Carnivore Diet FAQ
Here you’ll find answers to the Carnivore Diet FAQs. While many of your questions can be found in our free guides and all thoroughly discussed in Meat Health Academy, below you’ll find answers to the most common questions and concerns about the Carnivore Diet. If you have specific questions or you just can’t find an answer – Please Join our Private Facebook Group – a safe place to ask questions, where the whole community is there to help and support each other.
Meats: Beef, Chicken, Pork, Lamb, Bison, Turkey etc.
Fish: Salmon, Mackerel, Sardines, Crab, Lobster, Clams, Mussels, Oysters etc.
Other animal products: Eggs, Lard, Bone Marrow, Bone Broth, Tallow, Cheese, Milk etc.
On the carnivore diet, you can eat all animal products including, muscle meats (beef, chicken, pork & more), fish, eggs, dairy and organs. For some, the carnivore diet means beef, salt and water only. Others choose to include dairy and organ meat in their version of the diet. The carnivore diet can look different for everyone, but at the foundation it means abstaining from eating any plant foods and eating meat and animal products exclusively. You can learn more about the carnivore diet here.
Most people on the carnivore diet will fluctuate in and out of ketosis depending on their fat:protein intake. Ketosis is generally reached when 70%+ of calories are being obtained from fat, with the remaining calories coming from protein. Depending on your eating schedule, the cuts of meat you choose to eat, and the types of foods you include in your carnivore diet plan, you may or may not be put in ketosis.
To learn more about carnivore diet and ketosis, check out our article ‘Tinkering with the Carnivore Diet’.
Many people do lose weight when beginning the carnivore diet. As your body adjusts to the new diet you may notice a lot of changes in things like your weight, appetite, energy and more. Achieving ketosis, and switching your body into fat-burning mode, can assist with weight loss and often allows dieters to lose weight quickly.
Check out our free eBook on Carnivore Diet Fat Loss to learn more!
There are many snack options for those on the carnivore diet including:
- Meat-Rollups
- Cheese
- Hard Boiled Eggs
- Jerky
- Pork Rinds
- Bacon
- Bone Broth
- Bone Marrow
Many people start to snack less once integrated on the carnivore diet. For other snack ideas check out our private Facebook Community!
Eating deli meat on the carnivore diet is entirely up to you! Because deli meats are often processed and contain added ingredients most people choose to limit them or exclude them entirely while many others eat deli meats as they please. If you are choosing the carnivore diet for autoimmune issues or are using the diet as an elimination diet, it will be best to exclude deli meats for now. To learn more about what you can eat on the carnivore diet, check out this article.
When it comes to adjusting to the carnivore diet and seeing the amazing results, everyone differs. Some people start to see results within days, while it can take others years to recover from previous damage done to the body. On average most people are fully adjusted and benefitting fully from the carnivore diet by the six month mark. To learn about the typical symptoms and cures of starting the the carnivore diet, click here.
The main difference between the keto and carnivore diet is that the keto diet allows for some carbs/fiber/plant-based foods while the carnivore diet does not. On the keto diet, eating foods like berries, nuts and other low carb plant foods are permissible. The carnivore diet however, does not allow for any foods that are not derived from animals. Having said that, those adhering to the carnivore diet may experience ketosis. To learn more about which diet will work best for you, check out the Meat Health Masterclass!
The foundation of the Carnivore Diet is eating in accordance with what we are designed to eat, physiologically, anatomically, and ancestrally. There is substantial evidence that humans are meant to eat a meat-based diet and that when we deviate from eating in accordance to our design it results in disease including things like metabolic disease (obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure) and autoimmune diseases. Here is more evidence for a meat-based diet.
Many plant-based foods contain significant antinutrients and phytotoxins that can harm human health. Further, most plant-based foods today have been dramatically transformed and altered in ways that the human body is not designed to handle and easily lead to overconsumption, gut problems, and ultimately disease. You can learn more about the dangers of plant based foods in this free eBook.
Starting the Carnivore Diet is as easy as eating only animal-based products and drinking water. It’s important to note that from this simplicity (Meat + Water = Carnivore Diet) there can be a lot of complexity such as what is included, how much to eat, when you should eat, and what (if any) supplements you should take as well as what to do if you aren’t feeling great and how to get adapted. For answers to these and much more, read the Ultimate 30 Day Guide to the Carnivore Diet and watch the Meat Health Masterclass to be best prepared for the Carnivore Diet.
