The carnivore diet is an extremely restrictive eating pattern that includes only animal-based foods—such as meat, poultry, eggs, fish, seafood, and in some cases limited dairy—while cutting out all plant-based foods, including fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, seeds and nuts. Because it eliminates carbohydrates almost entirely, it’s often called a zero-carb or meat-only diet. In practice, it’s the most extreme version of a ketogenic-style diet, where fat and protein replace nearly all carbohydrate sources for energy.
Followers of the carnivore diet usually eat foods like steak, bacon, ground beef, salmon, eggs, butter, and sometimes cheese. They avoid even small amounts of plant foods—no coffee, tea or herbs, and no spices or condiments containing plant ingredients. The idea is that animal foods provide everything the body needs, while plants are viewed as unnecessary or even harmful because of certain naturally occurring compounds such as lectins, oxalates or phytates. However, these compounds are generally not harmful for most healthy individuals and are found in many foods known to support long-term health.
