The carnivore diet, an extremely restrictive dietary approach, has gained popularity due to claims of weight loss and improvements in various health issues. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the carnivore diet, including what it entails, its potential benefits and drawbacks, and whether it's a safe and sustainable approach to eating.
What is the Carnivore Diet?
The carnivore diet is a restrictive diet that includes only 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. Proponents of the diet emphasize eating fatty cuts of meat to reach daily energy needs, and organ meats such as liver, to ensure intake of vitamins low in other cuts of meat such as vitamin C.
The carnivore diet stems from the controversial 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. It aims for zero carbs, unlike other popular low-carb diets, like the keto and paleo diets, which limit but don’t exclude carb intake.
Shawn Baker, an American orthopedic doctor, is the most well-known proponent of the carnivore diet. He cites testimonials from those who follow the carnivore diet as proof that it can treat depression, anxiety, arthritis, obesity, diabetes, and more. However, no controlled studies have analyzed the effects of the carnivore diet.
What You Can and Cannot Eat
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.
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Foods to Eat:
- Meat: beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, pork, etc.
- Organ meats: Liver, kidney, sweatbread, tripe, heart, brain
- Fish: salmon, mackerel, sardines, crab, lobster, tilapia, herring, etc.
- Other animal products: eggs, lard, bone marrow, bone broth, etc.
- Low-lactose dairy (in small amounts): heavy cream, hard cheese, butter, etc.
- Water
- According to some proponents of the diet, salt, pepper, and seasonings with no carbs are allowed.
Foods to Avoid:
- Vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, green beans, peppers, etc.
- Fruits: apples, berries, bananas, kiwi, oranges, etc.
- High-lactose dairy: milk, yogurt, soft cheese, etc.
- Legumes: beans, lentils, etc.
- Nuts and seeds: almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, pistachios, etc.
- Grains: rice, wheat, bread, quinoa, pasta, etc.
- Alcohol: beer, wine, liquor, etc.
- Sugars: table sugar, maple syrup, brown sugar, etc.
- Beverages other than water: soda, coffee, tea, fruit juice, etc.
Potential Benefits of the Carnivore Diet
Due to the limited research on the carnivore diet, it is difficult to state the diet’s benefits. They can only be assumed based on the knowledge we have about other diet and macro nutrients.
Weight Loss:
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, as well as fat, can help you feel more full after meals, which may lead to reduced calorie intake 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 and eat fewer calories overall - at least in the short term.
Blood Sugar Regulation:
Since the carnivore diet excludes carbs, it eliminates cookies, cakes, candy, sodas, pastries, and similar high-carb foods. These foods are low in beneficial nutrients and often high in calories. Thus, they should be limited in a healthy, balanced diet. High-sugar foods can also be problematic for people with diabetes, as they can spike blood sugar levels. In fact, limiting refined carbs and sugary foods is often recommended to control diabetes.
Due to the removal of highly processed carbohydrates in the carnivore diet, you might see some early benefits such as improved blood pressure, reduced belly fat, and improved cardiovascular health. Whether these benefits are lasting, however, is less clear.
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Risks and Downsides of the Carnivore Diet
Due to its highly restrictive nature and complete elimination of the majority of food groups, there are many downsides to the carnivore diet.
High in Fat, Cholesterol, and Sodium:
Given that the carnivore diet consists solely of animal foods, it can be high in saturated fat and cholesterol. Saturated fat may raise your LDL (bad) cholesterol, which may increase your risk of heart disease. However, recent studies have shown that the link between saturated fat intake and heart disease risk may not be as strong as previously believed. Still, consuming high amounts of saturated fat on the carnivore diet may be of concern. No research has analyzed the health 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 excessive sodium intake, which has been linked to an increased risk of high blood pressure, kidney disease, and other negative health outcomes.
Red and 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 eliminates highly nutritious foods like fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains, all of which contain beneficial vitamins and minerals. While meat is nutritious and provides many 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.
Read also: Guidelines for Carnivore Diet Fat
What’s more, diets that are rich in plant-based foods have been associated with a lower risk of certain long-term 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 as a side effect. 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 colon cancer.
