What to Know About the Carnivore Diet
The meat-centric diet bucks science and conventional wisdom about the benefits of plant-based eating.
By Anna Medaris Miller, Staff Writer Jan. 29, 2019, at 12:03 p.m.
Karen Foreman-Brown ate very few carbs for nearly a year. She and her husband, who were following the keto diet, filled their bellies with fat- and protein-rich items like brisket and brie, and their shopping carts with non-starchy vegetables like cauliflower and kale. They didn't consume cupcakes at parties, corn cobs at fairs or Coronas at pubs. And, contrary to what most health experts might expect, they weren't exhausted. In fact, they wanted more.
"My energy levels were good; I felt great, but I had stalled a bit on the weight-loss front," says Foreman-Brown, a 54-year-old digital marketer in Nelson, New Zealand, who'd lost about 30 kilograms (or 66 pounds) on keto in 2017.
So she and her husband decided to take it a step further and try the carnivore diet, an eating regimen that includes only animal products, mostly – if not entirely – red meat. No plant foods, including non-starchy vegetables, nuts and seeds, are allowed. One theory is that since ancient humans presumably lived entirely off the buffalo and woolly mammoths they killed, humans are designed to be nourished by animals only. Many followers also believe that plants are toxic to human health, in part because they contain mechanisms to fend off bugs and other animals. Eating only animal products, proponents claim, can lead to a host of positive health outcomes, from weight loss to addiction recovery to joint pain relief to sexual prowess.
https://health.usnews.com/wellness/food/articles/2019-01-29/what-is-the-carnivore-diet
