Fitness influencers swear by the 'carnivore diet'--it's 'basically a terrible idea,' doctor says

[Coventina]

Beef, butter, bacon and eggs — that’s what some influencers swear by for the “carnivore diet.” The diet beefs up on meat and minimizes or cuts out fruit and vegetables entirely.

On TikTok, people can be seen eating bowls of steak and 12 scrambled eggs all in one day — and some even snack on a stick of butter, biting off a piece the way one would a carrot.

The diet, similar in style to the Atkins and keto diets, goes by many names: carnivore diet, lion diet, high-fat diet and animal-based diet. Devout followers of the lifestyle boast that their skin is clearer than it’s ever been, their gut is healthier and they’re in the best shape of their lives.

“One of the best things that’s happened since I quit the vegan diet and went carnivore is that my body odor just disappeared,” TikToker @steakandbuttergal said in one of her videos. “I don’t use any soap, I don’t use any deodorant and I smell amazing.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/30/fitness-influencers-swear-by-the-carnivore-diet-what-doctors-think.html

************************************************************

How long until these idiots drop dead from heart attacks?

[ZZenith]

1. "... since I quit the vegan diet and went carnivore is that my body odor just disappeared,"

Translation:

“An all-meat diet obliterated my ability to perceive smells.”

[womanofthehills]

6. Lots of people are allergic to so many foods

I say whatever makes you feel the best - eat that.

If you are only going to eat beef , get the best - grass fed, grass finished from a local rancher. Many carnivores eat a teaspoon of honey a day and fruit - no vegetables! They claim that fruits have fewer natural toxins than vegetables.

[BlueTsunami2018]

2. Steak and eggs and eggs and steak....

That’s what you should have for breakfast…….

[melm00se]

3. Atkins has been around for

40+ years and people have not dropped dead from it.

[Coventina]

5. I don't think Atkins forbids fruits and veggies.

Although a co-worker of mine did have a heart attack (which he survived) while on Atkins.

[SweetT]

10. My SO

is a keto/carnivore. He eats vegetables but has massively reduced and when possible eliminated carbohydrates and sugars from his diet. His weight slowly fell and he has maintained a fit body now for several years. The principal is that one switches the body from using sugars and carbs for energy and burns fat instead. All the reading I do on it is based on well-inculcated ideas about nutrition based on things like the food pyramid and nutritionists ideas about healthy eating.
I have to admit that I see a human male over 60 who is fit and energetic, has a low resting heart rate and pressures as they should be for his age and height and weight. I am thinking that he is right and many of us are mistaken about vegetarianism, vegan diets and how carbs are used and what they actually produce in the body...namely, the storage of fats. My opinion , based on life with a wonderful and creative and thoughtful man. I hope to keep him for a good long time.

[womanofthehills]

11. Many carnivores include small amts of fruits their diets

At least the ones I’ve listened to on social media.

[Retrograde]

12. I read that as "small ants"

to each their own, I suppose. If they can eat that much meat they should be able to handle the non-beef animals.

Netflix currently carries Iron Chef Mexico. One of the episodes features really classic Mexican cuisine - various arachnids, insects, and similar. They made them look delicious.

[getagrip_already]

7. Atkins died of a massive heart attack....

Just sayin.....

[Probatim]

27. So did Jim Fixx.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Fixx#Death

[NameAlreadyTaken]

4. I'm sure they smell horrible

All that rotting flesh inside them

[Jirel]

9. Found the vegan with no science knowledge.

No, that’s not how the body works. Meat doesn’t rot in a person’s body when eaten, any more than fruits, vegetables, or grains rot when eaten. Digestion is a complex biological process, not “rot.”

Do please learn basic biology instead of vomiting PETA talking points that are meant to shock and disinform, not educate. Propaganda in all its forms, regardless of whether a person understands the lie or is ignorant of it, is ugly.

[Retrograde]

15. When the Japanese first encountered Europeans

they thought the latter's meat-heavy diet gave them a distinctive smell. I find that when I eat Indian food I exude spices for a day afterwards. So there may be some compounds released in sweat that are diet based.

But you're right about meat not sitting around rotting in the body, any more than plants compost in the stomach. I'm reminded of the old commercials for enzymes one could add to their foods, since "the enzymes in foods are destroyed by cooking". May be true, but I always carry around a large selection of enzymes in my gut to take care of digesting stuff.

[NameAlreadyTaken]

36. I'm not a vegan, and I know how digestion works.

Meat is rotten even before it enters your mouth.

[womanofthehills]

13. Actually, grass fed, grass finished beef

Is a super healthy & clean food if the cow is grazing on uncontaminated land. Luckily, I live in ranch country and can see where the cows are grazing - so close to me - I’ve caught cows on my land.

Beef is a nutrient dense food - all the B vitamins including iron plus amino acids, minerals etc etc.

I know where my beef comes from but not my vegetables in the winter. In the winter I grow mini greens & mini tomatoes in my window. In the summer I can grow my own and buy from local organic farms.

We have no idea what soil, water, pesticides were used in producing vegetables we eat.
Many carnivores think vegetables have ocylates and other chemicals that make them bad food choices.

