Meat only diet

Meat-based elimination diets have been reported to cure or improve autoimmune disease. These diets tend to be controversial because they go against conventional dietary wisdom.

Meat-based diets include:

• The "carnivore" diet. This typically refers to meat, dairy, eggs, salt, and sometimes spices being allowed foods. Other diets are more strict.
• The "lion" diet. Meat, salt, and water. (All diets allow water.)
• The paleo-ketogenic diet. The strict version of Paleomedicina's diet allows for meat (preferably pasture-raised ruminant meat), a small amount of honey, and water. Eggs may be introduced at later stages of treatment.

Joe Rogan's podcast popularize the carnivore diet as multiple guests have discussed their carnivore diet or stricter versions of it. In episode #1164 with Mikhaila Peterson, Mikhaila talks about how her lion diet helped reverse her juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and depression.

The current data on the carnivore diet

One academic paper described the results of an online survey of carnivore diet followers, with 2029 respondents meeting the survey's criteria. Because the survey recruited heavily from online carnivore groups and excluded people who did not follow the diet for at least 6 months, it is likely that the survey massively overrepresents people who respond well to the diet and excludes those who fared poorly on the diet.

Almost all survey participants reported an improvement in their autoimmune condition, though only roughly a third report their autoimmune condition being resolved.

• Of 369 participants reporting autoimmune disease, 36% resolved their autoimmunity with an additional 53% reporting improvement.

The carnivore diet is very commonly used by fairly healthy people looking to lose weight. Most people on the diet report improvements with their weight issues whether they are over or underweight.

• Of 928 participants with obesity, 52% resolved their obesity with an additional 41% reporting improvement. 0.2% reported new obesity.
• Of 100 participants who were underweight, 52% resolved their weight with an additional 28% reporting improvement. 1% reported a new underweight condition.

Carnivore dieters also commonly report no longer needing insulin for their diabetes. This may be a safety issue with the diet as insulin can be dangerous when given to people who do not need it. If you are currently on insulin or diabetes medication, please do additional research on the diet's safety and the safe discontinuation of insulin.

• Of 13 participants reporting insulin use for type 2 diabetes, all but 1 person reported discontinuing insulin use.
• 3 participants with type 1 diabetes report discontinuing insulin use (?).

Reliability of dietary information

Mikhaila Peterson seems to have lingering health problems after she changed her diet. Her blog "Don't eat that" talks about her RA-related surgery, her fecal matter transplant, and her positive Lyme test.

Mikhaila's appearances on The Agenda with Steve Paikin (before and after) clearly show that both her and her father lost weight after changing their diet. Both report that their new diet cured their depression.

Online communities tend to defend their diet and claim that foods that they don't eat are responsible for health problems. For example:

• Vegans will claim that red meat causes inflammation.
• Carnivores will claim that plants cause inflammation.
• Keto diet and low-carb followers may claim that carbs cause inflammation.

Most online communities tend to censor information critical of their diet or opposing viewpoints. There are also tendencies to blame diet failure on 'not doing the diet right'.

Possible mechanisms of action

Behavioral Characteristics and Self-Reported Health Status among 2029 Adults Consuming a “Carnivore Diet” https://doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzab133