Have you heard about this new only meat diet trend? A lot of people have been getting amazing results from eating just meat and animal products. In this article, I’m going to tell you why does the carnivore diet work.

Why Carnivore

The carnivore diet is exactly what it sounds like – you just eat animal products, such as meat, eggs, fish, butter, and maybe dairy. No vegetables?!? Who would’ve thought…

Although we’ve been told that fruit and vegetables should be the cornerstone of any healthy diet, there are still a lot of health benefits to eating carnivore.

Reduced inflammation

Greater satiety and adherence

Less digestive issues and constipation

Improved weight loss and energy

Lower anxiety and depression

Recently, there’s been a lot of publicity around the carnivore diet with some popular people on social media talking about it, such as Dr. Shawn Baker (over 50-year-old world record rower), Dr. Jordan Peterson (a Canadian psychologist who uses it to treat depression in himself and depression in her daughter Mikhaila Peterson), and Amber O’Hearn who’s a bitcoin carnivore.

Why Does the Carnivore Diet Work

The carnivore diet works like a hardcore elimination diet – you eliminate all the potential foods and allergens from your diet that may potentially be causing some gastrointestinal stress, weight gain, brain fog, autoimmune disorders or bloating.

By removing all the “danger foods”, you allow your body to take a break from the chronic bouts of nutritional inflammation and that allows you to function more optimally. If you’re not putting in inflammatory stuff into your gut, then your body has the opportunity to start healing itself.

Constantly poison-dripping yourself with processed foods, trans fats, allergens, and environmental toxins damage the intestinal lining of your gut wall, which eventually leads to intestinal permeability or leaky gut. This makes undigested food particles enter the bloodstream and promotes brain fog, GI disorders, and more inflammation.

The father of modern medicine Hippocrates said “All disease begins in the gut”, which is so true. Your gut is often called the second brain as it connects the nervous system and brain with the rest of the body. Over 70% of your immune system is also located in the gut and therefore keeping your gut healthy is essential for overall longevity.

Who Should Do the Carnivore Diet

The ones who could benefit the most from an all meat carnivore diet are people with some already existing autoimmune disorders, allergies, severe inflammatory diseases like arthritis, depression, or IBS.

Going carnivore can be a very effective way of going through a short phase of healing the gut and regaining intestinal lining, which will help to deal with future exposures.

Truth be told – there are a lot of potential foods and environmental stressors that could potentially damage the gut and cause inflammatory responses. The most common ones are:

Gluten and grains are responsible most for leaky gut, arthritis, bloating, IBS, brain fog, diabetes, and weight gain. Avoid bread, pasta, cereal, pastries, oatmeal, cookies etc.

are responsible most for leaky gut, arthritis, bloating, IBS, brain fog, diabetes, and weight gain. Avoid bread, pasta, cereal, pastries, oatmeal, cookies etc. Legumes and beans can lead to intestinal permeability by promoting digestive issues and bloating. Peanuts and soybeans are also categorized as legumes.

can lead to intestinal permeability by promoting digestive issues and bloating. Peanuts and soybeans are also categorized as legumes. Nightshade vegetables like tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, potatoes, and peppers have a lot of lectins which are compounds that attach sugar molecules to proteins and damage the gut walls again…

have a lot of lectins which are compounds that attach sugar molecules to proteins and damage the gut walls again… Eggs, fish, shellfish, nuts, and seeds aren’t unhealthy foods quite the opposite but they may cause some allergic reactions in some people

aren’t unhealthy foods quite the opposite but they may cause some allergic reactions in some people Dairy is a potential allergen and it’s also pro-inflammatory that tends to promote skin disorders, weight gain, and inflammation. Avoid commercial pasteurized milk and limit your cheese consumption.

Even things you don’t think about right away promote inflammation in the gut:

Overall stress and anxiety release inflammatory cytokines and cortisol which shut down digestive processes and wreak havoc in the gut.

release inflammatory cytokines and cortisol which shut down digestive processes and wreak havoc in the gut. GMOs and pesticides on vegetables act like stressors inside the human body and they trigger a mild inflammatory response. So, it’s not a good idea to be eating a lot of unorganic fruit and vegetables after all…

act like stressors inside the human body and they trigger a mild inflammatory response. So, it’s not a good idea to be eating a lot of unorganic fruit and vegetables after all… Environmental toxins like air pollution, poor water quality, heavy metals, and toxic relationships also promote inflammation which has a carry-over effect on your gut health as well

Plants VS Meat

It’s also true that plants have a lot of antinutrients and phytates in them which are supposed to protect them from being eaten. They don’t have feet or claws to run away from predators and therefore they accumulate certain toxins that would sedate the predator or prevent them from eating the plant in the future.

Most plants and vegetables cause a mild inflammatory response in the gut because of their anti-nutrients and fiber content. Some of it can be a beneficial hormetic stressor but for a lot of people, it turns into a shit-show…

Meat itself is very easily digestible and doesn’t cause digestive strain if you eat just carnivore. Eating only meat neglects the effect of having to digest plant fiber which in turn avoids the inflammation as well.

