Types of Meat-Only Diet
The most common types of meat-only diets include:
- Carnivore Diet,
- Lion Diet,
- BBBE Diet, and
- Steak and Egg Diet.
Let’s learn about the basics of each one and find out their main differences.
The Carnivore Diet
The Carnivore diet, aka the all-meat diet or zero-carb diet, wants dieters to consume only animal products and exclude plant-based foods, including fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, and even processed foods.
Animal products allowed on the Carnivore diet include meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and some dairy products, such as butter and cheese.
The Carnivore diet prioritizes meat and animal products as maximizing protein and fat and minimizing carbohydrates is believed to boost weight loss, improve mental clarity, increase energy levels, and solve some health problems.
As an all-meat diet, the Carnivore diet is based on the belief that our ancestors were meat eaters and consumed animal products rather than plants, so our bodies are basically adapted to these foods.
Also, Carnivores believe you don’t need plant-based nutrients as all the necessary nutrients, including proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals, can be received from animal products.
All in all, it’s no secret that you need to consult a healthcare professional before making drastic changes to your dietary habits. Also, you need to consider your body composition, health status, goals and preferences to choose the best diets, reach your health and fitness goals and avoid any health concerns.
Learn More about The Carnivore Diet: What Is The Carnivore Diet? Myth vs Fact
The Lion Diet
Another famous all-meat diet or meat-only diet is The Lion Diet, which is inspired by the natural eating habits of lions. Like the Carnivore diet, the Lion diet prioritiszes animal products and excludes plant-based foods.
Lion diet also tries to maximize the intake of healthy protein and fat and minimize carbohydrates to lead the body into a state of ketosis to burn fat for fuel instead of carbs, which promotes fat melt and weight loss.
Although the Carnivore diet and the Lion diet are both all meat diets, they have some differences, as the following list shows.
- Origin: The Carnivore diet has its roots in the eating habits of our human ancestors. However, the Lion diet follows the eating patterns of lions.
- Animal Products: The Carnivore diet allows various animal products, including meat, poultry, seafood, animal fats, cheese, etc. However, the Lion diet is a bit more restrictive, and as its name suggests, it offers what lions mainly eat, which is meat. But it can also contain organs, bones, and other parts lions consume.
- Plant-Based Foods: Although both diets are against plant-based foods, the Carnivore diet removes them entirely, i.e., no fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes are allowed. However, some versions of the Lion diet may allow for some limited plant-based foods, as lions have been observed consuming grass or plant material in some cases.
Learn More: Lion Diet: Result, Menu and 30-Day Meal Plan [Expert Guide]
The BBBE Diet
BBBE diet is a simple and easy version of an all meat diet, containing only four main ingredients, i.e., Beef, Bacon, Butter, and Eggs, whose initials give the diet its name.
The BBBE diet uses these four foods as its main source of nutrition and limits or excludes other food groups. Containing beef, bacon, butter, and eggs makes this diet a high-protein, high-fat dietary approach with minimal carbohydrates.
The combination of protein and fat and lack of carbohydrates is the key principle of the BBBE diet, making it ideal for those aiming to melt fat and lose weight in a short time and speed up the process.
The BBBE diet does so by providing longer satiety and fullness, which reduces calorie intake and results in weight loss. But again, it’s important to remember that this version of the meat-only diet needs to be followed under the supervision of a healthcare professional.
Emphasizing the role of healthcare professionals doesn’t mean these diets are dangerous. Still, we need to take caution as a small previous health issue can lead to a big problem under certain conditions, so it is safe to consider all factors before making extreme changes in our eating habits.
Learn More about The BBBE Diet: What Is BBBE Diet? Meal Plan, Side Effects, and Food List
The Steak and Eggs Diet
Maybe the simplest version of an all-meat diet is the "Steak and Egg" diet, which focuses solely on consuming steak and eggs as the primary sources of nutrition. This diet is a high-protein, low-carbohydrate approach popular among bodybuilders and fitness communities.
