If you ate nothing but steak for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, would you die?
To be honest, the science isnt totally clear on this, but we asked some experts anyway.
(Spoiler: they think its a bad idea.)
Do people actually eat this diet?
There are definitely people whosaythey have eaten only meat for years.
Im not sure if I truly believe them, though.
What nutrients is meat missing?
It depends how you define meat.
Still, youre at serious risk ofscurvy.
Of reddits and Facebooks carnivore diet support groups, all encourage eating muscle meat and fat.
Most allow eggs and fish as well.
When people like the Inuit live on mostly meat diets, theyre not just having steaks and eggs.
Traditional animal-based diets typically involve organ meats and even the stomach and intestinal contents of herbivores.
(The Inuit alsogathered and ate plantstoo.)
So what happens?
Both had been Arctic explorers, and were used to living on animal products for months at a time.
Their blood, when drawn, had a visible fatty layer in it.
Their diet was very different, though, fromMikhaila Petersons three steaks a day.
(Meat has a tiny amount of carbohydrate.
The parts used were muscle, liver, kidney, brain, bone marrow, bacon, and fat.
What about the poops?
Youre not having trouble with the diet, youre just getting used to it.
Back in 1930, the researchers were happy with the explorers output.
If you want to keep good intestinal health, you really need to include plants in your diet.
Are there long-term risks?
People who eat a lot of red meat and processed meat are at ahigh risk of developing colorectal cancer.
Diets high in fat have been associated with risk factors for heart attacks and other cardiovascular disease.
