I Ate Nothing but Meat for 2 Weeks | Hacker News Reader

I Ate Nothing but Meat for 2 Weeks

inc.com

42 pointsexolymph40 comments

> The zero-carb community believes that we evolved to mainly eat meat, and that ancient humans turned to plants only in times of near-starvation.

Correct me if I'm wrong but haven't most scientific studies of our evolutionary process revealed the opposite of this? For example, actual carnivores that have evolved over time don't require dietary supplements of vitamin c. Or if you look at the structure and prominence of our teeth they are clearly not designed to be solely for eating meat...

Most animals make their own Vitamin C in their liver. Humans, guinea pigs, a couple of monkeys, and fruit bats are the only animals on earth that don't make their own L-Ascorbic Acid.

Chimps and Bonobos are our nearest relatives, so presumably we might look at their diets for pointers[1] - 50% figs, 3% meat, the remainder from other plants. I do like figs, but I don't think I can quite manage that... still, it's more sensible than eating nothing but meat (which is as you say nutrient deficient, has long-term risks for cancer, and clearly is not a viable option for a global population of 7.6B)

1: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/how-to-eat-l...

Apes are closer. Plus humans are different enough from any still existing apes that the dietary comparison is quite worthless.

It is as if you were comparing tigers with house cats on diet based on hunting behaviour.

We're all apes[1]. And chimps are indeed our closest relations[2]. The tiger and my housecat are both obligate carnivores, so that comparison seems accurate to me (though I don't want him bringing down deer, there's a problem of scale).

1:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hominidae

2: https://www.livescience.com/7929-human-evolution-closest-liv...

One I've heard is that when you move to an all meat diet is that you actually require less vitamin c. I've got no source but it's what I'd heard

> Correct me if I'm wrong but haven't most scientific studies of our evolutionary process revealed the opposite of this?

"Human beings evolved to eat X" sounds wrong to me from the get go, because people all across the planet eat so many different diets and do that while being healthy.

The only assumption I can make is that we have evolved to eat cooked food (based on our jaw size), but beyond that human beings evolved to eat pretty much anything and live on.

The most significant difference I notice about living in the first world is the absence of hunger.

Going hungry is probably a big part of our common evolutionary adaptations, more than the actual food that fills us back up (not malnutrition, just hunger, get food while hungry and eat well when you have it).

Just think about it logically - people live all over the world. In all sorts of climates. How can it even be possible that a native Hawaiian would have the same diet as an Inuit? The tundra of northern British Columbia has far less vegetation available to eat and larger animals. That's a diet totally different from the Japanese, or the Indians, or the Greeks.

The only thing that is true is that we have evolved to handle a diversity of flora and fauna, that is why we are classified as omnivores. And each sub population has further been accustomed to tolerate higher quantities of the foods native to those lands.

Not correct - this is (very successful) vegan propaganda. Look into it more.

I interviewed Dr. Shawn Baker MD who has done this for a year now. As carb intake decreases the need for vitamin C decreases. He takes no supplements and is in perfect health.

The real problem is carbs and sugar. I don't believe anyone needs to take it the extreme of going all meat - just cut down/out carbs and sugar and you will have lifelong health.

I'm honestly not quite sure how to interpret this.

To me the idea seems bonkers. Even if I didn't try to eat more plant than animal, it would seem bonkers.

From what I've read, eating more meat is likely to increase the risk of bowel cancer [1](https://www.cancercouncil.com.au/21639/cancer-information/ca...)

Additionally, it's way, way harder to get all your vitamins and nutrients with only meats, especially while maintaining a variety of macronutrient options, but I don't really have a source for that, just mental math and experience.

Going to the extreme and eating only meat is a bit bonkers.

The main problem with our diet and what causes the most disease and death are carbs and sugar.

Take a look at this regarding nutrients and plants http://www.zoeharcombe.com/2014/04/the-perfect-five-a-day/

I have been researching all sides of this for 6 months now for a doc http://foodlies.org so I'm very familiar with a ll the arguments and studies on both sides.

For those interested in long term viability, the Anderson family has been living on an all-beef diet for 17+ years now, including two children who have been raised entirely on beef.

http://thenortheasttoday.com/anderson-family-on-meat-diet-fo...

Come back when they are past 80

It might happen with n of 1 family...

The diet she's describing is more commonly known as the ketogenic (keto) diet, rather than the "Bitcoin carnivore" diet.

Yes, definitely!

The difference here is that you are supposed to do a ketogenic diet for a relatively short amount of time whereas this "Bitcoin-carnivore" thing is supposed to be more of a "lifestyle" as in "you're doing keto for the rest of your life".

I'm not sure I understand your comment, but a ketogenic diet is sustainable indefinitely although it becomes challenging. The majority of calories are taken as fats, rather than carbohydrates/starches/simple sugars as is the typical western diet. The liver quickly adapts to burning fats rather than converting sugars and avoids the associated insulin conversion response.

Nevertheless, after being inundated with the food groups adn "healthy" food pyramid favoring carborhydrates ('healthy grains'), it does feel very odd to put four tablespoons of butter in cup of coffee, then follow that with a breakfast of 1/2 pound of bacon with eggs and cheese, and convince oneself you're eating a healthy diet. My results speak for themselves though -- lower serum cholesterol, weight loss, and lower blood pressure.

Not really. The keto diet includes plants. Just not starchy or sweet ones, e.g. cauliflower, lettuce, broccoli, etc.

