The carnivore diet, primarily based on animal foods, has gained popularity for its potential health benefits. This article explores the benefits of the carnivore diet and delves into the controversial topic of including coffee, a “half and half” approach, and heavy cream in this restrictive eating plan.
Understanding the Carnivore Diet
The carnivore diet consists primarily of meat and meat products. The carnivore diet is based on consuming predominately animal foods to meet your nutritional needs. The carnivore diet accepts all animal meat, fish, and eggs, and excludes plant foods. Imagine only eating juicy ribeye steaks, hamburgers (with no bun of course), grilled buttery fish, nutrient-dense pastured eggs, and all of the raw dairy products your body desires. It turns out that red meat, one of the most feared foods, is the most bioavailable source of nutrients. It contains all of the protein, nutrients and fat we need to function - in just the right proportions. Many of the nutrients in meat and dairy products are easier to absorb than in vegetables because animal foods are more bioavailable.
What to Eat
- Meat: Beef, pork, chicken, bison, elk, and seafood are staples. Sourcing meat from local farmers who sell grass-fed and pasture-raised meats is important.
- Raw Dairy: Raw dairy products are never heated, so they retain their raw goodness and nutritional benefits, which would otherwise be destroyed in the pasteurization process. RAW FARM dairy products are simply tested for safety allowing the final product to be unprocessed, whole, nutrient dense, and probiotic.
- Organ Meats: The most nutrient-dense parts of the animals are the organs. My favorite organ meat is beef liver. Liver has a high concentration of vitamin A (retinol), and small amounts of Vitamin C.
- Whole Eggs: Opt for organic, pasture-raised eggs, which you can find in most grocery stores. You can have boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, poached eggs, sunny-side up eggs, omelets, or raw (yes-some people enjoy raw eggs in smoothies or in their coffee)! The options are endless.
- Animal Fats: Butter, lard, and tallow are the best fats to cook with because they are the highest in nutrients, and they do not oxidize when you cook with them, like vegetable oils do.
What to Avoid
The carnivore diet strictly prohibits vegetables. Vegetables on this diet are strictly prohibited. Also, avoid cooking in vegetable or seed oils. Cooking with vegetable oils releases high concentrations of toxic chemicals called aldehydes, which have been linked to diseases, including arthritis, heart disease, and dementia. And avoid using highly processed herbs and spices for seasoning.
Potential Benefits of the Carnivore Diet
There are many benefits to the carnivore diet. Three primary benefits are a healthier body, a sharper mind, and weight loss.
- Healthier Body: Health benefits include a healthier gut, lower blood sugar, a healthier heart, and less inflammation.
- Sharper Mind: People who switch to a meat-centric diet will get additional vitamins and minerals such as Vitamin B12, zinc, and iron. And when they're combined with lower sugar intake, you won't experience afternoon slumps from blood sugar crashing.
- Weight Loss: Many people who switch to this diet experience weight loss. This is especially true in the beginning. These calories are not providing substance or nutrients and, more often than not, contribute to fat buildup and, thus, weight gain. This is a big reason why many Americans lose weight after this dietary shift.
The "Half and Half" Approach: Coffee on the Carnivore Diet
A quick search on whether or not you can have coffee on the carnivore diet will turn up a variety of answers - and many of them are controversial. Finding the best answer for you will depend entirely on your current state of health, goals, and how strictly you want to follow the carnivore diet principles. If you’re working towards being a carnivore diet purist, then you’ll straight up have to say goodbye to the brew.
Read also: Milk Consumption: Carnivore Diet
Arguments Against Coffee
- Plant-Based: Coffee beans are a fruit from the Coffea plant, which means brewed coffee is essentially no different from the nut milk or cold-pressed green juice that’s off limits on a meat-centric diet. All plant-based foods are eliminated on the carnivore diet to help reduce your exposure to harmful plant toxins, anti-nutrients, and pesticides that are found in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and grains that can promote or worsen existing health symptoms and conditions.
- Plant Toxins: Coffee contains high levels of plant toxins, including mycotoxins. Cereal, nuts, grains, beer, dried fruit, fruit juice, wine, and coffee contain varying levels of mycotoxins, which are known carcinogens naturally produced by mold and fungi. Mycotoxins are said to be harmful to health (particularly to the gut and nervous system), even in very small amounts. The two most prevalent mycotoxins found in coffee are ochratoxin A (OTA) and aflatoxins. Both have been linked to DNA damage, kidney damage, impaired liver function, and suppressing immunity.
- Gut Irritant: Coffee is a potential gut irritant and worsens digestive symptoms. In addition to containing plant toxins, it can also worsen symptoms such as bloating, gas, poor digestion, or acid reflux.
- Insulin Spikes: Coffee may spike insulin levels. Studies suggest caffeine can raise and prolong the period of raised blood sugar levels.
- Anxiety and Sleep Issues: As a stimulant, caffeine can make existing anxiety, restlessness, and broken sleep much worse.
- Discipline: Making any exception when following a strict diet sets you up for failure and makes you less compliant in the long run.
