Macro closeup of fresh whole cooked fried beef sweetbreads thymus organ gland, nutritious ancestral meat homemade food on white plate on kitchen table

Beef Thymus: Nutrition and Benefits

In the world of culinary delights, there is a realm that most of us don’t explore nearly enough– the organ meats. Though unconventional for most, these underrated cuts offer a treasure trove of unique flavors, delectable textures, and unrivaled nutritional benefits. One such organ meat that deserves the spotlight is beef thymus.

Join us as we explore the rich flavors, textures, and nutritional benefits that the beef thymus brings to the table. It’s time to set aside preconceived notions and embrace the gastronomic delights of this remarkably assessable yet underappreciated organ meat.

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What is Beef Thymus? 

The beef thymus is an organ meat that comes from the thymus gland of a young cow.

The thymus gland plays a crucial role in the immune system by producing T lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell that defends the body against infections and diseases.

Culinary Considerations

Even if you’ve never heard of eating thymus, you may have heard of sweetbreads, which is the common culinary term for thymus. Sweetbreads also refer to beef pancreas, so it’s a bit confusing. We’ll explain.

There are two types of sweetbreads: One type is called the “throat sweetbread,” and the other is “heart” or “belly sweetbread.” 

Thymus is usually classified as a “throat sweetbread.” This distinction is a bit misleading since the thymus is located in the chest area. In any case, it is distinguished from the heart or belly sweetbread, which refers to the pancreas

Both the thymus and pancreas are among the most approachable and versatile organ meats.  From sautéing and grilling to frying, chefs appreciate the tender and creamy nature of beef thymus in gourmet preparations. 

What Does Beef Thymus Taste Like? 

Beef thymus is appreciated for its tender texture and mild, delicate flavor. You may even find it slightly sweet. 

Unlike most other organ meats, thymus and other sweetbreads offer a mild flavor that allows them to take on the taste and texture of various seasonings and cooking methods. 

When cooked skillfully, thymus is tender and creamy, making it unique among meats. Chefs and connoisseurs consider the ultimate thymus experience to occur when the exterior is crispy and the interior remains soft, with the consistency of custard. 

Beef Thymus Nutrition 

Per 100 grams (cooked)Total%RDV
Calories319
Total Fat25g
Saturated Fat8.6 g
Monounsaturated fats8.64g
Total Carbohydrates0 mg
Protein21.9g
Cholesterol294 mg
VITAMINS
Vitamin C30.2mg 34%
Thiamin (B1)0.08mg7%
Riboflavin (B2)0.23mg17%
Niacin (B3)1.8 mg12%
Pantothenic acid (B5)2mg39%
Vitamin B60.08mg5%
Vitamin B121.5mcg63%
MINERALS
Copper0.04 mg5%
Zinc2.2mg20%
Selenium21.6 mcg39%
Sodium116 mg5%
Potassium433 mg10%
Phosphorus364mg29%
Iron1.5 mg8%

Nutritional Benefits of Beef Thymus

Let’s take a deeper look at how the nutrients in beef thymus can positively impact your health goals. 

Vitamin C in Beef Thymus

When looking at the beef thymus nutrition list above, you may have noticed that thymus is remarkably high in vitamin C for a meat. 

The vitamin C content of beef thymus makes it prized among carnivore diet enthusiasts who eliminate all plant sources of vitamin C.

It’s worth noting that on a low-carb, high-fat carnivore diet, the body needs far fewer antioxidants, partly due to the increase in endogenous antioxidants and the reduced need to combat the oxidation caused by carbs and sugar. What this has to do with thymus is that 34% of your RDV of vitamin C is more than enough on carnivore, and is 340% of the vitamin C you need to avoid symptoms of vitamin C deficiency known as scurvy. 

Below, you can see how beef thymus stacks up against the vitamin C in other animal products. 

Animal-Based Foods High in Vitamin CAmount Vitamin C% sufficient to prevent scurvy
Beef spleen (100g)45.5mg455%
Beef thymus (100g)34mg340%
Salmon Roe (100g) 16 mg160%
Beef Pancreas (100g)13.7 mg137%
Chicken giblets (100g)13.1mg131%
Beef Brain (100g)10.7 mg107%
Beef Kidney (100g)9.4 mg94%
Oysters (6 oysters, or 88 grams)3.3 mg33%
Raw Liver (100g)1.3 mg13%

Thymosin

You won’t find thymosin on a nutrition label because it’s not a common nutrient. In fact, it’s a hormone produced by the thymus of young cows. 

Thymosin helps turn white blood cells (lymphocytes) into the critical element of the immune system called T cells. T cells are sent to the lymph nodes, where they are deployed during immune responses. 

Researchers have been exploring the use of thymus extract to boost immune function and fight off respiratory infections.

Vitamin B5

B5 is hard to come by, and 100 grams of thymus delivers 39% of your daily needs. 

B5, also called pantothenic acid, plays a crucial role in the creation of cholesterol. Despite what you’ve been told, cholesterol is an extremely important substance in your body.. Your body uses the cholesterol it creates as the foundation for youth-associated hormones like pregnenolone and DHEA.

Studies have also shown that B5 can help wounds heal faster.

If you don’t get enough B5, you run the risk of chronic fatigue, sleep issues, mood disorders, neuropathy, and respiratory tract infections.

Monounsaturated Fatty Acids

About ⅓ of the fat in the beef thymus is composed of monounsaturated fatty acids. These healthy fats have been found to

  • Reduce inflammation
  • reduce bad cholesterol
  • increase good cholesterol
  • Potentially reduce the risk of heart disease

Beneficial Amino Acids

Beef thymus is a fantastic source of highly beneficial amino acids, including lysine, tyrosine, and tryptophan. 

100 grams of beef thymus provides 1818mg (87% RDV) of lysine. This amino acid has been found to help the body absorb calcium. It’s also critical to collagen formation. Collagen is important for the health of bones, connective tissue, tendons, cartilage, and skin. Not surprisingly, Lysine has also been found to increase the speed of wound healing.

Thymus is also high in the amino acid Tyrosine, providing 454mg or 52% of your RDV. Tyrosine has been found to offer numerous benefits, including

  • Stimulating the production of important neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine
  • Supporting mental focus by increasing attention, focus, and working memory.
  • Reducing feelings of stress and anxiety
  • Supporting mood, motivation, and feelings of overall well-being.

Sourcing High-Quality Beef Thymus

Beef thymus is usually sourced from young cows or veal. 

It’s important to source organ meats from cows raised on grass in pristine environments. Otherwise, there’s a risk of contamination with heavy metals. 

The first place to look for quality beef thymus is your local rancher or farmer’s market. After that, there are a few quality online purveyors that we’ll list below. 

There are also desiccated options like Herbage Farmstead

How to Prepare Beef Thymus: Simple Recipes

Veal sweetbreads meat isolated on white background.

Ingredients:

Instructions:

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil
  2. Lower heat. Mix in lemon juice and salt
  3. Add thymus to the boiling water. Cook for 10 minutes
  4. Remove thymus from water. Run under cold water until cool 
  5. Dry the thymus with a clean cloth and transfer to a new plate
  6. Place another heavy pan on the thymus and press down to flatten
  7. Cut flattened thymus into small slices about half an inch wide
  8. Place slices into a bowl of coconut flour or crushed pork rinds
  9. Heat suet or ghee in a large skillet
  10. Add thymus to pan and fry until golden brown (less than 5 minutes)
  11. Flip over and fry until they’re golden brown on the other side, too (less than 3 minutes)
  12. Transfer to a plate and enjoy

Grilled Thymus “Mollejas” Recipe

Beef Thymus: The Bottom Line

Beef thymus is a nutrient-dense organ derived from the thymus gland of a young cow. However, most people have only heard of thymus by its culinary name, “sweetbreads.” 

In fact, thymus is one of a number of organ meats that are billed as sweetbreads. Of the various sweetbreads, thymus is the most tender and mild. 

The thymus has been a prized part of traditional diets for millennia. It’s rich in B vitamins, healthy fats, and a thymus-specific enzyme called thymosin that may support healthy immune function. 

image of gary brecka

What is the Gary Brecka Diet? Benefits and Drawbacks

The Gary Brecka diet is a high-fat, low-carb protocol that calls for focusing on specific foods, eliminating others, and consuming significant protein shortly after waking up. Brecka’s dietary guidelines are one component of a holistic health and longevity protocol that can include genetic testing and proprietary bio-hacking devices.

In this article, we’ll explore what the Gary Brecka diet is, including macronutrient ratios, food choices, along with potential benefits and drawbacks. 

Who is Gary Brecka?

First of all, who is Gary Brecka, and why are his dietary guidelines gaining in popularity? 

Brecka bills himself as the “Chief Human Biologist” of his company, 10X Health. In Brecka’s own estimation, this means that he applies cutting edge scientific understanding of human biology with lifestyle guidelines to optimize performance, wellness, and longevity. 

To date, Brecka has advised various professional athletes and high-power individuals. 

Notably, UFC CEO Dana White credited Gary Brecka with saving his life. After doing blood tests with Brecka, Dana White was told that based on his biomarkers, he showed signs of metabolic syndrome (a precursor to other diseases such as heart disease and diabetes) and had only 10.4 years to live. 

That’s when Dana White began following Brecka’s movement and keto diet protocols to transform his health. 

 

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Interestingly, Brecka’s specialization in administering and interpreting genetic and blood tests didn’t come through typical glitzy academic training like fellow bio-hacking gurus and Stanford alums Dr. Peter Attia and Andrew Huberman

Brecka only has a bachelor’s degree in biology from little known Frostburg State University, and and another bachelor’s degree in chiropractic medicine.

