What is the Carnivore Diet?
The Carnivore Diet is a strict diet that comprises only meat, fish, and other animal products such as eggs and some dairy products.
It eliminates all other foods, such as fruit, vegetables, legumes, cereals, nuts and seeds.
The supporters also advocate avoiding or restricting the consumption of dairy in products that are low in lactose, such as butter and hard cheeses.
The Carnivore Diet derives from the controversial idea that ancient human populations mainly consume meat and fish and that high-carb diets are responsible for today’s high levels of chronic disease.
Other common low-carb diets, such as keto and paleo diets, restrict carb intake but don’t rule out.
Shawn Baker, a former US orthopedic doctor, is the Carnivore Diet’s the more well-known strong supporter. Shawn Baker quotes reports from the people following the Carnivore Diet as evidence that depression, anxiety, arthritis, obesity, diabetes and more can be treated. Yet no study has examined the Carnivore Diet’s effects.
Adopting the Carnivore diet
The diet means removing all plant foods from your diet and eating solely meat, fish, eggs and small amounts of dairy products with low lactose.
Beef, chicken, pork, lamb, turkey, organ meats, salmon, sardines, white fish and small quantities of heavy cream and hard cheese are included in this diet. Also the followings are permitted too: butter, lard, bone marrow, salt, pepper, and seasonings with no carbs are allowed too.
Diet advocates promote eating fatty meat cuts to meet your daily energy needs.
The Carnivore Diet recommends drinking water and bone broth but prohibits drinking tea, coffee, and other plant-based beverages.
It does not provide any specific guidance on calorie intake, serving sizes or how many meals or snacks to eat per day. Most diet supporters indicate that you eat whenever you wish.
Foods that can be consumed:
Meat: beef, chicken, turkey, organ meats, lamb, pork, etc.
Fish: salmon, mackerel, sardines, crab, lobster, tilapia, herring, etc.
Other animal products: eggs, lard, bone marrow, bone broth, etc.
Low-lactose dairy, but in small amounts: heavy cream, hard cheese, butter, etc.
Water
Foods that cannot be consumed:
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.
A true Carnivore does not permit any of the above products.
Potential advantages of the Carnivore Diet
As the Carnivore diet removes carbohydrates, cookies, cakes, desserts, sodas, pastries and similar high-carb foods are eliminated.
Such items are low in nutrients which are helpful and often high in calories. Therefore, a safe, balanced diet will restrict them.
High-sugar diets can also be dangerous for people with diabetes, because blood sugar levels can increase. In addition, often it is advised to monitor diabetes by reducing refined carbs and sugary foods.
Nevertheless, it is not recommended or necessary for diabetes management to completely eliminate the carbohydrates on the Carnivore Diet. Rather it is advised to eat smaller quantities of wholesome, high-fiber carbohydrates that do not cause blood sugar spikes.
Can it support weight loss?
Some elements of the Carnivore Diet can result in weight loss. In fact, some studies have shown that high protein and low carb diets can promote weight loss.
That might be because protein after eating can help you feel more complete, that can result in lower food intake and eventual weight loss. Protein may also increase your metabolic rate, allowing you to burn more calories (7Trusted Source, 8Trusted Source, 9Trusted Source).
So, adopting the Carnivore diet you’d probably feel better and eat fewer overall calories–at least in the short term.
Research suggests that increasing protein intake and rising carb intake will contribute to more sustained weight loss than lower protein and higher carbohydrate diets.
You don’t need to eliminate the carbs completely to lose weight, though. The main driver of weight loss is instead reducing the overall calorie intake, which may be easier to do with a higher protein intake.
The Carnivore Diet’s highly restrictive nature makes it hard to follow and potentially dangerous for the long term. Besides, no research supports its supposed benefits.
Potential disadvantages of the Carnivore Diet
High in cholesterol, sodium and fat.
It can be high in saturated fat and cholesterol, since the Carnivore Diet consists entirely of animal foods.
Saturated fat can increase your LDL (bad) cholesterol, thus increasing your risk of heart disease.
Recent studies have shown, however, that high intakes of saturated fat and cholesterol are not correlated to an increased risk of cardiac disease, as originally thought.
Also, it can be of worry to consume large quantities of saturated fat on the Carnivore Diet. No study has looked specifically at the effects of eating animal foods. The effects of eating such high concentrations of fat and cholesterol are therefore unknown.
In addition, some processed meats, notably bacon and breakfast meats, also contain high sodium content. Ingesting many of these products on the Carnivore diet may cause excessive sodium intake, which has been associated with an increased risk of high blood pressure, kidney disease and other adverse health outcomes.
Intake of processed meat was also associated with higher rates of certain types of cancer, including colon and rectal cancer.
Some micronutrients and beneficial compounds of plants might be missing
The Carnivore Diet excludes nutritionally dense products such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains, all containing valuable vitamins and minerals.
Although meat is nutritious and offers micronutrients, the only part of your diet shouldn’t be this. Following a restrictive diet such as the Carnivore diet, deficiencies in some nutrients and overconsumption in others can result.
However, diets rich in plant-based foods are associated with a lower risk of certain chronic conditions such as heart disease, certain cancers, Alzheimer’s disease and type 2 diabetes.
This is attributed not only to the high concentration of plant foods with vitamins, fibers and minerals, but also to their protective plant compounds and antioxidants. The Carnivore Diet doesn’t quite include these compounds and has not had any long-term health benefits associated with them.
The diet not supply fibre
Fiber is present only in plant foods. It is a non-digestible carb which helps to promote healthy gut and healthy bowel movements. Therefore, it can result in constipation for some people, as the Carnivore diet contains no fibre.
Fibre is also vitally important for proper bacterial balance in your gut. Inadequate gut health can actually lead to a number of problems and can even be linked to crippled immunity and colon cancer.
This diet might not be suitable for some people with certain medical conditions
People who require to limit their protein intake, including people with chronic kidney disease, and those who are more sensitive to food cholesterol, or hyper-responders to cholesterol should not follow the diet.
Also people with special nutritional requirements on the Carnivore Diet typically wouldn’t fulfill them.
Take away message
Carnivore diet is claimed to help with weight loss and a number of health conditions but no research supports these claims. Furthermore, it’s high in fat and sodium, it does not contain any fiber or beneficial plant compounds and it’s hard to maintain in the long run.
Furthermore, each and every restricted diet can constrain the consumption of vital nutrients in a person.
Having to make healthy changes, like avoiding processed foods, reducing the consumption of meat and milk products and consuming more fresh fruits and vegetables, will help individuals sustain a healthy weight over time.
There are available balanced diets, with a variety of healthy products, which are more sustainable and will certainly give you more health benefits.
The Mediterranean diet, The Flexitarian diet and the DASH diet represent long-term alternatives to boost health and possibly lose weight.
The most important thing is to make sure you talk to your doctor beforehand and avoid going to an extreme with your diet plan.
Related topics:
References:
en.wikipedia.org
mport.com
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