The carnivore diet is simple and straightforward and combines many healing principals into one easy-to-follow way of eating.

Certain things are avoided like common allergens, oxalates, and nightshades. Some things are increased including healthy fat, cholesterol, omega 3 fatty acids, and other nutrients.

In doing the carnivore diet, you have an opportunity to balance the microbiome, stop autoimmune reactions, lose unneeded fat,  increase insulin sensitivity,  lower blood glucose levels, gain muscle and lean body mass, feed our brain, and more.

Nutrient Density

Nothing comes close to animal foods to provide the nutrients needed to grow young children, repair and replace cells, and keep all body systems running smoothly and effective.  Your stomach has a PH of 1.5-3.5, which is very acidic and very good at getting the nutrients out of meat. Consuming nose-to-tail (organ meat, not just muscle meat) helps boost the nutrient density further.

Having a diet made up of easily absorbed, bio-available nutrients floods your body with the building blocks needed for it to do its own repair on everything from your brain to joints to muscles to blood cells.

Anti-Nutrients & Nutrient Absorption

Plant foods contain both nutrient and anti-nutrients. Animal foods have already had those anti-nutrients ‘filtered out’ when the animal ate the plants.  With perfect digestion, a well-balanced microbiome, and limited environmental toxins, it’s likely that you are, as an omnivore, able to easily deal with the anti-nutrients in plants and thrive on the good stuff that they provide. With an increased toxic load, generations of poor nutrition, and gut flora that is unbalanced, some people have more trouble with anti-nutrients than others. Particularly, phytic acid that is found primarily in grains and legumes, is known to interfere with absorption of zinc, magnesium, calcium, and iron.

Anti-nutrients are not limited to phytic acid.  Oxalates, lectins, phenols, and more are all found in plant foods, but not animal foods.  This is not to say that everyone should always avoid all plants but there is a balance, and it will look different for everyone.

There is also evidence to suggest that these compounds, in a healthy person with a healthy digestive system, can provide ‘resistance’ that encourages the body to heal and strengthen (known as hormesis).  Think of carnivore as more of a resting and repairing protocol, and eating plants as pushing the body, or strength training. You would not go into the gym and start an exercise program if you were injured or ill. Instead you would choose rest while your body repaired itself.  Then it may be time to introduce ‘the gym’ aka plants with anti-nutrients.

Oxalates are high in many plant foods and are correlated with decreased calcium absorption, kidney stones, and joint pain.

Lectins are found in approximately 30% of the plant food eaten on a Standard Western Diet  including beans, grains, squash, and nightshades.  Lectins are correlated with deterioration of the gut wall (leaky gut), autoimmune responses, and more.

Phenols and salicylates are found in brightly colored fruits and vegetables and can trigger autism and/or ADHD symptoms in some individuals.

Allergies, Autoimmunity, & Inflammation

These three are all tied to the body’s overactive immune system.    When eating only animal products, avoiding any known allergies like dairy or eggs, the body gets a chance to calm down.

If you are struggling with leaky gut it becomes highly likely that your body is reacting, or having an immune response, to every food eaten.  All animal products are digested higher up in the digestive system resulting in a lowered amount of nutrients that cross the lower gut and enter the bloodstream in undigested particles, triggering allergic, autoimmune, and inflammatory responses.  These can include hives, rashes, joint pain, fatigue, swelling, diarrhea, and more.

Fiber & Digestion

Maybe one of the biggest myths of current dietary theory, fiber can have negative consequences on digestion.  Science shows over and over that when a no-fiber diet is consumed, digestion is improved! Studies of people with IBS, constipation, diarrhea, and other digestive issues all show either complete elimination or huge improvement when fiber is greatly reduced or eliminated.

When you avoid the substances that you do not digest (fiber and other chemicals in plants) your body has to work so much less to digest your food.  This gives your body a break to repair your gut and spend energy (along with the boost in nutrition) healing other parts of your body.

Microbiome & Leaky Gut

This community of microorganisms found in your gut works collaboratively with your body to digest food, line and protect the gut wall, secrete enzymes, and even control your cravings!  The microbiome is one of the reasons it can be incredibly challenging to simply stop craving sugar even if you only have a little bit. Eating sugar feeds the bugs that also eat sugar.

