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Carnivore: what I eat and what happened

I've been eating this way since [[start date]]. This page is what I actually eat, what changed, what my bloods say, and the strongest arguments against the whole idea — because a page that only makes the case for something isn't worth reading.

What I actually eat

[[Describe a normal day: what, roughly how much, how many meals, what you drink. Be specific — this is the section people come for.]]

Things I don't eat: [[list what you've cut — e.g. grains, sugar, vegetables, seed oils, alcohol]].

What it costs: [[rough weekly food spend, and how it compares to before. People always ask.]]

Why I started

[[The honest reason. Weight? Energy on shift? Joint pain? Something a doctor said? Curiosity? Whatever it actually was — the real reason is more interesting than a tidy one.]]

What changed

[[What you noticed, roughly in order and with rough timescales. Include the first two weeks, which are usually unpleasant.]]

The numbers, dated, are on the log. I'd rather you looked at those than at my description of how I feel, because how I feel is exactly the kind of evidence that bends towards whatever I already believe.

What I got wrong

[[Mistakes: undereating early on, not enough salt, not enough fat, doing it too abruptly, whatever applies. This section buys you more credibility than the rest of the page combined.]]

The case against, made properly

If I only told you what I liked about this, you should stop reading. So here is the serious criticism, and I don't think any of it is stupid.

The evidence base is thin. There are no long-term randomised controlled trials of carnivore diets. What exists is survey data from people who already chose it, which is close to worthless for establishing whether it's safe over decades. Anyone telling you it's proven is overstating what we know.

Cholesterol. Many people see LDL rise substantially on this diet. Whether that raises cardiovascular risk in this specific context is genuinely disputed, and the people who insist it obviously doesn't are as overconfident as the people who insist it obviously does. My own numbers are on the log, including the ones I'd rather weren't there.

Fibre and the gut. The conventional position is that removing all plant fibre is bad for the gut microbiome and for colorectal health. The counter-argument is that fibre requirements are less established than they're presented. I don't think this is settled, and I'd be misleading you to pretend it is.

Micronutrients. The obvious concern is vitamin C and folate. The counter-argument is that requirements change when carbohydrate intake is near zero. I monitor it rather than assume it.

It might just be the elimination. The most likely explanation for a lot of carnivore results is dull: people stop eating ultra-processed food, sugar and alcohol, and eat more protein. That would improve almost anyone's numbers. The meat may be doing much less work than the removal of everything else.

I think that last objection is the strongest one, and I've never seen a carnivore advocate answer it properly. Including me.

What I monitor

Blood tests, at intervals, rather than vibes: [[which tests you get and how often — e.g. full lipid panel, HbA1c, full blood count, liver and kidney function, ferritin, vitamin D, B12]]. Results are on the log, including anything that moved the wrong way.

If a number goes somewhere it shouldn't, that's information, not an attack on my identity. That distinction is the one most people in this space fail.

Who shouldn't try this

I'd say the following without hesitation, as a nurse rather than as someone who eats this way:

  • Anyone with a history of disordered eating. A diet built on rigid restriction and rules about forbidden foods is a genuinely poor fit, and can make things considerably worse.
  • Anyone with kidney disease, liver disease, or a condition affecting how they handle protein or fat.
  • Anyone pregnant or breastfeeding.
  • Anyone on medication that needs adjusting when diet changes — insulin and blood pressure medication in particular. This needs a doctor, not a website.
  • Children and teenagers.

And if you're doing it because you hate your body rather than because you're curious about it, the diet isn't the thing that needs attention. I mean that kindly and I mean it seriously.

This is a record of what I did, not advice about what you should do. I'm a registered nurse, not a dietitian, and I'm not your clinician. Nothing on this page is personal medical advice and reading it doesn't put me in a professional relationship with you.

Before changing your diet substantially, speak to your GP — particularly if you take any regular medication, have diabetes, kidney, liver or heart disease, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or have any history of disordered eating. Restrictive diets can be genuinely harmful for some people, and "it worked for me" is the weakest form of evidence there is.