You’re probably thinking that we made up World Carnivore Month, but we didn’t! Advocates for an animal-based diet organized this 31-day challenge and thousands of people around the globe are signing up and pledging to eat like a carnivore during the month of January. Read on for more about this carnivore trend.
What is the Carnivore Diet?
We’ve watched paleo and keto diets attract attention over the past few years. These diets emphasize whole foods, including meat and fats, and eliminate grains and limit carbohydrates. For many who have adopted a keto diet, the next step is a fully carnivorous diet. What’s that you ask? Just what it sounds like: a diet entirely of meat, dairy, and seafood. This elimination diet is quite restrictive as there are no fruits, vegetables, or grains. Like keto and paleo before it, the carnivore way of eating is based on the idea that a modern diet of lots of sugar and processed carbohydrates is the cause of chronic disease. While we are not recommending the carnivore diet, we are intrigued by the growing number of people adopting this lifestyle and seeing positive results. To us, meat has always been an important part of a wholesome diet – after all, it’s what has sustained human beings for thousands upon thousands of years.
One leading proponent of the diet, Dr. Shawn Baker, has been eating primarily meat for several years and gathering data on a growing community of fellow carnivores who have seen health benefits eating this way. For example, this 42-year old advocate shared her carnivore health story with Women’s Health magazine recently. Shawn’s website MeatRX.com has more information and you can sign up (free) to be counted in January’s Carnivore Month if you want to take on the 31-day challenge and eat a fully animal-based diet. And for those who want to read more about this topic, get his new book The Carnivore Diet. https://www.amazon.com/Carnivore-Diet-Shawn-Baker/dp/162860350X/ref=zg_bsnr_6_23?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=KZVJYYSXHANZPXFGV1DZ
What About Nutritional Science?
People have been scratching their heads over the puzzling fact that the French are thinner, with a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease than Americans, even though they enjoy a diet full of animal fats (hello, duck fat!), cheese, and butter. Because it flies in the face of all we know, this conundrum even has a name: The French Paradox. But what if our nutritional assumptions are incorrect? Nutritional science is notoriously complicated and inexact. Unless all participants in a study are isolated for long periods of time and every bite of food is recorded, there is no certain way to get accurate data, which is normally self-reported. Furthermore, dietary studies seldom take into account many co-factors such as drinking, smoking, and exercise habits. If a participant eats a burger, he is likely to have fries and a soda on the side. Are the measurable impacts on health due to the burger, the bun, the fries or the soda?
New Meat Study Shocks the World
Just a few months ago a study about meat made headlines when it revealed that the relationship between eating red meat and risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes was not as strong as accepted wisdom would have us believe. Researchers used a well-established technique called meta-analysis, to analyze 61 prior major studies covering 4 million participants and determine that there were only very small health benefits from reducing meat consumption – certainly not enough reason to give up red meat. A physician explains the study and his reasons for continuing to eat meat in a Forbes article.
What About Environmental Impact?
Dietician Diana Rodgers is a defender of beef who is working on a documentary film called Sacred Cow that focuses on the noble ruminant and all the “moral, environmental and nutritional quandaries we face in raising and eating animals.” https://vimeo.com/375813007Her useful poster summarizes the many arguments for raising well-managed cattle to improve soil health, sequester carbon, and to provide nutrient-dense food. Could it be that grazing ruminants is actually the best way to support a healthy environment? Think of the roaming bison that filled the plains of North America, tilling and fertilizing the land. 
Here at D’Artagnan, we work hard to source meat from conscientious farmers to offer carnivores and omnivores the best options. Whether you subsist on a high-protein or carb-heavy diet, there’s always room for you at our table. Shop dartagnan.com for all your carnivore needs.We’re curious and will be watching and learning during World Carnivore Month, so leave us a comment if you are following the carnivore diet, or are considering it.