An Expert Intro to the Basics of the Carnivore Diet

Reviewed by Dr. Eric Westman, MD, MHS (November 2025)

Introduction to Carnivore Diet:

You’ve probably heard the buzz: people eating only meat, bacon, and eggs, and claiming they feel better than ever. It sounds extreme – maybe even impossible. But what exactly is the carnivore diet, and why is it gaining so much attention? Is it just a fad, or is there something more to it?

This post will answer the basic questions you’re probably asking – like “What is the carnivore diet?” and “Why would anyone do carnivore?” Consider this a basic starting point. For full, step-by-step guidance on how to implement this diet correctly and safely, get on the waitlist for the next round of Dr. Westman’s Carnivore Made Simple course.

What the Carnivore Diet Really Is (and Isn’t)

At its core, the definition is incredibly simple:

“The carnivore diet includes only foods from the animal kingdom and excludes all foods from the plant kingdom.”

This means meat (beef, pork, lamb, poultry, game meats), fish, seafood, and eggs. It also includes animal fats, such as tallow, lard, and schmaltz (chicken or duck fat). If well-tolerated, dairy foods may also be included, such as cheese, cream, and butter.

The true hallmark of carnivore, however, is what it doesn’t include: no fruit, no vegetables, no grains, no legumes, and no nuts or seeds. But this definition only tells part of the story. It’s more than just “eating meat.” As Dr. Westman teaches, it’s best understood as the ultimate elimination diet. Think of it as pressing the reset button. Modern diets are filled with potential irritants: sugars, processed grains and other refined carbohydrates, and questionable additives and preservatives. But even naturally occurring compounds found in certain plant foods could be contributing to inflammation, digestive distress, or autoimmune flare-ups in sensitive individuals.

The carnivore diet removes all potentially problematic compounds at once. It’s a straightforward way to remove possible confounding variables to establish a new health baseline. It’s not about “hating vegetables”; it’s about allowing your body to heal, fueled purely by some of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet. Many people are surprised to find that issues they thought were “normal”—like daily brain fog, persistent joint aches, or chronic digestive upset—begin to fade away when these potential triggers are removed.

This is also why it’s not a haphazard approach calling for pounding down ribeyes and bacon all day. A scientifically sound approach to carnivore—the way it’s taught in Carnivore Made Simple—is focused on calming an overactive immune system or inflammatory response, restoring healthy gut function, and supporting metabolic health through nutrient-dense foods, proper hydration, and medical monitoring if needed. Carnivore diets are powerful tools, and they need to be implemented properly and safely.

Why Would Anyone Eat Only Meat?

This approach is pretty restrictive, so why are so many people turning to it?

For many, it’s a response to frustration. They’ve “tried everything”—low-fat diets, counting calories, plant-based diets, “autoimmune protocol” diets, and long lists of medications and supplements. None of these has ever gotten to the root causes or delivered lasting results. The carnivore diet offers simplicity and hope.

Here are the most common reasons people choose to try it:

• Significant Weight Loss: By completely eliminating carbohydrates, the carnivore diet is a subset of a ketogenic diet. It shifts your body into a state of fat-burning (ketosis), often leading to significant and sustainable weight loss—without the cravings and constant hunger that typically lead people to abandon other diets.
• Powerful Satiety and Reduced Cravings: Protein and animal fats are highly satiating. When you’re eating these nutrient-dense foods, you feel full, satisfied, and energized. This dramatically reduces—and for many, eliminates—the cravings for sugar and processed snacks, which is often the biggest hurdle to success.
• Stable Energy and Mental Clarity: No more 3 PM energy crashes. No more relying on caffeine to get through the afternoon. By eliminating the volatile blood sugar highs and lows that often accompany high-carb meals, people report stable, all-day energy and clear-headedness. Bye-bye, brain fog!
• Radical Simplicity: There’s no calorie counting, no macro tracking, and no complex recipes required. The guiding principle of carnivore is simple: Eat when you’re hungry; stop when you’re full. In a world of complicated diet rules and conflicting advice, this simplicity can be a massive mental relief.
• Metabolic and Digestive Reset: For those with metabolic issues, this way of eating can have a profound impact. Because it’s a zero-carb approach, it helps to lower and stabilize blood sugar and insulin levels, making a carnivore diet a powerful tool for improving or even reversing insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, as the ultimate elimination diet, it can give the digestive system a complete rest, potentially leading to complete remission of irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease (e.g., ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease).

