Unlock Explosive Running Performance with the Carnivore Diet: The Ultimate Animal-Based Nutrition Secret

For runners seeking to optimize their performance, the carnivore diet has emerged as a controversial yet potentially beneficial approach. This article explores the carnivore diet's impact on runners, drawing on both anecdotal evidence and expert opinions to provide a comprehensive understanding of its advantages and disadvantages.

Introduction: The Quest for Optimal Performance

Runners are constantly seeking ways to improve their performance, whether it's shaving off seconds from their personal best or increasing their endurance for longer distances. Nutrition plays a crucial role in achieving these goals, and many runners experiment with different diets to find what works best for them. The carnivore diet, an extreme form of eating that consists exclusively of animal products, has gained traction in recent years, with some athletes reporting significant improvements in their performance and overall health.

Alan's Carnivore Journey: A Runner's Transformation

Alan, a 61-year-old runner, provides a compelling example of the carnivore diet's potential benefits. Having struggled with his weight and health for years, Alan turned to the carnivore diet and experienced a remarkable transformation. He had battled with his weight all his life and was his heaviest, at 305 pounds. About five years ago, he decided to lose weight because he was metabolically ill. He describes his weight loss as seven months of starving himself and got down to 195 pounds.

Transitioning to Carnivore

Alan started running and then began training for marathons, but he had a hard time figuring out what to eat to give him energy and keep his weight down. He wanted to stay lean so he could run faster, so he ate a lot of chicken and broccoli and counted calories. The high-fiber veggies gave him gas and made him bloat. He describes feeling cold, tired, hungry, and exhausted, with a lot of muscle aches. Plus, he had no muscle mass. Although he felt better after his weight loss, he says that “it really wasn’t sustainable.” Alan wanted to qualify for the Boston Marathon and started searching for something to help him have better energy when he trained.

Like many athletes, Alan was searching for a way to improve his performance, and he discovered how saturated fats may be good for you. Alan started keto about a year ago, eating lean meats, such as chicken breasts, along with lots of low-carb veggies. Keto helped with his recovery but not his muscle mass. About seven months ago, Alan challenged a family member to start eating the “beef, bacon, and eggs diet.” His carnivore journey had begun.

Alan's digestive issues are completely resolved. Overall, he “trained more, felt better, got more sleep, and had constant energy.” The biggest change for him was his recovery. He went from training five days per week to six and increased his miles from 45 to 65 per week. Alan started with a few pushups and squats-no weights-and within a month, he was getting abs. He gained an inch on his quads, glutes, and arms.

Improved Performance and Recovery

Alan qualified for the Boston Marathon with a time of 3:43. After carnivore; he improved his marathon time by 11 percent. He says he doesn’t need carbs to train and trains fast every morning.

He says that carnivore has eliminated his carb and sugar addictions, and he’s satiated after a meal. He eats a lot of beef and eggs, salts his food, and uses electrolytes because he sweats so much. He eats a 20-ounce ribeye, a few slices of bacon, and 4 or 5 eggs for breakfast and another ribeye or 1.5 pounds of very fatty ground beef at dinner.

Alan wants to help people get healthier and tells everyone he can about his success as a carnivore.

Understanding the Carnivore Diet

The carnivore diet is a restrictive eating plan that eliminates all plant-based foods, focusing solely on animal products. This includes meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and some dairy products. The diet is based on the premise that humans evolved eating primarily meat and that plant-based foods contain toxins and antinutrients that can be harmful to our health.

What to Eat on the Carnivore Diet

The carnivore diet consists exclusively of animal products. That means you can say goodbye to fruits, vegetables, grains, and processed foods.

Potential Benefits for Runners

While the carnivore diet may seem extreme, some runners have reported several benefits, including:

Sustained Energy: The carnivore diet places a strong emphasis on protein and fat, which provides a consistent and long-lasting source of energy. Unlike the energy spikes and crashes associated with high-carb diets, energy levels remain stable throughout training sessions.
Enhanced Recovery: Adequate protein intake is crucial for muscle recovery and repair. With the carnivore diet, athletes are able to bounce back from intense training sessions faster, reducing the risk of injury and muscle soreness.
Reduced Inflammation: Inflammation is the enemy of endurance athletes. The anti-inflammatory nature of the carnivore diet helps athletes recover more quickly and reduce exercise-induced inflammation, allowing them to train harder and more consistently.
Efficient Fat Burning: The carnivore diet promotes ketosis, a state in which the body burns fat for fuel. This transition to fat metabolism helps athletes tap into their body's fat stores, making it easier to maintain a lean and efficient physique.
Improved Endurance: Running long distances requires a reliable and sustainable energy source. The carnivore diet's focus on fats as a primary fuel allows athletes to increase their endurance and run longer distances without hitting a wall.
Elimination of Carb and Sugar Cravings: The carnivore diet can eliminate carb and sugar addictions, leading to increased satiety after meals.
Improved Gut Health: The carnivore diet acts as something of a fasting mimetic by being a low-residue diet, meaning the carnivore diet acts as something of a fasting mimetic by being a low-residue diet. Many health and performance issues start in the gut. Removal of these digestive and neuroimmune insults results in a drastic upfront minimization of gut injury for most. A reduction in them (and the other listed digestive insults) is responsible for a good amount of the benefits, including visual body composition changes.

