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What Science Says About the Carnivore Diet


ByAgkidzone Staff
Updated: Sep 21, 2024

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It’s no secret—people around the world love eating meat. In fact, global meat consumption reached nearly 400 million U.S. tons in 2018, with beef, poultry, pork, and fish being the top choices. For many, meat is seen as an essential part of a healthy, well-balanced diet because it’s packed with protein, vitamins, and minerals. However, for some, this appreciation for meat goes a step further, leading to the adoption of the carnivore diet, a trend that’s gaining attention in recent years.

What Is the Carnivore Diet?
The carnivore diet takes the love of meat to the extreme. Instead of just including meat in every meal, the diet revolves entirely around animal-based foods, emphasizing meat, eggs, and some dairy products. This approach eliminates most carbs by cutting out fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes. The goal? Boost protein intake while drastically reducing carbohydrates. While it has both supporters and critics in the U.S., the carnivore diet certainly isn’t for the faint of heart.
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Foods You Can Eat on the Carnivore Diet
While the carnivore diet may seem restrictive, it still offers a variety of options. You can enjoy beef, chicken, turkey, pork, white fish, sardines, and salmon. Additionally, small amounts of hard cheeses, heavy cream, and animal fats like butter and lard are allowed. The diet encourages focusing on fattier cuts of meat to meet your daily calorie needs. However, this also means you’re consuming more saturated fats, which may raise concerns for some individuals.
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Foods You Must Avoid
If you’re considering the carnivore diet, get ready to say goodbye to a lot of familiar foods. Plant-based foods, grains, beans, nuts, and seeds are all off-limits. You’ll also have to cut out dairy products like milk, yogurt, and soft cheeses. And it doesn’t stop there—no sugars, alcohol, or beverages beyond water are allowed. While the diet’s strictness helps some people achieve weight loss goals, it comes at the cost of missing out on nutrient-rich food groups linked to overall health.
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Can the Carnivore Diet Help With Weight Loss?
One of the main claims made by carnivore diet enthusiasts is that it helps with weight loss. The logic is simple—by cutting out high-carb foods and focusing on protein, many people find they consume fewer calories overall. However, while this can result in initial weight loss, maintaining that success long-term may be a challenge. As with many diets, keeping the weight off once you stop can be tricky, and restrictive diets can be hard to follow consistently.
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Benefit of Cutting Out High-Carb Foods
One positive aspect of the carnivore diet is the elimination of high-carb foods like sweets, sodas, and pastries, which have been linked to health issues such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and metabolic syndrome. By cutting out refined carbs and sugary treats, the diet may reduce your risk of these conditions. But there’s a downside: completely eliminating carbs also means losing out on the fiber found in healthy carbs, which is vital for digestion and other essential body functions.
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Lack of Essential Nutrients
A significant drawback of the carnivore diet is its lack of vital nutrients found in plant-based foods. Fruits, vegetables, and legumes are crucial for preventing heart disease and lowering mortality rates. Without these nutrient-rich foods, individuals on the carnivore diet may miss out on important vitamins and minerals like fiber, vitamin C, and antioxidants, which are necessary for overall health. Simply eating more meat won’t compensate for these deficiencies.
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High Fat and Cholesterol Risks
Because the carnivore diet focuses heavily on meat, followers tend to consume higher amounts of saturated fats and LDL cholesterol. This can increase the risk of serious health concerns, including heart disease and stroke. Additionally, processed meats like bacon and sausage are high in sodium, which raises the likelihood of high blood pressure. While cutting carbs may have benefits, the increased intake of unhealthy fats could lead to long-term problems.
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Problem with No Fiber
One of the major downsides of the carnivore diet is the complete absence of dietary fiber, which is essential for a healthy digestive system. Fiber, which comes exclusively from plant-based foods, helps maintain gut health and promotes regular bowel movements. Without it, followers of this diet may experience issues like constipation and imbalance in gut bacteria. Research also shows that low fiber intake can harm colonic health and weaken the immune system.
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Who Should Avoid the Carnivore Diet?
While the carnivore diet might appeal to some, it’s not for everyone. Those with chronic kidney disease or conditions that require limiting protein intake should steer clear. Additionally, people with cholesterol sensitivities, pregnant women, and young children may struggle to meet their nutritional needs on this diet. Though the carnivore diet claims to offer health benefits, these assertions haven’t been backed by substantial medical research, and some individuals are better off avoiding such extreme dietary choices.
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