Carnivore is the New Vegan... in a Bad Way
The number one New Year’s resolution every year is to lose weight. The number one way to do that is to change how you eat. From "Veganuary” to “World Carnivore Month”, here’s some ideas to start thinking for yourself and make real, sustainable changes.
The diet wars are endless.
People seek abdication of responsibility. They need a system (or anything other than themselves) to blame for failure. This is the dangerous latitude offered by “paleo” and “Mediterranean”, even “animal-based” ways of eating.
The internalized belief is that because I “can” eat carbs (for example) I “will” eat “all” the carbs; thereby losing sight of any “ancestral” premise or proportion.
These are exactly the people profited off of by the medical, pharmaceutical, and dietetics establishments’ recommendation of “everything in moderation” and “intuitive eating.”
Alas, we do learn quite a bit at the extremes of things. By all means, go there. Learn when, where, and why things stop working for you. Encourage other people to do the same.
From February 2020 to about mid-2022 I was ruthlessly adherent to a carnivore diet. Admittedly, I engaged in many of the raw egg, raw organ meats, and other charades you see online.
My main beef (*wink*) with “The” Carnivore diet (as advertised) is that it is becoming more and more trademarked; emblematic of the much reviled antics of it’s counterpart vegan diet.
To this day my diet is 90% beef, eggs, bacon, coffee, sometimes cheese, fruit, or maple syrup, and even some alcohol. I’ve written many articles about what’s informed these choices for myself over the intervening years.
I still stand by that work.
The discordant frustration for me is that there is a vast incongruence between the zeal of armchair experts and social media enthusiasts. They seem to be quite heavy on influencer reposts and PubMed citations and light on delivered results.
I don’t mean to say people haven’t been able to make tremendous changes in their mental and physical health by altering their diet and lifestyle; certainly many have. I’m saying that dogmatic adherence isn’t justified by the numbers of evangelists espousing it; particularly in proportion to their vigor.
I’m skeptical of anything that becomes popular quickly. But, some notable WTF-moments for me were when some select carnivore doctors began recommending:
Supplements over whole foods; specifically the ones they sell.
Synthetic MDMA over psilocybin.
Synthetic caffeine over coffee.
Never, under any circumstances, are carbohydrates helpful. — for the 10,000th time, just because something isn’t “necessary” doesn’t mean there isn’t any, let alone a net, benefit derived from it.
There is a tremendously wide margin of “healthy eating” that one can equally justify by physical performance and biometric measures of health.
For example, if you believe all the TikToks about receipts, tap water, plastic cans/bottles, polyester, and alcohol, my 36 year old body should be well under hypogonadal. Earlier this year my TT was 1,100.
Again, I’ve read the studies. I know there’s credence to the concern about all of the things I just mentioned. Overall, when people eat less processed food and prioritize protein — specifically animal protein — they get healthier. When we move more, specifically in a progressively overloaded fashion, we become more physically fit.
My point is that we still have to live our lives.
That’s not an excuse to once again abdicate responsibility for your choices. It’s a call to action and honesty.
I cannot emphasize the irony enough. People are going to go to their grave, having spent 50, 60, or 70 years arguing about “longevity” to see who lives a decade longer. All the while your chances of getting hit by a bus on any given day in the meantime remain the same.
Again, again, I’m not saying your diet doesn’t matter. It absolutely does, a lot. Also, it isn’t the only thing that matters; as much as many folks would like you to believe. People seem remarkably incapable of seeing beyond or beside whatever is working for them at the present moment.
Sometimes clinical or “therapeutic” level interventions, restrictions, or other alterations are warranted. Usually that’s not the case for everyone. It’s also not usually the case forever.
Eat all the meat. Eat no meat. Eat all the carbs. Eat no carbs. Take notes. Test and measure outcomes. You are the only one that has to live with the consequences of your choices, so you might as well be brutally honest — which includes the willingness to change your mind at a later date or with new information or changing needs.
If you want a quick and dirty recommendation, that I think anyone would have a hard time arguing with (beyond rabid and dogmatic adherence to their worldview), try the following:
For the next 90 days — yes 90, not 30, or 75 — I want you to commit to the process commit to doing something hard. Commit to real data and an honest assessment of that data.
Stress / Relationships: Engage in a daily practice (prayer, gratitude, family time, etc.)
Sleep: Make this non-negotiable. There isn’t a “right” amount for everyone, though quality and routine seem more important than quantity. So, commit to making sure you’re going to bed and waking up within 30-minutes of the same time every day.
Movement: Find a way to break a sweat every day. You don’t have to go all out, but you should be moving, probably more than you think you have to, should, or want to.
Diet:
1-1.5g of protein / lb of body weight (from animal sources, eaten first each meal).
50g - 100g of carbs / day (from fruits or vegetables).
Stop fearing animal fat.
Avoid:
Vegetable / seed oils
grains, starches, and nuts / seeds.
junk food — don’t over-complicate this, you know what it is, when in doubt, say no.
