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Can one live on only meat?
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nutmegoreo wrote: »queenliz99 wrote: »Sausage is out because of the fillers, I may be wrong about this. Plastic? Do you mean trays?
Going without good sausage seems a shame.
I don't mind the plastic wrapped ground beef trays, you can see the meat at least. The tubes are opaque so you can't see what you're getting.
I've always found that kind of packaging suspect, we don't see it here very often anymore. Except at the local butcher shop. I trust them though. Fabulous meats there, but expensive.
The International Market where I used to live did their own in-house packs, ground on site. The packs were clear so you could see the meat before you bought it. I liked that since there wasn't any styrofoam waste.
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gross
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You can survive but it is not healthy. It will really *kitten* up your system and your body will go into a survival mode. Just read about what happens when your body has no carbs. There are serious risks.0
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I had plans to try something like this already, except I am still including coconut oil and some eggs.
Oh I'm glad you're here. I'm genuinely curious why people try something like this? I know you're a huge proponent of keto and how beneficial its been for you. What's the draw for something even more extreme like this? Are you hoping for accelerated weight loss? Some change in your health markers? Ive been struggling go understand the appeal and potential benefits of this, other than bragging rights, and while I don't always agree with your logic I know that you have strong convictions about your LCHF lifestyle so I'm sure yo are trying to avhieve something with this.0 -
I'm pretty sure a month is long enough to start showing the early symptoms of scurvy. Probably not long for any of your teeth to fall out, but you might find any cuts you get are slow to heal. You can get some vitamin C from liver. Or central nervous system tissue--but I'd rather run a fairly high risk of scurvy than a remote risk of "mad cow." Probably not rational, since I still eat ground beef, but there you are.
I so don't get why you would do this just because somebody issued a challenge. Is she going to pay you a thousand dollars?0 -
I have a very close friend that followed the meat only diet and still largely does. It's been about a year now. Initially, she only did meat (always cooked). She mostly did chicken because of cost. She went through a horrid detox rash for about a month after she started. Once the rash went away she didn't have anymore uncomfortable symptoms. She had been struggling and counting calories, etc. and happened on the Andersons (I think that's who it is) blog and got intrigued. Initially, she had decided to only do it for 90 days. She was so happy with it she kept on. She lost the 40#'s she'd been trying to lose and has kept it off. Now she has added a few more proteins/fats. I know she does eggs and oils now and once in awhile she'll do some cheese but mostly she stays away from that even.
After her being happy with it, I tried it for about a week. I do not like chicken all that much and could not bring myself to eat it. I wanted steak. Period. Which was fine when we first got our cow butchered but the family wasn't too happy I was eating all of their steaks. ;-) In the end, I just couldn't do it. I like variety too much and I wasn't willing to spend the kind of money it would take for me to have steak everyday (because that's all I wanted).
I think doing this type of "diet" requires a certain personality. I just couldn't do it, but I don't knock her success with it. Thus far, it's been good for my friend. It will be interesting to see long term what happens.1 -
queenliz99 wrote: »
No, I will include some coconut oil amd eggs. I'll skip dairy because I find I tend to do better without much and my cheese consumption is creeping up. I'll see how it goes. I enjoy veggies so it could get old. If so, I'll stop.0 -
WinoGelato wrote: »I had plans to try something like this already, except I am still including coconut oil and some eggs.
Oh I'm glad you're here. I'm genuinely curious why people try something like this? I know you're a huge proponent of keto and how beneficial its been for you. What's the draw for something even more extreme like this? Are you hoping for accelerated weight loss? Some change in your health markers? Ive been struggling go understand the appeal and potential benefits of this, other than bragging rights, and while I don't always agree with your logic I know that you have strong convictions about your LCHF lifestyle so I'm sure yo are trying to avhieve something with this.
For me, it is partially curiosity, There are a few low carbers on MFP who eat virtually an all meat diet. They've discussed how it made them feel even better. Better energy, better stomach issues, better weight loss and stability, and the cooking is simple. LOL I felt a lot better going keto. It's why I have stayed with it. I wonder if I will feel even better after cutting out veggies... As it is, there are many veggies I avoid due to stomach pain, bloating and gas. I do find that the fewer plant products I eat, the better I have felt so far. This is just taking it a bit further.
