Alternatives to the Carnivore Diet

Alternatives to The Carnivore Diet

October 22, 2019

The main alternatives to the carnivore diet are a low-carb paleo diet, a fasting-mimicking diet, periodic prolonged fasting, a ketogenic diet and the Atkins diet. Each is milder than eating only meat. Each aims for the same gains: weight loss and better insulin sensitivity.

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We have already covered the big benefits of the carnivore diet. Some may think this diet is too extreme and could expose one to harm. Are there other options that could give similar results and perhaps carry fewer risks? Here are some of them.

A Low-Carb Paleo Diet

You do not have to jump straight from the Standard American Diet to pure carnivore. Often, a low-carb Paleo plan might give some of the same benefits. These include weight loss, better insulin sensitivity, and relief from autoimmune symptoms.

The paleo diet means eating unprocessed foods. These are foods that were likely available to your Paleolithic ancestors before farming and factories changed how we eat. It is not strictly low-carb, but you can adjust it to fit that lifestyle.

Paleo supporters say that eating like your prehistoric ancestors should improve health. Their reason is that humans supposedly evolved to eat these foods. Several small studies show that a paleo diet can cause weight loss and lower blood sugar. It can also improve risk factors for heart disease.

A paleo diet focuses on meats, fish, seafood, eggs, vegetables, fruits, tubers, nuts, and seeds. A strict paleo diet cuts out processed foods, added sugar, grains, legumes, and dairy products.

A Fasting Mimicking Diet

Fast mimicking is a type of modified fasting. In a normal fast, you eat nothing at all. Here, you eat small amounts of food, but in a way that still gives you the benefits of fasting.

A fast-mimicking diet usually lasts about five days. You keep carbs, protein, and calories low and fat high. Calories stay at around 40% of what you normally eat. This keeps you supplied with nutrients and electrolytes. It also puts less stress on your body than a normal fast, while still giving you the same benefits.

Fasting, and above all intermittent fasting, has been shown to work against many diseases. These include obesity and diabetes. More recently, the fasting-mimicking diet (FMD) has been found to improve metabolic disorders.

Studies show that in mice, it can reverse type 1 and type 2 diabetes. In mice, it also eased age-related losses in thinking skills and protected against cancer and aging. In humans, the fasting-mimicking diet was found to significantly reduce body weight. It also improved heart risk markers and lowered inflammation. It potentially improved symptoms of multiple sclerosis, too.

Periodic Prolonged Fasting

Doing a 72-hour fast once every few months could also bring many of the benefits the carnivore diet claims. During a prolonged fast, organs shrink. Then they are renewed as damaged cells are cleared out and stem cell pathways switch on. Prolonged fasting (PF) is also known to promote stress resistance.

The latest study on the impact of fasting on the human body found that it raises metabolic activity more than experts thought. It may even have anti-aging benefits.

A Ketogenic Diet

A ketogenic (keto) diet cuts carbs low enough to bring on a metabolic state called ketosis. It is a very powerful diet for losing fat and may protect against several diseases. The ketogenic diet has been very well studied. It has documented benefits for epilepsy, neurodegenerative disease (diseases where brain cells break down), and autoimmune disease. Ketones themselves are strong anti-inflammatories.

The ketogenic diet is a very-low-carb, high-fat diet. The goal is to keep carbs so low that your body goes into a metabolic state called ketosis. In this state, your insulin levels plummet. Your body then releases large amounts of fatty acids from its fat stores.

A large share of these fatty acids travel to your liver, which turns them into ketones. Ketones dissolve in water and can cross the blood-brain barrier (the wall that guards the brain). There, they supply energy to your brain.

So instead of running on carbs, your brain comes to depend mostly on ketones. Note, however, that your body can still make the small amount of glucose your brain needs. It does this through a process called gluconeogenesis.

The keto diet has long been used to treat drug-resistant epilepsy in children. It may also help other neurological (brain and nerve) disorders and metabolic problems like type 2 diabetes. Some versions of this diet limit protein, because too much protein may lower the number of ketones you make.

