Carnivore Diet

The Carnivore Diet consists entirely of meat and animal products, excluding all other foods.
It could weight loss, mood issues, and blood sugar regulation.

The Carnivore Diet eliminates all foods except meat and animal products. Loaded with salt and fat.

What is the Carnivore Diet?

The Carnivore Diet is a diet that only includes meat, fish, and other animal foods like eggs and certain dairy products.
It excludes all other foods, including fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, nuts, and seeds.
Its proponents also recommend eliminating or limiting dairy intake to foods that are low in lactose — a sugar found in milk and dairy products — such as butter and hard cheeses.

The Carnivore Diet stems from belief that human ancestral populations ate mostly meat and fish.
And that high-carb diets are to blame for today’s high rates of chronic disease.

Other popular low-carb diets, like the keto and paleo diets, limit but don’t exclude carb intake. However, the Carnivore Diet aims for zero carbs.

SUMMARY

The Carnivore Diet just includes meat, eggs, and small amounts of low-lactose dairy products. Testimonials from those who follow the diet claim that it can help treat several health issues.

How to follow the Carnivore Diet?

Following the diet involves eliminating all plant foods from your diet and exclusively eating meat, fish, eggs, and small amounts of low-lactose dairy products.
Foods to eat include beef, chicken, pork, lamb, turkey, organ meats, salmon, sardines, white fish, and small amounts of heavy cream and hard cheese. Butter, lard, and bone marrow are also allowed.
Proponents of the diet emphasize eating fatty cuts of meat to reach a daily energy needs.
The Carnivore Diet encourages drinking water and bone broth but discourages drinking tea, coffee, and other drinks made from plants.
It provides no specific guidelines regarding calorie intake, serving sizes, or how many meals or snacks to eat per day. Most proponents of the diet suggest eating as often as you desire.

SUMMARY

Following the Carnivore Diet involves eating only meat, fish, and animal products, eliminating all other foods. It provides no guidelines on calorie intake, serving size, or meal timing.

Can it help you lose weight?

Certain aspects of the Carnivore Diet may lead to weight loss. Specifically, some studies have shown that high-protein and low-carb diets can promote weight loss.
This is mostly because protein can help you feel more full after meals and subsequent weight loss. Protein can also increase your metabolic rate, helping you burn more calories.
Therefore, following the Carnivore Diet would likely cause you to feel fuller.

One 3-month study in 132 adults with excess weight or obesity compared the weight loss effects of 4 energy-restricted diets containing varying amounts of carbs and protein.
Those who ate high-protein diets with 0.4–0.6 grams of protein per pound (0.9–1.3 grams per kg) of body weight per day lost significantly more weight and fat mass than those who ate 0.3–0.4 grams of protein per pound (0.6–0.8 grams per kg) of body weight per day.

Other studies show similar results, suggesting that increasing protein intake and reducing carb intake may lead to more sustained weight loss than diets that are lower in protein and higher in carbs.

The highly restrictive nature of the Carnivore Diet may make it difficult to follow long term.

SUMMARY

Increasing protein intake and reducing carb intake may help you lose weight.

Benefits of the Carnivore Diet

Since the Carnivore Diet excludes carbs, it eliminates cookies, cakes, candy, sodas, pastries, and similar high-carb foods.
These foods are no beneficial nutrients and are often high in calories. They should be limited in a healthy, balanced diet.
High sugar foods can also be problematic for anyone, specially to people with diabetes, as they can spike blood sugar levels. In fact, limiting refined carbs and sugary foods is often recommended to control diabetes.

SUMMARY

The Carnivore Diet does not include refined carbs or sugary foods, which can spike your blood sugar levels.

Downsides of the Carnivore Diet

Due to its highly restrictive nature and complete elimination of the carbohydrates, may be downsides to the Carnivore Diet.

High in fat, cholesterol, and sodium

The Carnivore Diet consists solely of animal foods.
It may be high in saturated fat and cholesterol.
Recent studies have shown that high intakes of saturated fat and cholesterol ARE NOT strongly linked to a higher risk of heart disease, as was previously believed.
No research has analyzed the effects of eating animal foods exclusively.
Therefore, the effects of consuming such high levels of fat and cholesterol are unknown.
Moreover, some processed meats, especially bacon and breakfast meats, also contain high amounts of sodium.
Eating a lot of these foods on the Carnivore Diet can lead to high sodium intake.
What if eating high amount of sodium with carbohydrates combined and sugar together has been linked to an increased risk of high blood pressure, kidney disease, and other negative health outcomes.
Processed meat intake has also been linked to higher rates of certain types of cancer, including colon and rectal cancer.

MAY lack certain micronutrients and beneficial plant compounds
The Carnivore Diet is carbohydrates free foods like fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains.
All of them contain beneficial vitamins and minerals that MAY be absorbed by the human digestive system.
While meat is nutritious and provides micronutrients, it should not be the only part of your diet.
Following a restrictive diet like the Carnivore Diet MAY lead to deficiencies in some nutrients and the overconsumption of others.
Diets that are rich in PLANT-BASED foods, have been associated but not proven, with a lower risk of certain chronic conditions like heart disease, certain cancers, Alzheimer’s, and type 2 diabetes.
This is not only due to the high vitamin, fiber, and mineral contents of plant foods but also their beneficial plant compounds and antioxidants.
The Carnivore Diet does not contain these compounds and has not been associated with any long-term health benefits.
Does not provide fiber
Fiber, a non-digestible carb that promotes gut health and healthy bowel movements, is only found in plant foods.
Thus, the Carnivore Diet contains no fiber, which MAY lead to constipation in SOME people.
Additionally, fiber is incredibly important for the proper balance of bacteria in your gut. In fact, suboptimal gut health can lead to a number of issues and may even be linked to weakened immunity and colon cancer.
May not be suited for some populations
The Carnivore Diet may be especially problematic for certain populations.
For example, those who need to limit their protein intake, including people with chronic kidney disease, should not follow the diet.

SUMMARY

The Carnivore Diet MAY be high in fat, in fat cuts and MAY contain excessive amounts of sodium, in processed meats. It contains no fiber or plant compounds and MAY provide inadequate amounts of certain nutrients.