Arguments for Coffee
- Less Harmful: Some people take a more relaxed or flexible approach to having coffee when going carnivore. A few arguments consider that coffee is low-carb, contains zero calories, and is supportive of several aspects of health, including metabolism, mood, brain function, mental focus, memory, and liver health. For these reasons, you could say that coffee is considered the “lesser of the evils” when compared to the other drinks off limits on the carnivore diet, including alcohol, soda, and other plant-based or sugary drinks.
- Fewer Mycotoxins: When you follow the carnivore diet, you’ve eliminated many other common sources of mycotoxins, including dried fruit, nuts, beer, and wine. So even with a daily cup of coffee, you’ll be getting fewer mycotoxins in your diet overall.
- Transition Aid: Since the carnivore diet is a little more extreme, keeping a cup of coffee in your diet may actually help you with the overall transition and long-term compliance, especially if it’s a ritual you really enjoy and don’t want to give up. It may also help you feel more comfortable in social settings.
- Fewer Antinutrients: While coffee still contains some antinutrients like phytic acid, it has significantly less antinutrients than other plant foods excluded from the carnivore diet, such as legumes and grains.
- Pragmatic Approach: For this reason, some people take a pragmatic or flexible approach to the carnivore diet and consider that some plant foods are less harmful than others - such as herbs, spices, or coffee in this case.
Minimizing Risks
If you're not quite ready to give up your coffee, there are a few ways you can try to limit your mycotoxin exposure.
- Wet-Processed Coffee: Coffee that’s been wet processed (versus dry processed) is said to be one of the most effective methods for removing mold and mycotoxins from coffee beans.
- Roast Level: You may be able to lessen your acrylamide exposure by choosing a light or dark brew (no middle ground). Research shows acrylamide levels increase in the middle phase of coffee roasting, with medium-dark roasted coffees containing more acrylamide than light- and dark-roasted coffees.
- Focusing on quality and choosing organic, and the other workarounds mentioned above when it comes to mold and acrylamide.
Heavy Cream on the Carnivore Diet
The inclusion of heavy cream in recipes and drinks adds complexity to the debate, making it a hot topic in the carnivore community. Heavy cream, also known as whipping cream, is a dairy product made by skimming the high-fat layers of milk. It typically contains 36 to 40 percent fat.
Arguments for Heavy Cream
- Animal-Based: While heavy cream is derived from animal milk.
- Fat Source: Heavy cream is considered a source of fat in meat-based diets.
- Culinary Uses: A version of Beef Stroganoff that uses heavy cream as the base for the sauce. A simple cream made by mixing or whipping heavy cream and butter. A soup made from chicken stock, eggs, and heavy cream. An egg custard is made by thickening a mixture of egg yolks and heavy cream. This sauce is made with heavy cream, butter, and grated Parmesan cheese. Coffee? Add raw cream.
Considerations
- Heavy cream often contains additives such as carrageenan or stabilizers, which are not strictly approved for strict carnivore diets.
- Some people have noted the potential for dairy-induced inflammation, especially from casein, manifesting as joint pain.
Choosing Heavy Cream
- Choose organic products: Organic creams are less likely to contain synthetic ingredients.
- Prioritize full-fat options: Choose cream with a fat content of 36%-40%.
- Choose local brands: They are fresher and of higher quality than products from distant locations.
- When choosing heavy cream, aim for a fat content of 36-40%, low in carbohydrates. It’s also important to consider other ingredients carefully. By choosing high-quality brands and incorporating it thoughtfully, heavy cream can enhance your meat-centric culinary experience.
Potential Drawbacks of the Carnivore Diet
There are two issues when it comes to diets relying on meat - what you’re missing out on, as well as the risk of what you could be consuming too much of.
- Nutrient Deficiencies: The chance of deficiencies in essential vitamins and minerals, including vitamin C and folate, is really high.
- Lack of Fiber: You’re also virtually eating no fibre, a nutrient that evidence shows is protective against heart disease, certain cancers and a lot of chronic diseases, as well as crucial for digestive health.
- Limited Bioactive Compounds: You could also be missing out on the variety of bioactive compounds in food, such as antioxidants. Those aren’t essential nutrients - we don’t need them to survive - but they can help us live longer.
- High Saturated Fat: This can be high in saturated fat, which tends to raise levels of bad cholesterol - a known risk factor for heart disease.
- Cancer Risk: Red meat and processed meat has also been shown to be associated with risk of cancers.
- Kidney Strain: Consuming too much protein can also put kidney function at risk.
- Gastrointestinal Issues: As a research dietitian at Monash University, clinically sees a lot of patients who have followed the carnivore diet and similar variations (keto and paleo) who are not eating enough fibre and have subsequently developed gastrointestinal symptoms or gastrointestinal disease.
Sample Carnivore Diet Meal Plan
- Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, bacon, and homemade alfredo sauce. Coffee: (optional) add a generous amount of heavy raw cream!
- Lunch: RAW FARM Plain Raw Kefir.
- Snack: Raw Liver with Raw Dairy.
- Dinner: Carnivore taco bowl. This meal is inspired by Chipotle!
Read also: Guide to Keto Half and Half
Read also: Half-and-Half Guide