Introduction
Nine dangers of eating only meat? That sounds alarming. Is that fear-mongering, or is this doctor’s assessment correct? Let’s find out.
The Carnivore Diet
Dr. Jen: Do you follow the carnivore diet? The carnivore diet is a form of the keto diet. You’ve probably heard of that, but it’s definitely more restrictive than the general keto diet we think of. According to Harvard Health, what you can eat on it is meat, poultry, eggs, seafood, fish, some dairy, and water. I’m sure some sources have a little bit of a change in that. Depending on whose carnivore diet you follow, there may be a little tweak to that, but that is according to Harvard Health.
What you can’t eat on this diet: no veggies, no fruit, no grains, no legumes (beans, things like that), no seeds, no nuts. Okay, none of that. As you can see, it’s very restrictive.
Dr. Eric Westman: I think that’s a pretty good assessment. Or why not just say you’ve heard about plant-based diets? Carnivore is an animal-based diet. On a plant-based diet, you don’t eat any animal products. Often, it’s for ethical, social, or religious reasons. On an animal-based diet, it typically is for health reasons, not these other reasons. So yeah, I think that’s a pretty good assessment.
Now, the idea that it’s restrictive is a matter of perspective. If you are finding that you’re healthier by doing something, and you like what you’re having, that’s not restrictive. It depends on the person. Some people find that it’s not restrictive at all; others do.
Keto Versus Carnivore
Dr. Jen: Keto is minimal carbs in general. With the keto diet, you are allowed some carbs, like the traditional keto diet that we think of. The carnivore diet is a form of keto because there are no carbs. But in this diet, there are literally zero carbs. Like, zero.
Dr. Eric Westman: That’s a good emphasis there. The keto metabolism has been pretty well worked out. If you don’t eat anything for two or three days, your body starts to burn its stored fat. Some of that stored fat turns into ketones and works where glucose used to be working. Some argue that’s our default metabolism. When you eat carbs, it actually changes you from fat-burning and keto metabolism to something less healthy. It depends on your point of view, but it certainly is zero carbs. If you’ve always had carbs and it seems normal, it is a bit of a change, I agree.
Benefits of Carnivore
Dr. Jen: I have problems with this diet, as you can probably tell. I’m going to tell you nine potential dangers of this diet. I want to know if you try this, if you use this, what have you. Let me also say that a lot of people say this diet does a lot of things for them, whether it’s fixing acne, giving them energy. Of course, when you get to keto diets, the idea of having fewer carbs, what happens when you don’t eat a lot of carbs is your body basically starts burning fat.
Dr. Eric Westman: Yeah, it starts to burn its own fat, too, if you’re trying to lose weight. That’s why the keto diet is best known for weight loss. The body starts burning its own fat. You’re still eating protein. On a keto diet, you might be able to have 20 or 30 total grams of carbs. The method that I teach always uses total grams, not net grams, because net grams allow for more carbs, and it’s less likely to be keto – especially with products like keto bread or keto ice cream. These really aren’t prescription-strength level keto products.
The Science of Ketones
Dr. Jen: And that’s how ketones are developed. But also with that comes weight loss. A keto-type diet will very likely cause you to lose weight. That’s a fact – it’s how the science works. Traditional keto diets have also been used in certain medical conditions as treatments. I’m not knocking keto as a concept, but carnivore is a keto type but it’s more extreme.
Dr. Eric Westman: It’s a subset of a keto diet and more extreme metabolically, as well. I’m not sure this is a bad thing yet. Then she mentioned the things that can improve that I’ve seen myself: acne, inflammatory and irritable bowel problems, autoimmune issues. I haven’t heard about anything bad yet. She acknowledges that a keto diet has been studied with some carbs. Perhaps it’s just a matter of time before research will cover an even lower carb diet.
The research I started with 25 years ago began with very high carbs. Then we studied very low carb. Perhaps as time goes on, we’ll study carnivore. That would be a great direction.
Considering Potential Dangers of Carnivore
Dr. Jen: Let’s get into some of the potential dangers of this carnivore diet.
Dr. Eric Westman: I assume that if you’re a carb eater and you’re watching this, you might resonate, thinking, “Oh my goodness, my fruit, my bread, how can I live without that?” If you’re not a carb eater, these things seem almost trivial if your health has improved, if it’s been a medical transformation, doesn’t it?
- Saturated Fats in Meat
Dr. Jen: Number one: when you’re eating that much meat, the likelihood, I’m guessing, is that some of it may not be the healthiest. With a lot of meat comes a higher diet in saturated fats. What do saturated fats do? They increase our bad cholesterol, the LDL cholesterol.
