TL;DR: When eating carnivore-style, eat fat to satiety first, then lean meat to satiety. Including a variety of land and sea foods, collagen, organ meats and bone meal appears quite beneficial. Avoid plant foods according to the spectrum of toxicity below.
This article is part of our 5 part series on the carnivore diet. For previous sections, see the links below:
- An Intro to the Carnivore Diet
- Were Hunter-Gatherers Healthier Than Us?
- Do Plant-Based Foods Have a Dark Side?
- Are Animal Foods Actually Healthier Than Plant Foods?
- What to Eat on a Carnivore Diet
Foods To Limit
Below is a list of foods recommended to limit on the carnivore diet. At the end of the day, try things out and see what works for you. Some find being overly restricting does more harm than good, and others love how good they feel and how simple life is with a simple and restrictive way of eating.
Sweeteners
The stevia plant is used by indiginous tribes in the Amazon as a form of birth control. It reduces fertility and has a negative effect on hormones [2,3 Ch.12]. High rates of allergy and anaphylaxis have been found in children with eczema and other allergies [4 Ch.12]
Sucralose and saccharin show evidence of altering our gut microbiome and predispose us to diabetes [5,6,7,8 Ch.12].
Herbs and Spices
Spices are often made from seeds of plants and are not allowed on the carnivore diet, including black and white pepper, coriander, cumin, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, mustard, and caraway.
Herbs are preferable to spices, including oregano, basil, rosemary, parsley, dill, sage, and mint.
Saladino says it is preferable not to eat spices since they have more plant defense compounds, but that herbs are better. He says that neither is ideal, but I mean, we don’t need much of them, and they’re really tasty so do what suits you best.
Vegetables In General
Different plant foods have different strengths of plant defense compounds and suitability for human consumption. The most important to exclude are grains, nuts, legumes, seeds, and high oxalate foods like raw spinach and green smoothie type foods.
[1]
Perhaps there should be more room for moderation here, and to limit grains and seeds and nuts makes sense, but to limit the less toxic plant food especially if you enjoy them may have more psychological negative impact than the foods themselves. Again, this is really a personal choice and pros and cons should be weighted. It doesn’t seem like the moderate or less toxic plant foods are really all that bad.
Fruit
Fruit is ok, but not ideal on the carnivore diet.
Overconsumption of fruit leads to ph changes in the mouth which can lead to tooth decay. Low-carb diets are linked to better dental health, reduced tooth decay and less gingivitis producing bacteria like P gingivalis linked to Alzheimer’s [22-25 Ch.12]. Many on the carnivore diet reverse gingivitis.
Berries are better than most fruits because they are less sweet, but they still have oxalates as we can see far above in the article.
Honey
There is evidence of tooth decay in avid honey eaters in African tribes and Pacific islanders [26,27 Ch.12]. In general we want to limit the amount of sugars we eat. It is better to run our bodies on fat. Honey at the end of the day doesn’t appear to be too harmful though, and most people would only limit this on a strict carnivore diet.
Mushrooms
Agaricus Bisporus is the name of the mushroom species we know as white button mushroom, portobello and crimini. They make a mycotoxin known as agaritine, which binds to DNA [34 Ch.12] and causes cancer in animal studies [35 Ch.12]. The good news is that this is mostly denatured by cooking.
Many mushrooms also contain oxalates [36 Ch.12].
Medicinal mushrooms are a different story, and show promise for psychological issues [39-42 Ch.12]
Coffee
Most people feel more stable energy when removing coffee, which is a roasted seed. First off, even though it feels nice like other drugs, caffeine is a plant defense compound, classified as something called a phytoalexin. Coffee also contains the polyphenols caffeic acid and chlorogenic acid, which have been found to damage DNA even with a single cup [43 Ch.12]. Unfortunately, caffeine is also linked to depression and anxiety, though this is just a correlation.
