is why. We started with those because I already tested them. I already had the recipe for them and I knew it was going to work. So those, and [00:30:00] also leg of lamb, but leg of lamb, I wasn't crazy about at the beginning because, um, the one that I was getting was from Australia. And even though it was, um, grass fed, it was just, it wasn't tasting too great.
Sylwia Tabor: And the texture was kind of, um, Tough. And so I wasn't crazy about it. Um, but the top three were basically the rabbi around and and pork loin, just because, you know, it was proven, you know, I had the recipe. So we started with that. And later on, we started as we started sourcing as we started growing and making connections with the farmers, we started asking questions, you know, what can we help you with?
Sylwia Tabor: What do you have a lot on your hands that your customers are not buying? So we can help you guys. So that, you know, I can always figure out, [00:31:00] uh, what I can do. Yeah, exactly. So, um, so it was basically later on, that's how, how this happened, you know, now that we have launched skirt steak, it was another case of us helping one of our primary farms, which is Joyce farm out of Northern, uh, uh, Carolina and You know, it's just on that end, it feels good to help the farmer, you know, because they're stuck with, you know, thousands of pounds of meat that is, they are not able to move.
Sylwia Tabor: And if we can help them out with that, like it feels amazing, you know, and then we know our customers are gonna enjoy that. So that's kind of how, you know, how it started and how the, uh, how the company has grown. And, you know, we're trying to help on. Both ends and sometimes, you know, the farms might have just a little bit of something and it's not going to be this is why we [00:32:00] basically launched memberships because some farms have one cut of meat but that might be only for like three months that they have it once we use it once we buy it from them.
Sylwia Tabor: It's gone until they can collect that again, and then we might have it back again. So that's kind of like why the membership, um, happened, uh, recently. And there's many people who enjoy that. I mean, I definitely, I don't know if you had a chance to try the Wagyu, um, cuts, but those are amazing. Um, and now we And now the skirt steak.
Sylwia Tabor: I think skirt steak is now my, my favorite.
Julie Michelson: Is it? And I wanted to circle back to the lamb because you did perfect the lamb. And I know that was your favorite before the skirt steak. So,
Sylwia Tabor: yes. Um, so with the lamb sourcing makes so much difference now that we're, we, um, tried to, Once we started developing relationships with farmers, we were [00:33:00] able to find a farm that was big enough to provide us a supply that would, you know, allow us to sell to customers.
Sylwia Tabor: Once I tested out their product, it turned out to be way, way better than what I tested from Australia. And that's another thing, you know, quality matters so much when it comes to our product. Um, and you know, like When I was making it for myself, I was buying grass fed ribeye from Costco, not Costco, but Whole Foods and, and that compared to regeneratively raised is night and day.
Sylwia Tabor: And I even noticed like when I was, um, experimenting with it and I would make it for myself and I would just get that meat from Whole Foods, it wasn't the smell of the fat. was totally different than what we're getting right now from the regenerative farms. Like that fat [00:34:00] smells so buttery and good. And you're drooling as the product is make it is being done versus, you know, that whole foods, which is supposedly a hundred percent grass, fairgrass spinach.
Sylwia Tabor: It's so much grass.
Julie Michelson: Like what soil, what grass, that's the, I grew up in the dairy business and our family's dairy was in New Jersey. I remember as a young adult, I moved to Florida and I called my, this was back when I still consumed dairy, called my dad. And I was like, The milk down here is gross. Is it because it's so hot?
Julie Michelson: And he laughed. He's like, no, it's the grass that the cows are eating. It's the same with the meat. You know, it really, um, not that we're knocking whole foods, you know, some people that's their best source, right? You get the best you can, but I know exactly what you're talking about, because if we fill in something from whole foods versus the cow that's in our [00:35:00] freezer, totally different.
Julie Michelson: Totally. And I can
Sylwia Tabor: tell you, like, at the very beginning when I was transitioning into eating meat and that was before regenerative and grass fed was just. It's becoming a thing like you could only find like one piece of grass fed at Whole Foods. That was the best thing I've ever had. Like it, I still remember it was super expensive.
Sylwia Tabor: I remember it was like 30 per pound of, of, of New York strip. And at that time I was begging my mom to buy it for me because I still live with my parents. Um, and, and it was amazing. But, you know, like now things change, you know, thanks to politics, there are different, uh, names for grass fed. Now, if you feed the cow pallet of a grass, it's considered grass fed.
Sylwia Tabor: So it, you know, raising an animal outside [00:36:00] when it's in the sun, It matters as well, because the sun also provides a certain amount of nutrients and and different energy, uh, for the cow, just like for us, just like for us. Exactly.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. Yeah. I love that. And again, that's, that's one of the, the, I think incredible things about your company is that.
Julie Michelson: You guys, it's all of the, those details you're paying attention to. And, and, you know, we want to eat happy animals for, you know, moral reasons, but also for our health. It really does make a difference. Um, and so I just, I'm so glad I have all of my clients. I'm like here. Try, you have to try that because I'm always telling, I'm big on what I call purse snacks or truck snacks, depending on snacks.