Dr. Eric Westman: Oh no. So the old paradigm of saturated fat in food is coming into play. If you’ve watched my channel, you know there are many different ways to be healthy. You can eat plant-based, you can eat animal-based. The idea that saturated fat in food is bad has been debunked in the research world for 10–20 years. It still remains in clinical organizations, but it’s too bad she’s still worried. I don’t want you to be worried about saturated fat and cholesterol levels on a low-carb, keto, or carnivore diet.
We talk about the metabolic syndrome, which in the blood is triglyceride and HDL. In the rest of the body, it’s elevated waist circumference, blood pressure, and blood sugar. A keto or carnivore diet targets metabolic syndrome, not the old “saturated fat, LDL total” paradigm. So many doctors are still in that old paradigm – Dr. Jen is as well.
Dr. Jen: That means a potential increased risk of heart disease. High LDL often translates to high cholesterol, which increases the risk of heart disease and some of those risks that come along with it. That is of major concern – my patients, if they were trying this, could get an increase in saturated fat, which is not what we want.
Dr. Eric Westman: I don’t agree with that one.
- Gout and Kidney Stones
Dr. Jen: Also, according to Harvard Health, the carnivore diet can increase your risk for kidney stones, gout, even osteoporosis, and very likely there are other risks of conditions with this.
Dr. Eric Westman: I think those are unsubstantiated claims. Any type of dietary change – if you’re going from carbs to no carbs, or you’re going from a typical American diet to even a vegan diet – if you have dehydration during the first transition phases, sure, you might get a kidney stone. It’s not that particular type of diet. It’s actually the change process with the dehydration that can occur.
Gout can happen early on, but after you get through that, it won’t happen again, because it’s metabolic syndrome that causes gout, not specific foods. Of course, you have to talk to someone who understands this and get through that. Most people who have gout don’t get a flare-up when they change to this way of eating. If you do, you just get it treated, but continue with weight loss, because weight loss reduces and eliminates gout.
Dr. Jen: The other thing I should say along those lines is when you’re taking in a ton of protein, I’ve seen this before in my practice, I’ve had a patient before that was overdoing it on protein. This was years and years ago and he kind of shot out his kidneys for a while.
Dr. Eric Westman: Can we be a little more precise? A ton of protein? Really? 2000 lbs? Protein is rarely overconsumed on keto or carnivore, because you eat less overall. You don’t try to take in the same caloric amount in just protein and fat. What happens is you end up eating less. As a percentage of calorie intake, protein goes up, but the amount of protein generally doesn’t go up. It could – we all know people who are pounding protein shakes and powders for whatever reason, but that’s the unusual side of things. The science says that even elevated protein diets aren’t harmful for the kidneys – that’s the old myth. With myth and prejudice, it’s fascinating because they’re just saying that no amount of data can overcome prejudice because you’ve already made up your mind.
Dr. Jen: If you take in too much protein, it could potentially damage your kidneys. Of course, it depends on what people are choosing to eat on this carnivore diet, but remember what I mentioned is really all you can eat in the strictest form is meat, poultry, eggs, seafood, fish, some dairy, and water. Obviously this would be the people who choose to be on the more red-meat-heavy spectrum with those two particular issues.
- Difficulty Following the Diet
Dr. Jen: Restrictive diets are just hard to follow.
Dr. Eric Westman: That’s not true for everyone. It’s classic for a practitioner to think that because they have trouble doing it that everyone must have trouble doing it. In my practice, I have people who say that it’s actually very easy. They don’t like cooking, they don’t like worrying about things like the menu. To each his own.
Dr. Jen: Let’s call a spade a spade. Diets, in general, tend to be hard to follow. Imagine not just trying to stick to your regular diet which might just be like, “Oh hey, let’s not eat cupcakes this week,” but stick to a diet that has no carbs at all. That means fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, and grains. Those are usually major parts of our diet. It’s hard to stick to.
I remember years ago, I tried the regular keto diet. I was trying to lose some weight and with keto, you can have some sugar, some carbs. I couldn’t stick to it past a day and a half. I just couldn’t. It was way too restrictive for me.
Dr. Eric Westman: Again, this is not true for everyone. What I hear a little bit here in what she’s talking about is the fact that in the typical American diet, the foods with sugar, processed foods, and junk foods, are hard to stay away from. When you hear “diets are hard to follow,” it’s often just the tug of addictive foods. She’s saying it’s hard to follow a diet that doesn’t have carbs in it – that could just be addiction.
- Brain Fog
Dr. Jen: The other thing is there’s a lot of people who feel fuzzy in the head when they go on restrictive diets in general, but something like this. If you’re not taking in any carbs you could really get fuzzy in the head, not feeling yourself, not feeling right. That’s a big thing.
