Is the Carnivore Diet Sustainable? by Jerry Brainum 12/20

 

A carnivore is defined as consuming only meat and based on that, the Carnivore diet is appropriately named. While there are varied types of low carbohydrate diets, ranging from low carb diets that allow 150 grams of carbohydrates or more a day to the ketogenic diet that maximizes carb intake at 20 grams a day, the Carnivore diet can be said to be the ultimate low carb diet because it features no carb intake at all. That means zero intake of fruits, vegetables, and dairy foods. Proponents of the Carnivore diet like to say that it's the most natural diet that anyone can consume. The Paleolithic diet is often wrongly referred to as a low carb diet but allows a number of lower carb fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Not so with the Carnivore diet, which can be viewed as the direct opposite of a vegan diet that exclusively allows only fruits and vegetables, but no animal products at all. Some articles say that the Carnivore diet allows the consumption of eggs and some dairy products, but that is incorrect. The true Carnivore diet is restricted to consuming only meats with zero carbohydrate intake.

When I posted a video about the Carnivore diet on my YouTube channel a while ago, it received the most contentious comments that any of my previous videos had engendered. The reason for that was in the video, I had expressed the view that, if anything, the Carnivore diet was simply another fad diet that was nutritionally unbalanced. Those who opposed this view pointed out that all necessary nutrients can be obtained in meat foods since many of them are produced in the bodies of both animals and humans. That may be true to some extent, but there is a reason why most of these nutrients are considered essential. They are so-named because the body does not produce enough of them to promote maximum health, and in most cases not obtaining these nutrients from food will lead to deficiency symptoms.

Some Carnivore diets do permit butter and cheese that are low in lactose. But the basis for the Carnivore diet is that our ancient ancestors consumed nearly exclusively meat and fish, so duplicating their diet is what the body thrives on. What's curious about this is that it's the same claim made for the Paleolithic diet, which does include natural, unprocessed carbohydrate foods. However, according to many anthropologists who have studied ancient man, no one knows precisely what they ate, and both the Carnivore and Paleolithic diets are based on nothing more than guesswork. Still, both diets do provide a number of health benefits. Most studies of the Paleolithic diet have shown benefits related to fat loss and cardiovascular disease prevention, as well as prevention of type-2 diabetes, which is rising in epidemic proportions throughout the world.

One the most vociferous proponents of the Carnivore diet is Shawn Baker, a physician who . . .