Here's exactly what your body will go through if you only eat meat for 30 days. The carnivore diet continues to grow in popularity. Discover the benefits of the carnivore diet as well as the cons.
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What if you only ate meat for 30 days. Would you gain muscle and burn a lot of fat by avoiding carbohydrates and processed foods or would you suffer from nutrition deficiencies? Restricting yourself to only eating meat does sound extreme, yet it's exactly what a diet plan that continues to grow in popularity known as the carnivore diet recommends you do for better health, better body composition, and more energy. While the idea may seem radical, it's gained quite a large following over the last few years, including from some well-known individuals like Jordan Peterson who claims that it can provide various health benefits. But what does the science actually say about what happens to your body if you only eat meat?

Well, first there are some immediate physiological changes that you'll experience. This is because when you switch to a meat-only diet, your body will undergo a significant metabolic shift. Carbohydrates found in foods like fruits, vegetables, and grains are the body's default source of energy that gets broken down and stored in the form of glucose and glycogen. When you eliminate carbs and in turn glucose from your diet, your body has to look for alternative fuel sources. That's where ketosis comes into play. Ketosis is a metabolic state in which your body burns fat and ketones for energy instead of carbohydrates. Ketones and ketoacids are alternative fuel sources for your body that are made when glucose is in short supply. They're produced in the liver from the breakdown of fats when there’s not enough sugar or glucose to supply the body's fuel needs. Within a few days of starting a meat-only diet, you'll likely enter ketosis, but this can take up two weeks.

Ketosis is linked to benefits like making it easier to lose weight. For example, research shows that you’ll feel less hungry and more full when in ketosis. The high protein and high-fat content of meat is also associated with appetite suppression and feeling more satiated, which is why a carnivore diet often leads to weight loss automatically without having to count calories (1). Also since the carnivore diet is so highly restrictive it automatically eliminates many high-calorie foods like grains, sugars, and processed snacks. This reduction in caloric intake is very likely to lead to fat loss on its own. Another reason why you're likely to lose a substantial amount of body fat over the course of 30 days is that protein has a higher thermic effect of food (TEF) compared to carbohydrates and fats, meaning it requires more energy to digest. This can potentially increase metabolism, helping with weight and fat loss.

You might also have an easier time building muscle, especially if you’re currently eating very little meat or no meat at all. That’s because research links eating meat to building more muscle. For example, we have a study that found that in older men, combining resistance training with a diet that included meat led to greater increases in muscle growth compared to lifting weights without eating meat. (2) Of course this was based on older men and more importantly many people don't get enough protein per day as it is, so just by raising the amount of protein you take in per day will help you build more muscle if you're currently not taking in enough. Meat itself is likely not any more special of a protein source for gaining muscle than things like chicken, fish, or eggs, but it is likely better at building muscle than vegan protein sources like tofu, beans, and seitan. For example in another study, scientists concluded that "a vegetarian diet is associated with a lower muscle mass index than an omnivorous diet even at the same protein intake level." (3)

Another benefit that you can experience as the days go by is relief from food sensitivities or allergies if you happen to be allergic or sensitive to certain foods. It's believed that plants have developed defense mechanisms over thousands of years to prevent them from being eaten so they can grow undisturbed. For example, lectins are proteins found in various plant foods like beans, legumes, and certain grains, and some people believe they can cause digestive discomfort and inflammation. By excluding all plant-based foods containing lectins, the carnivore diet potentially provides relief to individuals who have these sensitivities. Also, eating a meat-based diet eliminates potential allergens like gluten, commonly found in wheat, barley, and rye, which can also cause digestive upset and other negative symptoms like fatigue and headaches. Moving beyond gluten and lectins, some people have allergies or sensitivities to specific plant compounds or proteins. For example, people with....