This diet is simple because it only allows for steak and egg and limits or excludes other food groups, particularly carbohydrates. The reason this diet focuses on these two specific foods is that lean protein and healthy fats found in steak and eggs are necessary for muscle growth, satiety, and sustained energy levels.
Followers of the Steak and Egg diet believe that consuming these two foods can provide the vital amino acids, vitamins, and minerals needed for muscle recovery and overall health.
The diet also removed processed and high-sugar foods, common causes of weight gain and unhealthy eating patterns.
The main differences between the Steak and Egg diet and other all meat or only meat diets, including Carnivore, Lion, and BBBE, are as follows.
- Food Selection: The Steak and Egg diet provides the necessary nutrition from steak and eggs. But the Carnivore diet allows a wider range of animal products like meat, fish, poultry, and organs, with no plant-based foods. The Lion diet aims to imitate the natural eating habits of lions. The BBBE diet mainly relies on beef, bacon, butter, and eggs.
- Macronutrient Ratios: These four all meat diets have different macronutrient ratios. The Carnivore diet focuses on a high-fat and moderate-protein approach. The Lion diet and BBBE diet may have similar macronutrient profiles but differ based on individual interpretations. The Steak and Egg diet prioritizes high protein and moderate fat consumption.
- Diet Philosophies: The Carnivore diet is based on the idea that humans can dine merely on animal products. The Lion diet aims to mimic the dietary routines of lions. The BBBE diet and Steak and Egg diet are simpler versions of an only-meat diet, which focus on meat and exclude many other foods.
Now that we’ve learned about the most common all-meat diets, the question is which one can be the best. The following section will help us get our heads around this matter.
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What Is the Best Type of All Meat Diet?
Choosing one diet as the best depends on various factors, especially current health status, personal goals, needs, and preferences. However, knowing the following key factors helps you make informed decisions about going on an all-meat diet.
- Choose Nutritious Foods: Choose nutrient-dense animal products to provide the necessary nutrients. Choose high-quality, lean cuts of meat, seafood, and poultry to gain protein, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals.
- Eat Diverse and Healthy Foods: Diversify foods by including different types of meats, organ meats, and seafood, and choose organic, grass-fed, and pasture-raised options.
- Consulting a Healthcare Professional: It’s necessary to consult a healthcare professional or registered dietitian to avoid health problems and make sure you choose based on your goals and needs.
Another point that can help us choose the best all-meat diet is knowing if the specific diet is backed by academic studies. The following section gives us insights into the research conducted in this area.
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What Do Academic Studies Say About An All Meat Diet?
- The All Meat diet was somehow started by Joe Rogan, Jordan Peterson, and his daughter Mikhaila Peterson, who developed this diet to solve her psychological and physiological problems. There have been reports from Jordan Peterson and Mikhaila confirming the significant improvements in their health after adopting the diet.
- Traditional societies like the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic and the Maasai of Eastern Africa have tried diets including only animal products, which further supports the viability of an all-meat diet.
- Research shows that our cavemen ancestors consumed a carnivorous diet for millions of years, and based on this, supporters of the all-meat diet believe that it is the right diet for the human race. They also believe our brain development is partly indebted to scavenging fatty bone meats from other apex predators. Additionally, some evolutionary facts in humans, like the ability to store fat easily and enter ketosis and the smaller size of our colon and cecum, suggest a genetic predisposition for an all-fatty meat diet.
- Harvard University conducted a study in 2021 to analyze the effects of the all meat diet on 2,029 people over a six-month timespan. The results indicated that the all-meat diet had different health benefits, including improvements in obesity, hypertension, diabetes-related conditions, gastrointestinal symptoms, and psychiatric symptoms.
- Also, some studies have verified the nutrient abundance of an all-meat diet, reporting that fatty meats are highly nutritious and an all meat diet can provide various nutrients, including vitamin D3, B12, retinol, creatine, carnitine, carnosine, heme iron, K2, DHA, EPA, taurine, and more. These nutrients are essential for bone health, energy metabolism, immune function, cognitive function, and fertility.