Bruce Ames mentioned above notes that roasted coffee is known to contain 826 volatile chemicals, 21 of which have been tested so far, and 16 are identified as rodent carcinogens. Caffeic acid, a non-volatile rodent carcinogen is also present. A typical cup of coffee has 10mg of rodent carcinogens: caffeic acid, catechol, furfural, hydroquinone, and hydrogen peroxide
Another researcher named Louise Mennen notes that some polyphenols may be carcinogenic or genotoxic at high levels. Caffeic acid when it is 2% of the diet induced forestomach and kidney tumors in rats and mice. “Linear extrapolation indicates appreciable risk at normal dietary levels.” [44 Ch.12]
Interventional studies show improvements in antioxidant status in coffee drinkers, but it’s similar to sulforaphane [45 Ch.12] in that it causes oxidative stress by producing free radicals that triggers NRF2 discussed earlier, which leads to our bodies being forced to produce more glutathione [46 Ch.12]. It just looks better for antioxidant status short term because it triggers our body to produce antioxidants like glutathione to clean up the oxidative damage. Like isothiocyanates, polyphenols in coffee have been shown to damage DNA and will damage other parts of the body as well [47,48 Ch.12]
Coffee has a compound called acrylamide formed during roasting of many foods like nuts, bread, cereals, french fries and potato chips. It is also found in cigarette smoke. Acrylamide is classed as a 2A carcinogen by the National Cancer Institute and as a potential carcinogen and “extremely hazardous” substance by other US agencies. It increases multiple types of cancers in animal models [52,53 Ch.12], and is associated with renal, endometrial and ovarian cancers in humans [54 Ch.12]. It appears to interfere with hormone signaling, cellular cytoskeleton components, and calcium flux within our cells and maybe affects liver, reproductive, immune and nervous systems as well
Even non-organic coffee has a lot of pesticides like glyphosate and 2-4-D, both linked to cancer and disruption in our biochemistry [55-59 Ch.12].
Then there are other problems like storage. After harvesting, coffee is usually stored for long periods of time during processing where mold and mycotoxins like ochratoxins A&B, penicillic acid, citrinin, fumonisin, and aflatoxin can develop [60-62 Ch.12], which damage DNA in humans and are linked to brain and kidney toxicity [63-66 Ch.12]. Mycotoxins are also found in grains, wine, beer, dark chocolate, and peanut butter [67-69 Ch.12].
Unfortunately for coffee lovers, this isn’t the greatest news! Sorry!
Alcohol
Just to take the fun out of everything, alcohol is toxic to the liver. Grapes normally are heavily sprayed with pesticides, and many wines have added sulfates. Spirits like vodka and whiskey may have less contaminants, but beer and wine are out for sure on the carnivore diet.
Again, if the social and psychological benefits are worth the occasional damage, that’s a personal choice and may be justified.
Tea
Polyphenols in green tea damage DNA and are linked to liver damage and disordered thyroid hormone synthesis [48,70,71 Ch.12]. See more above in the second section. Removing fruit and vegetables (reducing polyphenols) shows that oxidative stress and inflammation do not increase [72 Ch.12], suggesting plant foods don’t really do much for inflammation
Potatoes and other Starchy Vegetables
Some argue tubers make up a large portion of some indiginous diets, like the Hadza or !Kung who get about half of calories from tubers. However, they were recently forced to change their hunting practices [30 Ch.12]. They live in smaller areas and can’t hunt elephants and other large game anymore as their ancestors did [31 Ch.12]. The height of many indigenous tribes has shrunk over the last few hundred years related to pushing them from their traditional lifestyle [32,33 Ch.12]
Tubers like sweet potatoes have a lot of oxalates, and many wild tubers have toxic cyanogenic glycosides [28 Ch.12].
It doesn’t appear that these are too bad for our health, but are not ideal.
Dairy
Many people aren’t well adapted to eating dairy, and there are a lot of proteins that trigger the immune system. Casein in dairy also breaks down into beta-casomorphin which acts similarly to morphine in the body and can reduce satiety signals leading to overeating [107,108 Ch.12]. This also makes it slightly addicting. Some people, however, seem to do really well on dairy according to the forums listed below.
