Debunking Meat-Heavy Diets in 200 Words

Drop the turkey leg and step away from the ButcherBox…

Erik Devaney
2 min readAug 12, 2022

They have names like the Carnivore Diet, the Caveman Diet, the Savage Diet, the Primal Diet, the Sapien Diet, and the Look-at-Me-Daddy-I’m-a-Big-Muscly-Boy-Now-Daddy-Because-I-Eat-All-My-Meats-Are-You-Proud-of-Me-Daddy? Diet.

Okay, so maybe I made that last one up.

But do any of these carbohydrate-restricting, meat-intensive diets, which are intended to mimic the diets of our pre-Agricultural Revolution ancestors, actually have anything to offer humanity?

YES:

  • constipation (thanks to the low fiber);
  • increased LDL (bad) cholesterol, putting you at risk for heart disease;
  • and with processed meat in particular (like bacon) comes the risk of high blood pressure, kidney problems, and some types of cancer

(source: Cleveland Clinic)

Risky Diets Based on Sloppy Science

Le Moustier Neanderthals (Charles R. Knight, 1920)
Le Moustier Neanderthals (Charles R. Knight, 1920)

While the peddlers of meat-heavy diets may genuinely believe they are following in the dietary footsteps of…

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Erik Devaney
Erik Devaney

Written by Erik Devaney

Full-time stay-at-home dad, part-time ghostwriter, retired pub musician, recovering marketer

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