- Excluding carbohydrates and consuming animal-derived foods lets the all-meat diet address the main reasons for various chronic diseases associated with the Standard American Diet, which asserts that carbohydrates are a non-essential nutrient and consuming too much of them in modern diets causes metabolic disorders and chronic inflammation.
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Nutrients You Can Get on an All Meat Diet
Some studies show that an all meat diet provides necessary nutrients, the most important of which are listed below.
- Vitamin D3: Found in fatty meats, it is necessary for bone health and immune function.
- Vitamin B12: Found in high amounts in animal products, it is used for energy conversion, red blood cell formation, and cognitive function
- Vitamin A (Retinol): More bioavailable than plant-based beta carotene, it helps regulate genes and stem cell differentiation and improves vision and immune function.
- Creatine: Necessary for cognitive function, athletic performance, and heart health
- Carnitine: Boosts male fertility and mitochondrial function and may be beneficial for type 2 diabetes and heart conditions.
- Carnosine: An anti-ageing compound that reduces cognitive decline, glycation and oxidative stress and acts as an antioxidant.
- Heme Iron: Found only in meat, it is essential for red blood cell formation, energy metabolism, and a strong immune system.
- Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Found in fatty fish, Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) are useful for brain health, decreasing inflammation, and improving heart health.
- Taurine: As an antioxidant, taurine can help decrease glycation, inflammation, and oxidative stress, work as an antidepressant and improve well-being.
- Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA): Found in pasture-raised meats, CLA can decrease body fat, increase lean muscle mass, improve immune system support, and prevent/ treat diabetes.
- Vitamin K2 (mk-4): Found in meat and dairy, it can activate proteins stopping the calcification of arteries and promoting calcium binding to bones and teeth.
- Zinc, Copper, and CoQ10: These minerals found in meat are necessary to produce energy, improve immune function, develop the brain, and support hormone metabolism. Zinc deficiency in children hinders motor and cognitive development, while copper helps blood vessel integrity and connective tissue formation. CoQ10 boosts energy generation in cells and has antioxidant properties.
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Who Should Follow an All Meat Diet?
It’s no secret that understanding if an all meat diet is good for an individual or not needs professional examination, but here we can review the general groups for whom an all-meat diet can be useful.
- Individuals with Certain Health Conditions: An all meat diet can help some people with autoimmune diseases, metabolic disorders, or digestive issues.
- Those Seeking Short-Term Weight Loss: An all-meat diet can result in fast weight loss and fat melt as it maximises the protein and fat intake and minimises carbohydrates to create a state of ketosis and make the body burn fat instead of carbs.
- Curious Dieters: Some individuals try an all-meat diet out of curiosity or as an experiment to see how it can affect their body and overall health.
Learn More: Is Steak Good for Weight Loss? The Best and Worst Cuts of Meat
Who Shouldn’t Follow an All Meat Diet?
While an all-meat diet can help certain individuals with different aims, it may not be beneficial or unhealthy for others. Here are some groups of people who may want to avoid an all-meat diet.
- Individuals with Certain Nutrient Needs: If your body needs the nutrients specific to plant-based foods, like fibre, a meat-only diet cannot be a good option for you. Also, Individuals with specific dietary needs, such as pregnant or breastfeeding women, growing children, or people with chronic diseases, may face nutrient deficiencies on an all-meat diet.
- Individuals with Cardiovascular Diseases: Consuming saturated fats in excess can increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. So, those with a history of heart disease, high cholesterol, or hypertension should be cautious when considering an all-meat diet.
- Those with Kidney Problems: An all-meat diet is high in protein, which is not good for those with kidney problems as too much protein can place additional stress on the kidneys and worsen their condition.
- Individuals with Disordered Eating Problems: Following an all-meat diet that limits food groups may not suit those with a history of eating disorders.
