The
Carnivore
Diet
What Is The Carnivore Diet
The “science” behind the carnivore diet comes
from the essence of our ancestors’ food.
It is believed that they mainly ate animals they hunted, such as
fish and meat.
On top of that, the carnivore diet started to occur among
hominids about 500,000 years ago, which incorporated meat
and marrow into their lifestyle through hunting.
The Carnivore diet is also believed to cause weight loss,
improve anxiety, pain, digestive issues, diabetes, skin
complaints, and many more.
There are many advocates of the diet who claim that the
carnivore diet is the best diet they tried, such as Joe Rogan.
However, studies have proven that the carnivore diet might be
unhealthy for a number of reasons.
But first, let’s take a look at the core of the diet.
As we mentioned above, the diet
consists mainly of fish and meat.
Moreover, eggs and low-lactose foods
may also be consumed.
Foods like fruits, vegetables, grains,
sugar, plant-based oils are totally
excluded from the diet.
At first glance, the carnivore diet might
look like the keto or paleolithic diet,
where carbohydrates are limited, but the
difference is that they are not
completely excluded.
The logic behind the diet is that our
ancestors were healthy and active while
eating high-protein, high-fat foods.
A strong proponent of the diet is the
stand-up comedian and UFC
commentator Joe Rogan, who followed
the carnivore diet for 30 days.
He shared that he ate nothing but meat,
eggs, and fish for this period.
A primary side effect he experienced was
diarrhea for the first two weeks.
This is because on the carnivore diet, our
fiber consumption is limited, and fiber is
a vital nutrient for our digestive system.
Other side effects of the diet might be:
1. CRAVINGS FOR YOUR FAVORITE FOODS
When we limit ourselves from certain foods, we experience
cravings. Think about the last time you started following a diet,
and after a week of commitment, you really wanted to grab a
piece of your favorite cake or a cheeseburger.
2. DEHYDRATION
Carbohydrates are responsible for the glycogen in our blood.
When we limit our carbs consumption to 0, our glycogen levels
drop, and we experience dehydration.
3. MOOD SWINGS
Every major change in our life, such as a diet, could affect our
mood because of the rapid change in the hormonal
environment.
4. NAUSEA
Meal timing is important when we follow the carnivore diet, so
missing out on a meal or two could result in experiencing
nausea.
5. DISTRACTION
Trouble focusing or brain fog are typical before we enter
ketosis (the moment when our bodies start burning fat as a
fuel because of the lack of carbs)
6. HEADACHE
Experiencing occasional headaches is quite normal due to the
dehydration in our body.
7. MORE VISITS TO THE TOILET
The need to pee will increase due to the
increased protein intake.
8. FATIGUE
When our bodies’ accessible glucose is
limited due to the decreased carbs
consumption, fatigue is likely to occur at
the beginning.
9. HIGH CHOLESTEROL
Due to the essence of the carnivore diet,
it’s high in sodium, fat, and cholesterol.
For this reason, an increase in cholesterol
levels might occur for some people.
Yet, cholesterol isn’t so bad as the media
tries to put it.
The main tip that we can give you is to
always test your cholesterol levels before
making any significant change in your
eating schedule.
Another trick that you can try is fasting
for more than 12 hours.
It is believed that this will reduce your
cholesterol levels.
10. MUSCLE CRAMPS
Muscle cramps are often a result of a
mineral imbalance, usually a lack of
magnesium.
New carnivore dieters report that they
experience leg cramps when they start
the diet.
Although lack of magnesium is the
primary cause of muscle cramps, sodium
and potassium could also play a role.
So, what you can do to prevent the
cramps is increase your sodium and
potassium intake.
You can do that by simply adding more
salt to your food to prevent the loss of
minerals.
Supplementing with magnesium is
another thing you can do to limit the
cramps.
Last but not least, take your time. Your
body may require more time to adapt to
your new routine.
If you still experience cramps after all of
these steps, you might load your body
with some carbs for a few days, then
slowly decrease your intake and return to
the carnivore regime.
11. DIARRHEA
We saved “the scariest one” for the last place.
Many proponents of the diet claim that they experience
diarrhea at the beginning.
The simple explanation behind this is because the food passes
through the digestive tract too quickly.
Typically, there are fibers in our stomach, which slow down the
water and nutrients and absorb them.
On the other hand, when we don’t consume any fibers, the
transit time is disrupted, and diarrhea might be triggered.
We hope now you know what the carnivore diet is and are
aware of all the possible side effects of the diet.
But you probably wonder why someone would follow it while
there are so many risks included.
Let’s find out in the next paragraph.
WHY FOLLOW CARNIVORE DIET
Even though the carnivore diet may result in side effects, let’s
take a look at the main benefits “the meat diet” offers.