I would enjoy seeing a bit of weight loss but I am a size 8 so I am pretty happy with where I am. I now eat quite a bit for a sedentary woman (about 2000-2500kcal per day) so I doubt I'll lose. If I do it will be because my appetite dips and I eat less, or it increases my CO, or a combination of the two.
As for health markers, I wouldn't mind seeing lower FBG numbers and lower insulin, but that's about it. My health markers are fine and don't need improving.
It is just some experimenting. I'll see how it makes me feel and if that is worth the expected food boredom. Who knows, I may enjoy it. I enjoy a keto diet much more than most people seem to expect, so maybe this will agree with me too.
It isn't about bragging rights. I doubt I will even tell anybody (IRL) I am doing it besides my husband. I don't need the support or judgement from others. Most people can't wrap their heads around this idea. I think it is sort of like vegetarianism or veganism was viewed 30 or so years ago. It is largely misunderstood.0 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »I'm pretty sure a month is long enough to start showing the early symptoms of scurvy. Probably not long for any of your teeth to fall out, but you might find any cuts you get are slow to heal. You can get some vitamin C from liver. Or central nervous system tissue--but I'd rather run a fairly high risk of scurvy than a remote risk of "mad cow." Probably not rational, since I still eat ground beef, but there you are.
I so don't get why you would do this just because somebody issued a challenge. Is she going to pay you a thousand dollars?
There is vitamin C in meats. Just eat it rare.0 -
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queenliz99 wrote: »But the problem I have with eating only meat is where do people get their necessary vitamins and minerals? What about fiber? That is a *kitten* load of saturated fats. Your omegas would be whacked out.
Fiber is not an essential, and is potentially an anti-nutrient. Fiber is implicated in constipation and in diarrhoea. One has to be wary of applying vague epidemiology in one diet to another diet.
In the absence of industrial seed oils your omega ratios might be wonderful, and fish (which is the meat off a fish according to my local vegetarian) is an excellent source of omega-3.
In the absence of carbohydrate the saturated fat you eat is oxidised to power your body processes. Sat fat in the bloodstream is not a strong function of sat fat in the diet.
At least in eating meat you know the stuff you're eating is pretty similar to the stuff you're made of, which isn't obviously the case with plants.0 -
WinoGelato wrote: »
"Vegetable oil". Hmm. Look at a vegetable. Where's the oil ? What's the nutrient in "vegetable oil" that's essential to life that isn't in meat ?
Mankind probably got here without seeing industrially extracted oils for most of the journey.
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positivepowers wrote: »Liz...you will be OK for a month, in my opinion. Many indigenous Arctic cultures survived and thrived for millennia on diets of primarily whale, seal and bear meat, and in winter, rotted fish, with a growing season of barely two months to provide any kind of vegetation. This is well-documented: Google "Indigenous Arctic diets".
The real question is, "Will you lose any weight?".
No, the real question is, "How many types of vitamin/mineral deficiencies can you acquire?" Those cultures may have lived for millennia on meat but have one of the lowest lifespans of modern man.
"Inuit Greenlanders, who historically have had limited access to fruits and vegetables, have the worst longevity statistics in North America. Research from the past and present shows that they die on the average about 10 years younger and have a higher rate of cancer than the overall Canadian population.1…"
http://www.diseaseproof.com/archives/diet-myths-are-the-inuit-healthy.html
Has Greenland moved, or are these Greenlanders that moved to the land of healthy food and slimness ?
Greenland's Life expectancy at birth :-
total population: 71.25 years
male: 68.6 years
female: 74.04 years (2012 est.)
