Family of five died after eating Carnivore Diet by BBC
Increased Risk of Kidney Stones, Gout, and Osteoporosis: Experts Agree TikTok’s Carnivore Diet Is Risky
The carnivore diet is rising in popularity thanks to TikTok. But is it actually safe?Meat-based diets are all the rage on TikTok right now. Often called the “carnivore diet” or the “lion diet,” the rules are very simple: every meal revolves heavily around animal protein, with very little room for vegetables, legumes, or fruits.
In a video with nearly 10 million views, Ray Hicks (also known as Carnivore Ray) explains, “[Carnivore diets are] simple, just meat, eggs, and seafood. Any type of meat. Beef, chicken, lamb, pork, it doesn’t matter.” He adds that for oils, “it’s butter, ghee, and tallow,” and for seasoning, “it’s just salt.”
According to Hicks, he has eaten this way for nearly a year and feels better than ever. “I lost 90 pounds. My knee pain of a decade went away. My mental health is the best it’s ever been. My teeth, zero plaque. They always feel like I just came from the dentist,” he said.
However, experts aren’t so convinced that carnivore diets are beneficial to long-term health. Many dietitians and physicians have expressed concern that following an all-meat diet for a continuous period could lead to deficiencies and even a higher risk of chronic disease.What is the carnivore diet?
The carnivore diet focuses heavily on animal protein, including chicken, fish, red meat, and eggs. It’s a more restricted form of the ketogenic (keto) diet, which is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet designed to shift the body into a metabolic state called ketosis.
“Sometimes referred to as the ‘zero carb’ diet, the carnivore diet restricts its followers to consume only animal-based foods including some dairy products and water,” Angel Luk, RD of Food Mysteries, told VegNews. “All plant-based foods including nuts, seeds, vegetables, fruits, legumes are not allowed, creating a type of ketogenic diet whereby almost no carbohydrates are eaten.”
Many followers of the carnivore diet report weight loss, and this is likely because, in ketosis, the body burns fat for energy instead of carbohydrates.
Is a carnivore diet healthy?
The non-carnivore keto diet does allow for plant-based foods, like avocado, leafy greens, and olive oil, but still, the emphasis is largely on animal-based protein. The diet was initially invented to treat children with epilepsy, and research shows it can be effective when used in this way. “We have solid evidence showing that a ketogenic diet reduces seizures in children, sometimes as effectively as medication,” reports Harvard Health.
However, in recent years, many adults have also been following the keto diet for weight loss. The publication notes it may work in the short-term, but it is ultimately very restrictive, and may not be a healthy choice long-term. “A ketogenic diet could be an interesting alternative to treat certain conditions and may accelerate weight loss. But it is hard to follow, and it can be heavy on red meat and other fatty, processed, and salty foods that are notoriously unhealthy. We also do not know much about its long-term effects, probably because it’s so hard to stick with that people can’t eat this way for a long time.” —Harvard Health
Experts are even more concerned about the carnivore version of the keto diet, which heavily promotes fatty, salty foods and red meat. Excessive consumption of red meat has been linked with a higher risk of disease, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. The World Health Organization classifies it as a Group 2 Carcinogen, which means it is likely to cause cancer.
In another Harvard Health article, Howard E. LeWine, MD, the publication’s chief medical editor expresses concern about the saturated fat content in carnivore diets, which can raise LDL cholesterol considerably (LDL cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease).
“Other longer-term concerns about keto diets, especially the carnivore diet, include the increased risk of kidney stones, gout, and osteoporosis,” he says. “Also, the very high protein intake associated with the carnivore diet can lead to impaired kidney function. Because keto diets induce the body to burn fat, all keto diets can jump-start a weight-loss program. But I would never recommend a carnivore diet for this purpose.”
Healthline expert Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN, LD, also warns against the carnivore diet. “No controlled studies support claims that the carnivore diet can help eliminate health issues,” she says. “It lacks beneficial nutrients, including fiber and plant compounds like antioxidants. It may be unsafe for some people.”
Luk agrees and expresses particular concern about the lack of plant compounds in a carnivore diet. “In a strict carnivore diet whereby no plant foods are allowed, the body is stripped of any opportunity to have phytonutrients that protect us from cancer and many chronic diseases,” she says. “These phytonutrients are exclusively found in plants.”I don’t care what your doctor says – I feel great on The Carnivore Diet.OPINION: Buzz Moller’s diet has evolved over the years from conventional to low-carb, and for the past two years he’s eaten nothing but meat and animal products. The Carnivore Diet doesn’t come recommended by the vast majority of dietary experts but, at 61, Moller says he’s never felt better. He shares his experience.
Note: The following is a personal account and should not be read as medical advice. Readers are advised to check with their doctors before radically changing their diets. For the dietary advice of Health New Zealand (te whatu ora), see the foot of this story.
