The biggest fear with going full carnivore is the complete removal of plants from the diet.  You have been told your entire life that vegetables are essential to health. When considering a particular nutrition recommendation, it is crucial to ensure that the basis of thinking behind that recommendation is based on true scientific evidence rather than simply accepting them at face value.

When it comes to plant recommendations, the thinking is flawed.  You might have been lead to believe that plants are what provide you with essential micronutrients and cutting them out will lead to micronutrient deficiencies.  This is, however, not the case considering the bioavailability of plant sources of food.

Nutrient Absorption 

Bioavailability is a term used to describe how much of a consumed substance is actually broken down and absorbed so it can be used by the body.  If a food is highly bioavailable to humans, you can make use of most of the nutrients contained within that food. Conversely, if a food has a low bioavailability to humans then you cannot use most of the nutrients contained within that food.

While plant foods are rich in micronutrients, these micronutrients are poorly absorbed or have low bioavailability for humans.  The micronutrients found in animal meats are significantly different. 

Research has demonstrated that only 10-15% of many micronutrients found in plants can be absorbed by humans whilst nearly 90% can be absorbed from animal meat:

Vitamin A has been shown to be 15-20x more bioavailable in meat compared to plant sources.

Plant sources contain non-heme iron that has demonstrated 3x less bioavailability compared to heme iron found in meat sources. 

Even more, many nutrients, such as vitamins D,E,K, and A are fat soluble meaning that they are best absorbed by the body when consumed in conjunction with dietary fat, which you also get from consuming animal meat.

Another concern regarding the uptake of plant nutrients is that there are compounds found within many plants that can interfere with the absorption of certain nutrients like folate, calcium, iodine, and zinc.

It is important to point out that there are some vitamins that plant sources are considered to be a better source of, like vitamin C.  However, it has been speculated that the ketone beta-hydroxybutyrate, produced by the body when carbohydrates are restricted, may replace the need for vitamin C.  Additionally, one of the roles of vitamin C is collagen production, but the amino acids you get from meat intake, can be used to form collagen without the need for vitamin C. 

Eating Ruminants

You may be wondering what is it that makes the nutrients found in animal meat better absorbed compared to plants which is explained by the fact that humans are carnivores and cows are herbivores. The biggest difference between the two is not simply their food choices but their digestive systems.  

Ruminant animals, which include cattle, sheep, goats, buffalo, deer, elk, giraffes, and camels have four chambers in their stomachs; reticulum, rumen, omasim, and abomasum.  When a ruminant animal eats plant material, it is only partly chewed before going into the rumen chamber of the stomach.  The rumen chamber is rich with microorganisms that can actually breakdown plant material. Here the partially chewed plant material is broken down into what is called “cud”.  Once an animal is full it will continue to chew this cud to further breakdown the material before passing it off into the next three compartments of their digestive system, the reticulum, omasum and their true stomach, the abomasum.  

Interestingly, while it appears that these ruminant animals are on a low fat, high carb/fiber diet, the unique digestive tract actually allows them to ferment almost all plant matter into short chain fatty acids, which go to the liver to form monounsaturated and saturated fats that get put to use in the body.  This means that the cows are keto too!

Ruminants can also create a bioavailable source of omega-3 fat.  ALA, a plant-based omega-3 fatty acid must be converted to EPA/DHA for humans to be able to use. Unfortunately, there is only a 0-7% conversion of ALA to EPA/DHA in humans.  Ruminants are able to ALA from plants and convert it to EPA/DHA and store it in their muscle meat.

It is these digestive processes that allows ruminants to breakdown plant food and acquire their nutrients where they are then stored within the flesh of these animals where humans, who are carnivores, can have better access to them.

This process is important to understand because humans cannot complete this action.  Humans fail to breakdown plant material very well and we cannot ferment plants into fat. Consuming high-quality meat sources is key. For humans, animal meat is a superior source of nutrients.  It is both more bioavailable actually contains more of certain micronutrients including vitamins B12, D, and K2 which are only found in meat and not plants. 

It is the nutrient absorption process of ruminant animals that makes it important to consider the diets of these animals. Ruminants breakdown plant material and store their nutrients in their meat. Animals fed grass and plants that are rich in micronutrients, not corn, grain, or soy are thus ideal. Food quality matters, for you and your food!

Why Are Plants Recommended?

If you are unable to obtain adequate nutrients that you need to thrive from plants, then why the insistence on eating plants? 

