The benefits of a carnivore diet
As a subset of the ketogenic diet, the carnivore diet confers all of the benefits of the ketogenic diet. Additional benefits of the carnivore diet also include:
- Improved body composition. Protein is an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood. The body does not store protein, and as such has no reserves to draw on when it needs a new supply. Therefore, having the right amount of quality proteins in your diet is very important. The carnivore diet is, by nature, a high protein diet. Many people following a high protein diet have reported improved muscle tone. Additionally, epidemiologic studies show greater protein intake to be beneficial to bone health in adults.
- Reduced hunger. People following the carnivore diet generally report less hunger and more satiety than those following a high carb diet.
- Helps break sugar addiction. Many people have reported that a carnivore diet helped them overcome their sugar cravings.
- Improves the immune system. Animal foods are very nutrient dense. These nutrients are also far more bio-available then those of plant foods. Plant foods often contain anti-nutrients that further block our ability to absorb the vitamins and minerals in our food. The combination of increased nutrients and proteins in the carnivore diet, can improve immune function.
- Zero carb Zen, and improved mental health. Many people following the carnivore diet report feeling less anxious, and happier overall. This is commonly referred to as zero carb Zen. Additionally, many have also reported significant improvements in overall mental health, including relief from depression.
- Improved auto immune symptoms, reduced bloating and inflammation. People following the carnivore diet have reported improvement, and even remission, of different auto immune diseases, including arthritis, Hashimoto’s disease, and Crohn’s disease. Additionally, people seem to also experience an overall reduction in inflammation and bloating.
- Improved skin conditions and overall skin health. Many have given testimonials of skin conditions such as eczema, boils, and skin tags improving or resolving on the carnivore diet.
- Improves A1C and insulin sensitivity. Diabetic people who follow the carnivore diet need to be carefully monitored by their doctors so that medications can be lowered and removed as necessary, to prevent hypoglycemia.
- Lowers risk of certain cancers. High blood sugar and insulin resistance increases the risk for some types of cancer. Additionally, cancer patients may adopt a ketogenic/carnivore diet as part of their overall treatment protocol, because of its immune boosting properties and the fact that many cancers feed on sugar. Studies have found that a ketogenic diet also helped protect people undergoing traditional cancer therapy, by lowering the degree of side effects, such as nausea and fatigue.
- Improves energy levels and stamina. Studies have shown that athletes who follow a low carb, ketogenic diet have remarkably improved stamina during endurance exercises such as rowing. There have also been countless people who have reported seemingly endless energy on the carnivore diet.
- The ultimate elimination diet. For people with foods sensitivities and auto immune disease, the carnivore diet is the ultimate elimination diet. It allows people to remove all suspect foods from the diet, heal their bodies, and then systematically add foods back in to their diets, to see which foods they can and cannot tolerate.
Though many may begin the carnivore diet as a short term elimination diet, or in an effort to see if a carnivore diet can help improve their health conditions, often people continue on with the diet because of how good they feel while on it. People have recounted numerous anecdotes of improved health and wellbeing on the carnivore diet. Accounts included everything from whiter teeth and better eyesight, to resolved eating disorders such as binge eating and food addiction. While there are little to no research papers available on the carnivore diet yet, new studies are currently underway.
Beginners Guide to the Carnivore Diet: Table of Contents