Benefits of the carnivore diet.

Quick facts on the health benefits of the carnivore diet.

Due to its novelty and ancient roots, there has not been significant clinical research conducted on the health effects of the carnivore diet. However, anecdotal evidence from thousands of carnivore dieters, along with the similarities it shares with the ketogenic diet, suggests that if followed properly, the carnivore diet may provide numerous advantages, such as:

• The removal of processed foods choked full of additives like gums, dyes, preservatives, and trans fats. 
• Eliminating plant toxins and antinutrients
• Weight loss
• Enhanced insulin sensitivity
• Improved gut health
• Better heart health
• Reduced inflammation
• Increased testosterone and libido
• Improved mental clarity
• Simplified dieting

These benefits stem from adopting a diet that aligns with our metabolism’s evolution while eliminating processed foods containing harmful additives like gums, dyes, preservatives, and trans fats. The carnivore diet also excludes grains, legumes, and starches, which are high in plant toxins and antinutrients. Additionally, it reduces excess fiber that can cause constipation and digestive issues like diverticulitis while replacing inflammatory polyunsaturated fatty acids from seed oils with healthy monounsaturated and saturated fats. Finally, the carnivore diet includes nutrient-dense superfoods like liver, fish roe, and other organ meats.

To better understand why the carnivore diet may be beneficial, it is helpful to examine its origins.

1. Elimination of Plant Toxins and Antinutrients

By adopting a carnivore diet, you can effectively remove plant toxins and antinutrients from your diet. Plants, like humans, strive to survive and reproduce, and to do so, they have developed a range of chemicals, including naturally occurring pesticides, mineral chelators, antibiotics, and phytoestrogens that can interfere with human reproductive hormones.

Many of these plant toxins and antinutrients have been linked to inflammation, bowel issues, allergies, fertility problems, and vitamin deficiencies. For example, phytic acid, commonly found in grains and legumes, can prevent the absorption of essential nutrients such as calcium, zinc, magnesium, iron, and copper, while also inhibiting digestive enzymes.

Foods rich in phytoestrogens, such as soy, have been associated with reduced fertility in both men and women. Researchers hypothesize that plants contain these fertility-reducing substances to lower the number of animals that would otherwise eat them.

By adopting a well-designed carnivore diet, you can eliminate your exposure to these potentially harmful substances while also replacing them with nutrient-dense animal-based superfoods.

2. Weight Loss

he carnivore diet can be an effective strategy for weight loss. The following are factors that contribute to weight loss on a carnivore diet:

Increased satiation: Protein and fat calories take longer to digest, making you feel fuller for longer and reducing food cravings. Eating carbohydrates, on the other hand, tends to increase hunger hormones.

Reduced hormonal fluctuations: A diet heavy in carbohydrates can lead to frequent spikes and crashes in blood sugar and insulin levels, causing imbalances in hormones such as leptin, ghrelin, and HGH, which are linked to hunger, fat storage, and weight loss.

Increased metabolism of body fat: By consuming a lot of animal fats and reducing carbs, your body enters a metabolic state called ketosis, where it burns both the fat you consume and the fat stored in your body for fuel. Even if you’re not in a constant state of ketosis, your body becomes primed to use fat for fuel.

Interestingly, one of the primary studies that suggests the benefits of a ketogenic diet for weight loss uses the Atkins diet, which is high in red meat and protein but doesn’t emphasize high fat intake like a typical ketogenic diet. Therefore, this study may be indicating the weight loss advantages of a carnivore diet over a true ketogenic diet.

3. Increase in Insulin Sensitivity

Following a carnivore diet can increase insulin sensitivity by eliminating the main cause of insulin resistance – eating too many carbohydrates. However, this increased insulin sensitivity occurs only during the weight loss phase, and in the long term, a zero-carb carnivore diet may result in “physiological” insulin resistance.

When you consume carbohydrates, most of it enters your bloodstream as glucose, prompting the body to secrete insulin. Insulin is responsible for moving glucose from the bloodstream into cells, where it’s used for energy or stored as fat. However, consuming a standard American diet, high in carbs and sugar, can result in constantly high insulin levels, leading to insulin resistance. This condition occurs when cells stop responding to insulin, causing chronically high blood sugar levels and hormonal imbalances, leading to chronic inflammation.

Several weight loss studies demonstrate that very low carb diets, such as the carnivore diet, can improve insulin sensitivity during the weight loss phase:

• A study of overweight women found that a diet with less than 10% of calories from carbs improved insulin sensitivity.
• Another study of obese, insulin-resistant women found that both high-fat and high-protein low-carb diets reduced insulin resistance.
• A study of obese children found that a very low carb diet (VLCD) reduced insulin resistance, along with body weight and body fat.

However, when not in the weight loss phase, a diet consisting of 10% or less of calories from carbs can cause physiological insulin resistance. This adaptation to low or no-carb diets occurs because about 20% of your brain cells still need glucose. When you adapt to a no-carb diet, your body learns to anticipate that no carbs are coming, resulting in physiological insulin resistance, preventing muscles from using the little bit of glucose in your blood. This glucose is prioritized for your brain, which retains its insulin sensitivity.

