The carnivore diet, an all-meat eating plan, has gained traction among fitness enthusiasts and influencers, with podcaster Joe Rogan being one of its most vocal supporters. Joe Rogan, known for his dedication to health and fitness, has taken on the carnivore diet as part of his personal nutrition plan. This meat-focused diet has been a key part of his routine, with Rogan frequently sharing his experiences and the benefits he's noticed. Despite experiencing digestive issues during his first stint on the diet, Joe Rogan has returned to the regimen, touting its benefits for weight loss and cognitive performance. However, medical experts are raising serious concerns about its long-term health effects. This article delves into Rogan's carnivore diet, exploring its potential benefits, associated risks, and overall sustainability.
What is the Carnivore Diet?
The carnivore diet consists solely of animal-based products, including meat, eggs, and dairy, while eliminating all plant-based foods such as vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes. Contrary to popular opinion, the carnivore diet isn’t restricted to meat. It includes all foods that come from animals in some shape or form. Experts claim that the high-protein, high-fat approach helps with weight loss, muscle gain, and overall health.
Core Principles:
- Animal Products Only: The core of the carnivore diet revolves around eating only meat and animal-based foods.
- No Plant Foods: Vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes are completely eliminated.
- High Protein, High Fat: Protein and fat make up the bulk of your daily intake, helping to maintain energy and muscle mass.
- Simple Food Choices: Meals are generally straightforward-steak, bacon, chicken wings, and organ meats are popular choices.
- No Carbs: Carbohydrates are removed entirely from the diet.
Joe Rogan's Carnivore Diet: A Personal Experiment
Joe Rogan first announced his 30-day experiment with the carnivore diet in January 2020. After his initial 30-day trial, he continued to cycle on and off the carnivore diet. In January 2022, he announced that he was tweaking the diet by adding fruit. His journey with the carnivore diet began in 2020 as a 30-day experiment, but it’s something he continues to focus on in his daily routine.
Motivations:
- Addressing Autoimmune Issues: One of Rogan’s main reasons for trying the carnivore diet was to see if it could help with his vitiligo, an autoimmune condition.
- Weight Loss: He also wanted to shed excess weight.
- Boosting Energy: He shared that he was seeking more consistent energy levels throughout the day.
Joe Rogan's Daily Routine on the Carnivore Diet
Each morning, Joe Rogan begins his day with a simple routine-mixing one scoop of AG1 powder with water to support his overall health. Before diving into the joe rogan carnivore diet food list, Rogan starts his day with AG1. Joe Rogan on carnivore diet appreciates the simplicity of AG1. AG1 plays an important role in the joe rogan carnivore diet plan by filling nutritional gaps and supporting overall well-being.
Joe Rogan's Carnivore Diet Plan
Joe Rogan’s carnivore diet plan revolves around simplicity and high-quality meat. He follows a pattern of eating only two meals a day-one in the morning and one in the evening.
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Typical Meals:
- Breakfast: For breakfast, he often eats eggs and bacon, a classic high-protein, high-fat meal. Also, eating just two eggs per day covers up to 30% of your daily vitamin requirements.
- Dinner: His evening meal usually features grass-fed meats like elk, bison, or steak.
- Focus on Quality: He emphasizes the importance of eating grass-fed and wild-caught meats. Rogan believes that animals raised in the wild or on grass are healthier than those raised in feedlots. Ruminant meats play an essential role in the Joe Rogan carnivore diet, providing a rich source of nutrients and high-quality protein. He frequently prepares elk using a reverse-sear technique.
- No Snacks: Snacking is not part of the carnivore diet Joe Rogan follows.
Hydration
Staying hydrated is essential when following the carnivore diet, especially as cutting out carbs can impact electrolyte balance. Rogan often adds pink Himalayan salt to his water. He adds a bit of lemon to his water, providing a boost of vitamin C. On the carnivore diet Joe Rogan follows, replenishing electrolytes is key. Keeping water on hand is important to stay hydrated throughout the day.
Key Foods in Joe Rogan's Carnivore Diet
- Salmon, particularly wild-caught King salmon, is a key part of Joe Rogan’s carnivore diet. He catches wild King salmon in Alaska and often adds it to his carnivore diet meal plan. Salmon is one of the best animal sources of magnesium, which can be tough to get enough of when eating only meat. Along with magnesium, salmon is loaded with healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals. Wild-caught salmon offers a clean and sustainable source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are important for heart health and inflammation control.