Julie Michelson: I, you know, I don't leave the house. It, even if I, if I meet with clients in person at the clinic, you know, they know, I [00:37:00] always, you know, they'll be like, do you have any, do you have any food in your purse? Like they know I always have. And I think everybody should because you don't want to be in a jam. Like we need protein and it's so important.
Sylwia Tabor: It is so easy to just grab anything unhealthy that you really, really agree. You forget that, you know, that, Oh yeah, I've decided to not eat this, you know, sugar anymore. But when you're hungry at that point, it's like, your brain is just like, I just want to eat. I don't care what it is. I just want to eat.
Sylwia Tabor: So yeah, I totally understand that.
Julie Michelson: I love it. I love it. And actually for everybody listening, if you go to carnivore snacks with an X dot com slash navigate, you'll get 15 percent off your first order. That's how much I love their stuff. It's amazing. Um, Sylvia, what is one step that listeners and it could, it may not have to do with food or it can, but what's one [00:38:00] step that people can take starting today to improve their health?
Sylwia Tabor: One step and I,
Sylwia Tabor: I think is. really just figuring out how you as a individual operate. Because oftentimes, you know, we hear all this advice from other people, this is what works for me, this is what works for, for that person, and this person, you end up trying that and falling into even worse place than you were. But if you figure out, let's say you're somebody who wants to start working out, you know, and you hear some influencer on Instagram saying that, you know, the only way, um, the best way to work out is in the morning in a fasted state, because, um, that's where the most So you get the most benefits, but if you're not somebody who has the time in the morning, um, [00:39:00] and has time, maybe at noon, if you work office job and can go for a walk, like, that's great, you know, Figure out the way, um, that works best for you in order to implement whatever changes you want to make and do it your way.
Sylwia Tabor: You know, somebody's way, somebody else's way is not the only way. Just figure out for yourself and just have a plan. And go after it. Yeah.
Julie Michelson: Go get it. Go get it. Before we wrap up, where's the best place? And we'll have all the links in the show notes, but for people listening on the go, where's the best place to find you or carnivore snacks or where can they learn more?
Sylwia Tabor: I am mostly on Instagram at
Sylwia Tabor: And carnivoresnacks is at carnivore. snacks with an x at the end on Instagram. And the website is carnivoresnacks. com. Yes. So we have a lot [00:40:00] of cool stuff coming up. Um, if If anybody wants to subscribe or try out our product, um, use the link, uh, Julie mentioned for a discount. And yeah, if you guys want to connect on Instagram, I'm always there.
Sylwia Tabor: Well, not always sometimes, but that's good. I'm glad you're not always
Julie Michelson: there.
Sylwia Tabor: Yeah. I'm not always there.
Julie Michelson: She's
Sylwia Tabor: popping in and
Julie Michelson: out. I'm mostly at carnival
Sylwia Tabor: snacks, but I'll hop in sometimes.
Julie Michelson: I love it. Sylvia, thank you so much for sharing your journey with us and for bringing carnivore snacks to the world. It was definitely, definitely needed and they're delicious.
Julie Michelson: So keep, keep those ideas, keep growing, keep doing what you're doing, um, because the world needs carnivore snacks.
Sylwia Tabor: Thank you so much. And thank you for spreading the word and doing what you're doing because we definitely need more people like you.
Julie Michelson: My pleasure. [00:41:00] For everyone listening, remember you can get the show notes and transcripts by visiting inspiredliving.
Julie Michelson: shell. I hope you had a great time and enjoyed this episode as much as I did. Go get those carnivore snacks. I'll see you next week.
​[00:42:00]
Julie Michelson:[00:01:00] Welcome back to the inspired living with auto immunity podcast. I'm your host, Julie Michelson. And today we're joined by Sylvia Tabor, the co founder of Carnivore Snacks. Sylvia is a self experimenter who's on a mission of finding new ways and rediscovering ancestral ways of achieving optimal physical, mental, and spiritual health while helping others along the way.
Julie Michelson: After years on a vegan diet and struggling with mold illness, Sears, and Lyme disease, along with other co infections, she found healing through the carnivore diet. Her passion for high quality food and supporting local businesses led her to creating Carnivore Snacks. In today's conversation, Sylvia shares her healing journey, and we talk about the importance of including clean protein in your diet for optimal health.
Julie Michelson: Sylvia, welcome to the podcast.
Sylwia Tabor: Hello. Thank you for having me.
Julie Michelson: I am so excited that you're here. [00:02:00] Um, because you are doing something that I think is going to make a really big impact for people and is already a great resource for my clients. So I'd love to hear how you got into this business of providing clean protein for people.
