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Fitness influencers swear by the ‘carnivore diet’—it’s ‘basically a terrible idea,’ doctor says

entremet

entremet

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Oct 26, 2017
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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.
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Weight loss is one of the huge benefits that people who follow the carnivore diet claim they've experienced since adding more animal-based products to their diet. This is likely because the eating pattern also cuts down on carbs, says Dr. Walter Willett, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

"It's possible that some people who have been eating a lot of refined starch and sugar may get better in the short run," with the carnivore diet, Willett says. "But this sounds like a diet that is going to be very unhealthy in the long run."
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I follow nutrition spaces and this diet comes up a lot, especially of late. What's funny is that one of the popularizers of this eating style, Paul Saladino who goest by the social media name, Carnivore MD, added fruits to his diets because his bloodwork, test levels, and fatigue were high. Shocker!


Additionally, if everyone did eat this way, it would be planet killing, especially since these types prefer beef over other, more sustainable animal proteins.
 
Musubi

Musubi

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Oct 25, 2017
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This is just natural selection at work.
 
Faceless_Caesar

Faceless_Caesar

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Jul 1, 2020
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This sounds like found out what a vegan diet was, got big mad and started doing literally the opposite as some kind of contrarian thing. The only time I've ever heard of this trend was in an 'anti-wokeness' context.
 
Nepenthe

Nepenthe

When the music hits, you feel no pain.
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Oct 25, 2017
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Ain't no fucking way people can seriously stick to this for long term. If I go too long without some sort of fresh fruit or vegetable entering my stomach I literally feel like shit.
 
Digital Dinosaur

Digital Dinosaur

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Oct 25, 2017
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A lot of the youtube comments by supporters of the carnivore diet influencers are delusional at best. A really common one is "plants aren't food" and absolute babble about how plants contain defensive toxins that are actually poisoning your organs.
 
pbayne

pbayne

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Oct 27, 2017
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Just another dumb fad diet. There will be another one next week.
 
bremon

bremon

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Oct 27, 2017
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I'd call this the gout diet. All the construction peeps I've worked with who eat a shit ton of meat and not enough produce seemingly end up with gout.
 
Real

Real

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Oct 28, 2017
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Nepenthe said:
Ain't no fucking way people can seriously stick to this for long term.
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I've been eating mostly carnivore style (with dark leafy greens, plenty of water, and veggies/sauces) since my sophomore year of college with a cleaner bill of health and 100-125 pounds down since then. It's not for everyone, but it's the only way I can stay satiated.
 
Huncho_Houdini

Huncho_Houdini

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Dec 31, 2017
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The shits must be vile.

Real said:
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I've been eating mostly carnivore style (with dark leafy greens, plenty of water, and veggies/sauces) since my sophomore year of college with a cleaner bill of health and 100-125 pounds down since then. It's not for everyone, but it's the only way I can stay satiated.
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Bruh that's just eating protein and veggies. Not crazy.

These people are only eating meat/meat byproducts.
 
Alucrid

Alucrid

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Oct 25, 2017
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fruits and veggies are great. it's asparagus season and coming up on corn and watermelon season why would i give that up
 
fragamemnon

fragamemnon

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Nov 30, 2017
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Paleo/Keto always had vegetables at the center of the diet, like you needed to eat a lot of for the weight loss component to work. Some of the stuff like eating big amounts of high fat dairy because you don't like the vegetable reqs is just insane. On top of this, people building muscle drastically overestimate who much protein they actually need and ignore sources that aren't cranked with saturated fat.

Almost everyone would be better off getting compounded tirzepatide if they can afford it and just doing plant-based whole foods if they want dramatic weight loss. If you can't afford the tirzepatide then even just plant-based whole foods and walking 5-6 times a week and some basic light kettlebell workouts from youtube would melt the pounds away faster than carnivore would.

I'm sure there are some unicorn people whose lipid levels don't go bananas on this diet but like thinking you are one of those unicorns is peak folly.
 
RochHoch

RochHoch

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May 22, 2018
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I have relatives that swear by it. They're idiots.

Well, I don't think they're chomping on butter, they're not going that far, but still.

Just do keto ffs.
 
N64Controller

N64Controller

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Nov 2, 2017
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A few months ago TikTok fed me a video of a guy that ate bull's testicles in different ways and just ate raw meat.
 