In fact, Brecka’s insatiable curiosity about optimizing human performance and lifespan was born from his private sector work as a mortality-modeling expert in the insurance industry. In this role, Brecka used medical records and demographic data to predict when someone was likely to die, up to the month! 

Eventually, Brecka went on to found a company called Streamline that integrates modern science and holistic health protocols, ostensibly to hack human biology and buck the trends of demographic determinism. 

Gary Brecka Diet Macronutrient Ratios

The Gary Brecka diet is also called a keto reset diet. This means that it’s a high-fat, low-carb, moderate-protein way of eating. 

Typically, this way of eating calls for the following macronutrient ratios

  • 70-75% of calories from fat
  • 20-25% of calories from protein
  • 5-10% of calories from carbohydrates

High-fat, low-carb diets have been found to precipitate numerous biological changes and health benefits, including 

  • Significant and sustained weight loss
  • Neurological and mental health disorders such as epilepsy, Alzheimer’s depression, and bipolar personality disorder
  • Supports the treatment of various cancers
  • Reverses metabolic syndrome
  • Reduces severity of type 1  and type 2 diabetes
  • Reduces insulin resistance 
  • Improves blood lipid levels
  • Reduces risk of cardiovascular disease

 

low carb high fat vs low fat diets for weight loss

 

In addition to these standard keto macro ratios, the Gary Brecka diet calls for something called the 30-30-30 method and the avoidance of 5 specific foods. Let’s turn to these features now. 

Gary Brecka’s 30-30-30 Method

The 30-30-30 method entails

  • consuming 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up in the morning
  • Follow the protein with 30 minutes of low-intensity exercise

This approach went viral after Gary Brecka described it on TikTok. The video now has more than 21 million views and countless stitches where people share their successes with it. 

The idea behind consuming protein just after waking up is that the amino acids balance glucose levels and create a foundation for sustained energy. 

If you don’t have protein and go right into a workout, your body will break down lean muscle tissue since muscle is far easier for your body to metabolize than fat. 

The Biochemical Benefits

Protein triggers the release of several hormones, like glucagon, that work in opposition to insulin, helping to regulate blood sugar levels effectively.

This sets up a favorable hormonal environment that aids in glucose stability. Additionally, protein takes longer to digest compared to carbohydrates.

This slow digestion rate contributes to a more gradual absorption of sugar into the bloodstream, further aiding in blood sugar stabilization.

The Domino Effect on Your Day

The benefits don’t stop at mere glucose stabilization.

When your blood sugar levels are stable, you’re less likely to experience mood swings, energy crashes, or cravings for sugary snacks. In a domino effect, this supports sustained mental clarity, better decision-making, and improved focus and productivity.

Imagine not having to battle the post-lunch slump or the late-afternoon fog; that’s the level of sustained energy we’re talking about.

Engaging in physical activity stimulates your metabolism, setting you on the path of calorie burning throughout the day, and unleashing mood and energy stabilizing compounds like endorphins and serotonin. The result is sustained energy and mental clarity. 

@brecka.clip Use the 30/30/30 rule 💯 #garybrecka #weightloss #weightlosstransformation #health #women #womenshealth ♬ original sound – Brecka

Gary Brecka’s 5 Foods to Avoid

  1. Flavored yogurt, even if it’s organic: Fruit-flavored yogurts are packed with 25-40 grams of sugar per serving, making them off-limits on a low-carb diet. Plain, organic Greek yogurt, on the other hand, can be a good addition to the Brecka diet and a great source of protein for the 30-30-30 protocol. It’s worth noting that Greek yogurt is lean, so you’ll have to add heavy cream or make up for the fat shortage by eating fattier meals throughout the day to achieve your macro ratios.
  2. Refined sugars: This one’s obvious. Sugar is toxic, spikes insulin, and causes a cascade of hormonal imbalances and inflammatory responses linked with various cancers, neurodegenerative disorders, infertility, obesity, and diabetes
  3. White rice: White rice is basically sugar in another form. With only 2 grams of protein per 48 grams of carbs, it has no place on the Gary Brecka diet.
  4. Non-organic and/or GMO veggies, but even fresh organic veggies, are not ideal on the Brecka diet. Non-organic an GMO veggies expose your body to chemical pesticides and biological compounds that can negatively impact your health. Gary Brecks suggests consuming flash frozen organic veggies because they retain more vitamins and minerals and are harvested at peak ripeness.
  5. Industrially processed seed oils: Seed oils like canola and soybean oil are among the most toxic foods on earth. They are high in unstable polyunsaturated fatty acids linked with inflammation, obesity, heart disease, and cancer. Brecka also points out that  in the early stages of processing, these oils are gummy. Companies use hexane, a known neurotoxin, to remove the gumminess.

Bonus: Gary Brecka, like many health enthusiasts, is suspicious of the effects of contaminants in tap water such as chlorine, fluoride, heavy metals, and pharmaceutical byproducts. 

Gary Brecka Diet Food List 

Foods that Gary Brecka suggests consuming on his keto reset diet include: 

​​Healthy Fats: Saturated and monounsaturated fats from animal sources and others from avocado, nuts, whole seeds, and olive oil. Remember, on keto, fat is your main source of calories. 

Protein Sources: Moderate protein from whole foods sources such as red meat, seafood, eggs, and full-fat dairy. 

Vegetables and low-carb fruit: Low-carb, non-starchy vegetables such as leafy greens, squash, asparagus, and avocado.

Nuts and seeds: Though fatty, nuts and seeds are high in inflammatory polyunsaturated fatty acids, so should be enjoyed in moderation.

Full-fat dairy products: Fatty, creamy cheeses, plain Greek yogurt, and heavy cream. Milk and lower-fat dairy is high in dairy sugars and should be avoided. 

Potential Benefits of a Gary Brecka Keto Reset 

Weight loss: On a keto diet, your body becomes more efficient at metabolizing body fat into powerful energy molecules called ketones. This metabolic process is called ketosis and has been shown to support more significant and sustained weight loss than calorie-restricting diets. 

Increased energy: Cutting processed foods and carbs and getting your energy from fatty, nutrient-dense whole foods provides sustained and stable energy throughout the day. 

Appetite suppression: High-fat, protein-rich foods are highly satiating on their own. And when you cut sugar and consume only fatty whole foods hunger hormones leptin and insulin resensitize. These hormones are responsible for turning on and off feelings of fullness and hunger. In short, your body re-learns how to sense when you’ve had enough to eat. 

Heart health: Contrary to the myth that saturated fat causes heart disease, ketogenic diets reduce the risk of heart disease, in part by reducing inflammation and by lowering triglycerides and increasing levels of “good” HDL cholesterol

Reduced inflammation: Cutting sugar and seed oils, and replacing them with whole foods dramatically reduces inflammation and helps to heal the gut–ground zero for systemic inflammation. 

Drawbacks to the Gary Brecka Diet

Gary Brecka is rightfully concerned about industrial contaminants in our food and water. And he’s spot on about the power of high-fat, low-carb eating to deliver transformative health benefits. 

But he overlooks the presence and potential impact of tens of thousands of naturally occurring plant-toxins and antinutrients found in abundance in most plant foods, including greens, seeds, nuts, peppers, and spices.  

Over eons, plants have evolved sophisticated chemical defenses that can wreak havoc on human tissue, digestion, and metabolism. 

Dr. Kiltz strongly recommends that you don’t eat your veggies for the following reasons: 

  • Vegetables contain thousands of naturally occurring toxins
  • Plant foods are a prime factor in numerous digestive issues, including intestinal permeability or “leaky gut”
  • Plant fiber is not necessary and likely abraids our intestines while causing excess and inflammation through fermentation
  • Vegetables are often contaminated with harmful bacteria causing widespread outbreaks, hospitalizations, and even death
  • Many plant foods, especially nuts, beans, seeds, and grains are contaminated with toxic molds called mycotoxins 

Common-Plant-Chemicals-and-their-Effect-1-1536x1314-1

For these reasons, all-meat diets like carnivore and Dr. Kiltz’s own BEBBIIS diet may be more beneficial high-fat, low-carb alternatives. 

It’s worth highlighting that animal-based foods are far superior to plant foods in terms of nutrient variety and abundance. Reducing or eliminating plant foods does not lead to nutrient deficiencies. And, due to the presence of antinutrients in plants, when replaced with whole animal products, you will likely be at less risk for nutrient deficiencies. 

Nutrient Dense Foods list

The Gary Brecka Diet: The Bottom Line

The Gary Brecka diet is an approach to high-fat, low-carb keto eating. It was developed by bio-hacker and entrepreneur Gary Brecka. 

This way of eating is part of a holistic wellness regimen aimed at biological optimization and increased longevity. 

Following this way of eating can promote heart health, reduce inflammation, resensitize critical hormones, reduce body fat, and support sustained energy and mental clarity. However, it does include various plant foods like almond milk, and various vegetables that can expose the body to unnecessary carbs, naturally occurring toxins, toxic molds, excess fiber, and inflammatory polyunsaturated fatty acids. If you’re serious about getting the greatest benefit from your low-carb, high-fat lifestyle, there are other more nutritious approaches.

Macro closeup of fresh whole beef sweetbreads thymus organ gland, nutritious ancestral meat homemade food cooking frying on pan with steam

Carnivore Diet Supplements

The carnivore diet calls for eliminating all plant foods and consuming only animal products–especially red meat. This more restrictive way of eating raises the question of what nutrients might be missing on carnivore, and if there is a need for carnivore diet supplements?

Yet, upon closer inspection, an all-meat diet provides a far greater variety and density of nutrients than a Standard American diet based on processed and plant foods.