1. It Eliminates High-Sugar foods.
Cookies, cakes, pastries, and candies are forbidden on the
carnivore diet.
2. Increases Testosterone
As men age, their testosterone level
decreases. Carnivore proponents claim
that eating meat and fish keeps their
testosterone level steady, and they feel
more energetic.
The logic behind this conclusion is
probably because of the lack of carbs
within the carnivore diet.
In fact, the excess consumption of
carbohydrates makes us sleepy and
unenergetic.
While eating a high-protein, high-fat
diet, our energy levels might rise, which
leads to our testosterone level
increasing.
3. Improved Hearth Health
Some advocates of the diet claim that
eating a meat-only diet may reduce
inflammation and improve the good to
bad cholesterol ratio.
However, these claims have not been
proven by science since studies have
been contradictory.
A study from 2018 shows no correlation
between inflammation and the
consumption of a high red meat diet.
Another study from 2013, however,
showed that a low-carb, high-fat diet
helps improved blood lipid levels and
systemic inflammation.
As you can see, there is a big
contradiction between the studies, so we
will leave the conclusion to you.
4. Weight Loss
Losing weight is possible under one
condition - being in a calorie deficit.
This means that you have to consume
fewer calories than you burn.
As you might guess, eliminating a
whole macronutrient from your
lifestyle, such as carbs, decreases your
caloric consumption.
In other words, you are consuming
fewer calories than before, so weight
loss is almost guaranteed if you have
the proper physical activity.
Moreover, the limitations you have on
all the “allowed” foods make it
impossible to overeat and exceed your
calories into a surplus.
5. Lowers Inflammation
Research conducted in 2013 compared people on a high-fat,
low-carb diet versus people eating a high-carb, low-fat diet for
12 weeks.
The researchers found that the first group had given low
markers of extensive inflammation compared to the second
group.
It was concluded that a high-fat, low-carb diet might be better
for overall cardiovascular health.
On top of that, lower inflammation leads to healthier joints.
6. Increased Focus
If you get through the phase where your body adapts to using
fat as a fuel instead of carbs, you might experience mental
clarity.
Proponents of the carnivore diet claim that the lethargic
feeling will be replaced with a clearer mind and sharper senses
soon after starting the diet.
Increased focus leads to being more productive and then
making better decisions.
7. It is simple to follow
You don’t have to track macronutrients
or measure your food.
With most foods forbidden from the diet,
you won’t be spending much time in the
supermarket.
Put meat, fish, and eggs in the shopping
cart, and you will be ready to go.
Is Carnivore Diet Good For
Athletes?
We want to stretch that the carnivore
diet has not been researched so much
yet, so everything in this paragraph is
just a claim by advocates of the diet
plan.
Some case studies show that the
carnivore diet is good for some athletes
and not good for others.
For instance, endurance athletes such as
long-distance runners, swimmers, tennis
players, and boxers need glycogen for
their bodies to function well and keep
up with the workouts.
However, Shawn Baker, an orthopedic
surgeon, and an indoor row champion
wrote a book on the carnivore diet, in
which he shares that the diet fueled his
athletic accomplishments.
Moreover, he is one of the top promoters
on the diet and has his own website
where he helps people get more healthy
through eating animal products.
Pete Jacobs is a triathlete who
competed in the ironman triathlon and
became a world champion in 2012.
He reports he suffered from chronic
fatigue and irritable bowel syndrome.
He eliminated most of the triggering
foods, and eventually, he was left with
tuna, white rice, and oil.
He shares that he was feeling depressed and had chronic pain
in his joints.
Takeaway Message
He turned vegan in 2017, but that didn’t help as well.
The Carnivore diet has been around for
thousands of years, dating back to the
homo-sapiens who primarily ate meat
and fish.
After doing good research and talking to sports doctor Phill
Maffetone, Jacobs decided to cut down all the carbs.
He felt better, but still, he had some pains.
Later in 2019, he contacted the sports director Paul Mason, who
convinced him that he should get rid of all nuts and seeds
because they could be inflammatory.
That was the turning point for Jacobs because not only his
condition improved drastically but that of his mother as well.
He went to training full time and even in his forties, he is ready
to return to the big events because of the carnivore diet.
Bodybuilders also report that they feel good on the carnivore
diet. Some of them even made a significant increase on their
PR’s for the main 3 lifts.
The side effects of the diet plan
differentiate, but the primary ones are
diarrhea, muscle cramps, fatigue, loss of
focus.
The positive things people report are an
increase in testosterone, improved heart
condition, and expanded concentration
after the initial period.
If you are an athlete, you may try and
experiment with the diet and see how
your body reacts.
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