- People Seeking Long-Term Diets: Some people tend to go on long-term, sustainable diets, but an all-meat diet may be difficult to sustain over the long run because it has a restrictive nature, limits food groups, and is socially challenging.
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Meat-Only Diet Food List
So, what exactly can we eat on an all-meat diet? To know this, we need a meat-only diet food list. The following subsections list the foods we should eat and avoid on a meat-only diet.
Foods to Eat
- Beef: Including various cuts such as steak, ground beef, brisket, and beef liver
- Poultry: Chicken, turkey, duck, and other fowl
- Pork: Different cuts like pork chops, bacon, pork ribs, etc.
- Seafood: Various kinds of seafood, including salmon, tuna, shrimp, mackerel, and shellfish like clams, oysters, etc.
- Organ Meats: Liver, kidneys, heart, etc.
- Eggs: Chicken eggs and eggs from other animals like quail or duck
- Game Meats: Venison, bison, elk, and other wild game.
- Lamb and Goat: Different cuts like lamb chops and leg of lamb
- Sausages, cured meats, and jerky
- Animal fats: Butter, ghee, lard, tallow, duck fat, etc.
- Drinks: Water, black coffee, and bone broth
- Salt
Read More: What Is The Best Butter for The Carnivore Diet? Salted, Unsalted, Ghee or Grass-fed?
Foods to Avoid
- Plant-Based Foods: Fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, seeds and other plant-based ingredients
- Processed Foods: Heavily processed foods containing additives or non-animal ingredients, including packaged snacks, sugary foods, and processed meats
- Dairy Products: While some dieters avoid dairy on an all-meat diet, others consume dairy products, including butter, ghee, cheese, heavy cream, etc.
- Beverages: Alcoholic drinks
So, to wrap up the discussion of all meat diets, the following section will provide an all meat diet meal plan for one whole week. You can always substitute the foods/ ingredients with other options you prefer. But remember to choose from the foods allowed on the all-meat diet you’re following.
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All Meat Diet Meal Plan
Here’s a sample sample 7-day all meat diet meal plan for you to see the variety of the foods you can include even in such simple diets.
Day 1
- Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with bacon
- Lunch: Grilled chicken thighs with a side of beef liver
- Dinner: Grilled steak with butter and a side of shrimp
Day 2
- Breakfast: Omelette with ham and cheese
- Lunch: Roasted turkey breast with crispy bacon
- Dinner: Pan-seared salmon with butter and a side of grilled lamb chops
Day 3
- Breakfast: Beef sausage with fried eggs
- Lunch: Oven-roasted chicken wings with pork ribs
- Dinner: Grilled pork chops with a side of grilled shrimp
Day 4
- Breakfast: Omelette with ground beef and cheese
- Lunch: Grilled chicken drumsticks with beef liver pâté
- Dinner: Baked salmon fillet with crispy bacon
Day 5
- Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with sausage links
- Lunch: Pan-fried turkey cutlets with crispy bacon
- Dinner: Grilled lamb shoulder chops with a side of grilled shrimp
Day 6
- Breakfast: Beef burger patty with fried eggs
- Lunch: Roasted chicken thighs with pork ribs
- Dinner: Grilled steak with butter and a side of grilled salmon
Day 7
- Breakfast: Omelette with ground beef and cheese
- Lunch: Grilled turkey breast with beef liver
- Dinner: Baked pork chops with crispy bacon
Read More: Free Ultimate Carnivore Diet Food List
Summary
An all-meat diet is a dietary approach toward maximizing the intake of protein and fat and minimizing carbohydrates to create a state of ketosis and let the body melt fat and lose weight.
The all-meat does so by focusing on meat-based meals. Different versions of this meat only diet include different rules and principles, but they all have meat as their main source.
Just remember to consult a healthcare professional before changing your dietary habits to avoid possible health problems and make the most of the diet to reach your health and fitness goals.
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