Carnivore Diet Basics
All your Carnivore Diet beginner questions answered in one page.
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Welcome to the Carnivore Diet!!
So you’re new to the Carnivore Diet and you’re wondering What is the Carnivore Diet?. Perhaps you heard about it from a couple of Joe Rogan podcasts. Perhaps you have some health issues that have led you here.
Regardless, welcome!
What Is The Carnivore Diet?
The Carnivore Diet is quite simple really. Like any diet, there is a spectrum, but it can be easily summarized as animals good, plants bad.
Obviously, this sounds quite preposterous and blasphemous to the current mainstream messaging that vegetables are the healthiest things we could be eating. However, there is a growing community of proponents claiming exactly that – the elimination of plants from our diet has the potential to help us achieve incredible health.
Also referred to as the all-meat diet, the carnivore diet is not only about eating meat in large quantities, but also equally about the reduction or elimination of plant foods. This means that for breakfast – bacon and eggs are back in and green juice is out.
What To Eat On The Carnivore Diet
A Carnivore Diet Food List is quite simple. Any and all meats, eggs, fish and shellfish are on the menu. Dairy is okay if you can tolerate it. Add some salt to season and water to drink, and that’s about it on the official carnivore food list.
While you might be thinking that it is incredibly restrictive, many people report that such severe restriction actually provides greater freedom. It may sound ironic, but gone are the days of meal planning and elaborate recipes that require shopping lists and exotic ingredients. Instead, it’s as simple as pulling a steak out of the fridge (or freezer) to cook and enjoy.
Strict Carnivore
Also known as the Lion Diet when eating red meat only
- Meats - beef, lamb, goat
- Meats - chicken, pork, offal
- Eggs
- Fish/Shellfish
- Salt
- Water
Standard Carnivore
Or Relaxed Carnivore – As Strict Carnivore, but also can include
- Dairy - milk, butter, cheese
- Dairy - cream, yogurt
- Herbs/spices
- Coffee/tea
Keto Carnivore
As Standard Carnivore, but also can include
- Occasional low-carb vegetables
- Occasional low-carb fruits
How Does The Carnivore Diet Work?
The carnivore diet is based on the premise that plants are not actually that healthy for you (despite the 5-A-Day marketing from the last few decades). The ultimate priority of any living organism on this planet is survival.
Animals have different abilities to assist them surviving, such as sharp claws and big teeth, the ability to run fast and use camouflage amongst other skills. Plants do not have these abilities but they share the same desire to survive and procreate.

So how is it that plants are not actually healthy for you? Well, we need to think about how plants protect themselves. The answer is toxins. We definitively know there are some plants that are highly poisonous and we cannot eat them, but what we are not told is that all plants have some degree of toxicity. The dose makes the poison and just because the rhubarb stems are not as toxic as the leaves, it does not mean we should be eating them.
Plant toxins fall into several major categories and are sometimes referred to as anti-nutrients. These anti-nutrients (phytates, oxalates, lectins etc.) bind to nutrients making them harder to digest and much less likely to be absorbed.
Consider the example of spinach – renowned for its excellent iron levels (non-heme iron, which is found in plants). The reality is spinach also contains oxalates, which impairs the absorption of nonheme iron. This means that despite the constant narrative that spinach contains much higher levels of iron than red meat, you actually absorb less due to the reduced bioavailability.
The carnivore diet works based on the premise that the nutrition in meat is significantly greater than plants. Removing plants removes the anti-nutrients in your diet allowing your body to absorb higher levels of vitamins and minerals. And after all, it’s not really what you eat; rather it’s what you absorb that’s important.
Carnivore Diet Meals
Because the Carnivore Diet is so different to the standard American diet (SAD), it is useful to think of ameal plan in terms of meals 1, 2 and 3, rather than breakfast, lunch and dinner.
This will make it easier to explain to people why you might be eating a bunless bacon cheeseburger, or a plate of chicken wings for breakfast.

