What is it? What can you eat? What are the benefits?
What is it? What can you eat? What are the benefits?
You've probably heard of the carnivore diet before. At first, it might seem shocking as it's not the type of nutrition promoted today, like more balanced diets. This article is not about comparing nutritional styles, but rather to shed light on the effectiveness of the carnivore diet through the following scientific article.
1. Article: Behavioural Characteristics and Self-Reported Health Status among 2029 Adults Consuming a "Carnivore Diet"
1. Article: Behavioural Characteristics and Self-Reported Health Status among 2029 Adults Consuming a "Carnivore Diet"
(Behavioural Characteristics and Self-Reported Health Status among 2029 Adults Consuming a "Carnivore Diet")
(Behavioural Characteristics and Self-Reported Health Status among 2029 Adults Consuming a "Carnivore Diet")
The study was conducted through surveys of participants, who provided the information about their diet, weight, etc., over 6 months. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Boston Children’s Hospital.
Participants were recruited from open communities on social networks, and the inclusion criteria were being at least 18 years of age and having followed a carnivore diet for at least 6 months. Of the initial 3883 respondents, 2029 were eligible and provided enough information to be included in the study. Data collection took place between March 30 and June 24, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Participantes del estudio
Among the participants who joined the study, 67% were men and 33% women, aged between 18 and 85 years, although most participants were around 44 years old. The median BMI of participants was close to 24.3, considered a normal range, although among all participants, 928 had overweight or obesity.
In summary, the typical profile of the participants was predominantly male, middle-aged, with a high level of education, residing in the United States or Canada, and following the diet mainly for health or weight control reasons. This data provides a detailed insight that anyone can do the carnivore diet; there is no specific profile.
Carnivore Diet - Menu
The article also provides information about what is eaten on a carnivore diet. The study participants mainly follow a diet focused on red meat (not pork), eggs, and dairy (not milk), with very limited consumption of fruits, vegetables, grains, and sugars.
Meat Consumption:
- Red Meat (not pork): A high percentage consume red meat in each meal (39%) or at least daily (46%).
- Pork:Consumption is more varied, with only 2% in each meal and 11% daily.
- Poultry:Less frequent, with only 0.5% in each meal and 2% daily.
- Seafood and Fish: Consumed less frequently, with 0.5% in each meal and 3% daily for fish.
- Offal: Consumed by 1% in each meal and 5% daily.
- Processed Meats:Low consumption, with only 0.1% in each meal and 3% daily.
Egg Consumption:
- Eggs:Quite common, with 7% in each meal and 37% daily.
Dairy Consumption:
- Non-milk Dairy:Similar to eggs, with 7% in each meal and 36% daily.
- Milk:Less common, with only 0.9% in each meal and 8% daily.
Other Consumption:
- Nuts: Low consumption, with 0.1% in each meal and 1% daily.
- Vegetables and Fruits: Very little consumed, with daily consumption less than 1% for all categories.
- Legumes and Grains: Barely consumed, with less than 1% reporting daily consumption.
- Sugar, Honey, and Calorie-free Sweeteners: Very low consumption, with most reporting they never consume them.
Use of Multivitamins and Other Supplements: Most participants do not consume them regularly, with 80% and 47% respectively never using them.
Results of 6 Months of Carnivore Diet
Below are the most notable data from the study regarding health parameters, weight, specific diseases, and how they evolved during those 6 months of the carnivore diet.
- Obesity/Overweight: Most participants with obesity or overweight (928 participants, 46%) reported a solution to their overweight, indicating a high effectiveness of the diet in this group.
- Diabetes/Insulin Resistance: A high percentage (74%) of participants with diabetes or insulin resistance indicated that their condition had been resolved, and 24% reported improvements.
- Hypertension: Most participants with hypertension (61%) experienced a resolution of their condition, and 32% reported improvements.
- Gastrointestinal and Autoimmune Diseases: These conditions also showed high rates of resolution (respectively) and improvement (38% and 53%).
- Conditions with Less Improvement: Some conditions such as ocular and oncological had lower rates of resolution or improvement.
- Dermatological and Musculoskeletal Conditions: These conditions also showed significant improvements (44% and 42% resolved, respectively).
- Weight and BMI:There was a significant reduction in weight and BMI following the diet.The median weight decreased from 85 kg to 76 kgand the median BMI from 27.2 to 24.3. This suggests a notable weight loss among the participants.
- Emergence of New Conditions: Overall, the emergence of new conditions was low, although some cases were observed in categories such as hematological and "Other."
- Other Factors (Cholesterol, etc.): These were not as favorable, possibly indicating a higher likelihood of cardiovascular problems.
2. Conclusions and Explanation. Does the Carnivore Diet Have Real Benefits?
2. Conclusions and Explanation. Does the Carnivore Diet Have Real Benefits?
You might be expecting a simple "yes" or "no" answer, but the reality is more complex. The Physical Education Lab invites you to visit the article yourself and analyze the result tables. If you have a specific pathology, you might better understand how your body and the pathology might react to the carnivore diet, but nothing is guaranteed 100%.
In general terms, an improvement in the health status of the participants, with and without pathologies, is observed. It could even be said that it is very effective as a way to lose weight or slim down. However, given the diverse range of participants, it's difficult to definitively state that all improvements and benefits are due solely to the consumption of meat and not to the elimination of ultra-processed foods, sugar, etc.
The question now is: If the study participants had followed a varied diet, with caloric restriction and eliminating sugars and ultra-processed foods, would they have obtained the same health improvements and benefits?
Nevertheless, the carnivore diet appears to be an interesting tool to experiment with, and this website is eager to continue following the advances and results that are published on this subject.
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