Martina Bouchard, ND.A.
February 2024
There is a large wave of people hopping on the carnivore diet trend, especially in the fitness industry. The carnivore diet is simple, it consists of eating only animal meat. This includes high quality red meat, organ meats, connective tissue, some fat, eggs, chicken, dairy, seafood, bison, and lamb. There are some variations of the carnivore diet, like any other type of diet, and there are some who swear by it, and others who think it’s absurd; why I thought it would be interesting to debunk some of the facts and myths associated to the carnivore diet.
You Just Need to Eat Meat
Yes, and no. I like to think of the carnivore diet as the ultimate elimination diet; it quite literally cuts out every type of food sensitivity, intolerance, and/or toxin the body may encounter in the everyday, westernized diet. Because of this, the meat that is consumed MUST be high quality, meaning organic grass finished, hormone & antibiotic free, pasture raised animals. This ensures the highest possible quality of meat will also reduce your exposure to several toxins (hormones, vaccines, pesticides, glyphosate, corn, and soy).
The other requirement is nose-to-tail eating, which means not only eating the most favourable cuts of meat but eating all the edible parts of the animal – which yes, includes the organs. This ensures you are getting a variety of nutrients, needed to heal and repair the body. It also means eating small fish, wild meats, poultry, seafood, and their fats (e.g., tallow, ghee, duck fat) to ensure you are not lacking any nutrients.
Contrary to some people’s belief, all types of pork, hot dogs, lunch meat/cold cuts/deli/salami meats, and any other type of processed meats are NOT permitted on the carnivore diet. These meats are often processed and contain additives that have opposite effects to those we are looking for on the carnivore diet.
So, yes, during the carnivore diet you only eat meat, but the type, and quality of meat is what is most important. Unfortunately, bacon for breakfast is not part of the carnivore diet!
You'll Get High Cholesterol and Heart Disease
This is my favourite, and probably one of the most debated parts about the carnivore diet. Getting high cholesterol and heart disease from the carnivore diet is a definite MYTH! The first part of this debate that is important to mention, is that there are no, as in zero, randomized control trials linking the consumption of fresh meat with heart disease¹. All the studies linking high cholesterol and heart disease to meat consumption have been done with either all processed meats, or processed and unprocessed meats, which does not reflect an actual carnivore diet.
Cholesterol
Now let’s talk cholesterol. We know that there is “good” cholesterol or HDL cholesterol, and “bad” cholesterol or LDL cholesterol. While having high levels of “bad” cholesterol is an issue, the main issue is actually the amount of cholesterol that gets oxidized. This happens when LDL molecules come into contact with cellular by-products called reactive oxygen species, or free radicals, which damage and modify the LDL cholesertol².
This oxidation process activates cells on the artery walls called adhesion cells, which the oxidized LDL molecules bind to, that eventually builds into plaque². On top of that, our white blood cells sense this reaction as “foreign”, and attack the oxidized LDL, which then increases inflammation². It is the process of oxidation and inflammation that in the long-term, can cause even more damage to the arteries and may lead to heart disease².
There is also a major difference between dietary cholesterol, and cholesterol circulating in the blood. Dietary cholesterol coming from eggs for example, does not affect blood cholesterol levels. In 2013, the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association concluded that there was not enough evidence to make a recommendation regarding dietary cholesterol for treatment of high LDL cholesterol³. On the other hand, there is a direct correlation between foods that contain cholesterol oxidizing products and increased levels of oxidized lipids in circulation⁴.
So, how do we fix the oxidation problem? We remove external factors that cause oxidation such as air pollution, pesticides, smoke, heavy metals, drugs, stress, allergens, alcohol, and foods that have or create free radicals⁵. Most of the foods that create oxidative stress in the body are processed or manufactured foods that have undergone any type of heating or drying⁴. These foods are usually dairy products (milk, cheese, yogurt, etc.), processed eggs, processed meat products (hot dogs, cold cuts, etc.), fried foods (take-out, chicken wings, chicken strips, etc.), and hydrogenated oils (canola oil, margarine, etc.)². Other foods that contribute to increasing oxidative stress are refined carbohydrates and sugars which are usually present in baked goods⁴.
Heart Disease
As you can see above, it really comes down to the quality of meat consumed. A 2020 systemic review published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology concluded, “although intake of processed meat has been associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease, intake of unprocessed red meat is not, which indicated that the saturated fat content of meat is unlikely to be responsible for this associated”⁶. This review affirms that meat is not the culprit, it is the processing of meat that damages our bodies.
A 2010 meta-analysis of 21 studies with 347,747 participants and a follow-up period of 5-23 years concluded similar results. The authors stated “There is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease or cardiovascular disease. More data is needed to elucidate whether cardiovascular disease risks are likely to be influenced by the specific nutrients used to replace saturated fat”⁷. It is important to note here that the “specific nutrients” the authors are referring to are sugar, and partially unsaturated vegetable oils⁷. Partially hydrogenated vegetable oils were originally thought to be a healthier alternative to saturated fats; however, it turns out that they are even worse than saturated fats and are associated with elevated cholesterol, and heart disease⁸.
You Can Stay on The Carnivore Diet Forever
Technically, yes you can, should you? No! Remember when I said the carnivore diet is like the ultimate elimination diet? Well, would you follow an elimination diet forever? No, you wouldn’t. So, you shouldn’t stay on the carnivore diet forever either.
Like I said before, the carnivore diet is purely to cut any possible toxin from entering your body; every type of food sensitivity, intolerance, and/or toxin you may encounter. And the only reason you need to cut virtually every toxin from entering your body is because you have a serious health issue, like leaky gut or an auto-immune disease. Once your symptoms have resolved, and your body has healed, then you can and should start implementing specific foods depending on your case and needs. This is why you should always consult a health professional before, during, and after any big changes to your normal diet.
The Carnivore Diet is Expensive
This one can be argued either way. Meat isn’t cheap, but neither is junk food. The reality here is that you are only buying animal products, you’re not buying snacks, juices, condiments, sauces, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, etc. you are just buying animal products. For example, as of right now, February 2024, a frozen margherita pizza from the grocery store is $12.49 each plus taxes; a Kirkland Signature pack of 24 free range organic eggs is $13.69 plus taxes. And let’s get real here, a 24 pack of eggs will last you more meals than one 369 g pizza ever would. There’s also the fact that because not many people are keen to eating organ meats, they are usually very cheap when you go to the local butcher. Same goes with the bones that you can boil to make bone broth with. The last argument here is that you don’t have to buy a fillet mignon or tomahawk to be on the carnivore diet, yes, they do taste really good, but you can buy cuts like the top round roast, sirloin tip steak, bottom round steak, or the arm chuck roast at a far more reasonable cost to sustain yourself.
So, as you can see there are different arguments towards the carnivore diet. When you really get down to the science of the carnivore diet, it comes down to the quality of the meat you consume, the reason you start the carnivore diet, and the length of time you stay on it that determines how successful the outcomes will be.
References available upon request