Beef, butter, bacon and eggs – that’s what some influential people believe in”carnivore diet“This diet increases meat intake and minimizes or eliminates fruits and vegetables.
On TikTok, people can be seen eating a bowl of steak and 12 scrambled eggs in a day — some even Snacks on a cream stickbiting off a piece of it like a carrot.
This eating style, similar to the Atkins and Keto diets, goes by many names: carnivorous diet, lion diet, high-fat diet, and animal-based diet. Devoted followers of this lifestyle boast that their skin is clearer than ever, their guts are healthier, and they’re in the best shape of their lives.
TikToker @steakandbuttergal said in one of her posts: “One of the best things that has happened since I ditched my vegan diet and switched to carnivore is that my body odor is gone.” video. “I don’t use any soap, I don’t use any deodorant, and I smell great.”
Here’s what experts say about the safety and sustainability of carnivore diets.
Carnivore diet ‘basically sounds like a bad idea’
People who follow a carnivore diet claim that one of the great benefits they experience since adding more animal products to their diet is weight loss.It is said that this may be because the dietary pattern also reduces the intake of carbohydrates Dr. Walter WillettProfessor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
“In the long run, some people who eat a lot of refined starches and sugars may get better on a carnivore diet,” Willett said. “But it sounds like a very unhealthy eating pattern in the long run.”
If a diet consists only of beef, butter, bacon and eggs, people will not get enough fiber, carotenoids and polyphenols, which are rich in fruits and vegetables.
Getting fiber in your diet is essential for gut health and can Reduce the chance of depression and breast cancer.Carotenoids are Anti-cancer propertiesand Polyphenols have the following properties May prevent the development of health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
Willett adds that foods that are staples in carnivore diets also contain high amounts of saturated fat and cholesterol.
In a 2012 study published in Archives of Internal Medicine, Harvard researchers found that among more than 100,000 men and women, “those who ate the most red meat in the study tended to be younger and more likely to have Death from cardiovascular disease and cancer,” according to Harvard Health Publishing.
Although there are numerous studies showing Red meat consumption and heart diseasesome people just don’t agree that eating red meat regularly is bad for your heart.
“This is the dominant message we hear about red meat. It’s basically blamed for every human health disaster, from cardiovascular disease to colon cancer,” says Dr. Georgia Eideis a Harvard-educated, board-certified psychiatrist specializing in nutritional psychiatry.
“They’re based almost entirely on a research method called nutritional epidemiology, which is just untested theory, essentially speculation, about how red meat might affect us, and it’s never been tested in a clinical trial, and it’s not Get support,” Ed said. “Then what little additional evidence remains does come from experimental studies, from very strange animal studies.”
To better understand how food intake contributes to disease, researchers had study participants write or complete surveys about the foods they ate, which were self-reported.
Some believe this is a flawed way to draw conclusions about how food affects health, but experts have yet to find a better alternative.
“If you eat food like that, you’re helping to chop down another tree.”
But even if people are really fed up with the way nutrition research is being done, there’s no denying the climate impact of meat production.
In this regard, Eide said: “Industrial food production, whether it is plants or animals, is really very harmful to the earth.”
While this is true, there are clear differences between the environmental impact of the production of plant-based foods and animal-based products.Global emissions of greenhouse gases such as methane Animal food production doubled Production of plant-based foods.
“Beyond the direct health effects, this would be very detrimental,” Willett said. “There’s also a question of justice, basically the Northern Hemisphere, Europe (and) the United States are causing most of the climate change problems we face today, and that’s going to continue to be the case.”
“You can think of it as if you’re eating this food, you’re helping to cut down another tree on the other side,” he added. “Sounds like basically a bad idea.”
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