- Stocked Freezer: Joe Rogan’s carnivore diet food list includes a variety of meats.
Hunting His Own Food
A unique aspect of his carnivore diet is his passion for hunting.
Benefits Reported by Joe Rogan
- Reduced Aches and Pains: After following the carnivore diet, many of the aches and pains he had been dealing with disappeared.
- Improvement in Vitiligo: He also saw improvements in his vitiligo, a condition he’s struggled with for years.
- Steady Energy Levels: One of the highlights of Rogan’s experience was the steady energy he felt throughout the day. There were also no drastic spikes in my energy levels. Since there are zero fast-acting carbs on a carnivore diet, there are no ‘pick me up’ meals here. I can’t say I noticed a massive spike in energy, as my regular diet was all this, plus veggies and fruits, but I did notice I stopped getting sleepy during the day.
- Weight Loss: Over the 30 days, he dropped from 205 pounds to 193 pounds, a significant result from following the carnivore diet.
- Mental Clarity: I don’t know how or why (and no one does; we’re all just guessing), but my mind was super clear during this experiment. There were days when I sat in front of the computer and did what is usually a day’s worth of work in one fell swoop. I noticed the changes in the gym, too. I wouldn’t get distracted by a great song, would never lose count of the reps, and would stay laser-focused on my form no matter the exercise.
- Improved Recovery: My recovery was out of this world. I don’t know whether it was the lack of carbs or a ton of protein, but I simply wouldn’t feel soreness the next day, no matter what I did the day before. As my physiotherapist once told me, “It’s a miracle your Achilles is the only thing bothering you, considering how much you do.” Well, my Achilles has stopped bothering me two weeks into the carnivore diet. I’ve heard that the carnivore diet is life-changing for people with arthritis and chronic inflammatory illnesses, like Chron’s, but I wasn’t expecting it to help with my Achilles issue.
Potential Side Effects and Medical Concerns
Joe Rogan has acknowledged the diet's downsides. In a 2020 Instagram post, he described experiencing severe diarrhoea. "I've come to accept that if I keep going with this diet it's just a matter of time before we lose a battle, and I fill my undies like a rainforest mudslide overtaking a mountain road," he joked. Temporary Side Effects: While the benefits were notable, he did share that the first two weeks came with a temporary side effect-explosive diarrhea. My biggest concern before starting the carnivore diet was constipation. I read that most people get constipated for a few days after starting the diet, and the same thing happened to me. I’m still not back to where I was before I got started frequency-wise, and I doubt I will be. However, the consistency and other notable factors are great. I am not feeling any side effects.
In another extreme case, a Florida man who followed the diet for eight months developed yellowish nodules leaking fluid from his hands, elbows, and feet. Doctors diagnosed him with xanthelasma, a condition linked to high cholesterol and excessive fat levels in the blood.
Doctors from the Indiana University School of Medicine have warned that the carnivore diet may raise the risk of kidney stones. A case study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition highlighted a 68-year-old man who lost over 10 kg after following the diet but later developed severe kidney stone complications. Tests showed he was at high risk for calcium oxalate, calcium phosphate, and uric acid stones - conditions that only improved after quitting the diet.
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Cardiologists warn that eating too much red meat, butter, and cheese can raise bad cholesterol and increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. While avoiding refined carbs can help, experts say cutting out fibre-rich fruits and vegetables may harm health in the long run.
Is the Carnivore Diet Beneficial?
Despite these warnings, some experts believe the carnivore diet can be beneficial in specific cases. Dr Georgia Ede, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist specialising in nutritional psychiatry, argued that the diet could help identify food sensitivities, curb binge-eating, and relieve digestive issues.
"It's not possible to say with scientific certainty whether this dietary pattern (or any dietary pattern, for that matter) is ideal for everyone, but my clinical and personal experience tells me that a well-formulated carnivore diet can be uniquely healing for some of us," she told Fox News.
Personal Experience
I was never a fan of restrictive diets, but after hearing about the carnivore diet on the JRE podcast and reading about its effects and benefits, I decided to try it. Admittedly, it wasn’t until I saw the results of a medium-scale survey from 2020 that I was completely sold on the idea. That said, it has been 30 days since I embarked on this extreme meat-eating journey, and I have to say, Joe Rogan’s carnivore diet was a lot easier than I expected it to be.
