What is the diet of carnivores and can it be healthy to eat only meat?

When someone tells you that he is dieting, the last thing you expect is to consume fatty meats like bacon, sausages and hamburgers.

But a new type of controversial diet says that instead of consuming vegetables, liquid broths and old grains to promote wellness, we should avoid eating. no matter what but the meat.

Nicknamed "carnivorous diet", its restrictive rules are simple: avoid herbal foods, such as fruits or vegetables, and processed carbohydrate foods, such as cereals and pasta.

Instead, carnivorous dieters eat like … well, a carnivore, and believe that animal meat can meet all your nutritional needs.

The high protein diet also removes all drinks except water – so there is no coffee, tea or alcohol – although you can eat seafood and animal by-products like butter, eggs , cheese and cream.

It is essentially a more extreme version of the popular ketogenic diet, which promotes fats and proteins over carbohydrates. With the keto diet, you are always encouraged to eat plant foods alongside meat dishes, while the carnivorous plan eliminates everything except animals.

Supporters of the diet claim that it can bring mental clarity, facilitate weight loss, lessen inflammation and improve digestion.

US podcasts host Joe Rogan recently highlighted the movement in an interview with Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson. In the episode, Peterson said that his daughter Mikhaila had introduced him to the idea of ​​living only meat and water, after claiming that it had helped him heal from his depression.

"I lost 50 pounds," he told Rogan. "My appetite has probably dropped by 70%. I do not have problems with dysregulation of blood sugar. I need less sleep … and my gum disease is gone. Like what, damn it?

Mikhaila's food blog, Don Eat That, which provides information and advice on the diet of carnivores, states that "the food pyramid is a lie," adding, "The fat is good for you and many health problems with diet alone. "

"I am in remission of severe arthritis (multiple joints replaced), chronic fatigue, depression and a plethora of other symptoms due to a change in the way I eat," says Mikhaila. "This blog tells how my family and parents eat and what they did for us."

So, can eating meat in the morning, noon and evening be healthy?

Nutritionists do not suggest.

"One thing you can not ignore is that there are certain nutrients that you can not get from meat," says Rhiannon Lambert, a nutritionist at Harley Street, author of Re-Nourish: A Simple Way To Eat Well.

"Folate, vitamins C and E are almost all from vegetables. As a result, seafarers often consumed scurvy without having enough vitamin C in their fish diet.

"Then there is the fiber. The carnivore diet does not contain any, but we know that fiber promotes good intestinal health and research suggests that your microbiome has an impact on the digestion of your immune system and your mood. You need fiber and the meat can not give it to you.

Lambert explains that meat also tends to tilt the balance of our good and bad cholesterol (called HDL and LDL) to the wrong side of the scale.

She also believes that restrictive diets can encourage unhealthy eating. "Rigidity can also result in a distorted attitude to food and social isolation. There is no single way to eat, but be wary of any statement of "treatment" conditions considered treatable only with medication.

"Please never ignore the medical recommendations for food-based treatments," she warns.

Basically, this is probably not a diet you would like to try anytime soon, but even the most avid meat eaters will admit that it is a blessing in disguise. After all, it's hard to think of sitting on a mammoth steak someday, especially in the morning.

– Press Association