What is the Carnivore Diet?

The carnivore diet is a 100% animal based diet. This includes eating everything from nose to tail, organ meats, muscle meats, glands, and more. Each part of the animal has  different nutrient content. This diet has great use for autoimmune patients because it acts as an extreme elimination diet. All plants, as great as they are have built in defense mechanisms. These are plant chemicals that are designed to protect them from being over ate, or from the environment. They also have an impact on humans. For instance, oxalates, phytic acid, tannins and beyond have been shown to impair nutrient absorption. Animals don’t have these defense molecules because they have other ways of defending themselves. I’m not talking about the xenohormetic effect that you get from plants. This refers to a small amount of stress makes your body recover, like exercise. Sulforaphane in broccoli activates antioxidant systems, but what we don’t hear about is that it also may cause collateral damage to the body.

Addressing Nutrient Decencies

Animals are the source of the most bioavailable nutrition. The reason for this is because all the nutrients they have are in their most usable form. For example, plants don’t have vitamin A, they have beta carotene, which is the precursor to vitamin A. The problem is that not all of it gets converted, and not everyone can do it well. There is preformed vitamin A (retinol), in animals, and all of it gets used.

Vitamin C-

Most people think that there is not vitamin C in animals, but that’s not true. There is some, but not a lot. When you look at the organ meats, like the adrenals, there is actually a lot. We may not need as much vitamin C as we think. People on the carnivore diet usually have normal levels of oxidative stress.

Fiber-

Fiber is a form of carbohydrates. To keep it simple, there are only two types, soluble and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber feeds the microbiome and helps create short chain fatty acids. Insoluble fiber is resistant to being broken down and adds bulk to stool. It’s worth mentioning resistant starch. Resistant starch is starch that is resistant to digestion and serves as food for microbes. Some great sources are tiger nuts, green bananas, and heated and cooled potatoes. Most data showing the benefits of fiber is done in epidemiology, which is observational. People say that it’s necessary for a healthy gut microbiome, but it’s not conclusive what that means. For example, we see people on the carnivore diet resolve many gut issues, like IBS, constipation, and SIBO; does that mean that their microbiome is getting worse? Also, you can make short chain fatty acids (SCAFAS) from protein and collagen as well, not just fiber.

Antioxidants-

The main source of antioxidants comes from the earth itself. Having an earthing practice will provide you with the most bioavailable antioxidants possible. We are electrical beings that receive electrons from the earth. To learn more about this, click here. There are also great antioxidants found in animals, such as astaxanthin found in salmon. The antioxidants found in plants may not be necessary, and are also plant defense mechanisms.

How to Implement This

The carnivore diet should be used as a short term diet (2-3 months) for an autoimmune condition. I am not advocating you eliminate plants forever. After your symptoms resolve, you can gradually add some plants back in. We ultimately have to do what works for us, and that may change. There is no one size fits all diet, we must listen to our bodies.