In fact, one review found that a high-protein, low-carb diet may increase your risk for gut inflammation. When your body digests large amounts of protein, it creates potentially harmful byproducts in your gut. These byproducts may have a negative effect on the health of your bowels. Overall, following the carnivore diet may harm your gut health.
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. Also, those who are more sensitive to the cholesterol in foods, or cholesterol hyper-responders, should be cautious about consuming so many high-cholesterol foods. Furthermore, certain populations with special nutrient needs would likely not meet them on the carnivore diet. This includes children and people who are pregnant or lactating. Lastly, those who have anxiety about food or a history of disordered eating should not try this diet.
Sustainability:
The carnivore diet is difficult to follow long term and does not offer much variety.
A Sample Carnivore Diet Menu
Here’s a five-day sample menu for the carnivore diet:
Day 1
- Breakfast: eggs, bacon, sardines
- Lunch: turkey burger patty, salmon jerky, beef tips
- Dinner: filet mignon, crab, chicken liver
- Snacks: a small amount of Parmesan cheese, jerky
Day 2
- Breakfast: shrimp, eggs, a small glass of heavy cream
- Lunch: strip steak, tuna fish, beef jerky
- Dinner: lamb chops, scallops, beef liver
- Snacks: a small amount of hard Cheddar cheese, bone broth
Day 3
- Breakfast: eggs, salmon, turkey sausage
- Lunch: sweetbreads, pork chops, mackerel
- Dinner: turkey burger patty, a small amount of Parmesan cheese, bone marrow
- Snacks: hard-boiled eggs, shrimp
Day 4
- Breakfast: trout, shredded chicken, bacon
- Lunch: beef meatballs, small amount Cheddar cheese, salmon jerky
- Dinner: crab cooked in lard, filet mignon
- Snacks: sardines, beef jerky
Day 5
- Breakfast: eggs, chicken and turkey sausage links
- Lunch: lamb roast, chicken liver, pork chop
- Dinner: flank steak, scallops cooked in butter, a small glass of heavy cream
- Snacks: bone broth, turkey jerky
Addressing the "Does Meat Have Carbs?" Question
Most people assume that all meat is completely carb-free, but the reality is a little different.
The short answer is no. Since meat is the main food source on a Carnivore Diet, it is not surprising that muscle tissue contains no carbohydrates. After all, living animals store glycogen (a form of carbohydrate) in their muscles. However, when an animal is slaughtered, those glycogen stores quickly deplete. Enzymes continue breaking glycogen down into lactic acid, which tenderizes the meat. By the time the meat reaches your plate, almost all glycogen is gone, leaving practically no digestible carbohydrates behind.
This explains why a steak, a chicken thigh, or a piece of fish will list zero grams of carbohydrates per serving on a nutrition label. This makes meat the ultimate macro-friendly food for Keto and Carnivore dieters: rich in protein and fat, yet free of blood sugar-spiking carbs.
The only real exceptions are organ meats like liver, which contain some glycogen, and certain seafoods. But compared to fruits, grains, or even dairy, the carb amounts in meat are too small.
Fresh cuts of meat such as steak, pork chops, chicken breast, and lamb contain 0 grams of carbohydrates. Organ meats, like liver, retain small levels of carbohydrates (glycogen). Beef liver has about 3-4 grams of carbs per 100 g, while chicken liver contains about 0.9-1 gram. Most fish, including salmon, tuna, sardines, and cod, contain 0 grams of carbs. However, shellfish can contain small amounts: Oysters: ~5 g carbs per 100 g, Mussels: ~7 g carbs per 100 g, Squid: ~3 g carbs per 100 g, Shrimp: 0 g carbs.
While fresh meats are nearly carb-free, processed and cured meats contain added carbohydrates. Ingredients like sugar, starch, breadcrumbs, or marinades can easily sneak into sausages, deli meats, and even bacon.
Carnivore vs. Ketovore vs. Keto vs. Low-Carb
When comparing the diets, the allowed carbohydrate grams start at the ground floor, with a carnivore diet aiming for an ideal of zero carbs per day. Ketovore was introduced to make that ideal a bit more manageable. As a ketovore dieter, you can have up to 10 grams of carbs. The next step up is keto, which allows 20 to 50 grams. If you choose to follow a low-carb diet, you can eat anything that a keto dieter eats and boost your carb intake to between 50 and 125 total carbs per day.