Sylwia Tabor: Well, it's been a quite a journey. Um, I feel like most businesses start from, from some sort of need. Um, and it was a selfish need for myself when, you know, I started out, I was vegan for many years and my gut health, um, got really, really bad during those years. And then, um, eventually on the vegan diet, I wasn't even able to digest nuts, which were my main protein source.
Sylwia Tabor: So, and I tried pea protein and I was really, um, overloaded with lead because as I've learned later that [00:03:00] there's no P protein, um, is basically we cannot manufacture it without the byproduct, uh, of lead. Um, unfortunately, but maybe hopefully in the future that will be possible. Um, so then I, I got very, um, I got poisoned with it.
Sylwia Tabor: lead. And then eventually I decided, well, let me just try eat fruit, nothing but fruits. So I did that for a year. Um, Oh my gosh. I'm glad you're still here. Yes. And I was very close to basically taking my own life because my mental health declined. severely. It was really, really bad. Um, and then I got to a point where, um, my doctor said that I have to start including animal foods in my diet.
Sylwia Tabor: Otherwise, you know, I'm just gonna, uh, my body's just [00:04:00] gonna basically shut down. Yeah. Yeah. And my body already that started breaking down my bones were, um, my bones were breaking for no reason. Um, just a small pressure would break my ribs. And, um, yeah, I, I finally, um, gave in and I started eating eggs and a little bit of fish.
Sylwia Tabor: Um, then I, fortunately I, um, had a very bad infection. It was necrotizing fasciitis. It was another thing that almost took my life. Um, And it was right after I got, um, infected with Lyme, I, I was bitten by brown recluse. And at that time I had no idea that brown recluse can transmit, um, Lyme disease. Um, but, and I had, first it was MRSA, then it got in, uh, turned into necrotizing fasciitis.
Sylwia Tabor: I ended up in a hospital, um, an ICU [00:05:00] for a week. And, The doctors were very puzzled because they couldn't figure out what that infection was. It looked, um, very bizarre because it looked like I had a snake under the skin around my torso. The infection was spreading pretty quickly as well. Um, and they were basically pumping me with a lot of antibiotics and I had in both arms, I had, uh, IVs with antibiotics, nothing was helping.
Sylwia Tabor: It was surgery, three surgeries, uh, back to back every three days in a row. Um, finally they found a solution, but after this whole thing, um, I went back home and even drinking water hurt my gut. After all these antibiotics. Um, and I remember my friend send me Uh, video to Dr. Baker's, uh, Sean, Dr. Sean Baker, uh, interview.
Sylwia Tabor: It wasn't with [00:06:00] Joe Rogan because I know everybody knows, uh, Dr. Sean Baker from Joe Rogan's podcast, but it was from, I forgot the name, uh, but I watched it and I was thinking to myself, like, this guy is nuts. He's going to get a colon cancer and this and that and all kinds of diseases. But at that point I was so desperate, I, I decided to try a carnivore diet.
Sylwia Tabor: And at that point I started eating nothing but meat. Um, And for me, it was simple was just meat and water and salt. I never really cared for spices or for herbs or anything like that. And then while I lived in Chicago, and I had a corporate job, it was pretty easy to, to sustain my carnivore diet. But then I decided to move to California, my job involved a lot of travel and it was pretty hard to stop very quickly and find a [00:07:00] place where I could find a good quality meat because I always cared about, um, sustainability and very good quality of meat.
Sylwia Tabor: So, um, even though those places do exist, like the time limit that I had, it just wasn't possible for me to do that. also had very little time at home once I got back from working to prep everything to take with me on the road. Um, so that's kind of like how I started thinking, I'm like, Oh my God, it will be.
Sylwia Tabor: And I searched everywhere for just, you know, a meat that it was just meat and sulfur product that I could take with me that was already, uh, done. It was in a bag that I wouldn't have to worry, you know, bring a knife or steak knife with me. Um, And I couldn't find anything there were there's there were certainly a lot of brands of built on that were a little bit cleaner, but for me at that time, I still [00:08:00] reacted to things like vinegar.
Sylwia Tabor: So, even little thing like that was bothering my stomach so. and garlic gave me huge headaches. Same thing with onion powder. And most of those, uh, products contain, uh, these type of, you know, spices and whatnot and pepper, like anything spices, uh, irritated my stomach. So that, that's kind of how I started, you know, thinking about, you know, like, why doesn't this product exist?
Sylwia Tabor: You know? And, and I thought to myself, there's gotta be other people out there who. Want something simple or appreciate even the taste of just meat and salt, you know, so that's kind of like how I started thinking about it. And one day I visited my, uh, my family in Arizona and my aunt, she already had a business that where she had the equipment that I could sort of try out the ideas that I, that I had.
Sylwia Tabor: And, and I [00:09:00] did when I visited, I would always buy my rib eye by, you know, I experimented with fish. Um, and I would make all these, um, I called them chips, meat chips. Um, and I would make a bunch and just bring with me on a plane. And, you know, And from then on, my aunt was like, why won't you just start selling this?