Diet Plans
[1]
Saladino lists 5 tiers of carnivore from the least to most carnivore:
| Tier 1 – Starting Carnivore | |
| Breakfast | -3 eggs with 1 Tbsp of ghee (clarified butter) -3 slices of bacon -1/2 avocado with salt |
| Lunch | -10 oz grass-fed ribeye steak with salt (other options in clude 10 oz ground beef, 10 oz chick roast, or 10 oz sirloin) -Cucumber slices, romaine lettuce with olive oil/ vinegar dressing -1/2 cup raspberries |
| Dinner | -8 oz lamb chops (other options include 8 oz skirt steak, 8 oz tri-tip, 8 oz sirloin, 8 oz chuck roast, or any other cut) -Olives -1/2 avocado -1/2 cup blueberries |
| Tier 2 – The Meat and Water Diet (Elimination Diet) | |
| Breakfast | -10 oz grass fed ribeye steak with salt |
| Lunch | -8 oz lamb burgers with salt, 4 strips of bacon |
| Dinner | -12 oz grass fed NY steak with salt |
| Tier 3 – Carnivore, Sea Food Upgrade | |
| Breakfast | -3 eggs cooked in tallow (rendered cow fat) or ghee -4 oz NY strip steak |
| Lunch | -6 oz wild king salmon with butter or ghee -3 oz goat milk yogurt |
| Dinner | -6 oz shrimp -8 oz grass-fed ribeye steak with salt |
Moving into Tier 4.
Muscle meat is high in the amino acid methionine, and should be balanced by the amino acid glycine found in connective tissues. We only make small amounts of glycine per day and we should consume some in our diet for adequate health [80 Ch.12] Glycine forms collagen and glutathione (a human antioxidant) and serves as a neurotransmitter [81 Ch.12]. Animals are made of muscle meat and connective tissue in similar amounts, and it follows that we should eat them in similar amounts. Indiginous people like the Eskimo know this well and eat connective tissue often.
Only eating muscle meat may be a problem. High methionine diets in rats shorten lifespan [82 Ch.12]. The high methionine reduced glycine levels causing health effects. In subsequent studies, however, rats fed diets with similar amounts of glycine as methionine showed that all negative effects vanished from eating methionine [83 Ch.12]. Other studies show lowering methionine lengthens lifespan [84 Ch.12], but glycine balanced with methionine shows similar longevity effects [85 Ch.12].
Limit liver to 8 – 16 ounces per week so you don’t overdo on Vitamin A
| Tier 4 – Carnivore Organ Meat and Bone Broth Upgrade | |
| Breakfast | -3 eggs cooked in ghee -6 oz tenderloin steak -2 oz liver |
| Lunch | -8 oysters -8 oz bone broth -3 oz king salmon |
| Dinner | -8 oz grass-fed NY steak, being sure to eat the “chewy bits” -6 oz steamed mussels |
| Tier 5 – The Full Carnivore Diet | |
| Breakfast | -3 eggs cooked in tallow -2 oz beef liver -1 oz kidney -10 oz NY steak with salt -14 oz raw goat milk |
| Lunch | -60 g beef suet/trimmings -4 oz scallops cooked in tallow -2 oz bone marrow and 1/2 tsp bone meal |
| Dinner | -70 g beef suet/trimmings -10 oz ribeye steak -6 jumbo shrimp -8 oz bone broth |
| Tier Saladino | |
| Breakfast | -3 grams of salt with spring water |
| Lunch (10am) | -6 egg yolks -90 g beef suet/trimmings -2 oz liver -2 oz kidney -14 oz ribeye steak with Redmond Real salt |
| Dinner (3:30pm) | -3 raw oysters -80 g beef suet/trimmings -10 oz NY steak -2 oz thymus -2 oz pancreas -2 oz bone marrow -8 oz bone broth and 1/2 tsp bone meal |
Fat and Protein
The general idea here is that there is fat hunger, and then protein hunger. You should satiate fat hunger first, and then protein hunger. This means eating fatty cuts, or just fat itself off of meat, or from butter or tallow or another source, and then eat the lean meat.
Generally a 1:1 ratio of fat to protein is recommended, but some may eat more. 1 lb of meat per day is pretty good for most people, beyond 1.2 is likely not beneficial according to Saladino. The rest should come from carbs or fats. More than 40% of calories from protein taxes our biochemistry from having to excrete excess nitrogen from amino acids in protein, which have a lot of nitrogen.