In this article, we’ll explore the question of carnivore diet supplements by looking at the nutrients that animal products provide in abundance and how to source harder-to-get nutrients from various animal products. Then, if all else fails, we’ll direct you to some helpful over-the-counter supplements. 

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Vitamins and Minerals on the Carnivore Diet

Animal products are the most nutrient-dense foods on earth, bar none. “Nutrient density” refers to the amount and variety of nutrients per gram of food. 

Gram-for-gram plant foods do not come close to matching the nutrient density of meat and animal products. This phenomenon is called “meat efficiency.”

APPLE (100 g)CARROTS (100 g)RED MEAT (100 g)BEEF LIVER (100 g)
Calcium3.0 mg3.3 mg11.0 mg11.0 mg
Phosphorus6.0 mg31.0 mg140.0 mg476.0 mg
Magnesium4.8 mg6.2 mg15.0 mg18.0 mg
Potassium139.0 mg222.0 mg370.0 mg380.0 mg
Iron.1 mg.6 mg3.3 mg8.8 mg
Zinc.05 mg.3 mg4.4 mg4.0 mg
Copper.04 mg.08 mg.18 mg12.0 mg
Vitamin ANoneNone40 IU53,400 IU
Vitamin DNoneNoneTrace19 IU
Vitamin E.37 mg.11 mg1.7 mg.63 mg
Vitamin C7.0 mg6.0 mg16 mg27.0 mg
Thiamin.03 mg.05 mg.05 mg.26 mg
Riboflavin.02 mg.05 mg.20 mg4.19 mg
Niacin.10 mg.60 mg4.0 mg16.5 mg
Pantothenic Acid.11 mg.19 mg.42 mg8.8 mg
Vitamin B6.03 mg.10 mg.07 mg.73 mg
Folate8.0 mcg24.0 mcg4.0 mcg145.0 mcg
BiotinNone.42 mcg2.08 mcg96.0 mcg
Vitamin B12NoneNone1.84 mcg111.3 mcg

 

Nutrient Dense Foods list

It’s also worth highlighting that there are numerous nutrients that are either exclusive to, or only found in appreciable amounts in animal products. These nutrients include

You don’t need to think about supplementing any of the above nutrients on carnivore. 

What about the Nutrients in Plants? 

Though plant foods do contain some essential vitamins and minerals, plant nutrients are delivered in formats that are far more difficult for the human body to digest and utilize than the versions of those nutrients found in animal products. 

For example, the zinc you get from red meat is 400% better absorbed than zinc from plants.

Furthermore, plants contain various antinutrients, such as phytates (phytic acid), lectins, and oxalates, that bind to zinc, iron, and calcium, resulting in deficiencies, even when plant foods contain these nutrients.

This is all to convey that if you consume a well-formulated carnivore diet, there is no need for supplements.  

That said, some people worry about vitamin C and electrolytes like potassium and magnesium, which are less abundant in meat. Let’s explore these harder-to-get nutrients below.

Carnivore Diet Vitamin C

One of the myths of the carnivore diet is that if you don’t eat plant foods, you’ll be deficient in vitamin C and get scurvy. 

But recent research tells us that consuming fresh meat in the quantities called for on a carnivore diet provides more than enough vitamin C to ward off scurvy–10mg per day.

Research published in Meat Science Journal found that fresh beef provides approximately 1.6 mcg/g of vitamin C in grain-fed meat, and 2.56 mcg/g in grass-fed meat.

A standard carnivore dieter consumes around 1000 grams (2.2 lbs) of red meat per day. This provides 1.6mg (grain-fed) and 2.56 mg of vitamin C, respectively. Far more than enough to prevent scurvy. 

Beef Muscle Meet (1000 grams/2.2 lbs)Amount Vitamin C% sufficient to prevent scurvy
Grass-fed beef2.56 mg25%
Grain-fed beef1.6 mg16%

In addition to muscle meat, seafood and organ meats provide supplemental vitamin C. In this way, it’s smart to think about organ meats like thymus as a true carnivore diet supplement. 

Animal-Based Foods High in Vitamin CAmount Vitamin C% sufficient to prevent scurvy
Beef spleen (100g)45.5mg455%
Beef thymus (100g)34mg340%
Salmon Roe (100g) 16 mg160%
Beef Pancreas (100g)13.7 mg137%
Chicken giblets (100g)13.1mg131%
Beef Brain (100g)10.7 mg107%
Beef Kidney (100g)9.4 mg94%
Oysters (6 oysters, or 88 grams)3.3 mg33%
Raw Liver (100g)1.3 mg13%

Getting enough Magnesium on the Carnivore Diet 

Magnesium is an essential electrolyte that your body needs to fulfill numerous physical functions and ultimately survive. 

Most people need to consume around 400mg of magnesium per day. 

1lb of ribeye steak or lamb provides around 100mg of magnesium. 

Consuming 2-3 lbs of steak alone gives you 200-300 mg of magnesium, leaving the remainder 100-200mg to other foods or supplements. 

Other carnivore food groups that provide more magnesium include cheese and seafood. 

  • Atlantic Mackerel: 97 mg per 100 grams
  • Anchovies (canned): 69 mg per 100 grams
  • Sardines: 58 mg per 100 grams
  • Oysters: 58 mg per 100 grams
  • Shrimp/prawns 39 mg per 100 grams
  • Mussels 37 mg per 100 grams
  • Parmesan cheese: 38 mg per 100 grams
  • Sharp cheddar: 32 mg per 100 grams

Carnivore Diet Potassium

Like magnesium, potassium is an essential electrolyte that is more available in plant foods than animal products. That said, a well-formulated carnivore diet can more than satisfy your potassium needs. 

Here’s a list of carnivore diet foods high in potassium. 

FoodPotassium per serving (mg)% RDV
Salt cod (8oz)3353mg111%
Ground chicken (8oz)1557mg53%
Wild salmon (8oz)1444mg48%
Clams (8oz)1444mg48%
Bacon1359mg45%
Atlantic halibut (8oz)1324mg44%
Pork loin (8oz)1304mg43%
Ground beef (8oz)996mg33%
Beef ribs (8oz)941mg31%

What Supplements Can I Take on the Carnivore Diet? 

Ok, so after reading the above, if you’d rather not think about formulating your diet to cover your nutrient needs, here’s a rundown of common carnivore diet supplements. 

Carnivore Electrolyte Supplements

Keto Chow is an electrolyte formula created by Carnivore enthusiast Dr. Ken Berry

Simply add a few drops to your water or even directly to your steak. 

Create your own 

If you’d rather create your own bespoke carnivore diet electrolyte supplement regiment, follow these guidelines. 

  • 400mg of magnesium citrate
  • 1-3 99mg potassium citrate supplements. Taking more potassium than this runs the risk of heart failure. Be careful! 
  • Salt food liberally*

To rebalance electrolytes on a very low-carb diet, many doctors familiar with carnivore recommend consuming at least 12 grams (2 tsp) of salt daily in the first few days of adapting to carnivore. 

After that, consume at least 5 grams (about 1 tsp) of salt daily to avoid headaches, fatigue, and constipation.

Bile Supplements on Carnivore 

The carnivore diet is, by default, a high-fat, moderate protein, low-carb diet. 

To digest all that additional animal fat, your body needs to produce enough bile. Bile emulsifies (mixes) fats into a substance that your intestines can absorb.

Most people go through a period of adjustment as their body learns to upregulate bile production to meet the new fat load. 

However, people with IBS/IBD may have issues with creating enough bile when adapting to carnivore.

Considering the importance of bile for digestion and the discomfort that can occur during the transition period, ox bile and Betaine HCL supplements can help with the transition. 

bottle of bile supplementsbottle of hcl supplements

 

Carnivore Diet Supplements: The Bottom Line

The all-meat carnivore diet marks a radical departure from mainstream dietary guidelines calling for varied, plant-based food sources. So, it’s understandable that people are concerned about the possibility of carnivore diet supplements to cover any deficiencies. 

However, animal-based foods provide a superior variety and density of nearly every essential nutrient. 

The only areas where supplements on the carnivore diet may be appropriate (but not necessary) are electrolytes and bile supplements. 

Perhaps the most effective way to think about carnivore diet supplements is to “supplement” like our hypercarnivorous ancestors: consume various animal-based products, especially organ meats.

ketovore meats and spices on a black background

What is the Ketovore Diet? Benefits and Drawbacks

If you’re interested in taking control of your health through diet and lifestyle, you’ve probably heard of both ketogenic and carnivore diets. 

The ketovore diet is a combination of these two approaches. This looks like centering all meals around animal products and supplementing with some low-toxin, low-carb plant foods. 

In this article, we’ll explore the benefits and drawbacks of the ketovore approach to low-carb, high-fat eating. 

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Keto + Carnivore= Ketovore

To better understand what ketovore is and isn’t, let’s take a brief look at both of its parent diets–keto and carnivore

What is Keto?

The ketogenic diet is defined by its macronutrient ratios

  • Reduce carbs to around 10% of your daily caloric intake
  • Increase fat to account for around 70% of your calories
  • Get 20-30% of your calories from protein

Dramatically cutting carbs and increasing fat triggers your body to enter a metabolic state called ketosis, where your primary fuel source is molecules produced from dietary and body fat. 

Ketosis has been linked to 

  • reduced inflammation
  • rapid weight loss
  • alleviation of psychiatric conditions
  • stable energy, and mental clarity
  • Insulin sensitivity
  • Leptin sensitivity
  • Reduced blood pressure 

Though keto doesn’t explicitly tell you what to eat and what not to eat, it requires eliminating most processed foods (other than keto treats), all added sugars, most fruits, and all high-carb vegetables. 

