What is the ‘carnivore diet’ and is it a bad idea?

You may have heard of the carnivore diet, and the claims it is beneficial for our health.

Many diet trends, such as the paleo and Atkins diets, advocate high protein and low carbohydrate intake. But the carnivore diet takes this trend to the extreme.

So what is it, and is it bad for your health?

What is the carnivore diet?

As the name implies, the carnivore diet involves only eating meat and animal products.

There is no official definition, but followers of this diet advocate eating red meat, pork, chicken and other poultry, eggs, fish and seafood. Some low-lactose dairy can be included, such as cheese and yoghurt.

All plant foods are typically excluded. So no fruit, vegetables, legumes, grains or nuts and seeds.

An example of what you could eat on a typical day might be:

Breakfast: eggs and bacon (without toast)

Lunch: lamb burger (without the bun)

Dinner: rib eye steak (with no sides)

Are there any nutritional benefits?

The short answer is no.

It may be theoretically possible to get all essential vitamins and mineral from animal…