Is Carnivore Diet Good for Health? Know the Details
A carnivore diet is coming out as a strong trend for people having some chronic health struggles, who have tried everything else but have not found comfort with their diet.
If you Google “carnivore diet”, you will find thousands of testimonies of people encouraging other people to take up this kind of diet.
So, what is a carnivore diet?
It is simply a diet where you consume only animal products while eliminating or drastically reducing the intake of carbs and fiber. Some people cut out dairy products too since products like milk and cheese metabolized to our bodies as sugar. This diet includes animal flesh or meat, such as poultry, fish, seafood, beef, pork, and eggs.
Let us look into questions that arise when you consider taking up a carnivore diet
Carnivore Diet: Is it A Healthy Diet?
Like all other diets, an all-meat diet requires one to take into account the nutrition requirements and analysis and update the response of your body to this new diet.
The proponents of this diet believe that human ancestral populations ate mostly meat and fish and they blame high-carb nutrition for today’s high rates of chronic disease.
They claim faster weight loss, improvement in mental clarity, promotion of easier digestion, improvement in athletic performance, and alleviation of certain health problems.
Carnivore Diet: Is it Nutritional?
Carnivore diet consumption covers a variety of essential nutrients like amino acids, vitamin D, protein, iron and zinc, protein, calcium, vitamin B, Vitamin B 12, omega 3 fatty acid, essential nutrients, and vitamins like niacin, riboflavin, and thiamin.
Meat contains highly bioavailable amino acids packaged into proper ratios and in sufficient amounts. Also contains the two essential fatty acids DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and AA (arachidonic acid), in generous amounts that are essential to your health.
Should You Take Up An All-Meat Diet?
Like all other diets, a carnivore diet has to be regulated cautiously.
A balanced diet needs to be enforced to meet your calorie requirements. The problem is, if you don’t get the right amount of vitamins, nutrients, and proteins, you could risk developing health complications.
It is encouraged to consult a doctor or a nutritionist and examine your medical history before pursuing a carnivore diet.
A good reason why an all-meat diet is considered to be healthy is that by eating only meat you eliminate “toxins” or anti-nutrients in plant matter.
Compounds like gluten, oxalates, lectins, histamine, and other potentially inflammatory compounds found in plant-based foods, which may cause serious illness in people who are sensitive to them.
Let’s examine some relation between health and the all-meat diet:
While there are thousands of anecdotes online there are very few which are backed by scientific examination. Plus most of the research is observation carried out for the short term. But to claim there is no evidence to support a carnivore diet will be disingenuous.
Carnivore diets have been a weight loss strategy for many online proponents. According to one approach, low-carb diets work by decreasing insulin production. This, in turn, would prevent fat storage and promote weight loss.
Why does a carnivore diet work? Meat is very satiating; it causes us to feel full resulting in limiting calorie intake. Meat is naturally high in protein and low in carbs, a combination that causes appetite by affecting key hunger hormones such as leptin and ghrelin.
Also to get all of the nutrients from this diet, you have to include organ meats in it. If not, you can be at risk for deficiency in retinol (vitamin A), folate, vitamin D3, vitamin K2, vitamin C, and the essential fatty acids EPA and DHA (although the fatty acids can also be found in fatty fish).
A lot of people say they were drawn to the carnivore diet because they had arthritis and joint pain, which proponents of the carnivore diet claim would disappear if they cut all plant foods out.
People share stories online of arthritis, diverticulitis, asthma, and other inflammatory diseases disappearing after they switched to eating all meat.
How does it work? A well-designed carnivore diet is able to induce ketosis. Ketogenic diets (and low-carb, high-fat diets in general) tend to be anti-inflammatory: a very-low-carb ketogenic diet (VLCKD) reduces oxidative stress and inflammation.
Cold-water fish like salmon, mackerel, and sardines and fish oils are high in omega-3 fatty acids. These healthy fats stop inflammatory compounds from forming. They also reduce existing inflammation in the body.
Decision: Healthy for you or not?
Despite all the correlation and anecdotes available online encouraging and promoting a carnivore diet, there are some questions that are yet to be answered.
However, a carnivore diet isn’t right for everyone, and many doctors recommend against it because of the risk of nutrient deficiencies and other problems.
People with chronic kidney problems should stay away from the all-meat diets since excess protein can increase pressure and filtration rate in the kidneys, leading to additional damage and accelerating the disease.
In the case of pregnant women, due to lack of research and high risk of nutrient deficiencies, pregnant women should not eat a carnivore diet.
Likewise, if you are in excellent health by eating your current diet, there’s no reason to switch for now till more is proven about this diet.
For all the meat lovers, a carnivore diet when taken considerably can enhance your health. However, like any other diet, it has its weak points as well such as lack of fibers, lack of important nutrients like vitamin C, and high cholesterol.
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