The Carnivore Diet and Nutrition

When it comes to sports and health one of the most important parts of making progress is diet. Diet does not necessarily refer to popular fads or rules around eating. Rather, diet refers to the sources of nutrition used to properly fuel and sustain oneself. Diet may seem complicated because of the many different options portrayed in media discussing how to go about it, each claiming to be the “right” way or “better” than other methods.

One form of diet taking the internet by storm is the “carnivore diet”, also known as the “zero carb” diet and another form of the “keto” diet which cuts out carbohydrates. Harvard University’s Howard LeWine, MD, provides an overview of the carnivore diet, stating that one can only consume meat, poultry, eggs, seafood, fish, some dairy products, and water.

Many individuals jump head-first into the carnivore diet due to its social media marketing as a “fat burning” diet. While this statement is not entirely inaccurate, it is misleading. A keto-based diet may help to “burn fat” by breaking down fat due to the absence of carbohydrates but it also comes with many negative side effects for one's health. For example, there are long-term consequences of the keto and carnivore diet such as kidney stones, gout, osteoporosis, and impaired kidney function from high-protein ingestion (LeWine, 2024).

The idea of using a diet to guide nutrition usually stems from the well-intended desire to be healthier and advance health goals. This can look like wanting to lose weight, get stronger or faster, or improve performance in sports. Often, the use of a diet has the opposite effect, as cutting out or restricting a food group can have severe negative consequences on one’s health.

Rather than turning to diet culture and popular fads, the most effective way to meet one’s goals using proper nutrition is to work with experts. For many, this can be working with a dietitian, nutritionist, or sports medicine doctor. These experts will help to advance your goals by maximizing the impact of nutrition and diet. The one-size-fits-all approach of diet culture is ineffective, instead one should use a custom-approach crafted by well-educated experts with the needs of their patients in mind.

At Sports Health Northwest, we use a team of experts from different backgrounds to help our patients meet their various nutritional goals. Whether your goal is to lose weight, gain muscle, improve performance, or maintain overall health, we can assist you. Don’t allow internet fads to hinder your progress by undercutting your nutrition, work with our team to give you personalized advice and programs to meet your goals.

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