Sample 3 Day Carnivore Diet Meal Plan
Day 1
- Eggs and Bacon
- T-Bone
- Chicken Wings
Day 2
- Eggs and sausages
- Rib-eye steak
- Bacon Cheeseburgers (no bun or toppings)
Day 3
- Ham and Cheese Omelet
- Lamb Chops
- Beef Brisket
Customizing Your Carnivore Diet
Now that you understand what foods are on and off the carnivore diet food list, the question becomes what can you eat on the carnivore diet? How do you customize the diet to best suit you.
- Can I drink coffee on the Carnivore Diet?
- Can I drink alcohol on the Carnivore Diet?
- Can I have herbs/spices, cheese, etc. etc. etc
These are common questions and there are countless variations found in nearly every Carnivore Diet support group/community. While it’s important to remember that the carnivore diet has a spectrum, the reality of what you can eat depends solely on yourself and your personal context. Can you drink coffee on a carnivore diet? This is a very common question and the actual answer is it depends.
This is a frustrating answer because it is a non-answer. But you need to consider what your goals are and what your overall health is. Personally, coffee for me is a tough one. I have tried to give it up several times but with limited success. I love the smell and taste of it and it’s a highlight of my morning. My personal experience with coffee on the carnivore diet is that as soon as I try to cut it out, I finally feel the diet is too restrictive and fall off the carnivore band wagon. My personal context is that I’m relatively healthy with no chronic health issues and am a healthy weight. So for me, coffee is okay at this time in my carnivore diet.
You need to consider your personal health context and goals when considering whether a technical “non-carnivore” food is right for you. Are you using the carnivore diet to heal long-standing debilitating health issues? Do you have significant cravings for non-carnivore foods? If yes to these two, you probably need to consider a stricter approach to your personal food list on the carnivore diet.
Is The Carnivore Diet Safe
The mainstream nutritional narratives around saturated fat and meat consumption would make you inclined to believe that an all-meat diet would immediately kill you. In fact, there is an extensive history of the Carnivore Diet and its proponents dating back as far as the 1880’s with James H.Salisbury who believed that vegetables should be severely limited and Vilhjalmur Stefansson, who ate an exclusive all-meat diet for many years while living in the Arctic in the early 1900s.
Modern proponents of the Carnivore Diet include Dr Shawn Baker (5 years+ eating Carnivore Diet), Kelly Hogan (12 years+ eating Carnivore Diet), and Judy Cho NTP (3 years+ eating Carnivore Diet).
If you go down the rabbit hole of researching plant toxins and understand that meat is of a superior nutritional quality, it makes sense to ask the question how can this diet NOT be safe? (Reminder though, this is not medical advice, you can speak to your doctor for that.)
Is The Carnivore Diet Healthy
The premise of the diet is that the nutritional value of meat is far superior to that of plants. End of story. While this is largely due to the lack of anti-nutrients in meat, thus making the nutrients more readily available and easily absorbed, the Carnivore Diet is also able to supply all the essential vitamins and minerals for the human body to not only survive but thrive.
Best Carnivore Diet Books
The following books are key books related to the Carnivore Diet. Pick one up today and expand your knowledge!
- The Carnivore Diet - Dr Shawn Baker, MD
- The Carnivore Code - Dr Paul Saladino, MD
- Carnivore Cure: Meat-Based Nutrition: The Ultimate Elimination Diet to Attain Optimal Health - Judy Cho, NTP
- The Great Plant-Based Con: Why Eating a Plants-Only Diet Won't Improve Your Health or Save the Planet - Jayne Buxton
Hey there! Just FYI some links on this page are affiliate links which means that, if you choose to make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I greatly appreciate your support!
All Carnivore Diet Beginner and FAQ articles
These Carnivore Basics articles will answer your burning questions and provide practical tips while guiding you on your Carnivore Diet journey.
- How to Start a Carnivore Diet (9 Tips and Tricks for Beginner Success)
- Top 5 Things to Consider When Creating Your Carnivore Diet Meal Plan
- 13 Best Tips for the Carnivore Diet on a Budget
- What is World Carnivore Month
- How Does the Carnivore Diet Work
- Is The Carnivore Diet Safe (Part 1)
- What Are The Side Effects Of The Carnivore Diet?
- 10 Tips To Keep Your Kitchen Grease Free

Disclaimer: This website is for general informational purposes only. It must never be considered a substitute for advice provided by a doctor or other qualified healthcare professional. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare professional with questions you may have regarding your medical condition.