The Challenges: Why Guidance Is Crucial

If it were as simple as just eating meat for 30 days, everyone would be doing it perfectly. The truth is, there’s an adaptation period during which you might experience some unpleasantness as your body adjusts to this change in diet. This is why it’s important to learn an evidence-based approach to carnivore, and to have medical supervision if needed. Trying to “wing it” based on videos and social media posts can lead to frustration, lackluster results, and possibly even a dangerous medical situation.

Here are the most common challenges:

1. The Adaptation Phase: In the first week or two of a carnivore diet, as your body switches its primary fuel source from sugar (glucose) to fat, you may feel sluggish or experience headaches or leg cramps. This is sometimes called the “keto flu”. It’s simply temporary symptoms as your body makes this physiological shift. Knowing how to manage it makes the difference between quitting on day 3 and succeeding for the long term.
2. Electrolyte Imbalance: This is the #1 mistake people make. When you eliminate carbs from your diet, your body’s need for electrolytes changes (especially sodium). While not everyone needs a lot of extra sodium on a carnivore diet, many people need to deliberately increase their intake. Depending on the adaptation symptoms, some people may also need extra magnesium.
3. Social and Emotional Adjustments: Let’s be honest: it can be hard enough to stick to a keto diet when friends and family question why you’re not eating bread, pasta, or cake anymore. It can be even more socially awkward if you go carnivore and decline a salad or a helping of vegetables on your plate. Beyond that, there’s also an emotional adjustment to removing lifelong comfort foods. If you sometimes use food (especially high-carb food) to help manage your emotions—which most of us do!—it can take time to learn new coping strategies. This isn’t a sign of weakness or failure—it means you’re human. Having a plan and a supportive community can make all the difference.

💡 Myth vs. Truth: The Carnivore Diet

MYTH: The carnivore diet is just eating steak and bacon all day. It’s reckless, unbalanced, and will lead to nutrient deficiencies.

TRUTH: A properly formulated carnivore diet can restore health when countless other approaches—including medications—have failed. Carnivore doesn’t have to be monotonous. It can include a variety of foods that easily cover nutritional requirements: meat, eggs, fish and shellfish, organ meats, and dairy foods if tolerated. As Dr. Westman teaches in Carnivore Made Simple, this way of eating is a nutritional strategy intended to facilitate specific health outcomes. It’s not a license to stuff oneself full of bacon every day.

You Know the “What” — But the “How” is Everything

Now you know what the carnivore diet is, and why people are drawn to it. But information is not transformation. Knowing the definition of the diet is different from knowing how to implement it safely and effectively. This is where so many “carnivore diet for beginners” guides on the internet fail. They tell you the rules but not the strategy.

• How do you actually start? Do you taper off carbs gradually or go cold turkey, all at once?
• What specific foods should you buy for your first week?
• How much fat versus protein do you need to feel energized and not hungry?
• What about essential nutrients like electrolytes? How much do you really need?
• How do you navigate the first week of adaptation without feeling terrible?

These how-to questions are the difference between success and failure. This is the gap that Dr. Westman’s Carnivore Made Simple course fills. It’s not just the information. It’s expert guidance and tailored support so you can implement what you learn and avoid the most common pitfalls and beginner mistakes. You don’t have to guess. The roadmap is laid out for you.

Get Started Safely: Your Free Guide

This article is a broad overview about the carnivore diet. For a more comprehensive guide from Dr. Eric Westman—including what to eat—we’ve created a free Carnivore Quick-Start Guide for you. Click the link below to get access.

[Get the Free Guide →]

Reviewer Bio

Eric Westman, MD, MHS, is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Duke University, the Medical Director of Adapt Your Life Academy and the founder of the Duke Keto Medicine Clinic in Durham, North Carolina. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Obesity Medicine and has a master’s degree in clinical research. As a past President of the Obesity Medicine Association and a Fellow of the Obesity Society, Dr. Westman was named “Bariatrician of the Year” for his work in advancing the field of obesity medicine. He is a best-selling author of several books relating to ketogenic diets as well as co-author on over 100 peer-reviewed publications related to ketogenic diets, type 2 diabetes, obesity, smoking cessation, and more. He is an internationally recognized expert on the therapeutic use of dietary carbohydrate restriction and has helped thousands of people in his clinic and far beyond, by way of his famous “Page 4” food list.

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