The carnivore diet, popularized by former orthopedic surgeon Shawn Baker, MD, is a restrictive dietary approach that involves consuming primarily animal products. This article delves into the specifics of the diet, its potential benefits and risks, and provides a sample meal plan.
What is the Carnivore Diet?
The carnivore diet is a very low-carbohydrate diet that eliminates all plant-based foods, focusing solely on animal products like meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and some dairy. It is similar to the ketogenic (keto) and Atkins diets, but more restrictive, as those diets only limit carbs, while the carnivore diet cuts out all carbohydrates and other food groups, including fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds, and legumes.
Historical Context
Eating a carb-free diet isn’t a new idea. Scottish military surgeon John Rollo, MD, first used a meat-only diet to treat patients with diabetes in the late 1700s. Cutting carbs helped lower his patients’ blood sugar levels.
Shawn Baker and the Carnivore Diet
Former orthopedic surgeon Shawn Baker, MD, popularized this way of eating with the release of his 2019 book The Carnivore Diet. (Baker lost his medical license in 2017 for incompetence. It was reinstated in 2019 with the restriction that he had to be supervised.) An endorsement from comedian and podcast host Joe Rogan gave the diet even more exposure. In 2019, Rogan ate nothing but meat for 30 days and claimed that he “lost 12 pounds and gained a lot of energy.”
Baker credits his sculpted body to his tailored diet and exercise routine. Shawn Baker’s Carnivore diet consists of two things-meat and water.
Read also: How Baker Mayfield Changed His Body
How the Carnivore Diet Works
The core idea behind the carnivore diet is that by eliminating carbohydrates, the body will switch to burning fat for energy, leading to weight loss. It is also claimed that this diet can fight inflammation, lower blood sugar in people with diabetes, and improve mental health.
Carbohydrates are your body’s main energy source. When you eat carbs, your body turns them into sugar (glucose) to use for energy. The extra glucose is then stored in your muscles and liver. After that, your body converts any extra glucose to fat. When you don’t eat carbs, your body instead turns fat into ketones to use for energy. The creator of the carnivore diet claims that by cutting carbs, you’ll speed fat burning and weight loss and you won’t feel hungry. He also says a carb-free diet will improve blood sugar control in people with type 2 diabetes. And because you cut out inflammatory foods like french fries, doughnuts, and pasta, this diet is also supposed to reduce inflammation (although red meat promotes inflammation, too).
Foods Allowed and Disallowed
Foods Allowed
The carnivore diet emphasizes animal-based foods. The list of approved foods includes:
- Red Meat: Steak, burgers, chuck roast, brisket, ground beef, and steaks like New York strip, ribeye, skirt, porterhouse, and T-bone. Grass-fed beef and pork products are recommended.
- Poultry: Chicken breast, thighs, drumsticks, and wings, rotisserie chicken. Poultry raised without antibiotics is recommended.
- Pork: Pork butt, pork chops, bacon, pork ribs, pork shoulder.
- Lamb: Lamb chops, lamb shanks, ground lamb.
- Seafood: Fish like salmon, trout, and mackerel; clams, crabs, mussels, oysters, scallops, shrimp, lobster, wild fish and shellfish are recommended.
- Organ Meats: Liver, kidneys, tongue, oxtail, heart, feet, cheeks.
- Other Animal Products: Eggs, bone broth.
- Fats: Butter, fat tallow, or ghee (a type of clarified butter) for cooking.
- Seasonings: Spices like salt, pepper, chili paste, cumin, paprika, and garlic are all allowed.
Foods to eat in limited amounts:
- Cheese
- Eggs
- Heavy cream
- Milk
- Yogurt
- Bacon
- Sausage
- Cured meats
Foods to Avoid
Any foods that aren’t animal-based are off the table. This includes:
Read also: The Carnivore Diet: An Autoimmune Solution?
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Grains
- Legumes
- Nuts
- Seeds
Potential Benefits
The carnivore diet eliminates all sources of sugar, as well as refined grains and ultraprocessed foods. Diets high in sugar, refined grains and processed foods have been associated with a risk of chronic conditions such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes and mental health challenges.
The carnivore diet is a very low carbohydrate diet, which can help your body transition to burning fats for fuel. This can make your body burn fats instead of carbs, which they call being “fat-adapted.” If you choose fatty cuts of meat such as ribeye steaks, or add some butter to lean cuts, the carnivore diet can be a ketogenic diet. The carnivore diet means getting your nutritional needs met through animal products. Most people either fully eliminate plant foods or greatly reduce them. The carnivore community has been sending us thousands of success stories.
Some individuals report the following benefits:
- Weight Loss: The high protein and fat content of the carnivore diet may prevent you from feeling hungry.
- Improved Blood Sugar Control: Some people with type 2 diabetes have reported major improvements on the carnivore diet.
- Elimination Diet: The carnivore diet is a kind of elimination diet because it avoids foods that might cause inflammation or autoimmune reactions.
- Satiety: You very well may experience true satiety for the first time in a long time, perhaps ever.
One study surveyed more than 2,000 people who said they’d followed a carnivore diet for nine to 20 months. People in the study reported improvements like: Lower body mass index (BMI), More energy, Better sleep, More strength and endurance, Improved memory and focus. Most people with diabetes in the study were able to lower the dose of their diabetes medicine or go off it entirely. Overall, they said they were happy with this way of eating. One problem with this study was that the researchers didn’t know exactly what people ate. They also didn’t measure their nutrient levels or check their health. They based their results on survey answers alone. The authors say we need more research to better understand the carnivore diet.
Potential Risks and Side Effects
The carnivore diet doesn’t align with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which recommends that adults get 45% to 65% of their daily calories from carbohydrates. By cutting out entire food groups, this diet could leave you short on important vitamins and minerals. For example, vegetables are sources of fiber, potassium, vitamins A and C, and folate.
