The keto-carnivore diet

OVERVIEW

From what we know about how ancestral humans ate, the keto-carnivore diet is a species-appropriate diet.

What this means is that eating this way is closer to how humans were designed to eat than the way we typically eat these days.

Keto-carnivore is based on meat, fish and other animal foods, including full fat dairy, eggs and technically insects if you like (I don’t). It also includes seasonal low-sugar fruits and vegetables, but in very small amounts – the focus of your plate is firmly on meat.

Processed foods, grains and beans are out, and water is the drink of choice, although many carnivore types keeps with coffee or tea through choice.

WHAT CAN I EAT?

A typical meal might be a steak cooked in butter or lard, ground beef cooked in its own juices, or eggs any way you like.

Fish and seafood are both great, and chicken is fine too, although many people who have been eating this way for a while find that nothing satisfies them quite like red meat. I know I feel this way, and steaks are my favourite meal.

Almost all calories come from fat and protein, and absolutely minimal energy comes from plant foods (carbohydrates and sugars).

Plant foods that are eaten on occasion include berries, herbs and spices, and sometimes some low-allergy green plants such as cucumber, pickles, saurkraut and lettuce, but these are eaten more as a garnish than as a side item.

There are no supplements necessary on this diet, although I”m currently taking daily vitamin D as an immune support while the virus is rampant.

HOW MUCH SHOULD I EAT ON THIS DIET?

A typical mainly carnivore individual usually eats 400-600 grams of meat per day, which is about a pound and a half in pre-cooked weight.

Depending on what you eat, this diet can either be cheaper than a standard diet as you’re cutting all the expensive processed foods out, or more expensive if you’re buying expensive cuts of meat.

Meat does not have to be grass-fed and organic. Any meat will do, including hamburger patties from fast food outlets if you want. I’m friends with one man who eats nothing but ground beef and bacon every day, and a lady who eats a large number of McDonalds patties, just ordering the meat patties only when she’s on the road.

It’s entirely up to you what you eat, just as long as the vast majority of it is animal-based.

KETO-CARNIVORE MEAL EXAMPLES

Some meals I have had recently:

• Pork belly, roasted with salt and pepper
• Steak cooked in butter, with chilli flakes as seasoning
• Half a roast chicken from the supermarket
• Eggs cooked in butter in a skillet
• Salmon fried in butter, with a little garlic (the skin is the best part – it goes crispy and is delicious fried)
• Scrambled eggs made with cream and cooked in butter
• Prawns fried in the pan in butter and ginger
• Lamb chops barbecued
• Roast rabbit
• Turkey roasted with our own sage leaves
• Locally hunted venison cooked in duck fat
• Chicken hearts air-fried with salt and pepper
• Locally hunted wallaby steaks pan fried with lots of black pepper.

Eat all the fat and choose nice, fatty cuts. Lots of meat-based people choose to eat offal cuts of meat, with liver (my husband makes home made pate and its amazing) and marrow being particularly prized.

We always buy meat on special, and keep our freezer well-stocked, taking advantage of cheap cuts and sales. We also hunt and fish, and will eat pretty much anything we hunt locally.

Once you start eating this way, plant foods become a lot less interesting. Meat is wonderful, and will keep you full and content.

WILL I GAIN WEIGHT?

You won’t gain weight eating just meat, although it is theoretically possible if you eat nothing ut very high fat cuts and a huge amount.

Typically people on this diet find they are not as hungry, and lose weight easily. In my case, I’ve also found my dry skin has improved, and my allergies have all but disappeared.

BUT WHAT ABOUT…?

This diet flies in the face of the vegan / vegetarian / plant-based movement. It is almost exactly the opposite, yet has far more solid evidence and science behind its safety and efficacy than any plant-based diet. There is no native population in the world that has ever been vegan, yet cultures such as the Inuit and Masai eat this way and maintain perfect health.

Australian Aborigines also eat this way traditionally, and maintain excellent health, with modern issues such as obesity and diabetes only affecting those who have transferred to a poor quality standard Western diet.