Positive Aspects
- Steady Energy Levels: I can’t say I noticed a massive spike in energy, as my regular diet was all this, plus veggies and fruits, but I did notice I stopped getting sleepy during the day. There were also no drastic spikes in my energy levels. Since there are zero fast-acting carbs on a carnivore diet, there are no ‘pick me up’ meals here. This is one of the main reasons why the carnivore diet is especially popular among those struggling with type 2 diabetes.
- Endurance and Stamina: On the other hand, my muscular endurance and stamina were outstanding. This didn’t make a lot of sense to me because there were essentially no carbs in my diet, but I simply felt more durable than ever. I felt so much better when biking or running.
- Sleep Quality: I’ve seen many people struggle with insomnia when they try the carnivore diet, but thankfully, that wasn’t the case for me. That said, I can’t say I noticed any changes in my sleep schedule or quality. I never struggled with falling asleep or waking up early, which continued during my 30-day carnivore bout.
- Fat Loss: I didn’t lose much weight during my 30-day carnivore experiment, but I didn’t have that much to lose in the first place. I was always quite lean, with around 11-12% body fat, but I believe that has gone down a few points. My arms and legs were always super dry, but I carried a little bit of fat around my stomach. That stubborn belly fat is mostly gone after eating meat, eggs, and dairy for a month.
- Muscle Maintenance: Sadly, I didn’t gain any significant muscle during this 30-day meat-eating experiment. Truth be told, I was eating for maintenance. That said, it is entirely possible to gain muscle on a carnivore diet. If you eat steak or chicken breast twice a day, plus a few eggs and some dairy, you’ll easily hit your protein goals.
- Improved Recovery: My recovery was out of this world. I don’t know whether it was the lack of carbs or a ton of protein, but I simply wouldn’t feel soreness the next day, no matter what I did the day before.
- Reduced Inflammation: As my physiotherapist once told me, “It’s a miracle your Achilles is the only thing bothering you, considering how much you do.” Well, my Achilles has stopped bothering me two weeks into the carnivore diet. I’ve heard that the carnivore diet is life-changing for people with arthritis and chronic inflammatory illnesses, like Chron’s, but I wasn’t expecting it to help with my Achilles issue.
- Mental Clarity: I am not feeling any side effects. I don’t know how or why (and no one does; we’re all just guessing), but my mind was super clear during this experiment. There were days when I sat in front of the computer and did what is usually a day’s worth of work in one fell swoop. I noticed the changes in the gym, too. I wouldn’t get distracted by a great song, would never lose count of the reps, and would stay laser-focused on my form no matter the exercise.
Negative Aspects
- Constipation: My biggest concern before starting the carnivore diet was constipation. I read that most people get constipated for a few days after starting the diet, and the same thing happened to me. I’m still not back to where I was before I got started frequency-wise, and I doubt I will be. However, the consistency and other notable factors are great. I am not feeling any side effects. Now, would I struggle more if I didn’t include kefir and yogurt in my diet? Probably.
Long-Term Sustainability
Despite my overwhelmingly positive experience with the carnivore diet, I genuinely doubt eating this way is sustainable in the long run. The drawbacks are simply too obvious and too significant to ignore. Is the carnivore diet better than some other diets? That’s up for a debate. Every restrictive diet has its pros and cons, and one is not inherently better than the other.
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Dr. “It is just not a cogent thing to say that everyone should only eat meat. Some people, for special circumstances, absolutely. Many people, if they want to live a life that is also pretty healthy, can do so while mostly eating animal products and supplementing with some fiber, maybe getting a greens powder or adding a few veggies here and there. It’s totally a fine way to live, and it’s pretty healthy - not the healthiest, but totally cool.
While the carnivore diet has done me good, I doubt I’ll ever return to it. I plan to return to my regular, completely balanced diet in a month or so. Do I think some of you can benefit from a carnivore diet? Absolutely. I can see how Rogan’s “I am on a carnivore diet for 30 days every year” approach could benefit a lot of folks, especially if they struggle with arthritis or something similar, so sure, give it a try.
Conclusion
The Joe Rogan carnivore diet has shown potential benefits for weight loss, mental clarity, and certain health conditions. However, it also carries risks and may not be sustainable for everyone in the long term. It’s essential to consult with healthcare professionals before making drastic dietary changes and to consider individual health needs and potential risks.