Ok, you asked. My experience on the carnivore diet – yes, it’s a bit unusual. While most people eat meat, if you eat ONLY meat, you suddenly become a weirdo. Most people are eating what you are, but you aren’t eating the other stuff they are. I try to keep it secret when I’m out socialsing, I’ll get the pie and quietly dig out the middle. I’ll put salad and bread on the plate but then only eat the ham. I do tell the people I really care about, especially if they are suffering health issues. I try to get them to give it a go, but in two years, that’s worked on about two people.Our family’s journey into carnivore (currently four of us in the same household) started slowly about ten years ago. I’ve always been into food. I love it all without exception. I’ll eat anything. I’ve done some bizarre stuff with it – once, at boarding school, I chugged a large glass of milk thick with dissolved sugar and went temporarily blind, ending up in the sick bay. Another time, on a skiing trip, I ate nothing but 24 meat pies. As I got older, I started getting interested in the health side of food. I’ve tried most diets (macrobiotic, the Zone, vegetarian, 10-day fasts, etc). But things got serious when our son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 11. In the hospital, after learning he couldn’t process carbs without insulin, they brought him a carb-heavy meal. He looked at me and said, “Why do I have to eat that if I can’t process it?” I didn’t have an answer. But it kicked me off into heavy research mode. I started reading science studies and listening to audiobooks on nutrition and metabolism. One major thing I learned was that carbs aren’t essential. What? Who knew? After discussions with my partner Janey, we slowly moved our son to a low-carb regime, and the rest of the family followed suit. We were basically eating the Keto diet, before we’d heard of it. We cleaned out the fridge and cupboards of sugar and carb-based foods (that included fruit, grains, legumes and high-sugar vegetables like beets, carrots and potatoes). My health started changing.Before this, I had always eaten big-ass salads every day (I even made a YouTube video called “Salads for Blokes” – chopping stuff with knives is cool). We had porridge for breakfast and broccoli pasta for dinner. But my health wasn’t that great. I had arthritis in my hands, knees, and back; the kids can remember me getting off the trampoline after playing monsters saying I was too sore. I had lung issues, heart issues (35% blockage, so no life insurance), and I was lined up for hip surgery due to minimal cartilage left in the joint. I was 51. I’m 61 now, and have no symptoms of any of these conditions anymore. But it was gradual. As we cut out grains and sugars, the arthritis started to improve, and I pulled out of the hip surgery on the day of the operation. The surgeon wasn’t happy. After six years of Keto, we stumbled across The Carnivore Diet through a friend and initially thought it was nuts. No plants at all? But the more I looked into it, the way our gut and digestion works, the more it made sense to me.Driven by the fear of a probable lung condition (my dad and grandpa both died of lung disease), I dropped the plants and went all-in on meat. Within months, my lungs cleared and I stopped coughing up gunk for the first time in a decade. The doctor couldn’t give me an explanation, other than they must have misdiagnosed me. My singing voice came back and my migraines stopped. Janey cured her lifelong IBS in a few weeks of giving up the cauliflower and broccoli. Her knee which was always unstable and sore from a serious skiing accident is fine now. You laugh because it’s so unexpected. What you thought was all just normal age-related genetic stuff.
By the way I’m not an official expert on any of this stuff. After school, I decided to flag my dream of becoming a doctor and did a Bcom. I worked in the share market but ended up a solid plasterer with a masters in music. Health is a fascinating hobby to me and I’m always reading about it. In mental health as well it looks like major breakthroughs are happening with diet. Two psychiatrists I like from Harvard University, Dr. Chris Palmer and Dr. Georgia Ede, are amazing. In New Zealand, Dr. Matthew Phillips’s metabolic work on Parkinson’s and neurodegenerative diseases is groundbreaking.
But back to daily life, the four of us in this house eat pretty much the same, so it’s no drama at mealtime. And because we transitioned into it slowly, it feels completely normal. There’s a kind of freedom you feel when cravings for modern man-made foods disappear. Our daughter who struggled with disordered eating found it has helped free her from constant anxiety and shame around food.A typical day for us is something like bacon and eggs for breakfast, lamb chops or burger patties for lunch, and steak for dinner – maybe with some butter on top. We’ve swapped cooking marathons for quick, satisfying meals, and, due to steadier blood-sugar levels, there’s no craving snacks, or guilt or overthinking about food anymore. No measuring. Eat if you’re hungry.
As for the critics? Sure, people warn about things like bowel cancer and heart disease. In my view, that’s kind of old thinking from the 70s.*
Research suggests a processed carb-heavy diet causes inflammation.
What do I love most? I feel like I’m aging backwards. It’s a mix of energy and calmness. My body has reverted closer to what it was in my 20s. And it’s liberating not to be obsessed with food.
So yes, at the moment, it’s still a bit unconventional, but if you can cope with being a weirdo or you’re just sick of feeling like crap all the time, you learn not to care what people think.