It is possible to follow a vegetarian and even vegan keto approach. However, most keto dieters consume relatively high quantities of fatty animal products since these foods are naturally ketogenic. 

What is Carnivore? 

The carnivore diet entails consuming only animal products

The hierarchy of carnivore diet foods is as follows: 

Because most animal products are naturally zero-carb foods, carnivore dieters don’t focus on macronutrient ratios

The rule of thumb for carnivores is to eat the fattiest cuts of meat available and to cook leaner meats in generous amounts of animal fats. 

Additionally, the carnivore diet strictly eliminates plant foods in order to protect the body from 

  • exposure to thousands of naturally occurring plant toxins and antinutrients
  • various plant-born bacteria
  • toxic molds (mycotoxins)
  • damage of the gut due to indigestible plant fiber

Common-Plant-Chemicals-and-their-Effect-1-1536x1314-1

Carnivore is more straightforward than keto, making shopping and meal plans easier. However, some people, at least when making the transition from a standard keto or standard Western diet, find carnivore to be too restrictive and want to allow for some low-toxin, low-carb plant foods. 

This brings us to the definition of ketovore.

Ketovore Defined

Combine keto with carnivore, and you get ketovore: An animal-based way of eating that follows keto macronutrient ratios while allowing for supplementation with a variety of low-carb plant foods and occasional keto snacks that include non-carnivore ingredients like spices and coconut oil. In this way, ketovore is also considered a modified carnivore diet. 

Examples of non-carnivore foods that often make their way into ketovore diets include

  • Coconut oil
  • Olive oil
  • Avocados
  • nut butters
  • Chia seeds
  • Low-carb fruits: blackberries, raspberries, strawberries 
  • Low-carb veggies: cooked leafy greens
  • Dark chocolate
  • Spices
  • Coffee 

Benefits of Ketovore

Research suggests that ketovore is an evolutionarily aligned way of eating. This means that it mimics the eating habits of our caveman ancestors, who researchers believe were hypercarnivorus apex predators for nearly two million years until dawn of the agricultural evolution only 10,000 years ago.

Figure-1-Human-brain-Dr.-Miki-Ben-Dor-1536x689-2-1440x646

Source: Dr Miki Ben Dor

Our bodies and brains were built by the nutrients from fatty animals. The belief follows that by consuming these evolutionarily aligned foods while cutting out cultivated and processed foods, we can provide our bodies with the premium fuel they are designed for. 

Nutrient Dense Foods list

At the same time, we can eliminate exposure to the paltry and harmful foods that are sold to us by modern agricultural interests. 

percent of calories per food group chart

Drawbacks of the Ketovore Diet

Plant foods are non-essential, meaning we don’t need them, and they can do more harm than good. 

Plants expose our bodies to thousands of naturally occurring pesticides that can have deleterious effects on our entire bodies via intestinal degradation and systemic inflammation. 

If you’re serious about reaping the benefits of animal-based eating, Dr. Kiltz recommends eliminating all plant foods. 

The Ketovore Diet: The Bottom Line

The ketovore diet is born from the combination of keto and carnivore. 

Keto is defined by eliminating carbs and increasing fat to around 70% of your caloric intake. The carnivore diet is defined by consuming only animal products and centering meals around fatty ruminant meat. 

Ketovore adheres to the ketogenic macronutrient requirements and centers meals around meat while allowing for the inclusion of non-carnivore foods like low-toxin, low-carb fruits and veggies, spices, and other keto but not carnivore foods. Proponents of ketovore like that it allows for more variety and flexibility while delivering the nutritional nourishment that only meat can provide. Traditional carnivore dieters caution against consuming plant products that can expose the body to toxins, sugars, molds, and abrasive fiber.

Organic Grass Fed Butter Stick

Is Grass Fed Butter Good for You? Analysis and Best Brands

In recent years, there’s been a revival of interest in animal-based ingredients, including the return of grass-fed butter, leading many people to wonder, “Is grass-fed butter good for you?”

Indeed, research tells us that a higher proportion of grasses in a cow’s diet increases its overall nutrient content. Yet, grass-fed dairy makes up a small percentage of butter produced in the United States. Most dairy cows are raised on grain-based or corn-based feed, and rarely get to graze pastures where they can indulge in their natural diet of grasses, alfalfa, clover, and hay. 

In addition to providing an abundance of healthy fatty acids that support the immune system, prevent malignant cell growth, and aid in our digestion, grass-fed butter can be a supplemental source of essential vitamins. 

In this article, we’ll discuss the nutritional benefits of grass-fed butter and detail the reasons why you’ll want to choose grass-fed butter over conventional butter. 

What is Grass-Fed Butter

Cow on the farm eats grass, clover. Ecological food for animals. Organic milk does not contain antibiotics.

Grass-fed butter, sometimes called pasture-raised butter, comes from dairy cows who graze primarily on grass pastures or are fed a grass-based diet. 

More than a trend, this type of dairy farming uses traditional methods that prove to be better for human and animal health. The feed of cows directly impacts the fat and nutrient quality of the products made from their milk.

Grass-fed butter benefits@2x

Is grass-fed butter healthy?

Yes! Grass-fed butter is packed with nearly 400 different fatty acids and some critical fat-soluble vitamins.

So why have our food systems at large veered away from this whole food for decades? Well, the story is pretty unsavory. In the mid-20th century, butter was given a bad rap thanks in part to powerful food lobbies promoting vegetable and soybean oils

The Demonization and Resurrection of Saturated Animal Fats

One physiologist by the name of Dr. Ancel Keys began to link the consumption of saturated fat, particularly from butter and other animal products, with heart disease. The newly industrialized food industry ran with it. 

For example, in 1961 Proctor & Gamble, the maker of Crisco, funded the fledgling American Heart Association with the equivalent of $21 million dollars in today’s money. This became a powerful lobby influencing American dietary guidelines to jettison butter and eat more polyunsaturated seed oils.

The consumer population was thereby misled for decades into thinking butter was to blame for chronic heart conditions and obesity. 

Only in the 21st century has higher quality mainstream science been able to set the record straight–butter, especially from grass-fed sources is healthy in general, and far more healthy than seed oils.

graph of saturated fat vs heart disease

What the Science Says About Butter and Heart Health

Is grass-fed butter healthy? Well, before turning to the health benefits, let’s run through some mainstream modern studies showing that saturated animal fats, including butter are not unhealthy. Since this seems to be the major sticking point in most conversations regarding butter. 

In a 2016 re-evaluation of the diet-heart hypothesis, a randomized control trial looking at the efficacy of replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fats found that doing so did lower total cholesterol 14%. However, this resulted in a “22% higher risk of death for each 30 mg/dL reduction in serum cholesterol.”

Another study known as the Sydney Heart Health study, was conducted to support the Australian Heart Association’s theory that replacing saturated fats like you get from butter with PUFAs from seed oils would improve CVD risk factors.

Ironically, people in the group that replaced saturated fat with vegetable oils suffered a 62% higher death rate!

In this 2019 study published in the British Medical Journal titled “Fat or Fiction: the diet-heart Hypothesis,” researchers concluded, “The preponderance of evidence indicates that low-fat diets that reduce serum cholesterol do not reduce cardiovascular events or mortality.”

Then, in 2020, a study co-authored by researchers from leading international medical schools affirmed that “Whole-fat dairy [butter], unprocessed meat, and dark chocolate are SFA-rich foods with a complex matrix (of nutrients) that are not associated with an increased risk of CVD (cardiovascular disease). “The totality of available evidence does not support further limiting the intake of such foods.”

Health Benefits of Grass-Fed Butter

Now that butter is no longer the boogyman at the table, let’s explore why grass-fed butter is a more nutritious option than conventional butter. 

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

  • Grass-fed butter contains, on average, as much as 26% more omega-3 fatty acids than conventional butter.
  • Omega-3’s play a vital role in reducing cellular inflammation and thereby preventing various chronic and autoimmune diseases. 

Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA)

  • Grass-fed butter has a higher concentration of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) than regular butter. One study suggests as much as 500% more CLA can be found in grass-fed dairy over dairy from conventionally raised cattle.
  • Higher amounts of CLA may block the growth of certain cancer cells and prevent the disease altogether.
  • A 2005 study on women found that participants who consumed at least four servings of high-fat dairy per day had a 34% lower risk of colon cancer.
  • CLA has also been found to reduce cholesterol in people with type 2 diabetes and improve insulin sensitivity in young, sedentary adults.

Vitamin A

  • Grass-fed butter is rich in vitamin A – an essential fat-soluble vitamin, meaning that our bodies can’t produce it, and that we must get it through the foods we eat. 
  • Vitamin A helps our body maintain good vision, promotes steady growth and early life development, and supports our immune system as well as both male and female reproductive systems.
  • 2 tbsp of grass-fed butter (28 grams) can provide as much as 22% of your suggested daily intake of vitamin A.

Vitamin K2

  • Grass-fed butter provides a moderate amount of vitamin K2, another fat-soluble vitamin essential to skin health, bone health, and the maintenance of proper brain function.
  • Vitamin K2 plays a crucial role in regulating calcium metabolism in the body and can help prevent osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases, and sperm motility, among other conditions.
  • One study of over 4,000 participants found there to be a 50% reduction in death from heart disease with a daily consumption of 32 mcg per day of vitamin K2.
  • 100 grams of grass-fed butter provides 21 mcg of K2, or 18% RDV. 

