The Benefits of Eating a Carnivore Diet for Our Family

Alright, let’s talk about the carnivore diet. You’ve probably heard the hype—people eating nothing but meat and claiming it’s the best thing ever. For me, this whole thing has actually been inspired by my sister (and, actually, a bunch of my sisters), who are doing it right now for health reasons.

The thing to know is that this isn’t meant to be a lifestyle diet. Some diets you stay on forever, and some are healing diets that help you restore your gut before transitioning to a lifestyle diet. Eating a carnivore diet falls into the healing diet category. And my sister has had some incredible results—she’s struggled with depression and anxiety her whole life, and she’s tried all the diets.

This one? Game-changer. Not only has it helped with her mental health, but she just feels happy—like, genuinely happy, all the time, for no particular reason. It’s been a huge mood booster for her. And I do know she has experienced other physical benefits from it as well including her skin quality. If you ask her, she’ll tell you it’ll fix just about anything you’ve got wrong with you if you’re strict about it for long enough. 

What Is the Carnivore Diet?

Think of it as keto’s extreme cousin. While keto lets you have some veggies and the occasional almond, the carnivore diet says, “No thanks” to all that and sticks strictly to animal-based foods. That means:

• Meat (beef, chicken, pork, lamb—you name it)
• Fish & seafood
• Eggs
• Dairy (depending on how strict you are)
• Bone broth & organ meats (for the hardcore folks)

No veggies, no fruits, no grains, no sugar—just pure protein and fat.

But in our house, we’re doing carnivore + fruit (because vitamin C). I’m supplementing with a few things like grass-fed beef liver and colostrum to make sure we’re covering all our bases. I also help my family eat nose-to-tail because, for example, muscle meats don’t have much folate, but organ meats do.

The Science-y Benefits of Eating a Carnivore Diet

The idea behind carnivore is that a lot of plants in their natural state are hard to digest. Sure, they contain antioxidants, but they also contain anti-nutrients (like oxalates) that actually steal nutrients from your body. If you don’t prepare them properly (via fermentation, for example), they can be tough on digestion.

Meanwhile, one of the key benefits of eating a carnivore diet is that animal products are far more nutrient-dense than plant foods—hands down. A pound of beef vs. a pound of lettuce? No contest. Even in the nutrition world, there’s no debate about this—animal products simply have significantly more bioavailable nutrients.

The only thing animal products don’t naturally provide is vitamin C, which is why we are including fruit in our diet and supplement as needed. That and fruit makes fantastic snacks. 

The carnivore diet is probably the quickest way out there to completely reset your gut microbiome, which I believe is why my sister had so much success healing her depression with it over the course of a year. This does depend on how strict you are and where your microbiome is to begin with. 

How We Make the Carnivore Diet Affordable

One of the biggest concerns people have about the carnivore diet is the cost. While high-quality meat can be expensive, we’ve found a few ways to make it more budget-friendly:

• Buying in bulk. We purchase half a cow from my brother each year, which lowers the per-pound price and ensures we always have a freezer stocked with beef.
• Raising our own backyard chickens. Since eggs are such a staple in our diet, having a steady supply from our own hens has been a game-changer. Not only do we know exactly how our chickens are raised, but we also get fresh, high-quality eggs daily without the rising costs at the grocery store. Plus, the kids love helping with the chickens—it’s a win-win!

• Simple meals. Sticking to basics like ground beef, eggs, and bone broth keeps costs low and meal prep easy.
• Finding a local butcher. Because buying half a cow isn’t always realistic for everyone, checking out a local butcher can be a great alternative. Their prices typically aren’t much higher than grocery stores, and the quality is often better.

One kitchen tool that has been a lifesaver for us is a meat defroster tray. Since we cook so much meat, I’m constantly pulling things from the freezer, and this tray speeds up the thawing process without needing to use the microwave or plan hours in advance.

Our Experience With the Carnivore Diet (So Far)

We’re doing this about 80% of the time, and I’ve seen some great results already:

• My son’s eczema is clearing up.  Can I prove that this is a result of the diet? Nope. But I do believe that eating fewer inflammatory foods has definitely helped. 
• My energy levels are awesome. They weren’t bad before, but I’m definitely feeling a boost.
• I’m sleeping better. Again, can’t prove that this is because of the diet. But, I have noticed that if I eat a decent amount of processed sugar in a day, I wake up frequently in the middle of the night and can’t go back to sleep. (Huge realization for me.)
• Our meals are so much simpler. Seriously, this has been a game-changer for my time in the kitchen.

We avoid processed meats like sandwich meats, but we still use sauces and spices because, again, we’re not being super strict about it. My kids did have a minor meltdown when they realized we weren’t serving bread or sides, but then we discovered that if they can dip it in Chick-fil-A sauce, they’ll eat it—and I’m totally fine with that.

For breakfast, we often do yogurt or strawberries and cream, eggs and bacon or sausage, my favorite protein pancakes, and carnivore waffles (aka chaffles). We also drink a lot of homemade bone broth; the benefits of drinking bone broth while pregnant are mind-blowing.

My favorite high-protein carnivore waffle breakfast sandwich contains 28 grams of protein.

As for eating out? We still go to restaurants, eat like normal at friends’ houses, and don’t stress about it. But at home, we stick to carnivore.

The Unexpected Benefits of Eating a Carnivore Diet

• It’s cheaper. Or at least it can be, depending on how you do it. We do make more frequent Costco trips but our orders are much smaller.
• It simplifies meal planning. No sides, no fuss—just meat, eggs, and a few staples.
• My kids are adjusting. At first, they were like, “Where’s the bread?!” But now they’re used to it.
• I feel like we’re just eating healthier. It’s been such a natural shift for us. One thing I can’t deny is that we eat WAAAAY less junk and processed food than we otherwise would.

Final Verdict

We don’t have a set timeline for how long we’ll do this—we’ll stop when it feels right. But for now? It fits our lifestyle, we feel good, and we’re seeing great results. And as long as my kids are getting the nutrients they need, I’m happy.

I highly recommend consulting some of the health professionals that recommend the carnivore diet to see what they have to say. I’m not a great resource for all the studies and science-y stuff because I often don’t remember where I read things, but a few resources you can look into are @shawnbaker1967 on instagram as well as @ifixhearts, both physicians who educate on why they recommend the carnivore diet. 

So, what do you think? Have you tried carnivore, or does it sound way too extreme? Let’s chat in the comments!