Read also: The Carnivore Diet's Impact on Sleep
One of the main risks that comes with following a carnivore diet is that it's highly restrictive and may be difficult to maintain. And if you're using it for weight loss, know that research shows you need to make lasting lifestyle changes to keep the weight off. That means that more balanced diets tend to be better for long-term health.
- Nutrient Deficiencies: Cutting out entire food groups could leave you short on the nutrients you need to stay healthy.
- Constipation: Not getting enough fiber from your diet could cause constipation.
- Diarrhea: A high-fat, high-protein diet may cause loose poop because it changes the balance of good and bad bacteria in the gut.
- Other Side Effects: People who eat this way also complain of headaches, nausea, and a lack of energy.
- Increased Cholesterol: Animal-based diets are high in saturated fat, which can raise low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. That’s the unhealthy kind of cholesterol that increases your risk of heart disease and stroke. A 2024 analysis found that diets high in saturated fats were associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Further studies find that a high saturated fat intake may also increase inflammation levels.
- High Blood Pressure: Processed meats, which the diet allows, are high in salt, which can raise blood pressure.
- Unsustainable: The carnivore diet is too restrictive - and too boring - to follow long-term. Eventually food cravings are going to kick in.
Who Should Avoid the Carnivore Diet?
Specific populations may want to avoid consideration of the carnivore diet based on genetics and health risks.
- Pregnant or Breastfeeding Women: This diet isn’t safe during pregnancy or while breastfeeding because it will leave you short on the nutrients that both you and your growing baby need.
- Individuals with Kidney Disease: If you have kidney disease, the high protein content may be too much for your kidneys to process. Kidney disease often warrants limiting protein in the diet to reduce the incidence of uric acid, which is produced by breaking down many animal products. High uric acid, or, hyperuricemia, can further damage the kidneys.
- Individuals with Gout: Studies show that a high intake of meat and seafood raises the risk of gout, a condition characterized by painful arthritis due to a buildup of uric acid crystals, typically in toes. Individuals who experience frequent flare-ups of gout are usually prescribed a diet that includes little to no meat or seafood.
- Individuals with Lipid Disorders or Existing Cardiovascular Disease: Due to its potentially high content of saturated fats and little fiber, the carnivore diet is often discouraged in patients who need a heart-healthy diet.
- Individuals Trying to Improve Their Microbiome: Fiber intake is key to better gut health because it feeds good bacteria in the gut. It also prevents constipation, reduces risk of cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and some cancers, and can assist with weight loss.
- Individuals with Diabetes, Heart Disease, or High Blood Pressure: Also avoid this diet if you have diabetes, heart disease, or high blood pressure because of the high saturated fat and sodium content.
- Individuals with a History of Eating Disorders: Fad diets are never a good idea for people who have had eating disorders. Such a restrictive diet could trigger unhealthy eating patterns.
Sample Carnivore Diet Meal Plan
Here is a sample five-day carnivore diet meal plan:
Day 1
- Breakfast: 2 eggs, scrambled in butter, with ¼ cup cheddar cheese on top.
- Lunch: 4 turkey breast slices rolled in mozzarella cheese, plus 1 cup of bone broth.
- Dinner: Meatloaf.
Day 2
- Breakfast: 1 cup plain yogurt and 2 hard-boiled eggs.
- Lunch: Turkey burger and 1 cup of bone broth.
- Dinner: Bison steak with a side of sautéed shrimp.
Day 3
- Breakfast: Bacon and eggs.
- Lunch: Soup (1 cup heavy cream and 1.5 cups bone broth with shredded chicken thigh meat in broth).
- Dinner: 6-ounce wild salmon filet, baked or grilled, with 1 cup of bone broth.
Day 4
- Breakfast: 2 fried eggs with 3 links of turkey sausage.
- Lunch: 1 pound ground chicken mixed with cotija cheese.
- Dinner: 3 large meatballs (1 pound of ground beef, 2 eggs, ¼ cup parmesan cheese, salt and pepper) plus 1 cup of bone broth.
Day 5
- Breakfast: 3 slices of turkey bacon and 2 hard-boiled eggs.
- Lunch: Wild salmon and crab burger (1 can wild salmon and 1 can crabmeat mixed with 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons butter, salt and pepper) sautéed with butter and topped with sour cream.
- Dinner: Chicken crust pizza (1 pound of ground chicken, mixed with 1 egg and formed into a round shell, then baked at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes. Take the crust out and top with mozzarella cheese and turkey sausage, then bake another 15 minutes).
Carnivore Diet Snacks:
- Cottage cheese
- Yogurt
- Bacon strips
- Sardines
- Shrimp cocktail
- Cheese sticks
- Jerky (chicken, beef and salmon)
Recipes
- Scrambled eggs with turkey: Cut 1/2 pound turkey breast into small pieces. Cook in a skillet until browned. Whisk three large eggs in a bowl with salt and pepper to taste. Move the turkey to one side of the skillet and pour the eggs onto the other side. Scramble the eggs and mix them with the turkey until the mixture is cooked through.
- Salmon patties: Cook three slices of turkey bacon and crumble. Mix bacon, two cans of salmon, 1 teaspoon of salt, and two whisked eggs in a bowl. Add 1/2 teaspoon of dill. Form into burger-sized patties. Cook in butter until browned.
- Carnivore chicken casserole: Put 1 pound of cubed rotisserie chicken into a food processor and process until chopped very fine. Add 8 ounces of cream cheese, 1 cup of sour cream, and 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese. Process until fully combined. Add 1 tablespoon of taco or Cajun seasoning and mix again. Put the mixture into a baking dish and bake at 350 F for about 45 minutes