Butyrate

  • Grass-fed butter is high in butyrate, a beneficial short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) 
  • There is approximately 150 mg of butyrate in 1 teaspoon of butter. 
  • Most butyrate, or butyric acid, is produced in the gut through fermentation. However, butter is the best dietary source of butyrate and can help restore and support our digestive functions, and is effective against stroke, high cholesterol, and genetic metabolic disorders.
  • In people with Crohn’s disease, butyric acid has  been shown to decrease inflammation is in the intestines.

Beta Carotene 

  • Grass-fed butter is rich in the antioxidant beta carotene, which the body uses to convert to vitamin A as needed. 
  • Studies reveal that grass-fed butter is higher in beta carotene than conventional butter.
  • Beta carotene protects the body from free radicals and is linked to reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes, boosting immunological function, and combating certain cancers and chronic diseases.

Arachidonic Acid

  • Grass-fed butter is a good source of an unsaturated fat called arachidonic acid.
  • Arachidonic acid plays an important role in infant development
  • This fatty acid is a precursor to various signaling molecules critical to proper immune response and function.

Best Grass-Fed Butter Brands

Now that we’ve covered the health benefits of grass-fed butter, below is a rundown of what’s on the market and what makes these brands stand out.

1. Frankie’s A2/A2 Raw 100% Grass-Fed “Amish” Butter

Close up of block of grass fed butter

Available online only from Frankie’s Free Range Foods. This animal-based food company was started by Frank Tufano, a well-known carnivore diet enthusiast. 

What sets Frankie’s butter apart is that it is made from a local Amish farm, it’s 100% Grass Fed, and it’s made from raw A2/A2 dairy fat. 

Raw dairy has been linked to reduced allergies, improved digestion, and better immune function.

A2 dairy is free from a dairy protein called beta-casomorphin-7 (casein), which is typical in A1 dairy–the standard for most butter.  

Beta-casomorphin -7 has been associated (at least theoretically) with various diseases and disorders. These include type 1 diabetes, Cardiovascular diseases, Autism (in people with immune deficiencies), Schizophrenia (in people with immune deficiencies), sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), apnea, and constipation.

Does this mean you should only consume A2 dairy? The jury is still out. For now, what we know is that grass-fed butter, whether made from A1 or A2, are both healthy whole foods. But for people with dairy allergies, A2 is a great choice. 

2. Organic Valley Cultured Pasture Butter 

Organic Valley butter is made at the peak of its pasture season when the cow’s milk is naturally high in omega-3s and CLAs. 

Organic Valley boasts never to use any synthetic ingredients in their production, claiming the golden color comes entirely from their summer grasses. 

3. Vital Farms Pasture-Raised Butter

Herndon, USA - March 25, 2021: Closeup of pasture raised grass fed whole butter pack packaged in colorful package of Vital Farms brand on retail shelf display

Established in 2007, Vital Farms bills itself as a brand based on sustainability, quality production, and premium ingredients. 

Made with 85% butterfat, their pasture-raised butter is rich in color and packed with flavor. 

Vital Farms claims that their cows’ primary diet consists of grasses. However, in colder months, they are given a supplement feed, which includes some non-GMO grains.  

4. Kirkland Grass-Fed New Zealand Butter

kirkland grass fed butter

Dairy from New Zealand cows is among the most nutritious on earth, thanks to ideal year-round access to verdant grasslands. 

Kirkland is also among the less expensive grass-fed options we found, making it a staple on the budget carnivore shopping list.

5. Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter

Kerrygold Irish butter has the richest golden color of the brands we tested and a smooth, creamy texture. Another bonus is its wide market availability. 

Kerrygold claims that about 85% of their Irish cows’ diet is grass-fed, and the rest is supplemental feed during colder months. 

Bonus: Local Butcher

It’s always a good idea to check with your local butcher to see what types of butter they carry. 

They are typically smaller batch brands that don’t get as much airtime as these other heavy hitters we’ve listed. 

And, of course, grass-fed butter and a juicy ribeye cut are a match made in carnivore heaven. 

 Is Grass-Fed Butter Good for You? The Bottom Line

Grass-fed butter is a healthy addition to any meal. More nutritious than conventional butter, grass-fed butter boasts higher amounts of anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids and butyrate, anti-carcinogenic Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA), and vitamins A and K2. 

The abundance of fatty acids and antioxidant compounds in grass-fed butter, especially from raw dairy, can improve immunological function, restore gut health, and reduce inflammation. 

Consider swapping out conventional butter with grass-fed or pasture-raised options to ensure maximum nutrient absorbency, not to mention flavor!

Carnivore or keto diet concept. Raw ingredients for zero carb or low carb diet - burger patties, ribeye, salmon steak, pork, egg on gray stone background. Top view or flat lay. Copy space top

What is A Modified Carnivore Diet?

The carnivore diet is a way of eating that calls for eating only animal products and eliminating all plant and processed foods. For nearly everyone used to a modern Western diet, this will mark a dietary revolution. So, it’s understandable that for many people, modifying a carnivore diet to make the transition less demanding or to allow for specific noncarnivore foods is a common approach. 

In this article, we’ll explore some of the popular approaches to a modified carnivore diet, including their benefits and drawbacks. 

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Dr. Kiltz’s BEBBIIS Plan

The B.E.B.B.I.I.S. (pronounced “babies”) plan is an animal-based diet developed by the namesake of this website. Dr. Robert Kiltz developed this way of eating during his decades as a fertility doctor, helping countless people become parents, often through dietary interventions alone. 

BEBBIIS is an acronym that stands for a selection of “archetypal” foods. It’s more a rule of thumb than a narrow food list. BEBBIIS stands for 

  • Bacon: Fatty pork products.
  • Eggs: All types of eggs, including salmon roe–a fertility staple among many traditional diets.
  • Butter: All animal fats, including ghee, tallow, lard, heavy cream, and cheeses
  • Beef: All “red” meat from ruminant animals, including cow, bison, lamb, goat, elk etc
  • Ice cream: specifically Kiltz’s homemade keto ice cream, which can be made with or without a very small amount of sugar.
  • Intermittent feasting: Restricting your eating to shorter windows on a daily basis. For Dr. Kiltz, eating one large meal (feast) a day, known as OMAD, is the optimal approach. 
  • Salt: An essential nutrient that your body needs to function. When you cut out processed foods you eliminate most of the salt in your diet, so you’ll need to salt your whole BEBBIIS foods liberally. 

Foods that are not on the list, but encouraged include chicken wings (but not breast–too lean), fatty fish like salmon, organ meats, especially duck and beef liver, and shellfish such as oysters and mussels. Dr. Kiltz also allows for “treats” once in a while, such as homemade tallow-fried french fries. 

Ancestral Carnivore Diet

The ancestral carnivore diet includes healthy doses of organ meats such as liver, spleen, marrow, heart, pancreas, and brains. 

This way of eating is considered “ancestral” because it’s likely the closest modern humans can come to the way our ancestors ate for nearly two million years. Our ancestors prized organ meats for their unsurpassed nutrient density. 

Even so, this way of eating is still based on fatty cuts of muscle meat like ribeye steak, fatty fish, pork, poultry, animal fats like butter, and can even include dairy. 

Another term for this approach is the Nose-to-tail carnivore diet. 

Meat and Fruit Modified Carnivore Diet

The meat and fruit diet is basically the standard carnivore diet modified with the addition of fresh fruit. 

Proponents of the meat and fruit diet point out that many populations of early humans had at least seasonal access to fresh fruits. However, ancient fruits were much smaller, more fibrous, and far less sweet than the cultivated fruits that we modern humans are familiar with. 

Choosing low-toxin, low-carb fruits is critical for most people who modify the carnivore diet with fruit. Otherwise, you can inhibit your body from properly metabolizing the high amounts of animal fats. If consuming large amounts of fruit, you’ll want to eat leaner meats, which diminishes the benefits of the “zero-carb” element of carnivore. 

Naturally lean and highly active people like Dr. Paul Saladino–who popularized this eating method–may be best suited to an animal-based diet with lots of fruit. Keep in mind that Dr. Saladino surfs for 2-3 hours each day and lives in a tropical environment with an abundance of fresh local fruit. 

One of the benefits of this way of eating is that it allows hard-training athletes to replenish the glycogen (a kind of carbohydrate) stored in muscles. 

The carnivore diet with fruit is actually the origin of the term “animal-based.” Dr. Saladino coined this term to cover his transition from a diet of only animal products to one that includes fresh fruit and honey. 

A note of caution: Our modern high-sugar diet is likely the leading cause of inflammation and hormonal imbalances that underly numerous metabolic disorders and diseases. Cutting sugar on the carnivore diet is a key factor in its numerous health benefits. Consuming sugary fruits likely diminishes these benefits. 

Carnivore diet Modified with Leafy Greens 

Known as the meat and greens diet. This way of eating was popularized by the psychologist Jordan Peterson, and it’s one of the most minimal versions of the modified carnivore. 

The meat and greens approach calls for consuming only steak, water, salt, and greens, with tallow for cooking. In this way, it is a type of elimination diet. 

After 30-90 days of strict beef and greens, you can slowly expand your variety by adding in other animal-based foods like butter, pork, eggs, seafood, poultry, and eventually cheese

A note of caution: Leafy greens are high in a naturally occurring plant toxin called oxalic acid, or oxalates. These little crystals act like spears that can damage your intestinal lining, causing leaky gut. Once your gut barrier is damaged, oxalates pass into your bloodstream and get deposited throughout your body tissue, causing inflammation. 

Oxalates can also inhibit the absorption of important nutrients like zinc and calcium. 

Cutting out plant foods that contain oxalates on the standard carnivore diet can result in symptoms of oxalate dumping as the body expels the accumulated oxalate load. 

