Food Freedom Friday Edition 284 - Optimizing Your Carnivore Lifestyle

 It is clear to me that people come to a Carnivore or meat-based diet to seek relief and often times stay because the benefits outweigh the sacrifices.

Many people are surprised to hear that human beings can live exclusively on animal foods. In some severe cases this is the only diet that allows individuals to be well, stop all medication, reach their normal body weight, eliminate all digestive symptoms and function to their full capacity.

There are, however, strategies you can implement to optimize your Carnivore diet even more:

Nose To Tail Eating

Did you say Noses and Tails?

There is an ethical component to nose-to-tail eating which encompasses a true appreciation for a life that was given to sustain you. Beyond that, nose-to-tail simply makes sense. In a traditional omnivore diet or even a vegetarian one, variety is stressed. It is no different with the carnivore. The more variety you can include the better. This is the most effective means to ensure you are getting the full spectrum of nutrients you need.

Organs

Organ meats are the most nutritionally dense foods on the planet. You could successfully put an ounce of beef liver up against any superfood out there. Unfortunately, organ meats have fallen out of favor in a modern world where the luxury of eating for taste and convenience has taken preference. The familiarity and respect for the most valuable pieces of an animal have been lost. They often get thrown away or relegated to pet food. Your ancestors would be appalled to see you turn your nose up at beef heart only to order a bucket of French fries! Some of the nutritional benefits organs offer include:

Beef liver is high in vitamin A, K2, and copper. It contains all the B vitamins and is especially high in B12. If the cow was finished on grass, it even contains vitamin D! Some people struggle with the taste and texture but find it easier to eat as a pate or in supplement form. It is the most nutritionally dense of any organ so it deserves all your efforts to get it in!

Kidney is rich in B vitamins and selenium.

Spleen is the highest source of vitamin C in all of the animal-based products: 100 grams contains 76% of your daily allowance! It is high in iron and a good source of many other micronutrients. Unless you’re a hunter, you’re more likely to find spleen in a supplement form than at the butcher counter.

Heart tastes like a lean cut of beef (or whatever animal you are eating.) It is rich in CoQ10, riboflavin, iron, and other micronutrients. If you grind it you can cook it like ground beef and no one will be the wiser!

Sweetbreads: I don’t know why they call them that. They’re actually the thymus and pancreas of an animal. They are fattier than other organs and have a surprisingly mild flavor. They are an excellent source of Vitamin C and have a good spectrum of nutrients.

Bones And Grizzly Bits

Aside from eating organs, it is important to look at other pieces typically thrown away. Bones should be saved for bone broth; they are a goldmine of minerals and amino acids and particularly soothing for your gut and joints.

Eat more cuts bone-in and get primitive: chew on the cartilaginous ends of bones. Scoop or slurp the marrow out! Chew the gristle. Eat poultry with the skin on. Chicken heads, necks, and feet are powerhouse additions to your soup pot! If you can’t bring yourself to eat ligaments, and tendons try adding them to a simmering pot as part of the base for your broth. Find ways to get the good stuff in.

Fat

Fat is a great thing!

The days of avoiding animal fats are over. There is a reason fat was prized above all else by indigenous cultures. Anthropologist David Rockwell stated that the Cree considered fat the most important part of any animal. One reason they valued bears above other animals was because of their body fat. Fat contains more calories per gram than protein or carbohydrates and is an efficient fuel. It is satiating and necessary for the use of fat-soluble vitamins. Your brain needs fat to thrive. If you struggle with energy or focus on the carnivore diet, add more fat to your daily regimen and see what happens!

Eggs And Dairy

If you have underlying health issues, you may have to test your tolerance for eggs and dairy. If you can safely eat them, consider pastured eggs, especially the yolks! Look at salmon row and other fish eggs as further nutrient dense sources. If you tolerate dairy, consider fermented dairy like kefir and yogurt. Experiment with goat milk, ghee, and other delicacies you may not have tried. (the best quality and healthiest dairy is derived from raw milk if you can get it) Always strive to get the best quality available.

Hydrate With Water

Drink lots of good, clean water. Water is your friend on a carnivore-type die and will make a big difference in how quickly you adjust to the protocol. Source clean water from local springs or get a filter for your sink. Consider mineral water as well as adding electrolytes (although these is not necessary if you are including bone broth in your daily plan).

Is A Carnivore Lifestyle For You?

All things considered, I’m convinced a carnivore lifestyle is feasible. Not only can you survive, but you can thrive on a carnivore diet! The question of whether this lifestyle choice is for you really comes down to a cost-to-benefit analysis. 

Can You Give Up Plants?

It is one thing if a single bite of lectins make you itch all over or you find any fiber rips your guts up. But if you are generally healthy, can you fathom passing on the roasted asparagus? The garden tomatoes? The fresh picked strawberries? Can you forgo the grilled peaches and sweet potato fries at the backyard barbecue? I have written before about the cost to eating plants and accessing their nutrition. If you are not compromised, perhaps you can afford that cost?

Monotony

Many people struggle with the monotony of the diet. You can get creative with textures, cooking methods and rotating different kinds of meats. It’s surprising to find the diversity you can achieve on a carnivore diet with a little creativity and tenacity. But at the end of the day, you might just miss the crunch of a carrot or the sweet burst of a berry. You may dream of a salad. There is nothing in the carnivore world that can match that first bite of summer cherries. Again, boredom could be a cost to consider – although the carnivore diet is packed with delicious, decadent delights too

Social Stigma

It can be awkward to be the only one at the restaurant with no greens on your plate. You may find yourself socially isolating rather than explaining at a party why you don’t eat the cake. Some people are unphased by social pressures to eat like everyone else, but for others this is a formidable challenge. It can help to have a strategy, like eating before you go, being as subtle are possible, or psyching up to be loud and proud. You need to expect some uncomfortable confrontations and consider if these are manageable and worth it for you.

Your Cost to Benefit Ratio

Carefully assess what you have to gain by adopting a carnivore-type lifestyle. What do you have to lose? Pain? Pounds? Rashes? Gas and bloating? What about food freedom? Eating out? Your obsession with the My Kitchen Rules?

If you have a robust digestive system and don’t struggle with autoimmunity, you might think long and hard about eating meat every day and giving up the beautiful variety that comes with an omnivore’s lifestyle. If you can eat a more varied diet, why wouldn’t you?

You might, perhaps, enjoy the temporary carnivore path, using it on occasion for specific reasons but on most days embracing a more balanced life including low-toxic-load plant foods as long as they cause no issue.

Alternatively, you may feel you gain more than you lose by eating exclusively meat every day. You might feel that you prefer moving your joints without pain, the calmness of your digestive tracts or the smoothness of your skin much more than you miss the salad bar.