Davidion

Davidion

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Oct 27, 2017
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Musubi said:
This is just natural selection at work.
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It never works the way people expect

Real said:
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I've been eating mostly carnivore style (with dark leafy greens, plenty of water, and veggies/sauces) since my sophomore year of college with a cleaner bill of health and 100-125 pounds down since then. It's not for everyone, but it's the only way I can stay satiated.
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You eat leafy greens and veggies. Meat-heavy diet seems different than what these people are doing, consuming nothing but meat and eggs (and sticks of butter? lol?)

I am severely underindexed on vegetables and love me some steak and eggs, and even I need to eat some greens with some regularity. I mean, if it works for them...
 
Nepenthe

Nepenthe

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Oct 25, 2017
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Real said:
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I've been eating mostly carnivore style (with dark leafy greens, plenty of water, and veggies/sauces) since my sophomore year of college with a cleaner bill of health and 100-125 pounds down since then. It's not for everyone, but it's the only way I can stay satiated.
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You're still eating vegetables though. That's a mixed diet. A true carnivore diet that these folks are espousing is nothing but animal products. Literally gag-inducing.
 

Holundrian

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Oct 25, 2017
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This doesn't sound new. But also you would think people would wisen up by now on the mechanics of these monofood diets, like the ancient only eat chocolate diet.
 
HStallion

HStallion

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Oct 25, 2017
62,585
Real said:
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I've been eating mostly carnivore style (with dark leafy greens, plenty of water, and veggies/sauces) since my sophomore year of college with a cleaner bill of health and 100-125 pounds down since then. It's not for everyone, but it's the only way I can stay satiated.
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So you're not eating a carnivore diet…
 
Faceless_Caesar

Faceless_Caesar

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Jul 1, 2020
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Real said:
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I've been eating mostly carnivore style (with dark leafy greens, plenty of water, and veggies/sauces) since my sophomore year of college with a cleaner bill of health and 100-125 pounds down since then. It's not for everyone, but it's the only way I can stay satiated.
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That's just Keto by a different name.
 
Lunchbox-

Lunchbox-

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Nov 2, 2017
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bEast Coast
exclusively carnivore, i can't do

but when i go carnivore with a side of greens and fruits i feel amazing.

cutting down on grains and carbs did wonders for my health. bread, rice, cereals are the enemy
 
FrostweaveBandage

FrostweaveBandage

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Liver King admitted a year ago or so that he was a huge steroid user. So anyone still watching his videos for advice is just a sucker.
 
j7vikes

j7vikes

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Jan 5, 2020
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Like a lot of extreme diets it's probably all fine in the short run and also like a lot of extreme diets you might see some pretty crazy short term results.

But it's not sustainable for the vast majority of people and it likely has a variety of health issues.

These extreme things are largely created and pushed for attention or agendas. No one wants to think about balance or moderation. No one wants to talk about gradual consistent progress. We want results immediately as fast as possible and screw health.
 
Ryhian

Ryhian

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Jan 23, 2018
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I have a coworker who just started this 'diet'. He's so pumped about it and telling me how great people feel on it while losing weight. At least he knows the full on carnivore diet isn't sustainable and says he's going to incorporate veggies slowly after a month.

He also doesn't have any desire to even walk as a form of exercise. To each their own on what diet habits they want to follow, but the amount of preaching how great it is for you even after he's been doing it a little over a week is sort of exhausting.
 
Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll

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Sep 24, 2019
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If you're sourcing diet ideas from Instagram and TikTok, it's going to be bullshit every time. All of these fad diets suck. Just limit the bad stuff, fully avoid the stuff that makes you sick, and exercise several days per week. Or, you can listen to some bro science peddler on Instagram and eat red meat every day of your life until a doctor tells you in 20 years - "you fucked up".
 

4CornersTHSA

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Jun 13, 2019
1,574
I've upped my protein and cut extra carbs over the last 15 months and have lost 90+ lbs. I feel better today than I have in over a decade.

But only meat/meat byproduct? Not a chance in hell man. Gotta have my veggies and fruits too. Dark leafy green salads have been a huge part of this transition for me and I'd feel lost without them.

Also you'll take my delicious asparagus out of my cold dead hands.
 
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