“It may be that vegetables appear so healthy in all the epidemiological studies because of what they are not, and not because of what they are.” – Georgia Eade

Many of the studies and anecdotal stories that demonstrate a diet high in vegetables improving health parameters are likely seeing these improvements because a plant-based diet is much better for health than the diet subjects in these studies were following prior to the plant-based diet. 

In most of these diet studies, subjects are originally consuming a typical Standard American Diet, or SAD, consisting of refined carbohydrates and ultra-processed foods.  Of course, switching to having more broccoli is going to lead to improvements in health compared to McDonalds. If a diet is better than the horrible diet you are currently consuming does not imply that it is the most optimal diet for you to consume.

Most plant-based diets demonstrate improvements in the short term, but in the long term demonstrate numerous side effects from nutrient deficiencies because humans are unable to obtain the nutrients needed for surviving and thriving from plant sources alone. 

Are Plants Detrimental?

The next logical question and for many people who become passionate about carnivore dieting some people wonder if eating plants can actually be detrimental.  If you don’t need plants they must be bad for you.  This is not entirely true.  

For most people, there is nothing wrong with consuming plants as long as you understand this cannot be your only source of nutrition.

However, it is important to point out that there are some of the features of plants that can be harmful to your health.  This is not intended to promote fear towards plants but rather demonstrate a few things to consider when choosing what to eat:  

Oxalates:

Oxalates are compounds that occur naturally in many plant foods including nuts, kale, spinach, beans, chocolate.  Oxalates are often referred to as “anti-nutrients” because they interfere with absorption of other vitamins and minerals and are often thought to be toxic to prevent animals or insects from eating them.  

Interestingly, oxalates are not just found in food.  They can also be produced in the liver when we consume too much vitamin C, yeast, and fructose (all compounds that come from plants).  

Oxalates can bind to minerals and form compounds like calcium oxalate and iron oxalate. While most people can get rid of these compounds through stool and urine some individuals have a sensitivity to these compounds and when eaten in large amounts can cause health complications.  One of the main complications associated with oxalates is kidney stones as well as stones in the bladder and gut wall. 

If you notice that you feel bloated or inflamed after eating a lot of plants, you may be sensitive to oxalates.  Sensitivities can be due to a genetic alteration in the oxalate breaking down gene or due to impaired gut function, or nutritional deficiencies.  

Fructose:

Fruits contains a large amount of sugar which is not only harmful to a state of ketosis, but can also promote insulin resistance when consumed in excess overtime.  

There is a common misconception that the sugar in fruit is healthy sugar.  Research looking at the acute consumption of fructose, the main sugar found in fruit, has found that it can actually promote inflammation.  Consuming fructose results in a greater increase in c-reactive protein, a common marker of inflammation. 

Fiber:

Just like studies demonstrating plant-based diets being good for health are flawed, so are studies demonstrating the importance of fiber. In fact, for those suffering from impaired digestion, more fiber can actually be counterproductive. Research reveals that removing fiber from the diets of those suffering from constipation actually leads to improvements in symptoms. This may seem counterintuitive but the overconsumption of fiber can be disruptive to your digestive tract.

Pesticides:

Besides some of the harmful compounds that can be found inside plants, there are also all of the toxins that are found outside plants due to poor agricultural techniques like spraying pesticides.  These chemicals can be very harmful to your health and further render these plants useless for contributing to health improvements.

According to the EWG, the 12 MOST pesticide contaminated produce items are:

·       Strawberries

·       Spinach

·       Kale

·       Nectarines

·       Apples

·       Grapes

·       Peaches

·       Cherries

·       Pears

·       Tomatoes

·       Celery

·       White Potatoes 

This is not meant to scare you from consuming plants but rather educate you that there are certain compounds found within plants that can be harmful and another reason why they should not be the primary component of your well-formulated, healthy diet.

Benefits of Plants

While there may be many negative factors when it comes to the overconsumption of plants foods, there are some benefits to including plants in your diet if you are able.

Herbs, spices, and essential oils, which all come from plant sources, can provide health benefits to humans.  These herbs, spices, and oils can act as adaptogens in the body and alter your state of mind by promoting calming and relaxation.

Psychedelic plants like cannabis and psilocybin containing mushrooms can provide powerful therapeutic effects and which is evident in the plethora of research currently being conducted and published.  

Plants are not all bad!

Final Thoughts

I am not here to tell you that all plants are dangerous and that you should not be eating them. It is, however, important to understand that you do not need to consume them and that a diet based primarily of plants is not ideal for optimal health.

In regards to carnivore or zero carb eating plans, a diet of simply meat and animal products with no vegetables is possible and definitely not harmful. In fact, you may find that is much healthier for you to eat mainly this way.