Indiginous cultures often show us what life was like before we became civilized, and so can shed light on ways of life that we don’t have recorded history of. This includes food. Saladino uses a couple examples like the !King of Kalahari, who have a “constant craving for animal fat”, and the indiginous of James Bay Cree where it is noted that “animals without fat may indeed be rejected as food”. There is very large anthropological evidence that humans hunted fat out above all other nutrients [31 ch12]. Cree hunted bears for this reason [88 Ch.12]. The Inuit, Native American tribes, and Australian Aborigines prioritized fat as well.
Keto diets are not a fad. The benefits of a fat-based metabolism include reversing insulin resistance and diabetes, lower blood pressure, increasing mitochondrial biogenesis (making more mitochondria), turning on longevity genes, and reducing oxidative stress and DNA damage [90-95 Ch.12]. It also decreases appetite, leads to weight loss, improves mood, and protects the brain [96-99 Ch.12]. They also decrease triglycerides and metabolic dyslipidemia while increasing HDL [100,101 Ch.12]. Low fat diets generally increase triglycerides, lower HDL, and raise insulin levels [102 Ch.12]. There are many benefits and humans have a long history of living on a fat based metabolism.
Mentioned near the beginning of this article is the traveller and anthropologist Viljalmur Stefansson who lived with the Inuit on and off for about a decade. When he was under study for a year at the Bellevue Hospital in New York eating a carnivore diet he averaged 2,650 calories a day, 2,100 from fat (233 grams fat, 63 grams protein). Anderson averaged 2,620 calories with 2,110 from fat (234 grams of fat, 57 grams of protein). This seems like a lot of fat relative to protein.
Here are some excerpts from the book that shed interesting light on fat including references to ancient texts like the Bible:
“Anyway, if it’s not too late let me say that I have talked
to four or five of [our OId Testament experts] (yesterday) and we agree that the
fundamental figure, the figure at the bottom of the expression,
the ‘fat of the land,’ is an animal one, the idea that the
fat is the best part of the beast, the part to be offered in
sacrifice, and all that. Animal tissue—meat—was of course a
rarity with the Biblical people; they did not have it every
day; it was a delicacy; and the fat was the greatest delicacy
of all, it seems.”
“Of course the figure was meant to suggest more than animal fat
—the wheat and oil and so on—but the fundamental
idea was the animal.”
-Edgar Johnson Goodspeed, the famous editor and translator of The Complete Bible: An American Translation. [5 Ch.6]
“Verily our kings that rule Lykia be no inglorious men, they
that eat fat sheep, and drink the choice wine honey-sweet.”
-Iliad, book XIII, speech of Serpedon. [5 Ch.6]
“The mountain sheep are sweeter,
But the valley sheep are fatter;
We therefore deemed it meeter
To carry off the latter.”
-The War Song of Dinas Vawr, English poet, 1829. [5 Ch.6]
“However, really intense fat-hunger
occurs only when one is unable to secure fat’s approximate
dietetic equivalents, the starches and sugars.”
“It is easy to see in the literature and history of western
Europe during the last few centuries how the dominance of
fat as a luxury and a delicacy has gradually waned, in step
with the increased use of sugar. Shakespeare has many references
to good food as rich; and of course with the intent that
“rich” means “fat.” It would have been a compliment for
him to say that the cooking in a boarding house was greasy.
Indeed, this does not appear to have been a derogatory remark
until within the last hundred years, which are the
years during which sugar has risen from a negligible to an
actually commanding position.”
-The Fat of the Land [5 Ch.6]
Only in the last 200 years has fat begun to fade from a dominant and respected place in our diet according to Stefansson.
Salt
Many people according to Saladino feel best on 6 – 10 grams of salt per day. Eat to taste, and don’t be shy on the salt especially during the transition to the carnivore diet.
When To Eat
The best strategy to follow here is to listen to your body and eat when you’re hungry, even if you’re eating a lot at first. You won’t get fat. Many find on the carnivore diet prefer to eat twice a day.