Physiological insulin resistance is a necessary, safe, and sustainable adaptation to very low-carb eating. To increase glycogen uptake by muscles and improve insulin sensitivity on a low-carb carnivore diet, one can increase activity levels with brisk walks, yoga sessions, swims, or other low-impact activities.

4. Improved Gut Health

When considering gut health, there are two important factors to keep in mind: the integrity of the gut lining and the microbiome, which is a vast network of microorganisms responsible for breaking down food and influencing neurotransmitters that affect mood and energy levels. A well-formulated carnivore diet contains gut-healthy compounds like glutamine, collagen, and omega-3 fatty acids, which help to strengthen and repair the gut lining. By eliminating plant foods, the diet also removes abrasive and fermentable fiber as well as plant toxins like gluten, which can cause inflammation and promote harmful bacterial growth.

While there haven’t been any clinical studies examining the effects of the carnivore diet on gut health specifically, studies on the keto diet may provide some insight. One study published in Cell found that a keto diet can have positive effects on gut health by promoting healthy changes to the gut microbiota, which in turn reduces inflammation. This research suggests that a keto diet could be a potential therapy for autoimmune gut disorders. It’s worth noting that a study published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology found that reducing fiber intake improved symptoms of chronic constipation in participants who cut out fiber entirely, contrary to popular belief that a high fiber diet is always beneficial for gut health.

5. Reduce Inflammation

The carnivore diet, like other low-carb diets, offers significant benefits in reducing systemic inflammation markers such as C-reactive protein and IL-6. The potential causes for these benefits include removing plant toxins that irritate the body, reducing insulin levels, increasing intake of anti-inflammatory Omega-3 fatty acids, and supporting gut health, which plays a crucial role in mitigating inflammation. Several studies have demonstrated the ability of low-carb diets, such as the carnivore diet, to decrease inflammation. For instance, a study published in Metabolism found that after 12 weeks, those on a high-fat, low-carb diet had lower markers of systemic inflammation than those on a low-fat, high-carb diet. The authors of the study concluded that high-fat eating could be more beneficial for heart health.

6. Improved Heart Health

It can be difficult to believe that eating only meat is good for your heart after years of misinformation from mainstream nutritionists. However, early studies from the 1950s that were biased against red meat and were of low quality didn’t control for important variables like exercise, smoking, and other lifestyle factors that have a greater impact on heart health than red meat. Newer studies are better and show that whole-fat dairy, unprocessed meat, eggs, and dark chocolate are not associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a paper in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

While there are no studies specifically looking at the effects of a carnivore diet on heart health markers, we can infer from studies on the keto diet. A well-formulated carnivore diet with a 3-1 fat to protein ratio is essentially a keto diet, which has been shown to increase heart-healthy HDL cholesterol, decrease LDL particle concentration (LDL-P), and increase LDL particle size cholesterol while decreasing dangerous VLDL. These are all good things for cardiovascular health. Additionally, consuming liver on a carnivore diet provides plenty of heart-healthy vitamin K2.

7. Increases in Testosterone and Libido

The standard American diet and sedentary lifestyle can have a negative impact on testosterone levels and libido. The combination of excessive sugar and vegetable oil consumption, along with reduced physical activity and increased body fat, creates a vicious cycle that leads to depleted testosterone levels and diminished strength, energy, and libido.

Fortunately, a carnivore diet can help restore testosterone and libido due to the abundance of nutrients found in meat, such as cholesterol, protein, carnosine, carnitine, and vitamins K and D. These compounds are crucial in the production and maintenance of healthy testosterone levels. Studies have shown that a high-fat, low-fiber diet, such as the carnivore diet, can lead to a 13% increase in total testosterone levels after just 10 weeks when compared to a low-fat, high-fiber diet.

8. Increased Mental Clarity

The interaction between systemic inflammation and neurotransmitters flowing from the microbiome in your gut to your brain is complex. The resulting brain fog and decreased cognitive ability can lead to depression, anxiety, and various other signs of impaired mental health.

However, a carnivore diet can enhance mental clarity by enhancing gut health, removing inflammatory foods like sugar and seed oils, and providing nutrients that boost brain function, including zinc, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, iron, and DHA, particularly when organ meats are consumed.

Similar to a ketogenic diet, the brain-boosting effects and mental clarity of a carnivore diet can set in quickly. However, for some people, transitioning to the carnivore diet may lead to a temporary phase of brain fog and low energy. Fortunately, these low-carb side effects are transitory, and there are straightforward strategies to decrease their duration and intensity, such as drinking more water and increasing salt intake. Furthermore, a ketogenic carnivore diet may provide the same neuroprotective effects as a standard ketogenic diet, including shielding against neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

9. Simplified Dieting

While the carnivore diet may be a topic of controversy in some circles, one undeniable fact is that it’s incredibly simple. The basic principle is to eat animal foods whenever you’re hungry, with no need to worry about counting calories.

It is essential to consume fatty meats while following the carnivore diet. Additionally, incorporating organ meats and bone marrow into your diet may be necessary to obtain essential micronutrients like vitamin C.