When these organisms are fed sugar, they can actually release chemicals that make their way into your bloodstream and up into our brain.  Microorganisms also experience survival of the fittest, so the ones that have this interesting adaptation (making you crave the foods they need) are the ones who survived.  If you’ve ever felt like your brain was taken over and sugar cravings were beyond your control, you can blame your microbiome!

Thankfully when you stop eating sugar and things that quickly turn to sugar, like wheat, (or anything else that is unhealthy), those little bugs will die off. Usually this takes 72 hours, meaning that around the 3-day mark you get massive sugar cravings after which they they seem to disappear.

It’s not only about the sugar and carb cravings, your microbiome can also send other signals to your brain causing fatigue, fuzzy thinking, and even psychological concerns like obsessive compulsive, depressive, or anxious thinking.

The bad bacteria, also called pathogenic bacteria, thrive on carbohydrates and reside low in the digestive tract. By eating only animal products, or following a zero-carb protocol, the good bacteria take over and the bad are kept in check or completely eliminated.  Your microbiome is always changing, due to the different foods you eat.  When carbs are avoided, this change is speeded up and the pathogens are quickly starved out.

Quick note: The microbiome is not all bad! You need a microbiome and the good bacteria in your gut that help you digest food.  The microbiome functions as a large part of your immune system, helps produce serotonin and dopamine (feel good hormones) and gives you cravings for the food that is good for you!

Sleep, Exercise, & Lean Body Mass

Good sleep is one of the primary indicators of good health!  Anecdotally, the carnivore diet is correlated with excellent quality sleep.  With good sleep comes good energy during the day. Also, anecdotally, the carnivore diet seems to go hand and hand with wanting to exercise.

Humans adapt an almost primitive mindset of enjoying fresh air, and active play – whether that’s joining a coed sports team or running with the dog or playing with your kids. Flooded with the nutrients needed to repair and build muscles, it is common to have much more desire to exercise while on the carnivore diet.  This weight bearing exercise increases lean body mass (muscles and bones) and improve metabolism. When the metabolism is running high not only is it easier to maintain a healthy weight, but a higher metabolism is also correlated with a general increase in overall health.

Insulin & Blood Glucose

Insulin resistance is a huge problem that affects much of the population.  Most people only begin to address insulin resistance when it causes weight gain. This often goes hand-in-hand with type 2 diabetes, though not always. Insulin resistance isn’t not a problem specific to those who have type 2 diabetes or are overweight.

Insulin resistance is also linked with heart disease, cancer, infertility, and blood sugar fluctuations including getting lightheaded or shaky between meals.

High blood glucose is a by-product of insulin resistance.  Type 1 diabetics experience this as a result of not making enough (or any) insulin required by the body, though much less is required when eating low carb. Type 2 diabetics can lower their insulin resistance AND blood glucose by following a carnivore (or really any well-formulated low carb diet).

If you have uncontrolled blood glucose (type 1 or 2) it is encouraged that you work with an endocrinologist as you transition onto keto or carnivore. There is a risk of ketoacidosis in those with uncontrolled blood sugar with the presence of ketones. Once the transition to low carb has been made, and blood glucose is under control, ketoacidosis is no longer a risk.

The carnivore diet stabilizes blood glucose because it is a very low carb diet, relying on ketones for energy rather than carbohydrates. This gives the body a break from needing to produce and respond to so much insulin, as the body gets energy directly from fat.

Ketones & Being In Ketosis

Ketosis is where a lot of the magic of carnivore comes from.  When your body is running on fat, not carbs, you are providing your brain with ketones instead of glucose. Ketones have been extensively studied and are shown to help multiple conditions from neurological conditions including drug-resistant epilepsy and MS, addiction recovery, carb binges, anxiety and depression, and more.

To stay in ketosis on carnivore, some people have to keep their fat consumption at up to 80% of total calories, but most of those who follow the carnivore diet will experience ketosis without tracking anything.

Despite limited studies, the positive effects of the carnivore diet can be plausibly validated using existing science. With high protein content and virtually zero carbs, the carnivore diet is likely the most satiating, least calorie-dense diet a person could eat, making it conducive to sustained caloric restriction. It’s not surprising that carnivore diet newcomers are enjoying improved health, rapid weight loss and the associated benefits.