Though simple and straightforward, the carnivore diet combines many healing principals into one easy-to-follow way of eating.

Some foods and nutrients are avoided: Common allergens, oxalates, and nightshades, some are encouraged: Healthy fat, cholesterol, omega 3 fatty acids, and many other nutrients.

When following the carnivore diet, you become able 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.

As with all dietary changes and meal plans, this is my opinion only, and I am not qualified to treat, prevent, or cure any disease.

Nutrient Density

When it comes to nutrient density of the nutrients needed to grow young children, repair and replace your own cells, and keep your body systems running, nothing can beat animal foods.  Your stomach has a ph. of 1.5-3.5, which is very acidic and very good at carving the nutrients out of meat.

Consuming nose-to-tail (organ meat, not simply muscle meat) helps boost the nutrient density.

Having a diet made up of easily absorbed, bio-available nutrients absolutely 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 anti-nutrients, as well as nutrients. Animal foods have already had those anti-nutrients ‘filtered out’ through the animal’s digestive system when eating the plants. With perfect digestion, balanced microbiome, and limited environmental toxins, it is 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. Phytic acid is particularly problematic. Phytic acid is found primarily in grains and legumes and 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 does not imply that everyone should always avoid all plants, but it is important to be aware of the delicate balance which will look different for everyone.

There is also evidence to suggest that these compounds can provide ‘resistance’ that encourages the body to heal and strengthen, even in a healthy person with a healthy digestive system.  Think of a carnivore diet as more of a resting and repairing protocol, and eating plants as pushing the body, or strength training. You wouldn’t go into the gym and start an exercise program if you had two broken limbs and pneumonia. Instead you would 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 that the standard American eats 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 individual.

Allergies, Autoimmunity, & Inflammation

These three are all tied to the body’s overactive and/or hyper-responsive immune system.    When you choose to eat only animal products, avoiding any known allergies like dairy or eggs, the body has a unique opportunity to calm down.

When you have conditions related to leaky gut it is likely that your body is reacting, or having an immune response, to every food you might consume.  These responses can include hives, rashes, joint pain, fatigue, swelling, diarrhea, and more. Because all animal products are digested higher up in the digestive system, the number of nutrients that cross the lower gut and enter the bloodstream in undigested particles, triggering allergic, autoimmune, and inflammatory responses, is lowered.  

Fiber & Digestion

Maybe one of the biggest myths of the last century – fiber - is actually bad for our digestion.  Science repeatedly shows that when a zero-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 of symptoms when fiber is greatly reduced or eliminated.

When you don’t eat stuff that is not digested (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 added boost in nutrients) healing other parts of our body.

Microbiome & Leaky Gut

The microbiome is currently a hot button topic, and for good reason! This colony of microorganisms in our gut works together with your body to digest your food, line your gut wall to protect it, secrete enzymes, and even control your cravings!  The microbiome is a big reason why it can be incredibly challenging to stop craving sugar even if you only have a little bit. If you eat sugar, you are, in fact, feeding the bugs that also eat sugar.

And when you feed these bugs that eat sugar, they actually can ‘poop’ out chemicals that make their way into your bloodstream and up into your brain.  Microorganisms are also simply working on surviving the longest and strongest, so the ones that have this adaptation (ensuring you are craving 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 choose to stop eating sugar, wheat, or anything else that is problematic, those little bugs will die off. Usually this takes 72 hours, so don’t be surprised if around the 3-day mark you get massive sugar cravings, after which they seem to disappear.

It is, however, not simply about the sugar and carb cravings, your microbiome can also send other signals to your brain causing fatigue, fuzzy thinking, and even psychological issues 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 only eating animal products, or zero carb, 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 you avoid carbs, you speed up this change and quickly starve out the bad.

Quick note: The microbiome is essential and 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 biggest indicators of good health!  Anecdotally, the carnivore diet is correlated with excellent quality of sleep.  With good sleep comes good energy during the day. The carnivore diet seems to go hand and hand with wanting to exercise, although this observation is anecdotal too.

You may find yourself adapting 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 improves metabolism. When the metabolism is running optimally not only is it easier to maintain a healthy weight, but a better functioning metabolism is also correlated with a general increase in overall health.

Insulin & Blood Glucose

Insulin resistance is a huge problem that affects the population.  Most people act in regards to insulin resistance when it causes weight gain. This often, but not always, is tied to type 2 diabetes, though not always.

Insulin resistance is not only a problem in people who have type 2 diabetes or are overweight. Insulin resistance is also linked with heart disease, cancer, infertility, and blood sugar fluctuations – getting lightheaded or shaky between meals.

High blood glucose is a by-product of insulin resistance.  Type 1 diabetics have this as a result of not making enough (or any) insulin and require insulin in order to survive, 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 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 established, 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 fatty acids and 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 & Ketosis

Ketosis is where a large part of the magic of carnivore comes from.  When your body is running on fat as opposed to carbohydrate, you are providing your brain with ketones instead of glucose. Ketones have been extensively studied and are shown to help with everything 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 around 80% calories from fat or more.  But most of those who follow the carnivore diet will be in ketosis without tracking anything.

When searching medical journals for studies on ketosis, search ‘very low carb diets’ VLCD, modified Atkins diets, and keto.  The ‘old version’ of keto, used primarily as seizure control for the past century, also limited protein and liquids, which affected children’s growth and the kidneys.  Some doctors still recommend against ‘keto’ for this reason, they are looking at studies that restricted protein and liquids, on a protocol that was very hard to follow

The carnivore diet provides intense easy-to-absorb nutrition and is an anti-inflammatory diet.  Both of these combined, along with the help of shedding excess body fat, help the body heal, repair and restore balance.