Ketovore Diet

The ketovore diet is basically the carnivore diet formulated to meet the standard keto macronutrients. This looks like 

  • 70-80% of calories from fat
  • 20-30% of calories from protein
  • 0-10% of calories from carbohydrates

What makes it ketovore and not simply carnivore–which is essentially a keto diet since most animal products are zero carb–is that it allows for the addition of some low-carb non-animal products like veggies, fruits, and keto snacks. Another way to think of this diet is a meat-based keto diet.  

What do All Modified Carnivore Diets Have in Common? 

All modified carnivore diets center the vast majority of calories around nutrient-dense animal products and eliminate all processed foods.

percent of calories per food group chart

Plants are non-essential and treated as such. Animal products provide so much more than the “protein” that most people think of, and carnivore dieters of all stripes know this. 

Animal products are superior in terms of variety, density, and bioavailability (the ability of your body to absorb) nearly every nutrient our bodies need to thrive. There’s even a scientific term for the nutritional superiority of meat; “meat efficiency.”

Nutrient Dense Foods list

Modified Carnivore Diet: The Bottom Line

A modified carnivore diet isn’t a single way of eating. Rather, it encompasses various ways that people have modified the carnivore diet to suit their dietary needs and desires. 

For some people like Dr. Saladino, this means adding in tropical fruits to fuel high-intensity sports activities. Meanwhile, for Dr. Kiltz, it allows for occasional homemade treats like tallow-fried french fries and ice cream with a hint of sugar. For psychologist Jordan Peterson, modified carnivore looks like the meat, salt, and water diet with the addition of cooked leafy greens. 

After all these modifications one thing remains constant–fatty ruminant meats rule, accounting for the vast majority of calories. 

separated egg white and yolk

Egg Yolk vs Egg White? Putting the Debate to Rest

Eggs are one of the most convenient and nutrient-dense foods on earth. Yet, in recent decades, a supposedly “health-conscious” trend has taken hold that demonizes egg yolk and valorizes egg whites. Does this whites-over-yolks trend have merit, or is it bogus? In this article, we’ll consult the current nutritional science to tell the true story of egg yolk vs egg white. 

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Cholesterol in Egg Yolk vs Egg White?

The egg yolk vs egg white debate can be traced to the 1970s when nutritionists hypothesized that the cholesterol in egg yolks increased blood cholesterol levels and, in turn, increased the risk of heart disease.

The yolk of 2 eggs provides 185mg of cholesterol. Meanwhile, egg whites have 0mg of cholesterol.

But modern science tells us that for most people, dietary cholesterol does not significantly increase the cholesterol in our blood. The cholesterol-raising effects of eggs are confined to a minority of people with specific genetic traits that cause cholesterol hyperabsorption through the intestines.

A large-scale 2020 meta-analysis of numerous studies found that consuming one egg per day was not associated with the risk of cardiovascular disease. And that consuming eggs may decrease the risk of heart disease in Asian populations.3

These findings are in line with numerous individual studies that show that for healthy people, consuming 1-2 eggs per day does not negatively impact cholesterol levels or increase the risk of heart disease.

Studies on populations with metabolic disorders have found that consuming whole eggs typically increases levels of (good) HDL cholesterol while leaving (bad) LDL cholesterol the same or only slightly raised.

Choline in Egg Yolk vs Egg White

Another aspect of the egg yolk vs. egg white debate is how the choline in egg yolk affects heart health. 

Two egg yolks provide 278.9mg of choline or 51% RDV, making them an exceptionally high choline food. Egg white has essentially no 

Though choline is an important nutrient, some of it is metabolized into an oxide called TMAO. High concentrations of TMAO are a risk factor for heart disease.

However, consuming eggs has only been shown to increase TMAO levels within hours after eating eggs.

High-quality controlled feeding studies have found that consuming 2-3 eggs per day was not shown to increase TMAO concentrations.

In contrast, consuming fish has been shown to have a consistent and significant impact on circulating TMAO.

With regards to egg yolk, researchers believe that the impact of choline is highly individual and depends on many variables, including kidney function and gut microbiota. Cracked egg shell revealing egg yolk and white isolated

Calories in Egg Yolk vs Egg White

Egg yolk is a calorically dense food with 109 calories per 34 grams.

In contrast, egg white is a low-calorie food, contributing only 17 calories per 34 grams. 

This disparity makes egg whites popular among people on calorie-restricted diets

It’s worth highlighting that if you’re restricting calories to reduce weight, research shows that low-carb diets without restricting calories are more effective for reducing and keeping weight off. Whole eggs are an excellent low-carb high-fat diet food.

Egg Yolk vs Egg White Nutrition

Whole eggs provide all the nutrients needed for an entire animal to form, and most of these nutrients are concentrated in the yolk. 

When considering egg yolk vs egg white, for most people, it just doesn’t make sense to sacrifice the nutrients in the yolk. 

Egg Yolk vs. Egg Whites NutritionEgg Yolk 

Per 34 grams

%RDVEgg Whites

Per 34 grams

%RDV
Calories10917
Fat 9g.06g
Saturated Fat3.2g0g
Protein5.4g3.6g
Cholesterol184.5mg0mg
VITAMINS
Vitamin A129.5mcg14%00
Thiamin (B1)0.06mg5%00
Riboflavin (B2)0.18mg14%.14mg11%
Vitamin B5 (PA)1mg20%.06mg1%
Vitamin B60.12mg7%0
Folate (B9)49.6mcg12%1.3mcg0
Choline278.9mg51%.36mg0
Vitamin B120.66mcg28%.03mg1%
Lutein & Zeaxanthin 372mcg0
Vitamin E0.88mg6%0
Vitamin DConventional: 1.8mcg

Enriched feed: 50mcg

9%-250%0
MINERALS
Calcium43.93%2.3mg0
Iron, Fe.93mg5%.03mg0
Phosphorus, P132.6mg11%5mg0
Zinc, Zn0.78mg7%0.01mg0
Copper, Cu0.03mg3%.011%
Selenium, Se19mcg35%6.6mcg12%
Potassium, K37.1mg1%53.8mg1%

The abundance of nutrients in egg yolk directly contributes to powerful health benefits. Egg whites simply can’t compete. Here’s a rundown of the benefits you get from egg yolk that you’ll miss out on if you opt for egg whites alone: 

  • Intestinal health: specific proteins in egg yolk protect intestines from oxidative stress
  • Brain health: Choline in egg yolk promotes dopamine and serotonin production, improves memory and cognitive function, and supports fetal brain development when consumed during pregnancy.
  • Selenium in egg yolk supports thyroid health and immune function, provides antioxidant protection, and supports lung health.
  • Lutein and zeaxanthin: These compounds act as powerful antioxidants that protect eyes from degradation, cataracts, and ultraviolet rays. They also protect protein, fat, and DNA from oxidation.

Protein in Egg Yolk vs Egg White

People often think of egg white as the part of the egg with protein and egg yolk as the part that contains cholesterol, fat, and other nutrients. But egg yolk has ⅔ the amount of protein as the equivalent size serving as egg whites. 

For example, there is 7.2g of protein per 68 grams of egg whites (2 eggs). 

Compared to 10.8g of protein per 68 grams of egg yolk. Granted, you’d need four eggs to get 68 grams of yolk. 

If we’re measuring per single egg, the white of 1 egg provides 3.6 grams, while the yolk of one egg provides 2.7 grams of protein. 

Interestingly, the protein in egg yolk is comprised of higher concentrations of essential and “conditionally essential” amino acids than the protein in egg white. 

Take tyrosine for example. Egg yolk provides 20% more of this important amino acid per weight. Your body uses tyrosine to create critical neurotransmitters such as dopamine and adrenaline.  

Another important amino acid found in both egg yolk and egg white is tryptophan. This amino acid is integral to the production of melatonin and serotonin.

So, when comparing egg yolk vs egg white, with regards to protein quality, egg yolk comes out slightly ahead :

Amino AcidPer 68 grams of Egg Yolk%RDVPer 68 grams of Egg White%RDV
Histidine283mg40%191mg27%
Isoleucine589mg42%436mg31%
Leucine951mg35%671mg25%
Lysine828mg39%532mg25%
Methionine257mg35%263mg36%
Phenylalanine463mg53%453mg52%
Threonine467mg44%296mg28%
Tryptophan120mg43%83mg29%
Valine645mg35%534mg29%
Tyrosine461mg53%302mg34%

Groups that May Be Better Off Consuming Only Egg Whites

People with a genetic condition known as hypercholesterolemia should avoid egg yolk and other high-cholesterol foods. These people are colloquially known as “cholesterol hyperresponders.”  

Hypercholesterolemia features chronically high blood cholesterol levels and an increased risk for heart disease.

Egg Yolk vs Egg White: The Bottom Line

Eggs are a nutrient-dense whole food that provides an array of vital nutrients. Yet, concerns have been raised about the effects of the cholesterol in egg yolks on heart health. These concerns have led some nutritionists to recommend consuming only egg white, which has essentially no cholesterol. 

However, modern research tells us that the cholesterol in eggs does not adversely affect heart health in most people. Only a small subset of people who are genetically predisposed to rapidly absorb dietary cholesterol into their blood may be negatively affected by egg yolk. 

Additionally, egg yolk provides the vast majority of nutrients found in eggs, along with a substantial amount of quality protein. 

The only marginally science-supported reason to choose egg white over egg yolk is if you are looking to restrict your caloric intake. But even then, research shows that low-carb, high-fat diets that don’t restrict calories are superior to calorie-restricted diets for weight loss. 

Egg yolk vs egg white? The verdict is clear–eat whole eggs, yolk and whites! 

