🫀 “Lots of red meat will give you a heart attack” - debunked

This belief comes from the past studies (on which current recommendations are still based) advocating lower intakes of red meat because it can increase cholesterol and so the risk of cardiovascular disease.

It is true that diet rich in red meat and saturated fat (e.g. from processed meats and foods) can increase levels of LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) and the associated marker ApoB. Both of which are independent risk factors for heart disease.

However, the degree by which a carnivore diet increases LDL-C and ApoB, or does not, is highly individual.

And past studies on this topic compared high meat diets (including processed meat, processed foods also high saturated fats) with different diets. This tell us more about dietary habits than intake of lean meat.

In fact, recent studies suggests that:

• People with obesity and insulin resistance who switch to a keto diet (with high intakes of lean meat) see a decrease in LDL-C and ApoB.

• Lean/healthy people on a keto diet see an increase in LDL-C and ApoB, but this doesn’t translate into artery plague development.

This shows that there are many risk factors for heart disease - visceral fat, insulin resistance, inflammation, triglycerides and HDL-C - that can be improved on very low carbs diets, including carnivore.

Although we cannot dismiss the risks, recent studies suggest the cardiovascular risk might not be as high as many would have you believe.

🥊 Punchline

High intakes of lean meat doesn’t automatically increase the risk of heart disease. People respond differently to higher intakes of meat. It is best to track own biomarkers and considering the individual case, rather than making assumptions.

🚽 “A high-meat diet will make you constipated” - debunked

This stems from the belief that you need fibre to poop.

Although the right intake of fibre (it varies for each one of us) can help poop, it doesn’t mean that reducing fibre intake will automatically make you constipated.

It is well researched that excessive fibre intake can worsen symptoms of constipation.

And reducing fibre intake can help manage the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) with constipation and even help with remission of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

This is because insoluble fibre (e.g. celery, wholegrains) add bulk to the stool and so excessive intake can cause straining and constipation. Fermentable fibre (e.g. oats, fruit) are mostly fermented in the gut, but the by-product of this (e.g. gas) could worsen gut symptoms for some individuals.

This means that reducing fibre intake for certain individuals can have a therapeutic effect.

That being said, people on a carnivore diet tend to poop less content on any given time (frequency doesn’t seem to be affected).

However, long-term elimination of fibre can have negative consequences on gut health. So the key is diversity of fibre intake and understanding what’s the right quantity for you.

🥊 Punchline

Reducing fibre intake does not automatically makes you constipated. Some individuals feel better on low fibre diets. The key is to find the right balance of fibre diversity and quantity for you.

🥩 “A carnivore diet increases risk of vitamin C deficiency” - debunked

Red meat has little vitamin C.

Eating 1 Kg of grass-fed beef will only give you around 20mg of vitamin C, which is 25% of the recommended daily needs.

So you may think that an animal-based diet increases the risk of developing vitamin C deficiency.

However, that is not always the case because your vitamin C needs can change in accordance with certain metabolic changes, such as:

• Vitamin C update is reduced when intake of sugars increase. Hence, reducing intake of carbs and sugars will lower the vitamin C requirements.

• Carbs restriction (to the point of ketosis) can improve the body’s own antioxidant systems, providing a way by which vitamin C could effectively be recycled. This also lowers the vitamin C requirements

This is an example of how specific nutrient requirements change depending on the metabolic state.

It’s incorrect to assume that just because someone doesn’t reach the recommended vitamin C threshold, this intake might not be sufficient in a different metabolic state.

Note however, that even carnivore diets have a modest intake of plant foods, which contribute to vitamin C intake.

🥊 Punchline

People following a carnivore diet are unlikely to suffer from vitamin C deficiency because of a significantly lower intake of carbs and sugars also lowers vitamin C requirements.