Sylwia Tabor: And I'm like, Oh no, nobody's going to buy it. And, you know, I had all kinds of excuses. And then one thing led to another and it turned into carnivore snacks. Uh, what we now know carnivore snacks. It's definitely been a crazy ride, but you know, I was. fortunate enough to meet the right people in my life who now, you know, Mark, who you probably met, I think, maybe not, but Mark has been, you know, huge, huge, uh, part of Carnivore Snacks.
Sylwia Tabor: Um, and without him, we probably would not be, um, where we are right now. Cause doing [00:10:00] everything Both sides of the business, uh, you know, manufacturing, cause we've decided to make everything on our own. Um, we're not, we were seeking, um, the right, uh, beef jerky manufacturer, but as we were in search and everybody was telling us that nobody's going to make this product for us because it's too time consuming, The process is too long, it's too hands on, and the profit, the margins are not big.
Sylwia Tabor: So nobody's gonna take this on and it's gonna be super expensive. And they were pretty much right, like we could not find any jerky manufacturer that would be willing to make this for us. So Um, we decided that we're just going to make it on our own and slowly but surely, you know, like after a year, we ended up moving from 2000 square feet, a place to now, I believe it's over 12, [00:11:00] 000 square feet.
Sylwia Tabor: Wow. And, and we've been growing and growing. And, um, it's thanks to the people who do, you know, All of our customers appreciate the, the pureness, cleanness, the quality, the fact that we source from, you know, us farmers, um, because sure we could source our meat from places like Brazil, places like Argentina and safe, probably 75%.
Sylwia Tabor: Wow. It's insane. When I heard the prices for that, we, that we could pay. Uh, sourcing from other countries was insane. I'm like, how is this possible? Even with the shipping, right? Um, it will be less, way less expensive. It's insane. Um, but we've decided to support, you know, American, uh, uh, farmers and, and that's the route we took.
Sylwia Tabor: And we're very happy about that. We, we, we are. And I think [00:12:00] it makes it
Julie Michelson: yeah, it makes a big difference for I think you have a very specific, well educated customer base. And that's what we're looking for. Right. And we want regenerative farming and good, you know, animal processes. So to be available and to continue right we want our I live in Colorado so I live in.
Sylwia Tabor: Oh my god,
Julie Michelson: ranching country but you know and so I want my local rancher to continue because he's raising beautiful, happy grass fed grass finished animals. So I just. You know, fell in love with not only the product, I do want, and I want to talk about that, but I want to touch on a little more of your story.
Julie Michelson: So, question, when, when did you go from vegan to, I want to highlight this because so many people that come to me with, [00:13:00] You know, multiple autoimmune conditions had been or still were vegan. So this is, it's a really common issue and, and often that change to veganism feels good. Like people feel good for six months or whatever their time period is.
Julie Michelson: And, and, and I've seen the same with something like, I think anytime we make a big change, We can like feel that boost. Um, but so I'm just curious, how long has it been since, since you were a practicing vegan?
Sylwia Tabor: It was, I was, uh, I started out. So prior to what I consider, uh, raw vegan, I was a vegetarian, but for me, Um, being Polish, vegetarian basically meant vegan because for us, uh, vegetarian is vegetation.
Sylwia Tabor: Exactly. So that meant basically I was [00:14:00] eating, uh, mostly vegetables, some fruit, and I would make, um, I would have like sauerkraut and I remember I would use like things like canola oil. Sure. Because that was, we didn't know.
Julie Michelson: Yeah.
Sylwia Tabor: Yeah. I consider that healthy. Um, that didn't last long because, um, I will actually, I wasn't feeling great eating canola oil, but before I went, um, vegetarian, um, my diet was very clean.
Sylwia Tabor: Um, I never, um, Transition. When I moved to, um, us, I was 13 and I never fully transitioned into like eating fast food. My mom always cooked, um, uh, home and it was pretty healthy meals. Never got into, um, eating things like McDonald's. I never actually had a meal at McDonald's ever. Burger King. None. I would go with my family.
Sylwia Tabor: Uh, friends in high [00:15:00] school, but I would just sit there and watch them eat because I never, it really, first of all, the oil, the burn oil made me feel nauseous. So it was just in my head that if it smells this bad, like it cannot taste good. So I was never really tempted to try it. Um, so when I went into like the vegetarian style of eating, I wasn't feeling good.
Sylwia Tabor: And then I You know what? I'm gonna try re uh, uh, a raw vegan diet. Um, so I, I went into that and things for me still didn't improve because like prior to that I was eating, uh, fruits, vegetables, I was eating, um, some meat. Um, I eliminated dairy because I figured out that dairy was causing me some issues.
Sylwia Tabor: So I eliminated that. Um, and I also eliminated wheat, um, and pretty much all grains. So my. The base of my diet was vegetables, meat, fish, and then some fruit here and there. Um, so [00:16:00] then I transitioned from that into the vegetarian diet and I was feeling worse. Then I went into raw vegan and that made me feel even worse, but I was so convinced that I was doing a good service to the planet by saving all the animals.
