The carnivore diet: only meat, forever. Bold plan, zero long-term proof.
Steak for breakfast, steak for dinner, and a vegetable is the enemy. Fans swear by it. The science hasn't caught up, and what it does know about fibre and cholesterol isn't on carnivore's side.
The short version
- What it is
- Meat, fish, eggs and maybe some butter or cheese. No plants at all.
- Good for
- Cutting out junk food overnight. Short-term weight loss, mostly because the menu is so boring.
- Bad at
- Fibre (zero), LDL cholesterol (often way up) and any long-term evidence (none).
- Evidence
- None long-term. One big online survey of fans, no trials.
- Our take
- Keep the protein, bring back the plants. Not part of our plan.
What the carnivore diet actually is
Take keto, then remove every plant. That's the carnivore diet. You eat beef, lamb, pork, chicken, fish, seafood and eggs. Some people add butter, cheese and cream. Strict followers drink only water. No vegetables, no fruit, no nuts, no grains, no beans, no coffee for the purists.
It's carbohydrate-free in practice, so the body runs on fat and ketones, just like keto, only with more steak. A close relative, the animal-based diet, keeps the meat but adds fruit and honey back.
How many people really eat like this? Nobody knows. The biggest study is an online survey of 2,029 self-declared carnivores recruited through social media. Most ate red meat every day, and under 10% ate vegetables, fruit or grains more than once a month.1
How it works in your body
With zero carbs, your sugar stores run out in a day or two, water goes with them, and the scale drops fast. Then you're in ketosis. Protein is filling, and a plate of plain meat isn't something most people overeat for fun. That's most of the weight-loss story: you eat less because there's nothing else to eat.
The rest of the body notices too. Fibre feeds the bacteria in your gut. On carnivore, fibre intake is zero. Saturated fat goes way up, and LDL ("bad") cholesterol often goes with it: in the biggest carnivore survey, average LDL was markedly high.1
What you eat, what you don't
Eat
- Beef, lamb, pork, chicken, duck
- Fish and seafood: salmon, sardines, prawns, mussels
- Eggs
- Organ meat: liver, heart, kidney
- Butter, tallow, lard, bone broth
- Some add cheese and cream
- Water, salt
Forget it
- All vegetables, even salad
- All fruit, including berries
- Bread, rice, noodles, oats, potatoes
- Beans, lentils, tofu
- Nuts, seeds and plant oils
- Sugar, juice, soft drinks, and for strict followers coffee and tea
Alcohol on the carnivore diet
Allowed by some, now and then
- Vodka, gin, whisky, tequila: neat, on ice or with soda water
- A glass of dry red or white wine, for the less strict
Out
- Beer, cider, sweet wine, liqueurs
- Cocktails, anything with juice, cola or tonic
- "Zero" mixers: sweeteners are on our never list
- For purists: everything, since all alcohol is made from plants
50 Club: one glass of dry wine with a steak, never on an empty stomach.
Zero carbs doesn't mean harmless. The WHO's European office says no level of drinking is safe for health, and alcohol causes at least seven types of cancer.7 All the details are in our alcohol guide.
What the carnivore diet is good for, with proof
Short answer: we don't know, because nobody has tested it properly. There are no randomised trials. Here is what exists.
Fans say they feel great
In the survey of 2,029 carnivores, 95% said their overall health had improved, median BMI went from about 27 to about 24, and people with diabetes reported lower blood sugar and less medication.1 Few reported side effects. Sounds impressive. Now the catch: everything was self-reported, people were recruited through carnivore social media groups, and anyone who felt awful and quit wasn't in the survey. If you only ask the survivors, the survivors say it works. The authors themselves say the long-term effects need further study.
It cuts out junk, fast
No crisps, no soft drinks, no biscuits, no white bread. Overnight. That alone will improve a lot of diets. But you could get the same win while keeping vegetables, which is exactly what the 50 Club version does.
The uncomfortable truth
"Humans don't need fibre." The biggest review of the question pooled 185 long-term studies and 58 trials. People who ate the most fibre had 15–30% lower rates of death, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer than those who ate the least. The best results were at 25–29 g a day.2 Carnivore gives you zero.
"High cholesterol on carnivore doesn't matter." It does. In the carnivore survey, average LDL was markedly high, about 4.4 mmol/L (172 mg/dL).1 The European Atherosclerosis Society's expert panel concluded that LDL causes the artery disease behind heart attacks and strokes, and the longer and higher it stays, the bigger the risk.4 Good HDL and low triglycerides don't cancel that out.
