The carnivore diet, particularly its strict version known as the Lion Diet, has gained popularity for its purported benefits in weight loss, mood regulation, and managing certain health conditions. This article delves into the carnivore diet, with a special focus on the Lion Diet and the potential for vitamin C deficiency.
Understanding the Carnivore and Lion Diets
The carnivore diet is a restrictive eating plan that consists entirely of meat, fish, and other animal products such as eggs and some dairy. It excludes all other foods, including fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, nuts, and seeds. Proponents of the diet often recommend limiting dairy intake to low-lactose options like butter and hard cheeses.
The Lion Diet is an even more restrictive version of the carnivore diet which includes ONLY ruminant meat (such as beef and lamb), salt, and water. Ruminant meat includes any meat from animals with rumen. Ruminant animals have multiple stomachs, hooves, and generally eat grass. They’re able to acquire nutrients from plants partly by fermenting the plants in a specialized stomach called the Rumen, through microbial action. Ruminant animals include cows, bison, deer, moose, sheep (lamb), goat, etc.
The Rationale Behind the Carnivore Diet
The carnivore diet stems from the controversial belief that human ancestral populations primarily consumed meat and fish and that high-carbohydrate diets are responsible for today’s high rates of chronic diseases. While other low-carb diets, such as the keto and paleo diets, limit carb intake, the carnivore diet aims for zero carbs.
Potential Benefits and Downsides
Weight Loss
Some aspects of the carnivore diet may lead to weight loss. High-protein and low-carb diets can promote weight loss because protein and 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.
Read also: Diet of Mountain Lions
Managing Diabetes
The carnivore diet eliminates high-carb foods like cookies, cakes, candy, sodas, and pastries, which are low in beneficial nutrients and often high in calories. Limiting these foods is often recommended to control diabetes, as high-sugar foods can spike blood sugar levels.
Potential Downsides
The carnivore diet is high in fat, cholesterol, and sodium, which may be of concern. Consuming high amounts of saturated fat may raise your LDL (bad) cholesterol, which may increase your risk of heart disease. Eating a lot of processed meats 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.
The carnivore diet eliminates highly nutritious foods like fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains, all of which contain beneficial vitamins and minerals, beneficial plant compounds and antioxidants. Following a restrictive diet like the carnivore diet may lead to deficiencies in some nutrients and the overconsumption of others.
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.
The carnivore diet may be especially problematic for certain populations, including people with chronic kidney disease, those who are more sensitive to the cholesterol in foods, children, and people who are pregnant or lactating.
Read also: Weight Loss with Alpha Lion
Sample 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
Read also: An In-Depth Look at Tamarin Feeding
- 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
The Vitamin C Question
One of the primary concerns about the carnivore diet is the potential for vitamin C deficiency, which can lead to scurvy. Vitamin C has numerous roles in the body. One role is to assist in the synthesis of collagen, which is a vital protein used structurally throughout the body. When collagen synthesis is down, we see some of the classic symptoms of scurvy, such as bleeding gums, loss of teeth, joint dysfunction, and nonhealing wounds. The body also uses vitamin C to help form carnitine, and vitamin C acts as an antioxidant that plays a role in modulating our immune systems.
Why Scurvy Isn't Common on the Carnivore Diet
Several factors contribute to why scurvy is not commonly observed in individuals following a carnivore diet:
- Fresh Meat: Fresh meat, unlike dried and preserved meats, contains a small but sufficient amount of vitamin C.
- Vitamin C Absorption: Glucose can directly compete with vitamin C absorption because they share a cellular transporter. In a meat-only diet, glucose is effectively zero in the intestines; thus, vitamin C becomes more available.
- Endogenous Antioxidants: In the presence of a low-carbohydrate diet, we see an increase in some of our endogenous antioxidants (that is, our body makes them).
- Collagen Synthesis: When you eat a meat-rich diet, some of those molecules are absorbed in the already hydroxylated form via specific gut transporters; therefore, you likely require less vitamin C.
A Personal Anecdote
One person who practiced the carnivore diet for a year showed, towards the end, signs of vitamin C deficiency, including huge bruises under the skin with the slightest impact, stiffened joints, teeth that become loose and crumbling, and fatigue.
Practical Recommendations
- Testing: Everyone on the Lion Diet and figuring out their health should have their micronutrients and vitamins tested and stool tested at least once at the beginning of your health journey so you have some data. If you do the diet for a while and feel good, then start feeling bad, test again.
- Supplementation: If bloodwork done shows you are lacking a vitamin or nutrient, either before or while on the diet, supplementing is a good idea.
- Mold Exposure: If your vitamins are depleted, the first thing you should check is whether you have been or are currently being exposed to mold or a water-damaged building.
- Organ Consumption: Eating excess amounts of organs and supplementing organs may cause high levels of vitamin A and vitamin C deficiency if you’re on an only meat diet. I do not recommend constant organ supplementing. On occasion is fine.
The Lion Diet for Specific Conditions
Autism Spectrum Disorder
There are not that many who discussed Autism, so I want to do my part!
Mood and Autoimmune Disorders
People with mood disorders or autoimmune disorders or idiopathic disorders that have no other place to turn to, should think seriously about trying this, and being strict. There is evidence from thousands of anecdotal stories and a number of case studies that eating only ruminant meat can heal leaky gut.
Histamine Intolerance
Histamine intolerance can look like as little as a runny nose while/after eating to a flushed face, diarrhea, bloating, and even vomiting after eating high histamine foods. Histamine intolerance is often caused by a damaged gut. And once the gut is damaged, it can prevent gut healing if there's an excess intake that your body cannot manage. A DAO enzyme can help your body breakdown histamine significantly.
Easing Into the Diet
For people who are very ill, reducing carb intake and “weaning” into the diet may be the appropriate path. Some people can jump right in. If you’re very sick I recommend weaning carbs for a few months leading into the diet.
- Month 1: No grains or dairy, drink only water. That’s going to be much lower in inflammatory foods right away. Sparkling water is fine.
- Month 2: Remove soy, and legumes, and eat only meat, vegetables, and some fruit. Eat meat first at each meal so you end up eating mostly meat.
- Month 3: (If your symptoms haven’t been alleviated by the Month 1 or Month 2 diet, continue to the Lion Diet)
Problematic Foods
- Gluten: Gluten is composed of two proteins; gliadin and glutenin. Gliadin is really not good for people. The gluten molecule can be found in wheat, rye, barley, kamut, spelt, and those foods are everywhere. There is hard evidence it causes leaky gut in everyone.
- Dairy: The dairy industry has everyone convinced that you need milk to have healthy bones. This is a blatant lie. The highest rates of osteoporosis are in countries that drink milk.
- Soy: For people who have joint problems or mood problems, soy isn’t a good idea. For men, soy really isn’t a good idea.
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