Sylwia Tabor: Um, so I just stuck with it. And for three years on the raw vegan diet, things just. started getting really bad. Um, and I was, I thought I was doing things right. I was supplementing with a lot of things. Um, all the, all the A vitamins, the D vitamins, B12. And I made sure that was like super high quality. It wasn't anything from like that you get at Costco or Walgreens.
Sylwia Tabor: I would spend probably 100 on a bottle of B12 that was like, fermented, didn't have any crazy additives to it. And I, at that point I was a college student and I was working full time and all my money was going towards [00:17:00] supplements and trying to buy Like the newest sprouter to sprout on my, you know, nuts and seeds and I was trying to do all the right things.
Sylwia Tabor: And in spite of that, like I was just not feeling well. Um, and I was getting very, very weak. You could see that. The my, my arms were so thin that, you know, my family was worried, but I wouldn't say anything because, you know, here I am thinking that I'm, I'm so healthy because I'm only eating fruits, vegetables, and I trying to convince my entire family to go vegan.
Sylwia Tabor: Thank God. Um, and yeah, and here I am just getting weaker and weaker and, you know, it got to a point where I started pooping blood and I'm like, Oh my God, like what's going on? And I was not digesting any of the nuts and almonds after eating almonds. That was happening every single time. And until [00:18:00] this day, I still have friends who, uh, Who are vegan or eat almonds and the same thing happens to them.
Sylwia Tabor: And I tell them, you know, I just started to stop eating almonds, no matter how great they are, how amazing it is. Like, I don't think your body
Julie Michelson: can give you a clearer sign. Something exactly. Yes. Yes. Oh my goodness. But like the,
Sylwia Tabor: I don't, that was like almonds and nuts. It was like the only thing in the raw vegan diet that like I truly enjoyed, like, like literally enjoyed.
Sylwia Tabor: Sure, because there
Julie Michelson: was some protein. Your body was probably happy about, oh my gosh, a little bit of protein and some fats. Good facts.
Sylwia Tabor: But if you truly think about it, like how much of that protein you really absorb when you know, like when you put it out, it's like, Oh
Julie Michelson: my goodness. So I know, um, You also, I believe, had mold toxicity and, and [00:19:00] struggled with SERS as well.
Julie Michelson: And I, I want to touch on that because we all come into contact with things and, and I have struggled with both of those in my past as well. And what I've come to learn through my work is that the body should be able to fight stuff off. And so you were so compromised that you couldn't, um, how are you now?
Julie Michelson: Are you well, is it something you're still working on?
Sylwia Tabor: It's definitely a work in progress. It was worse. Um, after, uh, before Lyme, I didn't even No, that I was struggling with mold. Like, I don't think, um, I even noticed any changes. And I, I grew up in a house that had black mold and we, as a family, I remember we struggled, like it was back in Poland, we, all of us had a lot [00:20:00] of health issues.
Sylwia Tabor: My sisters, my sister struggled with asthma. My brother had all these weird infections going on. My dad had a constant ear infections and staff, um, uh, staff infections. Um, and now that I think about it, it all makes sense. Um, and for me, the issues that I always struggled with, uh, as a kid, when we lived in that house was.
Sylwia Tabor: digestive issues. And then going into the raw vegan, I feel like that got even worse. And then Lyme after Lyme, things got so bad. Um, I would be stuck in bed for a couple of weeks, unable to get up. Um, I physically, I just, I couldn't get out of the bad mentally. I was thinking to myself, like, I know I'm not lazy and I want to do things.
Sylwia Tabor:[00:21:00] I'm very motivated, but I can't like physically, it was like somebody or something drained all the energy I had in my body and I just couldn't move. And then on the other side, it was the opposite. Whenever I would get, um, exposed to mold, um, my brain would stop functioning. So some days it was more physical.
Sylwia Tabor: Other days it was more mental. And I remember one day, my, my parents now live in Wisconsin and I finally figured out that they have a lot of mold in there. Um, and there's a, it's a spragillus mold, which is the sport that I'm mostly intolerant to allergic to. Um, And every time I would go visit, I would come back home and I could not function.
Sylwia Tabor: It would take me two days in bed. And then I remember one day. Looking at my phone after I was exposed and I could not understand the letters. Oh my goodness. It just looked like numbers and that's when I got so [00:22:00] scared. I'm like, I'm like, I know, I, I know how to read. Right. All of it just looked like symbols to me.
Sylwia Tabor: I had no idea what it meant. So scary. Yeah, Lyme definitely had things like the mold illness. It definitely brought it up to the surface and made things worse. So I've, I I worked with a doctor here in Columbus, and, um, I was able to actually get rid of Lyme, and now I'm working on mold illness, and I'm on a lot of stuff right now, but it's definitely helping.
