The carnivore diet is the newest dietary trend that has been rapidly gaining attention for its vast number of benefits. As the name suggests, you can only consume meat on this diet, with a small exception for certain dairy items like butter and hard cheeses. Vegetables and fruits are strictly off-limits if you were to try this diet.
While most diets like Atkins or Keto diet focus on eating a specific group of foods abundant in a very particular type of nutrient, the carnivore diet makes just one distinction, and that is the nature of the food you eat. So you must be thinking if a carnivore diet weight loss is the way for you.
Dieting and Weight Loss
Unhealthy weight gain is one of the primary killers in the United States for decades now. Obesity leads to a multitude of problems leading but not limited to:
- cardiovascular disease
- autoimmune deficiencies
- stroke
- depression
- diabetes
Accounting for the hundreds of complications caused by obesity, diet, and exercise is the only natural cure for this disease. Most diets focus on depriving the body of certain nutrients while stocking up on one specific nutrient. In most diets, the culprit is almost always carbs.
Your Body and Your Food
The old adage “You are what you eat” has more truth in it than you may realize. We may eat dependent on mood or taste, but the body only sees food as fuel. When we intake any form of food, it is broken down into energy and consumed. But not every food does this.
When you consume any food, it is broken down by your body’s enzymes to be converted into energy. This stands true for all foods except carbs and starch. Because carbs are rich in sugar, they are immediately detected by the pancreas, which creates insulin to open cell doors. This helps the glucose from the carbs be converted into energy and spread through the bloodstream.
The Bad News
Unfortunately, due to factors like a sedentary lifestyle, laziness, or just simple genetics, the glucose converted into energy ends up staying in the body and accumulating as fat. This is known as insulin resistance. When this happens, your cells, which are used to open their doors for insulin and offer up glucose for energy, start shutting those doors. This is because your blood sugar levels are inconsistent with the energy needs of your body.
The Good News
Much like the Atkins and Keto diet, the carnivore diet also eliminates carbs, though in a much more aggressive way. With the absolute exclusion of carbs, this diet gives your body only proteins and fat as nutrients. Because the catalyst for blood sugar spikes, i.e., carbs, are non-existent, your blood sugar levels are always steady and break down exactly the amount of glucose required.
This rapidly breaks down fat cells as they are not experiencing a surplus of glucose. In other words, the only source of energy for your body now is the existing fat and protein cells, which don’t have a glucose wall behind which to hide and accumulate. The best part is that this is not subject to portion control, so you can eat how much you want.
Feeling Full
The carnivore diet is primarily made up of protein and fat, both of which are extremely satiating food groups. This makes a carnivore diet weight loss program less taxing on your mental state and makes it feel like you’re not even on a diet while losing weight and reducing inflammation in your body.
