Is a High Protein Diet Good or Bad?

My thoughts on Carnivore…

I get so many questions about the trending Carnivore Diet (basically asking: Is a real food – no carb – high protein diet good or bad? More commonly: Will it help me lose weight???).

As usual, the answer to that question is not one size fits all.  It depends on the food quality and the individual – their goals, their health status (aka organ and systems function), their preferences and their access to high quality proteins.

Putting on an ancestral lens, it makes sense that in some regions and climates, there may not have been access to plants year round (or at all), so humans may have had to rely on animal proteins to survive and thrive.  

This doesn’t mean that those regions and climates with an abundance of plant foods weren’t as healthy – or healthier for that matter.

Because of our capacity to adapt and evolve, it would stand to reason, that those who could find food – whether it was through hunting or foraging – or both, increased their survival rate regardless – and their systems, their micro-biome, even their physical structures – would have developed adaptations so that they could continue to survive in their native climate.

OK – so this makes a case for Carnivore being a possible and evolutionary healthy dietary approach for some.  

BUT, we are in a completely different food climate than our ancient ancestors. Very few people actually hunt and forage their own food.

Food is highly processed – especially foods fed to commercially raised animals.  These poor creatures are fed processed foods loaded with chemicals. They’re in stressful, confined feed lots, living on concrete, or in cages or on polluted soils, eating “food like matter”.  They’re given medications and hormones to keep them alive and to promote more rapid growth so that the manufacturers can increase their “yield” and make more money. Farm raised fish have similar fates.

These commercially raised animal proteins are nutrient depleted and are full of toxins and inflammatory compounds. So I can’t say that a high animal protein diet based on these mass produced animal foods would be healthy for many people unless the individual’s capacity to extract what nutrients remain in the animal flesh and their ability to clear toxins is really stellar.

So what if your animal products are hunted, fished or “pastured”, grass fed (and finished), local, etc.  What if you know, based on the farms’ practices, that you’re getting the highest quality animal products possible?

In that case, then I would say, it still depends.  So here are the pro’s and cons that I see when it comes to a real food Carnivore Diet:

PROS:

• Good elimination trial to see if certain foods (other than meat) cause symptoms.

• Can help boost fat loss because it’s so limited – creating a caloric deficit. Plus protein is highly satiating and it’s thermogenic – meaning it takes a lot of energy to digest it. It’s very hard to overeat just protein.

• Gives the gut a break from dealing with fiber and plant lectins, etc.. (aka: low residue diet). This break could allow for more healing by shifting microbe imbalances and/or improving inflammatory conditions (see counter argument in the Con’s below)

• Pretty easy to implement since it’s just meat/animal protein – You don’t have to worry about preparing any sides.
  

CONS:

• SOOO restrictive – It’s not sustainable for most people.
• Lacks nutrient diversity – high quality animal protein has nutrients, yes, but nutrient diversity is what our cells need to function optimally. There is a synergy and life force with all foods that nourishes us in ways we don’t yet understand scientifically.  For example, the nutrient compound known as DIM – Diindolylmethane – found mostly in cruciferous vegetables, detoxes estrogen and has been shown to help prevent cancer.  
• People with any sort of Kidney deficiency or cancer should avoid high protein diets.
• As explained above, protein quality is extremely important when ingesting only animal proteins because of endotoxins and inflammatory compounds that accumulate in the animal’s fat tissues.
• Many of us don’t do well without fiber and the unique nutrients found only in plants  – Eating only animal protein may impact bowel function, decrease detoxification and effect hormonal and gut balance.
• Eating only meat seems so incredibly  boring – Life without avocado is not a life I want to live 🙂

So will I try carnivore? 

Probably not.  But I do have some clients that are experimenting and loving it and that’s great! I would never discourage that.  For me personally, my take is this:  

#1 – I’m DONE with restricting my eating beyond my built in keto avoidance of high carbohydrate foods. Which I know from countless trial and error, my body doesn’t do well with. Why restrict vegetables too? It makes no sense (for me).

#2 – If I really want to improve my body composition, all I have to do is dial in my fat intake and alcohol and manage my stress (ha! that’s ALL?) – maybe carefully add back in some strength training.  Vegetables are NOT my problem LOL!

#3 – My digestion is good – better than ever!  In fact, when I was in Ireland last year and veggies were more scarce, I noticed my digestion was a bit off without them. I couldn’t wait to get home to my big ass salads!

So tell me, will you or have you tried Carnivore or a high protein diet?  What did you notice? Did it help you? Were you able to stick with it?

Please reply below!

Bottom Line: I’m always open to experimentation, but I’m not feeling it with this one (for me) :).