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Raw meat is not a bad idea.... many cultures eat raw meats and fish. It's only a bad idea when a huge slaughterhouse sends the meat from 500 cows to some central processing location where they are mixed with the meat from thousands more and reground, then squirted into 'chubs' and shipped off all over the country. BTW if you want your burger meat/mince freshly ground in store from that day's meat cuttings off the carcass get "Market Trim" at Safeway or go to a butcher and watch them grind it for you. Much smaller chance of any contamination since it is not remixed and reground meat from thousands of cows.0
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DancingDarl wrote: »I have no idea, but I believe in order for meat to be considered a "complete" diet, some of it has to be consumed raw to incorporate some of the more rare vitamins (they are degraded by heat):
http://paleoleap.com/raw-meat/
I like that this site talks about the benefits of eating spoiled meat because it has "probiotics" like kefir and yogurt:
http://www.mygutsy.com/is-raw-meat-healthy/
Raw meat is just a bad idea. You need to cook it to kill bacteria and any organisms micro or eggs.
It isn't. There are some risks but modern testing does allow for inclusion in diet without major elevation in risk. Carpaccio and tartares are delicious.
As a general rule, any diet that is highly exclusive (like a meat only diet) is bad news and people will tend to have nutritional deficiencies. Is it possible to eat such a diet and not fall into the trap of nutritional issues?
Yes it is. A person focusing on only eating meat would be best served to include vitamin supplementation and offal. Liver, tripe and other offal will serve significantly to reduce nutritional risk. For example - during the 18th century, it was seen that certain sailors did not get scurvy - the reason? They ate cooked rats. All of the rat. Yum.
(rats synthesise vitamin C - actually most species do.) And surprise cooking still allows for vitamin content to be maintained.
But the whole raw meet thing is incorrect. Cooking does not "destroy" all vitamin C. What actually happens is that cooking degrades SOME of the vitamin C available. As a general rule, cooking meat or vegetables to point (a point, rare and firm) reduces by 50%, those soggy vegetables? by 2/3rds. But they still have some vitamin content.
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I'm a meat eater and love it but eating nothing but meat and no veg, fruit or whole grains for a month...... he or she is gonna have a pretty sore O ring0
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WinoGelato wrote: »
"Vegetable oil". Hmm. Look at a vegetable. Where's the oil ? What's the nutrient in "vegetable oil" that's essential to life that isn't in meat ?
Mankind probably got here without seeing industrially extracted oils for most of the journey.
I've been trying to understand the appeal of this "challenge" especially for those who seem to embrace it for longer than a month. One thing I had theorized that some of these people just don't like vegetables so they see this as a good way to avoid them for a month "hey I'm doing a challenge, I can't eat that broccoli!". But I couldn't understand how vegetable oil fit in with that mindset.
People keep saying this diet isn't that much different than vegetarians or vegans, but many who follow that lifestyle are doing it for ethical reasons. Are the meat only eaters doing this to protect the plants?
I just truly am trying to wrap my head about it.
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WinoGelato wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »
"Vegetable oil". Hmm. Look at a vegetable. Where's the oil ? What's the nutrient in "vegetable oil" that's essential to life that isn't in meat ?
Mankind probably got here without seeing industrially extracted oils for most of the journey.
I've been trying to understand the appeal of this "challenge" especially for those who seem to embrace it for longer than a month. One thing I had theorized that some of these people just don't like vegetables so they see this as a good way to avoid them for a month "hey I'm doing a challenge, I can't eat that broccoli!". But I couldn't understand how vegetable oil fit in with that mindset.
People keep saying this diet isn't that much different than vegetarians or vegans, but many who follow that lifestyle are doing it for ethical reasons. Are the meat only eaters doing this to protect the plants?
I just truly am trying to wrap my head about it.
Yep, that comparison is driving me nuts. Most who are vegetarians or vegans are doing it because they do not want animals to die in order to fill their belly. This challenge is the opposite...it is wanting the most animals possible to die in order for their bellies to be full.
Que? I doubt people are entering this as a way to "kill the most animals". Seriously?
The reason it is being compared, and which makes sense as a comparison, is that both are restrictive diets, both carried out without thought will lead to nutritional issues.
Clearly the comparison isn't about the ethical background but about the restrictive attitudes that are needed and the dietary results.
And in both cases it is possible to overcome the nutritional issues.0
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