Saturday 7 January 2012

Nutritionally Perfect Carnivorous Diet

Average Daily Amounts:
15oz lamb/beef, ~17% fat
+ 3tbsp tallow (or 465g 24% fat beef/lamb)
3oz mackerel (or 4oz salmon)
55g lean pork
3 large eggs (save the shells for broth)
2oz chicken liver
2oz pork kidney
15g pork liver
1/7 of home-made broth (link at bottom of post)

6g potassium chloride salt
7g sea salt
1 litre water


Technically plant foods:
2tsp tea


Supplements:
300mg magnesium citrate


Nutrition:
2021 calories, 162g protein (34% of calories), 3g carbohydrates (1%), 144g fat (65%).


Vitamins & Minerals:
>15x RDA: B12!!
>4x RDA: Vitamin A, B2, selenium.
>3x RDA: B3/niacin, vitamin D, calcium.
>2x RDA: B5, B6, copper, phosphorus, zinc.
>1x RDA: Fotate, B1, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, sodium.
Below RDA: Vitamin C 41.3mg 55%, vitamin E 4.5mg 30%, vitamin K1 23.2ug 26%.


Vitamin C: Very little is needed on a carnivore diet, just don't overcooked your meat.
Vitamin E: Little is needed as you're not eating putrid vegetable oils, grass-fed meat has plenty.
Vitamin K1: Only found in plants, but K2 which isn't measured, found in grass-fed meat and liver does everything K1 does as well as helping bones.


Ratios, etc.:
Calcium:Phosphorus = 1.95 (ideal ~2)
Zinc:Copper = 10.9 (ideal >10)
Potassium:Sodium = 2.4 (ideal >2)
Omega-6:omega-3 = 1.6 (ideal <2)
Saturated:Mono-unsaturated = 1.1 (ideal ~1)
Poly-unsaturated = 4% of calories (ideal ≤4%)

Link to weekly shopping list and how to make broth.

Thursday 5 January 2012

How To Do A Zero-Carb (Carnivorous) Diet Correctly, Part 2: An Example Menu And Why Steak & Water Is Not Enough

I have created an example menu following the principles laid out in the previous post to show that the nutrition is sound as compared to the ‘steak and water’ diet of which zero-carbers seem to be becoming more and more fond. We’ll use the standard 150lb person for comparison.

Menu 1:
16oz beef, 18% fat
2 eggs
1.5oz chicken liver
1.5oz pork liver
1/2oz beef liver
3tbsp gelatine (or equivalent)
1/4cup broth (~400mg calcium)
1 eggshell (~1g calcium)
Supplements: 3/4tsp potassium chloride, 1tsp normal salt, 1/2tsp magnesium chloride, 1 drop Lugol’s solution.

Menu 2:
21oz beef, 18% fat



Menu 1
Menu 2

Calories
1425
1421

Protein
130
106
g
Protein
39
32
%
Fat
96
107
g
Fat
61
68
%
Carbs
1.7
0
g




Protein:



Grams/lb   (>0.7g/lb)
0.87
0.71
g/lb
Threonine
4.8
4.1
g
Threonine (>15mg/kg)
70
60
mg
Gelatine equiv
25
17.2
g
(glycine/proline/serine)
11.1/8.2/5.7
7.4/5.5/4.3

Cysteine
1.5
1.1
g




Vitamins & Minerals:



Folate
398
39
mg
Retinol
2307
0
ug
Selenium
222
91
ug
Calcium
1559
100
mg
Magnesium
434
104
mg
Potassium
4783
1669
mg
Sodium
2354
397
mg
Choline
732
348
mg
(Iodine not compared as it’s not measured in CRONometer)

As you can see eating just muscle meat to the same calories is very poor nutritionally compared to eating ‘whole animal’ style, ie including livers, kidney, gelatine, broth, and supplemental minerals.

Unless one is drinking mineral rich water, they may develop several mineral deficiencies; even so, they will lack folate (which increases the risk of birth defects), retinol (risking eyesight), and selenium (risking poor thyroid).

Advising some-one that they can live on nothing but ‘steak and water’ is dangerous at best. Just as an omnivorous diet includes plants for balanced nutrition, so too a carnivorous diet should include more than just muscle meat.

Carnivorous animals, like lions and wolves consume all the organs bar the digestive system, eat the skin, and gnaw on the bones. Humans do not produce enough stomach acid to be able to digest bones directly, and so broth should be used instead for optimum nutrition.


A side note on calories:
You may notice the menus are only ~1400 calories; this should be a minimum, such as for someone trying to lose weight or a small female. Protein should not be increased too high (1g/lb ideal weight maximum): extra calories should come from fat, use a higher percentage of fat in your meat or add fats such as tallow, butter/ghee, or coconut oil. Coconut oil is very good for use during exercising as it provides fast energy.