The carnivore diet also can be referred to as a “zero carb diet” and consists primarily of animal based foods. The carnivore diet can also be classified as a type of ketogenic diet.
Ketogenic diets promote eating very low carb, high fat, and a moderate level of protein. Eating this way normalizes blood glucose, lowers insulin, and generates high levels of ketones, which can be used by the body as fuel.
Many carnivore diet gurus on the internet praise the nutritional qualities of red meat. The health benefits of red meat are given high praise for good reason. It is rich in all of the b vitamins, many essential minerals like sodium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, copper, zinc and packed with protein with all 9 of the essential amino acids needed for survival. Essential nutrients are a particular type of nutrient that we need to live, but need to obtain through dietary means or supplementation, because the human body is unable to create the nutrients endogenously.
Circling back to the animal based and the nutritional aspect of carnivore, there are virtually zero carbs in most animal foods. Some animal foods that do have carbs like shellfish, organ meats, and milk. Milk actually has all three macronutrients: protein, fat, and carbohydrate. The mission of many people starting a carnivore diet is weight loss, but many carnivore influencers promote the overall health benefits and health optimization carnivore provides. Some other benefits of the carnivore diet are: normalized blood pressure, stable blood glucose, improved insulin sensitivity, positive mood, balanced hormones, healthy libido, increased athletic performance, appetite control and elimination of food cravings.
Carnivore Diet Influencers
Dr. Ken Berry is a prolific voice online and has a YouTube channel. After watching his video on the carnivore diet, it inspired me to start carnivore last summer. Dr. Berry has a great approach on explaining health topics in his videos, as well as sprinkling a bit of humor throughout on occasion. I chuckle every time he says grass fed, panda-massaged meat. Here’s a video of Dr. Berry explaining how to get started with the carnivore diet.
What Makes the Carnivore Diet Different From Other Diets?
As I mentioned above, the carnivore diet heavily emphasizes consumption of animal based foods only. Many carnivore experts sing the praises of meats from ruminant animals in particular (I’ll discuss more about what animals are ruminants, what classifies animals as ruminants, and what the benefits are for eating meat from ruminant animals).
The goal of the carnivore diet is to consume as few carbs as possible and only consume nutrient rich foods, like red meat. Cutting out high glycemic carbohydrates offers the body an opportunity to normalize blood glucose levels and causes insulin levels to drop drastically. With insulin levels being low, the body is able to release and mobilize body fat through a process called lipolysis(fat burning).
Dr. Shawn Baker is another voice online that has many years of personal experience with the carnivore diet. Dr. Baker is an orthopedist that also makes YouTube videos that delve into many different health related subjects. Here is a video of Dr. Baker on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. In the clip Shawn and Joe talk about: ultra processed junk food and its implications on our health, corruption of the American Dietetics Association, effects of sugar consumption, the nefarious ambitions behind the creation of food companies like Kellogg’s, and how anthropological and “peer reviewed medical studies” are meant to mislead people.
Dr. Anthony Chaffee is an American neurosurgeon that practices in Australia and enlightens many people about the benefits of carnivore on his YouTube channel. Dr. Chaffee even gave a lecture called “Plants are Trying to Kill You”. In this lecture he highlights the harmful anti-nutrients found in plants that are edible (oxalates, lectins, tannins, hormone disrupters, cyanide, phytates, and even carcinogens) and states they can be problematic for those dealing with a leaky gut or autoimmune disorders. He continues to say fiber is not needed for optimal health and can cause bowel issues if fiber is over consumed.
It recommended to do a high fat version of carnivore to avoid a dangerous condition from excess protein called “rabbit starvation”, which is another term for protein poisoning. Generally you want to consume 70% of your calories from fat and for others 80% is ideal, and 20%-30% protein respectively. Consuming dietary fat and in particular saturated fat, has many health benefits. Fats balance many hormones (leptin, ghrelin, insulin, testosterone, and estrogen), acts as a co-factor for absorption of fat soluble vitamins: A,D,E, and K, blunts the rise of blood glucose acting as a buffer, and keeps appetite at bay for longer period of time.
Ruminant Animals: What they are and the benefits of eating meat from ruminant animals
Ruminants are animals with multi-chambered stomachs. The food that the animals consume is thoroughly broken down and processed through their elaborate digestive system. Many carnivore dieters swear by the benefits meat from ruminant animals offers them. It does make sense why the meat from these creatures would be cleaner and healthier than the meat from a mono-gastric(single stomached) animal. Dr. Berry said the beauty of eating ruminant meat is that you could feed them junk food and the animal will still yield clean and healthy meat! Some ruminant animals include: cows, lamb, sheep, goats, bison, and deer.
The Lion Diet
Mikhaila Peterson is an advocate for a type of carnivore diet that she devised called: “the lion diet”. Mikhaila Peterson is the daughter of Jordan Peterson the psychologist, public speaker and internet influencer.
Mikhaila has quite the story to tell about her experience with the carnivore diet. She’s had to overcome many health challenges and found great relief from eating an animal based diet. Some health conditions she dealt with include: arthritis, dermatitis/psoriasis, severe allergies, anxiety, respiratory infections, asthma and symptoms of a mental disorder.
She was able to find relief by eating a “lion diet” which consists of only: beef, water, and salt. In Mikhaila’s case, there is substantial evidence to showcase the benefits from only eating meat from ruminant animals. So many health afflictions resolved by only consuming beef, water, and salt! Here’s an article with more information about Mikhaila’s journey from carnivore diet advocate, Dr. Kiltz.