Lately, it has also become popular for fat loss, even among some bodybuilders. That is because it is a very effective way to lose fat and it cuts appetite well.

A ketogenic diet is built on high-protein, high-fat foods. Only a very small amount of carbs is allowed. The usual keto eating pattern is called a standard ketogenic diet (SKD).

Other variations that involve strategically adding carbs are:

Targeted ketogenic diet (TKD). In this version, you add small amounts of carbs around workouts.
Cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD). This type has you eat a ketogenic diet on most days but switch to a high-carb diet for 1–2 days each week.

The Atkins Diet

The Atkins Diet is a popular low-carb eating plan. Cardiologist Robert C. Atkins created it in the 1960s. The Atkins Diet limits carbs (carbohydrates) and focuses on protein and fats.

The Atkins diet has been popular for over 40 years. It is a 4-phase, low-carb eating pattern that lets you eat plenty of fat and protein. It is the best-known low-carb plan. You cut all high-carb foods and eat as much protein and fat as you want.

This diet is divided into four phases:

Phase 1: Induction. Eat under 20 grams of carbs per day for 2 weeks.

Phase 2: Balancing. Slowly add more nuts, low-carb vegetables, and fruit.

Phase 3: Fine-tuning. When you get close to your weight goal, add more carbs until your weight loss becomes slower.

Phase 4: Maintenance. Eat as many healthy carbs as your body tolerates without gaining back the weight you lost.

The Atkins Diet says its plan can prevent or improve serious health problems. These include metabolic syndrome, diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease. In fact, almost any diet that helps you lose extra weight can lower or even reverse risk factors for heart disease and diabetes.

And most weight-loss diets, not just low-carb diets, may improve blood cholesterol or blood sugar levels, at least for a while. One study showed that people on the Atkins Diet had better triglycerides, suggesting better heart health. But no major studies show whether these benefits last for the long term or help you live longer.

The Atkins diet was first attacked as dangerous. Current research indicates it is both safe and effective as long as you eat enough fiber. This diet is still popular today.

The carnivore diet as opposed to other diets

Some people think the carnivore diet is too harsh. Because it does so much good for weight loss and for managing certain chronic diseases, milder options can be looked into. The health movement now calls on people to take charge of the lifestyle choices that shape their lives, and diet is key. We expect more people to take up these diets. They will use them not only as a cure for conditions they may have but also to stay healthy.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between keto and carnivore?

A ketogenic diet cuts carbs low enough to put the body into ketosis. In ketosis, the liver turns fat into ketones that fuel the brain. It still allows a very small amount of carbs. Some versions add carbs around workouts or on one or two days a week. The carnivore diet goes further and eats only meat. That is why keto is the milder option.

What is a fasting-mimicking diet?

A fasting-mimicking diet is a modified fast that usually lasts about five days. You do not eat nothing. You eat small amounts of food that are low in carbs, protein and calories and high in fat. That comes to about 40% of your normal intake. It keeps you supplied with nutrients and electrolytes. It puts less stress on the body than a full fast, and it improves metabolic disorders.

What are the four phases of the Atkins diet?

Phase 1, induction: eat under 20 grams of carbs a day for two weeks. Phase 2, balancing: slowly add nuts, low-carb vegetables and fruit. Phase 3, fine-tuning: as you near your weight goal, add carbs until weight loss slows. Phase 4, maintenance: eat as many healthy carbs as your body tolerates without regaining the weight. Protein and fat stay generous the whole way through.

Is paleo the same as the carnivore diet?

No. A paleo diet keeps plant foods that the carnivore diet removes. Alongside meat, fish, seafood and eggs, it includes vegetables, fruits, tubers, nuts and seeds. Strict paleo cuts processed foods, added sugar, grains, legumes and dairy. It is not low-carb by default. But you can trim it into a low-carb paleo plan that delivers some of the same gains, including weight loss and better insulin sensitivity.