Many people falsely believe that fruits and vegetables are required for their vitamins and minerals. However, there is no essential nutrient in plant-based foods that is not in animal-based food. And while most plant-based foods are missing critical and essential nutrients, animal foods contain complete nutrition in the way of macro and micro nutrients. You can learn more about vitamins and minerals here.
Carbohydrates are a nonessential nutrient. While some cells do require glucose like certain cells in the central nervous system and red blood cells, the amount of glucose these cells need is easily provided via gluconeogenesis. There is no need to consume carbohydrates. To learn more,, read this definitive guide to carbohydrates.
The hypothesis that saturated fat, especially from meat, leads to heart disease has been thoroughly debunked in the latest research. You can learn more about how this hypothesis came to be and the truth about saturated fat in this article.
It is not uncommon for someone’s cholesterol to go up on the Carnivore Diet. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and in fact, can be a good thing. Not all cholesterol is the same. There is HDL cholesterol, the so called “good cholesterol” and there is LDL cholesterol, the so called “bad cholesterol.” But that’s an oversimplification. You can learn more about cholesterol and the carnivore diet here.
When eating a Carnivore Diet it is common for one to automatically start eating in an intermittent fasting pattern by simply following their appetite. However, it is not recommended to force fasting when starting a Carnivore Diet. While fasting and subsequent autophagy can be beneficial, it’s important to be aware of the downsides. To learn more about fasting and the Carnivore Diet, start with the Ultimate 30 Day Guide to the Carnivore Diet and watch the Meat Health Masterclass to be best prepared.
The Carnivore Diet will not cause ketoacidosis, but it will likely put you in various depths of nutritional ketosis. Ketoacidosis and nutritional ketosis are NOT the same thing. While nutritional ketosis is a normal, natural consequence of a low / no carbohydrate diet, ketoacidosis is a very dangerous state that is most commonly the result of unmanaged Type I diabetes.
You can eat dairy on the carnivore diet as it is an animal-based food. However, it’s important to understand that not all dairy is the same. Most people tend to do better by limiting or eliminating dairy. To learn more about which kinds of dairy are better tolerated and which are best to avoid, read this complete guide to dairy.
You do not need to eat antioxidants from plants. Plant-based antioxidants, exogenous antioxidants, are not only unnecessary but are poorly absorbed, if at all, and can even be harmful to human health. Human make their own antioxidants, endogenous antioxidants, which are exactly designed to work in our system, which is very different than the plant system. You can learn more about the differences between plant and human antioxidants here.
You do not need fiber to have a bowel movement. In fact, fiber can cause or exacerbate many gastrointestinal issues such as constipation. Fiber is not necessary as a nutrient nor to protect against disease such as colon cancer. You can learn more about fiber here.
Most nutritional studies are epidemiology which is a weak form of research with the purpose of making hypotheses that are then tested in clinical trials. There are many confounding variables and biases in nutritional research such as the health user bias. To learn more about how nutritional research can lead us astray from healthy eating, please watch the Meat Health Masterclass.
When following the Carnivore Diet you get your vitamin C from animal-based foods. There is an incorrect assumption that meat doesn’t contain vitamin C. Additionally, when following the Carnivore Diet it is likely that requirements for various nutrients change, including that for vitamin C. You can learn more about vitamin C and the Carnivore Diet here.
There are numerous differences between Keto and Carnivore including macronutrients like fiber and fat as well as what’s “allowed” and what’s not. To make the switch from a ketogenic diet to the Carnivore Diet, start with the Ultimate 30 Day Guide to the Carnivore Diet and watch the Meat Health Masterclass to be best prepared for the transition.
You absolutely can build muscle on the carnivore diet. For many people, building muscle is a natural consequence of switching to the Carnivore Diet. If you are looking for a step-by-step plan to building muscle on the Carnivore Diet, watch the Meat Health Masterclass to learn how to take your physique to the next level with a meat-based diet.
There are many concerns about eating too much protein, including fears around meat being acidic, kidney damage, gout, mTOR, IGF-1, and decreased longevity. There are also concerns that eating too much protein results in the protein just turning to sugar via gluconeogenesis. However, all these concerns are largely unfounded. To learn more, read this complete guide to high protein diets.
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