Can An All-Meat Diet Transform Your Life?
By: Karina Jimenez
Tags: Dieting, Weight Loss, Health And Wellness, Health And Nutrition, Carnivore Diet

My sister cried when she found the wedding dress. It was a blissful moment for all of us. The dress was long-sleeved, beautifully beaded into a tasteful flower pattern, and flowed gracefully around her.

When a cathedral length veil was placed on her head, we all just about sobbed and wiped our tears away with the tissues thoughtfully placed next to the chairs in the fitting area.

She turned to the bridal entourage and declared to us, “But I need to lose weight!” With the wedding only months away, she needed to lose pounds fast.

She and her fiance did some research to find what would work best for both of them.

Weeks later, she explained she was on the carnivore diet and it seemed to be helping. One side effect was needing to use the restroom frequently. That is…she had diarrhea.

That didn’t sound very encouraging, nor healthy. I was skeptical. Usually, frequent trips to the restroom are a sign that something is wrong and out of balance.

Besides the bouts of diarrhea, my sister said she felt great and was making good progress with her weight loss. It appeared to be true. Where her clothes usually squeezed her tight, they now hung loosely on her and she was bubbling with energy.

This meat-only diet sounded primitive. Rightly so as our primal ancestors feasted on meat after times of starvation. Modern human proponents suggest we do the same. I didn’t believe it at first, but it really is something people do. Meat is eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

I don’t mind a tender juicy steak now and then, but every day?

The Benefits of The Carnivorous Diet

Here are the carnivore’s general guidelines.

No calorie counting, no measuring things out, no true meal planning. You eat when you’re hungry and until you’re satisfied. The simplicity of mealtime is both liberating and ultra-restrictive all at once.

The rules of the carnivore diet are easy. You may eat beef, fish, chicken, eggs, and some dairy such as cheese.

High-calorie foods such as bread, pasta, cookies, and cake should be avoided.

The beverage of choice; water. Though small portions of coffee, alcohol, and tea are ok.

The simplicity of the diet seems beneficial enough, but the diet harbors more good stuff. Diet supporters rave about improvements in weight loss, mood, skin issues, arthritis, and digestive function.

Supporters of the diet not only feel good, but they say they are brimming with energy.

This is enough to make our friends the vegans scoff. It doesn’t seem a likely outcome. After a filling meal what first comes to mind? A food coma, perhaps. Or a nice restful nap to sleep off the calories and feelings of satiety.

You might be convinced this is a six-lane highway to obesity. Eating until you are full and then laying around, but surprisingly it’s not.

The fat and protein that make up the diet are filling but the body doesn’t receive glucose — a sugar our bodies use for energy that can be stored as fat. Since the carnivore diet restricts glucose intake, the body never has a chance to store fat. This results in weight loss.

At this point, it might seem like you have nothing to lose but weight, and the possibilities for undertaking the diet are limitless.

The Potential Downside To Steak Everyday

I asked my sister what she had eaten that morning. She said bacon and eggs. That being a typical breakfast I figured she’d given up on the meat-only restrictions. She laughed and said she was in perfect compliance. Those items were from an animal that walked on the earth at some point.

And the diarrhea…? It had cleared up after a few days.

Was there any negative side to the carnivore diet?

Some people go the other way and complain about constipation. Diarrhea on the other hand is caused by an increase in fat intake. The gall-bladder produces a fluid called bile which helps to break down fat.

When there is a sudden increase in fat consumption the gallbladder has trouble keeping up and the fats are not broken down. The result is never wanting to be too far from the toilet.

But just as it had cleared up for my sister, this issue clears up for most people within a few days.

However, cancer is a potential problem with the carnivore diet, too. Meat-only eating isn’t a cause of cancer, but rather the abstinence of eating plant foods can increase the chances of developing cancer.

Veggies and fruits contain chemicals that help prevent DNA damage which causes cancer. Damage to DNA is a natural occurrence and the body uses chemicals in plants to help repair DNA when it is damaged by environmental factors or spontaneous errors.

Animal products don’t offer this type of prevention.

Then there is the issue of the quality of the meat itself. Some meats are processed and definitely not what they used to be.

They contain high amounts of sodium, fat, and cholesterol.

Eating processed meat — which let’s be honest is what many of us eat — is correlated with a higher risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Bacon and lunch meats, we’re looking at you…sadly.

Can An All Meat Diet Transform Your Life?

As with all things in health nothing is ever black and white. Everyone is different and has different levels of tolerance.

While some people swear by the carnivore diet others feel more at ease eating their fruits and vegetables.

There is not a whole lot of research on the carnivore diet and the effects of eating animal products only. People consider it a fad diet that, for the moment, has a gratuitous following. It is best to become informed and of course never do anything you feel might harm your health.

I do love a good steak, but the notion of eating one every day is just not for me. As for my sister, she too cheats now and then. If anything, eating a variety of food makes life more interesting than eating meat day in and day out.