optimizing the CARNIVORE diet

[GearHeaded]

first off I'll just say I'm not a 'fad diet' advocate.. I've written 100s of diets for clients over the years and I've never once implemented a fad diet strategy. everything I do is generally micro and macro nutrient dense and well balanced (though I do generally have a carb cycling, fat cycling, and nutrient timing bias).
I generally hold to the idea that having a wide variety of nutrient dense all natural foods is best from various food sources. so I don't demonize food groups. I don't say 'meat is bad' 'carbs are bad' 'grains are bad' 'fruit is bad', etc. I think a wide variety of real all natural food is best.

anyhow, having said that ... Carnivore is a popular diet fad right now. its valid and has a lot of good attributes to it , so I'm just making this post to help anyone interested in optimizing it. so below is just some misc. points to consider.

- Carnivore does not mean 'steak only' diet. lots of guys get on carnivore and all they eat is hamburgers and steak (which are great). but a true carnivore eats much more then that yet is still a carnivore.
will your dog (which is a carnivore) not only eat your steak , but also eat your chicken, fish, popcorn, and cooked carrots . yes.
your primary nutrition source is meat. but adding in other things is just fine.. this is not a food hate or food restriction diet (like Veganism). nothing is off limits.. you can still eat your 5 pounds of red meat and have a carrot for a snack. some carnivore diet people have went off the deep end and now they are demonizing fruits and veggies just like vegans demonizing meat. this is not good.


- MEAT.. use a wide variety of meats. different meats all contain a wide and varying diversity of nutrients and minerals. they also contain a varying diversity of fatty acid profiles (eg. chicken is much different in fat profile then steak or salmon.. even if the fat amount is the same, the type of fat itself is different , like omega 3 vs omega 6).
some meats contain B vitamins and iron, yet other meats don't and they contain selenium. some meats are high in healthy fats , where as other meats have zero fat yet are naturally high in cholesterol.
be diverse. eat a multitude of different meats.

- Expensive.. lots of people think the carnivore diet is expensive. I mean heck what is a Ribeye steak cost, 16$ per pound. but it does not have to be. when you think about it, the middle isle of the grocery stored are filled with junk carbs. an entire box of cereal is 5$ and you may think thats cheap, but its not when you look at its nutrition to cost ratio. an entire box of cereal does not have any nutrition in it. your not getting anything for your money just basically fluff.. while a 2$ can of sardines contains 10x the amount of nutrients then the box of cereal..
so NO carnivore is not expensive. its cost effective for the nutrition to cost ratio.

- Salt.. be sure to salt all your food. not only does salt allow nutrients to absorb through the intestine wall into the blood stream , but its also responsible for muscle contractions pump and a host of other things.. salt also helps you hold water in the cell.
without much carboHYDRATES you'll need more salt.. carbs help you hold water in cells thats why they are called Carbo'hydrates'

- food itself.. steak, ground beef, whole chicken, chicken thighs, turkey, pork, bison, lamb, fish, shrimp, clams, eggs, etc.. add in whole milk and dairy and cheeses as well. cook with butter. add cottage cheese as a snack.

a CARNIVORE is a whole animal eater. not just a select cut of meat eater. dairy is an animal product and so is butter. eat it all. get a well balanced source of nutrition. eat everything from head to tail. add organ meats as well if your ok with that.

- bone broth.. making bone broth or chicken broth is super beneficial. lots of nutrients here but not only that it can help you get your food down. I gurnateee if you had 8oz of dry chicken breast cold it may be hard to get down , but if you take that same chicken breast and put it in a bowl of hot chicken broth it will be easy to get down.

- Veggies.. just cause your carnivore does not meat you need to be 'anti veggie'. add a little bit of baby kale to your steak meal once a day. eat a carrot once a day. its fine.. 90% of your diet is meat. eating a vegetable doesn't mean your not a carnivore.


