Hide your small pets from neighbors that are experimenting with the carnivore diet. What happens in the middle of the night when the dieting person is hungry and there is no meat in sight? It’s either a 24-hour store to grab a steak, a chicken leg, a bag of bacon or cruise the alleys for stray animals. Roadkill—no problem. But please do not gobble any endangered species like the Bald Eagle, the sea turtle, or the rhinoceros.
Here’s the carnivore diet in a nutshell: You eat meat, and nothing else. The only item on the menu is meat. The less strict dieters include eggs and butter on their plates.
Where’s the beef? In your refrigerator and in your stomach. The purpose of the diet is to put the body into ketosis, so the body burns fat for fuel instead of carbohydrates. But, glucose is our brain’s main fuel source.
Could weight loss idiocy and nutritional gobbledygook get even more outlandish? Yes, it can and does.
Another sad-fad scam-sham diet circles the planet. No vegetables. No fruit. No fiber. Sounds like the making of a clogged colon carnival. Can you say, “Chronic constipation?” Woe to the human gastrointestinal tract! Yes, some animal species eat meat only, but their gastrointestinal tracts are different from humans.
Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson and his daughter, Mikhaila Peterson tout that eating meat only can cure the gamut of diseases (without research to back up their claims). And of course, a few fanatical fans are becoming cultish followers.
Shawn Baker, a former orthopedic surgeon (medical license revoked in 2017, www.nmmb.state.nm.us/) has been one of the biggest public advocates for consuming only meat. Wouldn’t you think a doctor would know better? Of course, Baker has a diet book and what’s it called? The Carnivore Diet. Follow the money trail. And other charlatans are jumping on the meat wagon (pun intended) with new books as well.
Any health claims and testimonials about the carnivore diet are from personal blogs and social media. Its fake news hullabaloo—meat mania madness. When virtual communities run amuck, I think people lose brain cells—but correlation is not causation. LOL.
Proponents of the carnivore diet point to the meat-eating caveman. But an article in Scientific American claims the earliest humans also ate berries, tropical plants, melons, and starchy roots. Human history depicts both hunters and gatherers. And foragers to farmers.
Medical professionals and dieticians proclaim the carnivore diet could lead to vitamin deficiencies of folate, vitamins C and E. An abundance of saturated fat is not cordial to cholesterol or heart disease. And a surplus of protein is not friendly to our kidneys.
What does the American Cancer Society say? “The link between red and processed meat and cancer is an area we’ve worked in and studied for years. American Cancer Society investigators did foundational work identifying red and processed meat’s link to cancer.…Our guidelines point to evidence of a significant link between high red and processed meat consumption and an increased risk of colorectal cancer as the primary reason for the recommendation to limit those products.”
A restrictive diet could lead to obsessive thinking and control issues, an unhealthy relationship with food, and disordered eating. Frances Berg, author of the book, Women Afraid to Eat: Breaking Free in Today’s Weight-Obsessed World, lists the top ten reasons not to diet. Number one is: Diets do not work.
Any extreme diet is going to be problematic. Eating a meat-only diet is unhealthy. So put an end to the carnivore diet trend. Man (and woman) cannot live by meat alone. Folks, wake-up and smell the rip-off. The decaying odor of diet deception is in the air.
Melissa Martin, Ph.D., is an author, columnist, and educator. She lives in
Southern Ohio. www.melissamartinchildrensauthor.com.