Is the Carnivore Diet Healthy

Although there are a lot of people seeing great improvements in their health by eating a carnivore diet, the question remains: is the carnivore diet healthy in the long-term

Red meat gives you virtually all the essential nutrients for survival. It has enough protein, essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, iron, B vitamins, fat-soluble vitamins, and choline. If you eat more organ meats, bone marrow, and other tendons pieces, you’ll get the essential minerals, like magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, and potassium as well.

It has enough protein, essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, iron, B vitamins, fat-soluble vitamins, and choline. If you eat more organ meats, bone marrow, and other tendons pieces, you’ll get the essential minerals, like magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, and potassium as well. Red meat doesn’t have much vitamin C, but it’s still rich in the most potent antioxidant called glutathione. It’s also been shown that the need for vitamin C decreases significantly in a low carb ketogenic state. In fact, high levels of blood sugar inhibit the intake of vitamin C because both of them use the same membrane transport chain.

It’s also been shown that the need for vitamin C decreases significantly in a low carb ketogenic state. In fact, high levels of blood sugar inhibit the intake of vitamin C because both of them use the same membrane transport chain. Plant fiber is non-essential and it’s not needed for longevity. Humans can’t even digest plant matter and they’re used only to feed the bacteria in our gut. The bacteria break down the fiber and convert it into short-chain fatty acids, which heal the intestinal lining and promote digestion. Short-chain fatty acids like butyrate can be gained directly from animal products like butter, lard, or steak, without the additional digestive strain.

Humans can’t even digest plant matter and they’re used only to feed the bacteria in our gut. The bacteria break down the fiber and convert it into short-chain fatty acids, which heal the intestinal lining and promote digestion. Short-chain fatty acids like butyrate can be gained directly from animal products like butter, lard, or steak, without the additional digestive strain. Red meat doesn’t cause heart disease unless you combine it with processed carbs and trans fats. This will raise blood sugar and insulin a lot more than if you’d consume fat in a low carb context, and it also promotes glycation, leading to the creation of damaging advanced glycolytic end products that promote oxidative stress. If you’re eating meat as your only source of calories, you’d most likely avoid these health risks and there are many people who are perfectly healthy after eating only meat for many years.

Eating just meat probably isn’t ideal for getting the other unessential vitamins and minerals you get from some plants but you don’t even need them for health and longevity. You can survive very well by eating just red meat and drinking water for the rest of your life.

Should You Eat Plants

Are fruit and vegetables then not even suitable for the human physiology? Based on anthropological and archaeological data, it’s safe to say that humans evolved to eat a lot of meat and animals. Plants have their role to play but not as primary as we’ve thought.

There are still many health benefits to eating vegetables and plant foods that you don’t get from eating animal foods.

Sulforaphane is a compound found in cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli, cabbage, and kale, which is linked to anti-oxidant pathway activation associated with increased longevity and anti-cancer properties

is a compound found in cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli, cabbage, and kale, which is linked to anti-oxidant pathway activation associated with increased longevity and anti-cancer properties Medicinal mushrooms like reishi, Chaga, and lion’s mane are amazing immune system boosters and anti-oxidants. (Check out Four Sigmatic’s mushroom elixir blends. Use the code siimland for a 10% discount)

like reishi, Chaga, and lion’s mane are amazing immune system boosters and anti-oxidants. (Check out Four Sigmatic’s mushroom elixir blends. Use the code siimland for a 10% discount) Adaptogenic herbs like ashwagandha, Maca, ginseng, turmeric, ginger, and many increase your resiliency against stress and support adrenal health. Which lowers inflammation

like ashwagandha, Maca, ginseng, turmeric, ginger, and many increase your resiliency against stress and support adrenal health. Which lowers inflammation Polyphenols and flavonoids found in dark pigment berries, vegetables, and fruit fight bacterial infections, promote longevity and improve cardiovascular health. Eat blueberries, cherries, pomegranate, and dark chocolate.

So, it’s never just that vegetables or meat are good or bad. It’s always dependent of the larger context like additional lifestyle factors, pre-disposing genetic conditions, temporary biomarkers, or the individual’s metabolic requirements.

Should You Do the Carnivore Diet

Going on an all meat carnivore diet will still leave to be ineffective if you’re not dealing with the other potential sources of inflammation and stress in your life.

Maybe you need to improve your sleep, block out blue light at night, work less, get more electrolytes, or simply do an extended fast for 3-5 days.

You don’t want to be at the mercy of any food whether that be gluten, broccoli, tomatoes, beans, meat, or eating in general. Instead, you want to have a healthy gut that could easily digest all foods.

If you want to really fix your gut health, then the best way to do it would be to start fasting. Fasting triggers a process called autophagy which actually heals the body from the inside out. This would provide a long-term solution to your issues.

Fix Your Gut Fix Your Life

Once you get your digestion in order, your entire life will change as you’ll be able to liberate yourself from the chronic inflammation most people are suffering from.

All disease does begin in the gut and to get better you need to allow your body to self-repair and self-renovate itself.

An all meat carnivore diet can work as a short-term fix for promoting intestinal rebuilding but you’d be much better off by still eating at least some plants, vegetables, and different hormetic foods.

What I support is a fasting-focused lifestyle that cycles between periods of eating and fasting. This will promote general health, longevity, and keeps inflammation in check. Doing it on a ketogenic diet allows me to eat both plants and meat with no issues. Check out my KETO // IF program to learn more!

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Siim