Sylwia Tabor: And
Julie Michelson: it is, it's a process. I mean, it is. And you mentioned. You know, about the house in Poland. I mean, that's the tricky thing about mold. You know, if you all had been sick with the same thing, perhaps people would have been looking for, you know, is it the house or, [00:23:00] but it is the tricky thing that you can have any, you know, people always ask me, well, what are the symptoms of mold toxicity?
Julie Michelson: And I'm like, name a symptom. It could be, you know, Um, so, you know, I'm grateful for you that you're, you're continuing to work on it because it is a, it's a, it's a process for sure.
Sylwia Tabor: It is. And like you said, I am shocked that my parents are living in the house in Wisconsin and are feeling normal. I mean, normal to them, you know, but they do complain of being tired of this and that, that experience.
Sylwia Tabor: Uh, aches and pains, but whenever I mention mold illness like that, they don't listen. They won't go there. Yeah. It's not a
Julie Michelson: thing, it's not a thing
Sylwia Tabor: um, but, you know, and it's hard. It's hard because your family will look at you like you're some sort of weirdo like you are coming up with, with stuff, you know.
Sylwia Tabor: And it's hard to tell your parents, listen, I'm sorry, like I cannot come visit you anymore for Christmas or holidays [00:24:00] because I cannot afford to digress like all the progress I have made. If I go and visit them, I'm going to be back to square one and getting out of that, you know, that dark hole that, that, you know, small exposure brings.
Sylwia Tabor: It's just for me, it's not worth it. Like I love my parents, but it's just, it's hard.
Julie Michelson: No, I could imagine. So I want to shift. I'm glad you're doing better and I'm glad you're still working on it. Are you still carnivore or do you include some fruits and vegetables in your diet?
Sylwia Tabor: I do include fruits and vegetables.
Sylwia Tabor: Um, yeah, I was hoping,
Julie Michelson: I think it's, it can be an amazing reset, especially when somebody has, You know, really intense gut issues. Like you did. Um, I I've had some clients that have gone that route and, and I always make a deal with them, like, let's do it as a reset and, and then stay clean. Um, so yay. I want to [00:25:00] go ahead.
Julie Michelson: No, go ahead.
Sylwia Tabor: No, I just wanted to say, uh, you know, I've, I used to do consulting, uh, nutritional consulting with a lot of people and many people came to me, um, wanting to. transition to carnivore diet for just to lose weight. And I wanted to talk them out of it because I honestly, if you're not struggling with any autoimmune or anything crazy, I would not advise anybody to go carnivore, carnivore full time and just, you know, for the rest of their lives.
Sylwia Tabor: I do believe, um, there's, you know, there's vegetables even for detoxification purposes. They're so important. Like even now for me with the mold, um, illness, vegetables help me, like I, sometimes I do feel like I swell up if I eat vegetables, like I feel like that fiber soaks up whatever toxins are in, in my body at that time.
Sylwia Tabor: And then [00:26:00] I get rid of it. You know, I understand and I love carnivore community. And I understand that some people do it because they struggle with maybe, um, addictions and whatnot. And if they have a little bite of fruit and that sweetness just, you know, turn something in their brain and then binge on pounds and pounds of fruit, which of course it's not healthy.
Sylwia Tabor: And I understand that. But it's almost like a crutch, you know, and you have to figure out why that is because that is not normal. But for some, for some, for some people, it's fine. It's fine to be carnivore. If they have to be carnivore for the rest of their lives, it's okay. And that's okay. You know, I just don't believe that is the way that is a healthy way.
Julie Michelson: Yay. And I see, I didn't know. I was afraid to ask.
Sylwia Tabor: No. Yeah.
Julie Michelson: And we're all, you know, everybody has a different journey, um, but I believe in, [00:27:00] you know, with the most varied diet that supports us, which is going to look different from person to person, but always includes clean protein. I know. So I want to talk about clean protein.
Julie Michelson: I want to talk about carnivore snacks because as somebody who. has been on her own health journey and supports others. Again, like I said, I'm always looking for ways to support not a, always starts with myself and I never recommend anything for people that I don't enjoy or use. Um, and so same thing. I mean, I, I travel with clean protein in, in my bag and in my suitcase.
Julie Michelson: And, um, I, what I love so much about your company is not only the, the sourcing and the care that you put in to making sure that this is, you know, truly high quality protein, but like you said, it's just the meat and salt. And what [00:28:00] blows me away, even though I am a grass fed beef lover, is how you can get really like showcase the different cuts of meat.
Julie Michelson: They taste different. Like they literally, we were recently at a conference and Carnivore Snacks was there and so it was my chance to literally go down the line and taste all of the different cuts. And it was so good. And we were blown away. And it was funny because it was like, well, which one do you want?
Julie Michelson: You know, we wanted all of them. Um, and so I, I think that that is, is so amazing. So I wanted to talk about that a little bit. Obviously it started with what you could tolerate, but also you don't need anything other than the meat and salt. Like, you just don't, it's, it's amazing. So how did that come up? How did you decide, well, we want ribeye and we want strip and we like all the different cuts.