Meat diet plan web banner template. Weight loss meal, healthy eating. Animal products dishes on plates. Carnivore restaurant menu. Human hands cutting roasted beef steak. Fried fish and chicken

Carnivore Diet Weight Loss: How it Works

In a world where weight loss is an obsession, the carnivore diet can be a saving grace. 

Indeed, thousands of testimonials and success stories highlight the dramatic physical transformations that occur when you get rid of junk food and consume only quality animal-based foods.  

But weight loss on the carnivore diet is most accurately understood as a benevolent symptom of a total metabolic transformation. 

In this article, we’ll explore the carnivore diet principles that contribute to significant and sustained weight loss, while improving numerous other underlying health factors. 

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What is the Carnivore Diet?

The carnivore diet entails eliminating all processed and plant-based foods and consuming only whole animal products such as red meat, seafood, and full-fat dairy

The carnivore diet philosophy is based on historical evidence that humans evolved on a hyper-carnivorous diet for nearly two million years until the dawn of the agricultural revolution 10,000 years ago.

Figure-1-Human-brain-Dr.-Miki-Ben-Dor-1536x689-2-1440x646

Source: Dr Miki Ben Dor

During this most recent fraction of human dietary history, our reliance on grains, and more recently, on highly processed foods loaded with sugars and toxic vegetable oils, has sent our collective health into a tailspin. 

Modern inflammatory “diseases of civilization,” such as heart disease, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, gastrointestinal disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and various cancers, are increasing at alarming rates. Many of these ailments are strongly associated with obesity.

graph showing rise of obesity in america

Returning to a meat-based ancestral way of eating can be understood as a way of realigning our diet with our physiology in a way that reverses the effects of a Western diet, including shedding excess weight. 

How Much Weight do People Lose on the Carnivore Diet?  

 

If you’ve been exploring the carnivore diet online, you’ve certainly come across hundreds of personal carnivore diet success stories and accompanying before and after photos. The #meatheals🥓🍗🍖🥩✌🏻hashtag on Instagram is a good place to look if you haven’t already. 

All of this carnivore diet social media attention caught the eye of Harvard University. In 2020, Harvard researchers surveyed 2,029 carnivore dieters

  • 78% of partiticipants cited weight loss as a prime reason
  • 93% of participants reported improved or resolved overweight/obesity
  • BMI decreased on average from 27.2 to 24.3.

A similar large-scale study by Revero, a carnivore diet coaching company founded by Dr. Shawn Baker, surveyed 12,000 people, 91% of whom reported losing weight and reducing body fat. 

There are a few key mechanisms by which the carnivore diet supports weight loss. Let’s take a look. 

Cutting Carbs

The carnivore diet is essentially a zero-carb diet. 

When consuming exclusively fatty animal products, including ruminant meats, fish, pork, eggs, and full-fat dairy, the body enters a metabolic state called ketosis

When in ketosis, your body efficiently breaks down body fat into energy molecules called ketones.

Ketogenic diets have been routinely shown to promote significant and sustained weight loss when compared to other dietary interventions.

For example, one study found that ketogenic diets that don’t require calorie restriction help people lose an average of 5 pounds more than low-fat calorie-restricted diets after one year.

Cutting carbs also decreases the hormones insulin and ghrelin, both of which stimulate appetite, even when you’ve eaten enough calories.

Furthermore, when you’re in ketosis, your body burns calories in the process of converting fat and protein to glucose.7

Eliminating Food That Causes Obesity

Processed foods are loaded with nutrient-hollow grains, toxic vegetable oils, and added sugars

High intake of sugars and vegetable oils have routinely been found to contribute to obesity and numerous other modern diseases.

Not surprisingly, processed foods have been found to be the leading cause of obesity in the Western world.

By eliminating all plant and processed foods, the carnivore diet removes the leading cause of obesity. Furthermore, on carnivore, you replace those hollow calories with Fatty animal-based foods that decrease food cravings, helping curb overeating. 

Reversal of Leptin Resistance

diagram of leptin resistance cycle

Leptin is a hormone that controls appetite and the rate at which your body uses energy. Think of it as your “stop eating” hormone. 

But when you consume a high-carb diet, your brain is constantly flooded with leptin. After chronic exposure, receptors lose their sensitivity–this is called leptin resistance. 

When your body is resistant to leptin, it thinks it’s starving and triggers energy-saving and fat-storing protocols, including

  • eating more
  • craving fattening high-carb foods
  • moving less (in order to conserve body fat)

This is why it’s so hard for overweight people to muster the will to cut calories and exercise more.

In light of these effects, leptin resistance is viewed as a central feature of obesity.

As of 2019, there have been no effective medications to reverse leptin resistance, making dietary interventions, like the carnivore diet the only effective remedy.

More Nutrients = More Energy

Selection of assorted raw meat food for zero carb carnivore diet: uncooked beef steak, ground meat patty, heart, liver and chicken legs on black stone background from above

When your body is starved of energizing nutrients, you feel mentally and physically lethargic.

The carnivore diet is centered on the most nutrient-dense foods on earth. Red meat, seafood, organ meats, and full-fat dairy are loaded with nourishing fats, complete proteins, and nearly every essential micronutrient. 

In particular, animal foods are a fantastic source of B vitamins, zinc, and iron, all of which play key roles in energy metabolism.

Nutrient Dense Foods list

Carnivore Diet Weight Loss: The Takeaway

The carnivore diet is a remarkably effective tool for losing excess body fat while maintaining lean muscle. 

The carnivore diet supports weight loss by eliminating carbs, triggering ketosis, increasing metabolic rate, rebalancing hormones, and resensitizing hormone receptors associated with hunger and satiation signals, and by providing your body and brain with highly nourishing and energizing nutrients. 

On the carnivore diet, you will naturally move, metabolize body fat, and eat less without having to focus on restricting calories.

Vegetable peeler versus meat cleaver. Vegan and omnivore battle concept. With copy text space. Isolated on black background. Studio Shot.

Vegan to Carnivore: Reasons and Testimonials

The journey from vegan to a carnivore may seem like an unlikely transition. Yet, as people seek to optimize health and well-being through their diets, many find themselves navigating a spectrum of choices in search of the diet that is most aligned with their values and health goals. 

While many vegans are motivated by ethical and environmental considerations, it turns out that certain approaches to the carnivore diet may actually harm far fewer animals. When considering the nutritional differences, new research reveals the evolutionary underpinnings of a carnivorous diet while shining a light on the nutritional necessity of animal-based foods. 

In this article, we’ll explore the motivations for transitioning from a vegan lifestyle to a carnivorous one, considering ethical considerations and the evolving understanding of nutritional science. We’ll also offer a roundup of testimonials from people who have successfully made the transition. 

[TOC]

Vegan vs  Carnivore?

The vegan and carnivore diets seem like they couldn’t be further from one another. 

The vegan diet eliminates all animal products. 

The carnivore diet eliminates all plant foods, including veggies, legumes, nuts, grains, and fruit, and only allows the consumption of (unprocessed) animal products. 

Yet the reasons why people choose either a vegan or carnivore diet can be strikingly similar. 

For example, most vegans and carnivore dieters are seeking the most nutritionally beneficial way of eating. And while nearly all vegans are overtly focused on animal welfare, many carnivore dieters actively advance animal and environmental welfare by choosing to consume animal products grown with ethical and environmentally regenerative practices. 

Why do People Transition from Vegan to Carnivore?

People transition from vegan to carnivore for numerous reasons, including

  • nutritional deficits of a vegan diet
  • the unmatched nutritional density of animal products
  • detoxing from plant toxins and antinutrients
  • healing digestive issues and intestinal permeability caused by plant toxins and excess fiber
  • the recognition that growing plant foods harms and/or kills millions of animals, billions of insects
  • growing plant foods requires the use of either toxic chemical fertilizers or fertilizers produced in conventional “factory” dairy farms

Let’s dive deeper into some of these key issues

Do Less Harm to Animals and the Environment

The Vegan Society describes veganism as “a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose.” 

Unfortunately for vegans, the way most plant foods are grown and harvested harms and kills billions of animals each year. 

The Toll of Plant-Based Agriculture on Animals

Birds, rodents, fish, reptiles, and insects are killed both intentionally through “pest control” measures and unintentionally by tilling and harvesting machinery, pesticides, and environmental degradation. Fertilizer and pesticide runoff are major threats to fish and marine life. 

In the 2019 book On Eating Meat, former chef turned pig, beef, and dairy farmer points out that in Australia alone, 40,000 ducks are killed each year in the course of rice production, and one billion mice are killed to protect Australian wheat production. 

Commenting on this phenomenon, Evans told ABC News, “So a duck dying to protect a rice paddy for me is not much different for a cow dying to produce a steak. They are both animal deaths that happen in the name of us being able to eat. So there is nothing that we can do that doesn’t have an impact on animals.”

A study published in 2018 attempting to estimate current animal deaths in plant food agriculture based on older studies found that potentially 7.3 billion animals are killed annually in the United States.

When it comes to insects, the numbers are even more alarming. In America alone, pesticides kill or harm an estimated 3.5 quadrillion insects, including beneficial pollinators.

Is Carnivorism more Vegan than Veganism?

The toll that plant-based agriculture takes on animals and insects has led many vegans to a carnivore diet based on meat from large pasture-raised herbivorous animals like beef, bison, elk, and lamb. 

In terms of doing less harm, the math is pretty simple. On a carnivore diet, people consume around two pounds of fatty meat per day. This provides over 200 grams of fat and protein and around 3000 calories. 