Dr. Eric Westman: Show me the study.
- Constipation
Dr. Jen: Remember, you’re not taking in grains and stuff like that. You’re not getting a lot of fiber with a diet like this. What does that mean? It means you could be constipated. Your bowels could be really jacked up. Remember, fiber is not just good for constipation and bowel health, it’s actually good for a lot of other things.
Dr. Eric Westman: Imagine my surprise when we found the data and studies showing that adding fiber caused constipation, it didn’t eliminate it. One common theme is if you go into keto adaptation, you might need some extra salt early on; if you have a headache or fatigue, add some salt. You might get some changes in the bowel movements as well. Going to the bathroom less often is not constipation. Even though doctors on the internet will say it is. You don’t need to have a bowel movement every day. Fiber is not really an essential nutrient. You don’t have to have it.
- No Balance
Dr. Jen: I know that a lot of you watching this video may be writing in the comments right now, “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about! Carnivore is the best diet in the world!” I hear you and I’m here to listen if that’s how you feel. I hear you. But I also just want to say: everything in moderation.
Dr. Eric Westman: Hang on. I guess she’s not listening. Some people find that moderation is not always the key. If there’s an addiction, like smoking or alcohol, and you hit rock bottom, you need to avoid it forever. You can’t moderate alcohol if you’re an alcoholic. I don’t agree with that idea of “everything in moderation.”
- Lack of Nutrients
Dr. Jen: Moving onto the last few. Remember that this no fiber thing, no fruits, no veggies, no nuts and seeds, what are we missing out on here? We’re missing out on a ton of nutrients, not just fiber, but antioxidants. We’re missing out on vitamins. We’re missing out on minerals. We’re missing out on things that our body actually needs to function well.
Dr. Eric Westman: That sounds good in theory, but it’s actually not correct.
Dr. Jen: What’s interesting to me is that almost every other patient is asking me, “What vitamins and nutrients do I need?” Because oftentimes we think we need them, but then there’s this other side where if you’re interested in the carnivore diet or other extreme diets, you could actually be utilizing a diet that inhibits your ability to get nutrients. And this one, in my opinion, certainly would do that.
Dr. Eric Westman: That’s fascinating because it’s vegetables that actually inhibit nutrient absorption. That’s interesting. That might have been just a turn on something that’s a problem with eating vegetables and just blaming it on animal foods. I don’t know where that came from.
- Too Much Sodium
Dr. Jen: The second to last thing I want to mention is sodium content. There’s some sodium in some of these things. Depending on what you’re choosing to eat, again, a lot of this is going to depend on what the person chooses to eat, but there could be a high sodium content in what you’re choosing. That, in addition, could increase your risk for high blood pressure and other heart disease related types of conditions which we don’t want.
Dr. Eric Westman: That’s another old view, the idea that salt is necessarily bad and that it causes high blood pressure and heart disease as if it’ll just happen out of the blue. No. You can actually measure your blood pressure. If someone has high blood pressure, I teach them a diet that has more sodium in it because they’re not eating the carbs. Their body actually gets rid of
sodium and water. We measure the blood pressure. If someone has a blood pressure problem, it’s not that you just avoid the idea, just you measure it and follow it. Typically, it comes down even though you’re eating more salt because you’re losing weight and you’re not having the carbs on a carnivore or keto diet. She just doesn’t know that shift in metabolic function.
- Environmental Concerns
Dr. Jen: The environment is impacted by meat production. We know that. Look this up. I’m not an environmentalist and I’m not a policy person or whatever, but I know enough to know that increased meat production may increase greenhouse gas emissions and do so many other things and negatively impacting our environment. That’s something to keep in mind.
Dr. Eric Westman: That didn’t have anything to do with human danger at the moment, but rather climate. I think that’s a legitimate concern, but I’ve seen it both ways. I’ve seen people argue that it’s the monoculture of agriculture that’s harming the environment and harming the planet and the climate. I think the jury’s out, although some people again have prejudged and closed their minds. What if there were regenerative agriculture ways to keep the climate and the topsoil and support human and health? Look up regenerative agriculture if that’s something that’s still nagging you. That doesn’t bother me anymore.
Conclusion
You’re watching an influencer who is a physician at a university and has done clinical research. It’s almost oxymoronic to have an influencer who is a scientist and yet that’s the world we’re in. Always consider the source of information. I was not compelled by Dr. Jen to worry about the carnivore diet based on these claims, often prejudices.
Watch the full video here.
Speaker Bios
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.
Medical Disclaimer
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