ADAPTION
One important note that is not touched on enough in the book is that there is an adaptation period of between a few days to a couple weeks where the body gets used to burning fats for fuel instead of carbs. This is the same phenomenon known as the keto flu. Furthermore, the benefits seem to only accrue the longer you stay on the diet, up to even 6 months before full stride is reached. Eating organ meats, bone broth, enough fat, and salt are the first things to do when adapting to the diet and keys to remember in general. If you’re ever struggling and need more resources, check out the forums below and reach out to the carnivore communities.
Conclusion
There appear to be no valid claims that meat is unhealthy, except if not enough collagen, which includes the amino acid glycine, is eaten relative to muscle meats that include the amino acid methionine. It seems very beneficial to consume a nose-to-tail carnivore diet including all parts of the animal like organ meats as well as enough glycine from collagen in bone broth. Including bone meal in the diet appears to be beneficial as well for added calcium, potassium and collagen.
There is an adaptation period during which the carnivore diet doesn’t feel too great for a few days while your body adjusts, which is normal. After the initial adaption, it may take months for your body to really adjust to a fat based metabolism from a carb based one unless you’re used to a ketogenic diet.
Fat should form most of our calories and protein between 25 to 40% roughly. As a general rule, fruits and sugars should be limited.
References*
[1] The Carnivore Code, Paul Saladino
[2] http://www.waldeneffect.org/blog/Calories_per_acre_for_various_foods/
[3] https://www.progressivehealth.com/learn-how-protein-helps-osteoporosis.htm
[4] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1407826/
[5] The Fat of the Land, Vilhjalmur Stefansson
References From The Carnivore Code [1]*
Chapter 3 references 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Chapter 4 references 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 37, 38, 39, 43
Chapter 5 references 18, 19,, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 32, 33, 34, 35, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44
Chapter 6 references 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 14, 17, 18, 21
Chapter 7 references 3, 7, 8, 12, 13, 1822, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30
Chapter 8 references 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10 , 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 47, 38, 39, 40, 43, 44, 45, 47, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 62
Chapter 9 references 4, 8, 9 , 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 44, 45, 46, 48
Chapter 10 references 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 69
Chapter 11 references 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 52, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 61, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 79, 80, 81, 90, 91, 92, 93, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 110, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 133, 134, 135
Chapter 12 references 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 88, 90, 91, 92, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 107, 108
Chapter 14 references 6, 7, 8
Images Not From Carnivore Code*
[a]https://joykidsbiblelessons.wordpress.com/category/childrens-church-bible-lessons-old-testament/
[b]https://www.carnivorecast.com/podcast/saladino
[c]https://healthjade.com/the-metabolic-syndrome/
[d] https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-c74ebd1f9898459f50ffd39e13cb8135
[e]https://www.pinterest.com/pin/534872893246909539/
[f]http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/wiki_pages/Vilhjalmur%20Stefansson
[g]https://idatassist.com/why-journalists-love-causation-and-how-statisticians-can-help/
[h]https://brecksville.oh.us/Fire/Fire_img/open_burn.png
[k]https://www1.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Berlin+Seals+Host+Annual+Ice+Swimming+IFRYux1ihTvx.jpg
[l]https://www.agnook.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Cattle-Grazing-Systems-AgNook.jpg
[n]https://www.watchwhatueat.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Avocado-Green-Smoothie-2.jpg
[o]https://media.buzzle.com/media/images-en/photos/recipes/pulses/1200-10319567-grain-seeds-legumes.jpg
[p]https://draxe.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/symptoms.jpg
[q]https://www.asenzya.com/trending-flavors/wine/
[r]http://unleashyouralpha.com/the-perfect-steak/
[t]https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/58b4408929000020000c3683.jpeg?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale
[u]http://gallery.rxmuscle.com/index.php?contest=31&year=349&bodybuilder=17006
[v]https://caregiverconnection.org/top-countries-people-live/
[w]https://www.alliancehomecare.com/blog/the-importance-of-heart-health/
[x] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artery
[y]http://unity.lolofit.com/blog/posts/saturated-fats-good-or-bad-or-both
[z] https://blog.whiteoakpastures.com/hubfs/WOP-LCAQuantis-
2019.pdf
*Used throughout parts 1 – 5