Potential Drawbacks and Considerations

Despite the potential benefits, the carnivore diet also has several drawbacks and considerations:

Nutrient Deficiencies: The carnivore diet lacks nutrient robustness, some of which can (and can’t) be supplemented effectively. Carnivore can result in nutrient deficiencies, chief among them being mineral and electrolyte balance. Electrolytes are foundational for cellular processes underpinning general health, as well as muscle actions.
Lack of Fiber: The diet has minimal/zero fiber.
Hormonal Imbalance: A diet prioritizing carbohydrates while neglecting dietary fat can disrupt hormonal balance, which is crucial for energy, recovery, and overall well-being. Essential fatty acids are needed for the production of hormones like cortisol, testosterone, and estrogen.
Electrolyte Imbalance: Low-carb diets can increase sodium and potassium losses.
The "Carnivore Flu": Eliminating carbs overnight can be jarring and will result in dramatic drops to your energy levels and overall performance. It’s worth noting that your body will quickly adapt to using fat for fuel instead of carbs. In the meantime, though, the “carnivore flu” can be tough. You may feel more fatigued, and you might deal with a bit of digestive discomfort, like carnivore diet constipation.
Long-Term Sustainability: Nutrition is a race best run as a marathon, not a sprint. The carnivore diet could be followed short term as a potential way to silence autoimmune issues…but it shouldn’t be followed long term.

Expert Opinions: A Balanced Perspective

The carnivore diet is a polarizing topic, with experts holding varying opinions on its efficacy and safety.

Matt Cooper: A Cautious Approach

Coach and nutritionist Matt Cooper points out why it works and why it doesn’t. He makes the case that the carnivore diet could be followed short term as a potential way to silence autoimmune issues…but it shouldn’t be followed long term.

Cooper highlights several potential drawbacks of the carnivore diet:

Impaired Glucose Metabolism: Totally eliminating carbs can also impair your ability to metabolize as much glucose as before. This is the opposite of what we want for health and performance.
Reduced Explosiveness: The primary fuel for fast-twitch muscle fibers. This matches the observed reality, wherein low-carb endurance athletes tend to be minimally explosive.
Hormonal Issues: Needed to convert T4 to T3 in thyroid hormone manufacture
Stress Hormone Release: By eliminating/mitigating carbs (a readily available energy source), your body has to “mine” for energy from fat. This is not only energetically/metabolically inefficient for needing ready-made energy (e.g., to fuel short, athletic bursts), but it also coincides with the excessive release of stress hormones like adrenaline, norepinephrine, glucagon, and cortisol.
Compromised Cellular Structure: Carbs are also important for vasodilation and protect against damage to proteins. They’re simply critical for maintaining/stabilizing cellular structure.

However, Cooper also acknowledges potential benefits:

Increased Nutrient Content: The carnivore diet can layer in more vitamins found only in animal products: retinol, creatine, K2-MK4, vitamin A, taurine, heme-iron, etc. This will create a highly pronounced positive effect in those coming from the plant-based or low-protein diet side of things.
Improved Protein:Energy Ratio: Those with larger body composition renovation goals may need to improve their ratio of protein to both carbs and fat (energy).
Gut Rest: The nature of carnivore translates to more gut rest-meaning the carnivore diet acts as something of a fasting mimetic by being a low-residue diet.

Patrick McGilvray: A Change of Heart

Patrick McGilvray, an experienced marathoner, ultra-runner, Master Life Coach, and weight loss coach for runners, shares his personal journey of switching from a plant-based diet to an omnivorous diet that includes meat again.

McGilvray explains that he had been a proponent of a plant-based diet for the last 9 or 10 years but has recently changed his mind about eating meat. He acknowledges that this may come as a surprise to some, but he wants to be transparent about his decision and explain what led him to make this switch.

McGilvray emphasizes that he is not trying to convince anyone to do what he does or that one way is right and another way is wrong. He is simply sharing his personal experience and the reasons behind his dietary change.

Practical Considerations for Runners on the Carnivore Diet

For runners considering the carnivore diet, here are some practical considerations:

Transition Gradually: Rushing the transition can lead to fatigue, brain fog, and slower recovery times, so take it one step at a time to ensure a smoother adaptation process.
Prioritize High-Quality Proteins: Always make high-quality proteins like beef, chicken, and fish the foundation of your meals.
Supplement Electrolytes: Without carbs to help you retain water you may feel as if you lose water and electrolytes faster, especially during intense workouts. You need to get enough sodium, potassium, and magnesium to avoid cramping and fatigue. This can be done through electrolyte supplements or bone broth.
Address Nutritional Gaps: Though the carnivore diet provides most of what you need from animal-based foods, there may be a few nutritional gaps you’re struggling with. Magnesium is essential for muscle function and recovery. We suggest supplementing it to avoid cramping up. Omega-3 fatty acids are great for reducing inflammation and supporting rapid recovery after tough workouts as well.
Monitor Performance and Adjust: Keep track of your strength, endurance, and overall well-being during training. Don’t hesitate to tweak your meal portions or frequency to meet your body’s needs.

The Importance of Individuality

The carnivore diet is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Individual responses to different diets can vary. Factors such as genetics, activity level, and overall health can influence how a runner responds to the carnivore diet.

Consult with a Professional: It's essential to consult with a healthcare professional or nutritionist before making significant dietary changes, especially if you're an athlete.

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