Julie Michelson: Cause that is really unusual. I don't know if there is another company doing that.
Sylwia Tabor: Um, so for [00:29:00] me, when I started making things for myself, um, I started with ribeye just because, um, I was eating ribeye. That's something that I bought for myself. So, uh, I already had it and I would just like slice it. And then I round, I enjoyed eye round and, um, I figured it would, uh, make a nice, like a leaner, uh, option.
Sylwia Tabor: And then pork loin, um, Pork loin was basically just because my aunt, she had some left over and I'm like, Oh, and I asked her like, Oh, are you doing anything with, I said, Oh no, you can use it. So I ended up making that and it was like the most flavorful out of all the cuts I made. So those were like my top three, I was making for myself.
Sylwia Tabor: So basically, this is why. We started with those because I already tested them. I already had the recipe for them and I knew it was going to work. So those, and [00:30:00] also leg of lamb, but leg of lamb, I wasn't crazy about at the beginning because, um, the one that I was getting was from Australia. And even though it was, um, grass fed, it was just, it wasn't tasting too great.
Sylwia Tabor: And the texture was kind of, um, Tough. And so I wasn't crazy about it. Um, but the top three were basically the rabbi around and and pork loin, just because, you know, it was proven, you know, I had the recipe. So we started with that. And later on, we started as we started sourcing as we started growing and making connections with the farmers, we started asking questions, you know, what can we help you with?
Sylwia Tabor: What do you have a lot on your hands that your customers are not buying? So we can help you guys. So that, you know, I can always figure out, [00:31:00] uh, what I can do. Yeah, exactly. So, um, so it was basically later on, that's how, how this happened, you know, now that we have launched skirt steak, it was another case of us helping one of our primary farms, which is Joyce farm out of Northern, uh, uh, Carolina and You know, it's just on that end, it feels good to help the farmer, you know, because they're stuck with, you know, thousands of pounds of meat that is, they are not able to move.
Sylwia Tabor: And if we can help them out with that, like it feels amazing, you know, and then we know our customers are gonna enjoy that. So that's kind of how, you know, how it started and how the, uh, how the company has grown. And, you know, we're trying to help on. Both ends and sometimes, you know, the farms might have just a little bit of something and it's not going to be this is why we [00:32:00] basically launched memberships because some farms have one cut of meat but that might be only for like three months that they have it once we use it once we buy it from them.
Sylwia Tabor: It's gone until they can collect that again, and then we might have it back again. So that's kind of like why the membership, um, happened, uh, recently. And there's many people who enjoy that. I mean, I definitely, I don't know if you had a chance to try the Wagyu, um, cuts, but those are amazing. Um, and now we And now the skirt steak.
Sylwia Tabor: I think skirt steak is now my, my favorite.
Julie Michelson: Is it? And I wanted to circle back to the lamb because you did perfect the lamb. And I know that was your favorite before the skirt steak. So,
Sylwia Tabor: yes. Um, so with the lamb sourcing makes so much difference now that we're, we, um, tried to, Once we started developing relationships with farmers, we were [00:33:00] able to find a farm that was big enough to provide us a supply that would, you know, allow us to sell to customers.
Sylwia Tabor: Once I tested out their product, it turned out to be way, way better than what I tested from Australia. And that's another thing, you know, quality matters so much when it comes to our product. Um, and you know, like When I was making it for myself, I was buying grass fed ribeye from Costco, not Costco, but Whole Foods and, and that compared to regeneratively raised is night and day.
Sylwia Tabor: And I even noticed like when I was, um, experimenting with it and I would make it for myself and I would just get that meat from Whole Foods, it wasn't the smell of the fat. was totally different than what we're getting right now from the regenerative farms. Like that fat [00:34:00] smells so buttery and good. And you're drooling as the product is make it is being done versus, you know, that whole foods, which is supposedly a hundred percent grass, fairgrass spinach.
Sylwia Tabor: It's so much grass.
Julie Michelson: Like what soil, what grass, that's the, I grew up in the dairy business and our family's dairy was in New Jersey. I remember as a young adult, I moved to Florida and I called my, this was back when I still consumed dairy, called my dad. And I was like, The milk down here is gross. Is it because it's so hot?
Julie Michelson: And he laughed. He's like, no, it's the grass that the cows are eating. It's the same with the meat. You know, it really, um, not that we're knocking whole foods, you know, some people that's their best source, right? You get the best you can, but I know exactly what you're talking about, because if we fill in something from whole foods versus the cow that's in our [00:35:00] freezer, totally different.
Julie Michelson: Totally. And I can
Sylwia Tabor: tell you, like, at the very beginning when I was transitioning into eating meat and that was before regenerative and grass fed was just. It's becoming a thing like you could only find like one piece of grass fed at Whole Foods. That was the best thing I've ever had. Like it, I still remember it was super expensive.
