What is the carnivore diet?

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What is the carnivore diet?

Thanks for asking.

We've all heard about the importance of getting a balanced diet, but some people choose to ignore that advice completely. And those following the carnivore diet are a prime example. As you may have guessed from its name, the carnivore diet involves eating almost exclusively meat, sometimes raw, sometimes cooked, and might also include fish. healthline.com says that other animal foods like eggs and certain dairy products are sometimes also eaten. Now, American doctor Sean Baker created the carnivore diet back in 2016 But the reason we're talking about it today is because it's really caught on in masculinist circles over the last year or two. Influencer Butterdog is one example of a prominent figure who promotes it on TikTok. He regularly posts videos of himself eating meat and talking about the diet, some of which have accrued millions of views. This is a full day of eating. I have not gone to the bathroom in over three weeks. We first started off our day with two pounds of raw ground beef. I made some little sandwiches so it was a little bit easier to eat.

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Are there any benefits?

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The Huffington Post ran a feature on the carnivore diet in July 2023, outlining some of the so-called benefits that Sean Baker claims it yields on his website. The article says, Baker's website is full of success stories of folks who started the carnivore diet and were then healed of all manner of illnesses, from Lyme disease to multiple sclerosis. It's most popularly used as a weight loss diet, and the Internet is full of before and after photos, YouTube transformation videos, and medium posts detailing the ups and downs of this restrictive eating plan. It sounds kind of dangerous to me. Indeed, health care professionals have been clear on the matter, saying there is absolutely no scientific evidence supporting the health benefits of the carnivore diet.

In fact, the opposite is more likely to be true. That's because focusing your diet on proteins at the expense of carbohydrates carries significant health risks. Experts say it may reduce life expectancy by increasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

Meanwhile, people with kidney problems are likely to see those exacerbated due to the huge protein intake. How did such a sketchy diet become popular? Well, it's a fad diet, just like many that have come and gone over the years. Speaking to The Guardian about the carnivore diet, American nutritionist Lisa Sasson said the claims that are made are preposterous. Atkins was bad. This is 50 times worse. This is probably the worst diet I've ever heard, and I've heard such bad ones. Over the years, it's been heavily promoted by popular influences in the United States, like Jordan Peterson and Andrew Tate. There's something about meat consumption and its associations with strength and virility that seem to appeal to masculinists. They'll often be hostile towards vegetarians and feminists too, seeing them as a threat to what they see as the traditional male identity. There's also the idea that it's good to align the modern diet with what our ancestors in caves used to eat in prehistoric times. But that completely ignores the fact that our ancestors also ate fruit and vegetables.

There you have it.

Now you know what the carnivore diet is. In under three minutes, we answer your questions and help you understand the true meaning behind the trends, concepts and acronyms that are making headlines. Listen along and you will really know for sure.

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