The risks
- LDL cholesterol. Often goes up, sometimes a lot. In long-term trials, cutting saturated fat lowered the risk of cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks and strokes, by about 17%.3 Carnivore does the opposite. Get a blood test before you start and again a few months in.
- Processed meat. The WHO's cancer agency classes processed meat (bacon, ham, sausages) as a cause of cancer, and red meat as a probable cause, mainly bowel cancer.5 A carnivore diet heavy on bacon is a bad bet.
- No fibre. Bowel habits change, sometimes to constipation, sometimes the reverse. And you miss everything fibre is linked to (see above).
- Missing nutrients. No fruit and vegetables means losing the main everyday sources of vitamin C, folate and magnesium. In the survey, over a third took no supplements at all.1
- Diabetes drugs. Zero carbs plus SGLT2 drugs (empagliflozin/Jardiance, dapagliflozin/Forxiga) can trigger a dangerous acid build-up in the blood, even with normal blood sugar.6 On insulin, doses may need changing. Never start without your doctor.
- Your social life. Steak only, at a hawker centre or a Heuriger? Your friends will stop inviting you, or start a betting pool on when you quit.
Allergies: watch the staples
Carnivore leans on a few foods, and several are major allergens. Allergic to one and the menu gets very short. Yet another reason plants should stay.
| Carnivore staple | Allergen (EU list of 14)8 | Swap |
|---|---|---|
| Eggs | Eggs | More meat or fish; in the 50 Club, tofu or beans |
| Butter, cheese, cream | Milk | Tallow, lard; in the 50 Club, olive oil |
| Salmon, sardines, tuna | Fish | Meat, eggs; flax and chia in the 50 Club |
| Prawns, crab, lobster | Crustaceans | Fish, chicken |
| Mussels, oysters, squid | Molluscs | Fish, chicken |
| Sausages, cured and processed meats | Can contain celery, mustard and sulphites: check the label | Plain fresh meat |
Don't do the carnivore diet if you…
- have high LDL cholesterol, heart disease or a family history of early heart attacks
- have kidney disease
- have type 1 diabetes, or take insulin or SGLT2 drugs
- are pregnant or breastfeeding
- have ever had an eating disorder
- are under 18
Healthen me asks about all of these and gives you a different plan if any apply.
How we use the carnivore diet in your plan
We don't. Carnivore is not part of our plan, and we won't build it for you.
The reason is simple: there is no long-term evidence that it's safe, and strong evidence that what it removes (fibre, vegetables, fruit, legumes) matters. We're not going to bet your arteries on a social media survey.
What we do share with carnivore fans: protein first at every meal, which is a core part of our high-protein rule, and a first meal after the fast built on eggs, fish or meat. Then vegetables. Lots. If you like the no-grains idea, read about paleo instead: still strict, but plants are allowed.
This article is general information, not medical advice. If you have a medical condition or take medication, talk to your doctor before changing how you eat.
Sources
- Lennerz BS, Mey JT, Henn OH, Ludwig DS. Behavioral characteristics and self-reported health status among 2029 adults consuming a "carnivore diet". Current Developments in Nutrition 2021;5(12):nzab133. doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzab133
- Reynolds A et al. Carbohydrate quality and human health: a series of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. The Lancet 2019;393(10170):434–445. doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31809-9
- Hooper L et al. Reduction in saturated fat intake for cardiovascular disease. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2020;8:CD011737. doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD011737.pub3
- Ference BA et al. Low-density lipoproteins cause atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. 1. Evidence from genetic, epidemiologic, and clinical studies. A consensus statement from the European Atherosclerosis Society Consensus Panel. European Heart Journal 2017;38(32):2459–2472. doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehx144
- World Health Organization. Cancer: carcinogenicity of the consumption of red meat and processed meat (questions and answers); and Bouvard V et al. Carcinogenicity of consumption of red and processed meat. Lancet Oncology 2015;16(16):1599–1600. who.int: red meat and processed meat Q&A
- Mistry S, Eschler DC. Euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis caused by SGLT2 inhibitors and a ketogenic diet: a case series and review of literature. AACE Clinical Case Reports 2021. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7924151
- World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe. No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health. 4 January 2023. who.int/europe/news/item/04-01-2023-no-level-of-alcohol-consumption-is-safe-for-our-health
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on food information to consumers, Annex II (the 14 allergens). eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2011/1169/oj