[Elessar Zappa]

16. That's now how it works.

Flesh doesn’t “rot” inside of you.

[anciano]

8. IMO although humans have evolved

to be able to digest meat, our basic anatomy is still designed to better handle a vegetarian diet.

[phoenix75]

17. Agreed.

Our physiology does more closely resemble that of our primate predecessors than of the carnivorous members of the animal kingdom, and therefore a plant based diet is more appropriate for our anatomical structure.

[Voltaire2]

33. We aren't carnivores.

And from what I’ve read recently, our early diets were much lower in meat content than previously thought.

However, we evolve, we adapt over time, like all other life forms. What our diets were 100,000 years ago is interesting but not necessarily the best diet for a modern human.

[Retrograde]

14. Do they include organ meats as well?

Or just the expensive cuts? Do they eat all animals, or just cows/pigs/chickens?

I think I'll stick with my omnivorous diet.

[fierywoman]

18. Yes, they include organ meats -- and a lot of ground beef, depends on the person's

economic situation.

[Aristus]

20. More idiotic fad dieting.

Shit...

I know what I'm going to have to discuss with my patients in the weeks and months ahead.

I'll try to remind them that when cavemen were eating the caveman diet, they had to chase the meat before eating it. Sometimes for hours. And they supplemented the meat with forage; roots, wild vegetables, fruits, berries, etc. It wasn't all one thing, all the time. Prehistoric people had a widely varied diet, and expended a great deal of energy obtaining the food.

[Coventina]

21. They were called hunter-gatherers for a reason.

That's what they spent the daylight hours doing.

[Aristus]

22. Exactly.

n/t

[VMA131Marine]

29. What was the typical lifespan of a hunter-gatherer?

And they would have to be tremendously fit from all that huntering and gatherering everyday.

BTW, the answer is 33 years …. Not long enough for many of the diseases of old age and lifetimes of poor habits to be a factor.

[Skittles]

24. thank you

I find the idea of say, never eating potatoes absolutely ridiculous

[Aristus]

28. What I can't stand is people who are voluntarily adhering to some kind of diet plan,

as opposed to having a specific food intolerance, saying "Oh, but I can't have that..."

Yes, you can! Go ahead and have it! Enjoy!

[Happy Hoosier]

30. I rarely eat potatoes, though I love them.

When I was diagnosed with type II diabetes, i decided to drastically change my diet. I eat very few carbs, which includes potatoes. Fixed my diabetes, and also fixed other issues… GERD, acne, and Smelly flatulence. If I have a carb rich day, I pay for it for a couple days.

[honest.abe]

23. "Influencers".. such a stupid term. If anything they are simply entertainers.

[Skittles]

25. they influence the easiy-led

it's all pretty pathetic

[honest.abe]

26. Indeed.

[Buns_of_Fire]

32. If more than three people read what they're spewing,

they call themselves "influencers". It makes them eligible for a secret decoder ring, if they buy the box of Cracker Jacks first.

[Voltaire2]

34. Influencers are slowly replacing both journalists and

entertainers as the cultural gate keepers. Or maybe not so slowly.

The influencer can bring a global audience and directly performs the advertising function for commodities, without the bother of journalistic or entertainment content.

Get used to it, until they get replaced by whatever is next that will even more effectively and efficiently commodify our gaze.

Now go consume.

[honest.abe]

38. Oh I agree social media is taking over media in general. We seldom watch network TV or read printed matter.

Almost exclusively we watch YouTube videos from our favorite YouTubers. But its the term "influencer" that gets me. To me they are mostly entertainers. Sure there are many who are true "influencers", like the kid that plays with toys and the Kardashian girl that does makeup and clothes and many others, but the vast majority of the stuff on YouTube for example is goofy clickbait non-sense that is at best described as entertainment. Those people posting that junk and consider themselves "influencers" is a joke.

[flvegan]

31. "Fitness influencers" "on Tik Tok" was all I needed to read.

Adopting this sort of diet based on what you heard from one (or ten) of these folks smacks of being anti-vaccine because you "did your own research" to me.

[GenThePerservering]

35. I'm 70 and still run half marathons

average weight, rarely get sick. I also eat a largely vegetarian diet with some fish and a healthy helping of carbs. And, like Beer Boy, I like beer (probably better beer than the swill he no doubt guzzles). I'm not on a fad diet. I must be doing something wrong.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

37. No one food is poison.

Unless you are deathly allergic to it, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about how "healthy" or "not healthy" a food is perceived to be.

Something else to keep in mind. We collectively evolved all over this amazing planet. Depending on where most of your ancestors might be from, you can digest some foods far more readily than others. Example: milk as an adult. There are several specific human groups who happily digest milk as an adult because they are from a group who domesticated milk-producing animals and made use of that. If your ancestors didn't do that, well then you probably don't digest milk very well after weaning from mother's milk.

What works for someone from some part of the world might not be a very good idea for someone from another part of this wonderful planet. Do go with what works for you and do NOT, I repeat do NOT assume that will work equally well for everyone else.