Sylwia Tabor: I remember it was like 30 per pound of, of, of New York strip. And at that time I was begging my mom to buy it for me because I still live with my parents. Um, and, and it was amazing. But, you know, like now things change, you know, thanks to politics, there are different, uh, names for grass fed. Now, if you feed the cow pallet of a grass, it's considered grass fed.
Sylwia Tabor: So it, you know, raising an animal outside [00:36:00] when it's in the sun, It matters as well, because the sun also provides a certain amount of nutrients and and different energy, uh, for the cow, just like for us, just like for us. Exactly.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. Yeah. I love that. And again, that's, that's one of the, the, I think incredible things about your company is that.
Julie Michelson: You guys, it's all of the, those details you're paying attention to. And, and, you know, we want to eat happy animals for, you know, moral reasons, but also for our health. It really does make a difference. Um, and so I just, I'm so glad I have all of my clients. I'm like here. Try, you have to try that because I'm always telling, I'm big on what I call purse snacks or truck snacks, depending on snacks.
Julie Michelson: I, you know, I don't leave the house. It, even if I, if I meet with clients in person at the clinic, you know, they know, I [00:37:00] always, you know, they'll be like, do you have any, do you have any food in your purse? Like they know I always have. And I think everybody should because you don't want to be in a jam. Like we need protein and it's so important.
Sylwia Tabor: It is so easy to just grab anything unhealthy that you really, really agree. You forget that, you know, that, Oh yeah, I've decided to not eat this, you know, sugar anymore. But when you're hungry at that point, it's like, your brain is just like, I just want to eat. I don't care what it is. I just want to eat.
Sylwia Tabor: So yeah, I totally understand that.
Julie Michelson: I love it. I love it. And actually for everybody listening, if you go to carnivore snacks with an X dot com slash navigate, you'll get 15 percent off your first order. That's how much I love their stuff. It's amazing. Um, Sylvia, what is one step that listeners and it could, it may not have to do with food or it can, but what's one [00:38:00] step that people can take starting today to improve their health?
Sylwia Tabor: One step and I,
Sylwia Tabor: I think is. really just figuring out how you as a individual operate. Because oftentimes, you know, we hear all this advice from other people, this is what works for me, this is what works for, for that person, and this person, you end up trying that and falling into even worse place than you were. But if you figure out, let's say you're somebody who wants to start working out, you know, and you hear some influencer on Instagram saying that, you know, the only way, um, the best way to work out is in the morning in a fasted state, because, um, that's where the most So you get the most benefits, but if you're not somebody who has the time in the morning, um, [00:39:00] and has time, maybe at noon, if you work office job and can go for a walk, like, that's great, you know, Figure out the way, um, that works best for you in order to implement whatever changes you want to make and do it your way.
Sylwia Tabor: You know, somebody's way, somebody else's way is not the only way. Just figure out for yourself and just have a plan. And go after it. Yeah.
Julie Michelson: Go get it. Go get it. Before we wrap up, where's the best place? And we'll have all the links in the show notes, but for people listening on the go, where's the best place to find you or carnivore snacks or where can they learn more?
Sylwia Tabor: I am mostly on Instagram at
Sylwia Tabor: And carnivoresnacks is at carnivore. snacks with an x at the end on Instagram. And the website is carnivoresnacks. com. Yes. So we have a lot [00:40:00] of cool stuff coming up. Um, if If anybody wants to subscribe or try out our product, um, use the link, uh, Julie mentioned for a discount. And yeah, if you guys want to connect on Instagram, I'm always there.
Sylwia Tabor: Well, not always sometimes, but that's good. I'm glad you're not always
Julie Michelson: there.
Sylwia Tabor: Yeah. I'm not always there.
Julie Michelson: She's
Sylwia Tabor: popping in and
Julie Michelson: out. I'm mostly at carnival
Sylwia Tabor: snacks, but I'll hop in sometimes.
Julie Michelson: I love it. Sylvia, thank you so much for sharing your journey with us and for bringing carnivore snacks to the world. It was definitely, definitely needed and they're delicious.
Julie Michelson: So keep, keep those ideas, keep growing, keep doing what you're doing, um, because the world needs carnivore snacks.
Sylwia Tabor: Thank you so much. And thank you for spreading the word and doing what you're doing because we definitely need more people like you.
Julie Michelson: My pleasure. [00:41:00] For everyone listening, remember you can get the show notes and transcripts by visiting inspiredliving.
Julie Michelson: shell. I hope you had a great time and enjoyed this episode as much as I did. Go get those carnivore snacks. I'll see you next week.
​[00:42:00]
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Sylwia Tabor
Sylwia Tabor is a self-experimenter who is on a mission of finding new ways and rediscovering ancestral ways of achieving optimal physical, mental, and spiritual health while helping others along the way. After years on a vegan diet and struggling with mold illness (aka CIRS) Lyme disease and other co-infections she found healing through the carnivore diet. Her passion for high quality food and supporting local businesses led her to creating Carnivore Snax.
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