Intro

The carnivore diet has been becoming more mainstream as of late and gaining attention over media

Some attention has been positive, some negative, and like always with nutrition there is a lot of conflicting evidence.

Let’s straighten this out

The Keto Project Movie- Phase 3 in full force

Dr. Mike is living this lecture with Organic End Grass fed beef to compare to the Burger King burger diet for a month

 

What is it carnivore diet

Potentially a form of a Ketogenic diet

Similar to how pescatarian, lacto-ovo, vegan, etc, are all similar sub categories of vegetarian

May cancel some out of ketosis if protein is high enough, hence the “potentially a form” of a ketogenic lifestyle

The concept is that high enough protein can cause the body to go through gluconeogenesis which will increase  blood sugar levels and potentially negate ketosis

Literature is mixed so larger and longer studies required

If unsure, cover everything is butter, coconut oil, and cheese to increase the fat to protein ratio to increase ketogenic effects

What do people eat?

Anything from a meat/animal source

Beef, chicken, organ meats, fish, eggs

Bone marrow/broth, lard, dairy

Inuits are the gold standard example

Incredibly low levels of heart, liver, and kidney disease

Eats a crapton of blubber and organ meats

Higher fat content in meat than many that practice the carnivorous approach

What Don’t people eat 

I have had this argument before

Alcohol, coffee, chocolate

What animal does hobbs, rye, coffee beans, and chocolate nibs come from?

 

Potential benefits from it

Weight loss depending on dietary lifestyle prior

Higher satiety from high fat and protein so less likely to over indulge

Can increase testosterone levels

High healthy animal meats, specifically red meat and more on the medium rare side

Can increase RBC’s and heme-iron stores for a better cardiovascular system

Quality of meat is a huge factor

Metabolism may increase by up to 10-20%

Protein take more energy to digest and takes more effort to breakdown

More thermogenic activity

The body gets hotter when doing high metabolic processes; The Meat Sweats

It can help blood pressure, glucose regulation, cholesterol levels, and gut flora balances

Mild evidence suggests it can increase autophagy if protein is high enough over fat ratios

 

Why you may not want to do it

Majority of lifestyles may not be the best with specific health conditions which is why medical history should always be a part of deciding the best lifestyle for one to follow

We know that we can eat up to 4.4g per kg of body weight and cause no short term health issues

If your religion is against eating meat

If you have a current kidney or liver condition

Research have suggested that high protein/meat diets do not cause organ damage but may worsen it if already present

It’s like running on a broken leg compared to a healthy leg

Running takes a larger toll on the leg than sitting but won’t be an issue if the limb is healthy

Wouldn’t recommend jogging if leg has an issue

Same with the kidneys, liver, and high protein/meat based lifestyle

High protein makes them work a little harder, but the body will handle it fine as long as it’s healthy

Gout- Red meat is one of the main things suggested to avoid due to  uric acid build up

 

Better than vegan? 

Depends on the health status and goals of the individual.

Oddly easy to compare carnivorous to veganism

Polar opposite but similar caveats

Both may require specific supplementation 

Both heavily differ on effectiveness of a healthy life style depending on what quality of food you intake

Vegetarian can eat just cakes and chocolate

Carnivore can eat just Burger King

Having organ meats, bone broth and marrow, preparing meat in quality oils and not deep frying, etc

Organic grass finished will have higher levels of omega 3’s, and more abundant supply of micro nutrients

Likely supplementat