January is World Carnivore Month

Many people will be trying the Carnivore Diet.

In 2017 Dr. Shawn Baker appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast talking about the Carnivore Diet. Since then hundreds of thousands of people have tried it. While many may consider this a fad diet, it is not fading away like most fad diets do. Why? It may be the most effective detoxification diet available, and the most nutritious. When people hear of the success that their friends or family have, they may be willing to try it.

What kinds of success? Weight loss, for one. When we stop eating carbs, blood glucose and insulin come down and we turn into “fat burners,” utilizing dietary fat and body fat for fuel, as opposed to carbs. Burning fat is a more efficient fuel than glucose. There is less “smoke” or waste products generated when we burn fats, or ketones, which are energy units we make from fat.

Other common effects of the Carnivore Diet are decreased inflammation, from joints, skin, the gut and the brain (depression/anxiety). It is common for mood to improve, brain fog to decrease, digestion to improve, high blood pressure to drop, mental health improves, exercise becomes easier and sleep improves. This is also a very good way to lower your A1C and to prevent and reverse diabetes.

While the Carnivore Diet is not for everyone for a lifetime, even a 30 day trial can lead to big health improvements.

On a 30 day plan, the ideal is to start with beef and water. After some time you might slowly add in, maybe, eggs. Have a serving but wait three days for any delayed reaction. Then you can add pork, fish, and chicken, again waiting for any delayed reaction. Thirty days of Carnivore would be a good start, but 90 days would give you even more results.

After 30 days you may wish to add back less harmful vegetables and non-sweet fruits, such as avocado, olives, zucchini, yellow summer squash and cucumbers, or fermented vegetables. Nature’s seeds have the most toxins and anti-nutrients. Their highest priority is to become a plant, not food. These are grains, beans, seeds and nuts.

But is an all meat diet healthy? Don’t we need fiber or plants for antioxidants?

There are three macronutrients - protein, fat and carbs. Only two of those are essential, protein and fat. Even the very conservative Institute of Medicine says that there are no essential carbohydrates, provided that essential amino acids and fatty acids are provided. Our most potent antioxidants, like melatonin and glutathione, are made from amino acids from protein.

Dr. Loren Cordain, the author of the scientific paper, Cereal Grains, Humanity’s Double Edge Sword, states that human evolution happens very slowly. In the past 50,000 years, our anatomy and physiology have been virtually unchanged. Also unchanged is our nutritional needs. Humans evolved on mostly fat and meat. Israeli paleo anthropologist Miki Ben-Dor Ph.D. wrote a book - Man - The Fat Hunter.

Why does eliminating plants, especially carbs, make such a big difference in health?

First of all, plants are nutrient poor. The available nutrients in wheat, or soy or spinach is miniscule compared to beef or eggs. The lab measurements of plant foods may seem okay at first glance, but these lab measurements don’t take into account the presence of plant antinutrients. Plants can’t run from predators and so have built-in poisons, toxins and antinutrients, such as oxalates, phytic acid in fiber, glycoalkaloids in nightshade plants, tannins, saponins, estrogen from soy, flax and other seeds, enzyme inhibitors, salicylates, lectins, opiates (wheat, corn) and others. Don’t try this at home, but if you ate 5 raw kidney beans you will soon be in the emergency room from lectin toxicity. While cooking, chewing, soaking and fermenting can lower antinutrients, they don’t eliminate them. Animals, birds, insects, fish are all mostly edible, they don’t have antinutrients as they can fight or flee from predators.

One of your New Year’s resolutions could be to give the carnivore diet a try. Stop the plants, increase your consumption of beef, lamb, bison, fish, eggs, butter and some dairy, such as raw cheese and pasture fed butter or ghee. Eat until you are full, no need to count calories or macros. Kevin Stock, a pediatric dentist, has a free 30 day guide to carnivore at Kevin@meat.health.

Not everyone tolerates eggs, or dairy, so start out with beef and water. Quite a few carnivores still drink coffee, but with no sugar or fake creamers. Dr. Ken Berry, a carnivore, narrows it down to “beef, butter, bacon & eggs.”

You may have a period of detox for a few days - just keep going. Here are some good people who promote a carnivore lifestyle on YouTube: Dr. Ken Berry, Dr. Robert Kiltz, Dr. Anthony Chafee, Lola the Steak and Butter Gal, Kelly Hogan, my zero carb life - carnivore for 14 years, Kevin Stock DDS, and Dr. Sarah Zaldiver. See also meatheals.com and zerocarbzen.com to learn from other people’s experience.

Soon you will start feeling really good. No hunger or cravings, just good energy and good mood.