A diet which is a subset of another diet can still be classified as a diet of that type, at least that’s how I think of it.

Diets are important in what they exclude.

In fact, that’s generally the entire motivation behind distinguishing a diet in the first place.

I agree. All meat is too extreme... What makes low carb diets great is that they exclude grains and sugar which are the real problem.

> Just not starchy or sweet ones, e.g. cauliflower, lettuce, broccoli, etc.

I dropped broccoli because of high carbs..

Broccoli is not really high in (net) carbs.

Around 5 carbs per cup, which can push from 20 carbs / day cap for keto diet.

Doesn't literally any diet that induces ketogenesis qualify as "a keto diet"? Or, has somebody branded some particular ketogenesis-inducing diet "THE keto diet"?

I'm vaguely aware of some non-epileptics trying to induce ketogenesis in order to lose weight (which seems pretty dangerous, and maybe self-defeating since smelling like turpentine is less attractive than having curves), but real ketogenic diets (as recommended by medical professionals for intractable epilepsy) generally contain plants.

Depends on how much protein she's consuming. If she consumes too much protein, she'll no longer be on ketogenesis. It doesn't say in the article how much fat she's consuming vs protein, but judging by her saying she's mainly eating meat, I don't think she's on ketogensis.

Two weeks? I’ve been carnivore since Jan. 1. Feeling great.

I usually read most of the article, until I get the main point and some details, but this time i went through the whole thing because right now I am in the middle of a diy diet myself (nothing fancy, just cutting on carbs, paying a bit more attention to what I eat and cooking at home instead of eating outside).

First thing first, eating only meat is not as bonkers as it might seem. In fact, it's a huge an distinctive part of the Dukan diet, which starts by imposing a protein-only diet(§) for, guess what, ten days to two weeks. This is to get the same effect that Sonya Mann (the author of the article) experienced and thus to give a confidence boost to the dieter as immediate result help the dieter to go through the diet (keeping dieting is the hardest part of a diet as anyone that has dieted at least once can tell you).

After that you integrate vegetables (in this phase you're still losing weight) and go on like this with meat + vegetables for ideally one week for each kilogram you want to lose.

After that, you can basically start eating regularly(§§) for the rest of your life BUT you must always observe the meat/protein only Thursday (§§§), this also for the rest of your life.

I have followed the Dukan diet and it affected me positively and I have lost a significant amount of weight (but keep in mind, I was/am mildly overweight -- that is, i have belly fat).

The book that Dr. Dukan wrote about its diet is very cool because it explains in simple but proper terms how the diet works and why it works. It also explains what to expect and when to expect sub-optimal results (for example, women should expect a wider variance in results because of hormonal ups and down -- mostly due to menstrual cycle).

So...

Going back to the story, eating meat only can be sustainable. Not sure how long, though.

Surely, I don't think it's such a great living. What bothers me the most, actually, is that the meat you buy nowadays at grocery store is filled with hormones and antibiotics (used to get animals to grow very much and very fast). One could argue, the humankind has evolved to eat meat, but also to go hunt for meat and eat it "fresh" (as in non-conserved, with no preservatives, no hormones and no antibiotics) but that's unfeasible nowadays.

Notes:

-----

(§) calories only, plus yoghurt and integral oats to help with digestion.

(§§) regularly as in european-regular

(§§§) Thursday has been chosen randomly, for no particular reason, it's just a convention.

Edit: formatting.

> eating meat only can be sustainable. Not sure how long, though.

I've heard of several people who have eaten nothing but meat for decades and swear by it. It's fascinating.

There's a 2 hour podcast with a seemingly smart guy who has eaten meat for a few years now and has also become a proponent of the idea. I can recommend checking this out for anyone who wants to get a better idea how this carnivore diet works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj_Bc9hdHa0

Shawn Baker! I interviewed him for my film. I'm not a fan of this diet, but strongly believe in not eating carbs and sugar.

I feel best when I eat red meat and green vegetables.

>>the meat you buy nowadays at grocery store is filled with hormones and antibiotics

the administration of hormones in chicken and pigs is prohibited in the USA since the 1950s.

There's no reason to ever go back to eating carbs, all they do is damage.

There actually isn't a ton of hormones and antibiotics in grocery store meat, it's mostly vegan propaganda I believed in until last week when I actually researched it. Soy products have 1000 times the hormones than any piece of meat.

Phytohormones don't bind to human receptors.

So, what do mean-only eaters do about constipation? Because I've gone meat/fat only for periods of time, and if I didn't simultaneously supplement with fiber (usually hemp and chia), the results were not pretty.

Eat more fat.

Very nice one @ exolymph.

This is the stupidest and most poorly researched article I may have ever seen.

They can't even get the name of the diet or the origins right.

There are many researchers that come to the complete opposite conclusion. Most of the Animal products we can buy today are produced too cheaply and thus not very healthy to eat in large quantities.

Just watch „What the Health“[1] or „Cowspiracy“[2] and tell ne what you think about it?

[1] http://www.whatthehealthfilm.com/

[2] http://www.cowspiracy.com/

I 100% agree we need to change our factory farming practices...

However, What the Health was riddled with lies, bad science, and misinformation.

https://www.dietdoctor.com/health-review-health-claims-backe...

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/7/25/16018658/wh...

Even a vegan dietitian admits it is full of misinformation and bad science and calls for an end to this practice https://www.vegan.com/posts/vegan-dietitian-review-what-the-...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com