- Fat . super important. you can die from being on a carnivore only diet, but thats mainly from being on super lean meats only. its basically 'protein poisoning', I can't remember the technical name of it, but its basically too much lean protein with not enough fat and you become malnourished. if all you had to live on every day of your life was frickin chicken breast, you would die.
don't do that.

eat fatty cuts of meat. add in whole milk and dairy. add in cheese. carnivore is not just lean protein.


anyhow this post is way too long already . lots more I could say

[Gallowmere]

I believe “rabbit starvation” is what you were thinking of. It was first seen in people who were living entirely on rabbit and venison (two extremely lean protein sources). They’d eat until their stomachs were distended, yet they were still ravenous, had a bunch of deficiencies, etc.

One point you made that I would argue with is about organ meats. They’re not really an “if you’re okay with it” thing. If you’re trying to go the unsupplemented route, I’d say they are absolutely crucial. When people talk about the nutrient density of the carnivore diet, that’s almost entirely what’s being discussed. When you think about it, that’s a big reason why oysters and clams are so nutrient dense: you’re eating an entire organism, not just select pieces.

[RaginCajun]

I am a huge proponent of this type of eating.

It’s basically an elimination diet.

The more and more people look into the old studies of high cholesterol and red meat, the more and more they get debunked. Seems most of those old studies were funded by Kellogg’s and Post families.

Follow Dr. Shawn Baker, has a lot of good info on this.

[GearHeaded]

I believe “rabbit starvation” is what you were thinking of. It was first seen in people who were living entirely on rabbit and venison (two extremely lean protein sources). They’d eat until their stomachs were distended, yet they were still ravenous, had a bunch of deficiencies, etc.

One point you made that I would argue with is about organ meats. They’re not really an “if you’re okay with it” thing. If you’re trying to go the unsupplemented route, I’d say they are absolutely crucial. When people talk about the nutrient density of the carnivore diet, that’s almost entirely what’s being discussed. When you think about it, that’s a big reason why oysters and clams are so nutrient dense: you’re eating an entire organism, not just select pieces.

excellent point here. yes your eating a clam your basically eating "nose to tail" sort of speak. I think nutritionally eating organ meats can be very beneficial.

my whole eating organ meat "if your ok with that sort of thing" comment was mainly based on cultural and religious aspects and not merely nutrition. for some cultures and religions eating organs or even meat with any blood in it is 'prohibited'. only certain meats can be eaten and only when properly prepared.. so yes there are a lot of people out there that may not be "ok with that sort of thing" because of their culture and background.
if it was just about nutrition.. yes eating nose to tail and eating organ meat has its benefits. but a lot of people out there will refrain from doing so because of their personal beliefs.

[GearHeaded]

I am a huge proponent of this type of eating.

It’s basically an elimination diet.

The more and more people look into the old studies of high cholesterol and red meat, the more and more they get debunked. Seems most of those old studies were funded by Kellogg’s and Post families.

Follow Dr. Shawn Baker, has a lot of good info on this.

I follow Shawn Baker . lots of good info. but he does come across to me as one of those carnivores thats a steak and beef only type of guy. so I differ form him on this and I suggest eating a 'wide variety' in the carnivore diet to get a diverse array of nutrients.

[Gallowmere]

excellent point here. yes your eating a clam your basically eating "nose to tail" sort of speak. I think nutritionally eating organ meats can be very beneficial.

my whole eating organ meat "if your ok with that sort of thing" comment was mainly based on cultural and religious aspects and not merely nutrition. for some cultures and religions eating organs or even meat with any blood in it is 'prohibited'. only certain meats can be eaten and only when properly prepared.. so yes there are a lot of people out there that may not be "ok with that sort of thing" because of their culture and background.
if it was just about nutrition.. yes eating nose to tail and eating organ meat has its benefits. but a lot of people out there will refrain from doing so because of their personal beliefs.

Ah, gotcha. Yeah for things like that, I’d agree, just as I do with Vegans eating the way they do for ethical reasons. I was more referring to the kind of people who are all “ew icky, that makes it obvious that I’m eating something that used to be alive” kinds of people.