A single pasture-raised cow yields around 430 pounds of meat, or about 1.18 pounds per day, per year. So you’d need less than two cows to provide nearly all of your nutritional needs for an entire year. Add in some local pasture-raised eggs, and ripened cheese, and you’re still at only 2 deaths per year. 

This view of eating large herbivores in order to “do less harm” was first espoused by Steven L. Davis in a 2003 paper published in the Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics.

Davis found that if half of the useable land in the US was assigned to plant production, and the other half to raise pasture-raised cattle, far fewer animals would die to produce meat. 

Hectares under food productionAnimal deaths per hectareTotal Animal Deaths
60 million: Plant foods15 animals per hectare.9 billion
60 million: Pasture-raised cattle7.5 animals per hectare.45 billion

Not only would pastured animal production cost the lives of half as many animals and plant production, but the quantity and density of both macro and micronutrients provided by large herbivores are far superior to plant foods. 

Beyond doing less harm, Davis’s pasture/ruminant model offers other advantages, including

  • Providing and regenerating grassland habitat for numerous species of land animals, birds, and insects
  • Ruminant animals thrive on forages–plants that humans cannot consume
  • Pasture forage can take place (and even grown by cows through defecation) on rough land that cannot be used to produce crops for humans 

Of course, this way of comparing vegan to carnivore requires carnivores to consume pastured animals and animal products. But there are other reasons beyond harm to animals that many people transition from vegan to carnivore, which we’ll turn to next. 

Nutrient Density and Necissity

Animal-based foods provide nearly every macro and micronutrient you need to thrive, in near-perfect proportions, and in the most bioavailable (useable) formats. 

In fact, there are numerous essential nutrients that are found only in meat, including

APPLE (100 g)CARROTS (100 g)RED MEAT (100 g)BEEF LIVER (100 g)
Calcium3.0 mg3.3 mg11.0 mg11.0 mg
Phosphorus6.0 mg31.0 mg140.0 mg476.0 mg
Magnesium4.8 mg6.2 mg15.0 mg18.0 mg
Potassium139.0 mg222.0 mg370.0 mg380.0 mg
Iron.1 mg.6 mg3.3 mg8.8 mg
Zinc.05 mg.3 mg4.4 mg4.0 mg
Copper.04 mg.08 mg.18 mg12.0 mg
Vitamin ANoneNone40 IU53,400 IU
Vitamin DNoneNoneTrace19 IU
Vitamin E.37 mg.11 mg1.7 mg.63 mg
Vitamin C7.0 mg6.0 mg16 mg27.0 mg
Thiamin.03 mg.05 mg.05 mg.26 mg
Riboflavin.02 mg.05 mg.20 mg4.19 mg
Niacin.10 mg.60 mg4.0 mg16.5 mg
Pantothenic Acid.11 mg.19 mg.42 mg8.8 mg
Vitamin B6.03 mg.10 mg.07 mg.73 mg
Folate8.0 mcg24.0 mcg4.0 mcg145.0 mcg
BiotinNone.42 mcg2.08 mcg96.0 mcg
Vitamin B12NoneNone1.84 mcg111.3 mcg

 

Nutrient Dense Foods list

Plant Toxins

Nearly all plant foods contain natural pesticides and chemical compounds that help the plant survive while harming pests and predators, including us humans. 

A vegan diet requires chronic exposure to high levels of potentially harmful plant toxins and antinutrients, including

These compounds can cause numerous allergies, autoimmune diseases, leaky gut, and chronic inflammation.

Common-Plant-Chemicals-and-their-Effect-1-1536x1314-1

Examples of People Who Went From Vegan to Carnivore 

Let’s move this discussion from quantitative and conceptual reasons for going from vegan to carnivore to personal experience. 

Below, we’ve collected the stories of real people telling their stories of going vegan to carnivore. 

 

 

 

 

Vegan to Carnivore: The Takeaway

People practice vegan and carnivore diets for various reasons ranging from animal welfare and environmental issues to improving mental health, reducing inflammation, and overcoming metabolic disorders. 

By nearly every measure, the carnivore diet comes out on top. Yes, even regarding animal welfare, if you’re centering your carnivore diet around pasture-raised beef and ethically produced animal products. 

Vegan diets require the eradication of billions of animals and quadrillions of insects annually to produce plant foods with far less nutritional value than animal products. 

Animals have always been a staple in the human diet, and supporting pasture-raised regenerative meat production does significantly less harm than a mainstream vegan diet.

Huge oil tanks of an oil mill in the harbor of Hamburg. Storage tanks with Soybean oil in the Port of Hamburg. The company is one of the biggest for vegetable oil in Germany

Is Soybean Oil Bad for You? What the Science Says

Soybean oil is one of the most common ingredients in the standard Western diet, accounting for around 7% of all calories consumed by Americans. Yet, this “vegetable” oil is a highly processed industrial product comprised of a kind of polyunsaturated fat (linoleic acid) that a natural human diet contains very little of, leading many health experts to question if soybean oil is bad for you. 

In this article, we’ll shed light on the various and alarming adverse effects of soybean oil consumption on your health. Join us on a journey through the science exploring the influence of soybean oil on inflammation, the delicate balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and the potential link between increasing soybean oil consumption and the rise of chronic diseases. 

Is Soybean Oil Bad for You? Fast Facts

  • Soybean oil is a highly processed industrial food product
  • Soybean oil is high in linoleic Omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)
  • In the modern Western diet, the ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acids is 15:1. In traditional human diets the ratio is closer to 1:1. The modern imbalance can promote widespread and chronic inflammation
  • From 1959 to 2008, the amount of linoleic fatty acid in human body fat increased from 9.1% to 21.5%  
  • High consumption of soybean oil (and linoleic acid in general) has been linked to obesity, diabetes, autism, Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, depression, ulcerative colitis, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

Why Are People Concerned About Soybean Oil?

In recent years, numerous studies have refuted the popular belief among nutritionists that reducing saturated fat from animal products and increasing polyunsaturated fatty acids from “vegetable” oils improves heart health. 

In fact, consuming more vegetable oil has been associated with alarmingly high rates of cancer, heart disease, neurological disorders, and all-cause mortality.

For example, the major 2013 Sydney Diet-Heart Study, separated participants into two groups. The total fat intake of both groups was the same. For one group, the primary type of fat was linoleic acid from vegetable oil and margarine. The other group got most of their fat from butter, oil, and fatty meat. Nothing else about the diets and lifestyles of the two groups was changed.

Over seven years of monitoring, the vegetable oil group had a 62% greater all-cause mortality rate.

Because soybean oil accounts for the majority of the vegetable oil that Americans consume, it has come under more scrutiny as the public and nutrition experts alike are asking, “Is soybean oil bad for you? 

graph of U.S. consumption of oils

soybean-oil-consumption-in-usa
Soybean Oil is High in Linoleic Acid 

Soybean oil is comprised of 60% polyunsaturated fatty acids and 54% of one type of PUFA called linoleic acid.

In the body, linoleic acid acts as a precursor to a molecule called arachidonic acid that causes inflammation.  Arachidonic acid acts as a precursor for the creation of over twenty pro-inflammatory molecules called eicosanoids.

In traditional diets, which are comprised mainly of animal products high in omega-3 fatty acids, there is a 1:1 balance of omega-3s to omega-6s. Since omega-3s are anti-inflammatory, they counteract the effects of omega-6s.

However, in a modern “plant-based” diet loaded with processed soybean oil, the overabundance of omega-6s can promote chronic inflammatory disorders and diseases.

In 2018, researchers found that high LDL (bad) cholesterol is only associated with an increased risk of heart disease in the context of a diet high in omega-6 fatty acids. 

Heart attack patients were found to have significantly more linoleic acid in their arteries than healthy patients. Furthermore, the more severe the heart attack, the greater arterial plaque buildup from omega-6 fatty acids.

The authors of the study concluded, “In summary, numerous lines of evidence show that the omega-6 polyunsaturated fat linoleic acid promotes oxidative stress, oxidized LDL, chronic low-grade inflammation and atherosclerosis, and is likely a major dietary culprit for causing CHD [congenital heart disease], especially when consumed in the form of industrial seed oils commonly referred to as ‘vegetable oils’.”

Is Soybean Oil Bad for Gut Health? 

Soybean oil has been directly implicated in bowel diseases, including ulcerative colitis (UC), and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), characterized by chronic inflammation of the large intestine.

A 2023 study found that a diet high in soybean oil encourages the growth of harmful E. coli in the gut and levels of beneficial endocannabinoids to decrease. 

balance of beneficial vs harmful gut bacteria affected by soybean oil

 

E. coli bacterium was found to feed off the carbon in linoleic acid. At the same time, various other beneficial bacteria were killed off by linoleic acid. 

These effects on gut bacteria were found to cause the intestinal epithelial barrier to become porous, a condition known as intestinal permeability or “leaky gut.” 

Leaky gut Syndrome concept. Comparison of healthy organ and inflamed tissue cells. Diseases of gastrointestinal tract. Toxins and viruses. Cartoon flat vector illustration isolated on white background

When the gut barrier is compromised by soybean oil, toxins can enter the bloodstream, increasing the risk of chronic inflammatory diseases like colitis. 

The authors of the study highlighted a parallel between the dramatic increase in soybean oil consumption and IBS rates. 

 

graph of soybean oil conumption and graph of IBS incidences

Commenting on the study,  Poonamjot Deol, stated, “Our work challenges the decades-old thinking that many chronic diseases stem from the consumption of excess saturated fats from animal products, and that, conversely, unsaturated fats from plants are necessarily more healthful…While our bodies need 1-2% of linoleic acid daily, based on the paleo diet, Americans today are getting 8-10% of their energy from linoleic acid daily, most of it from soybean oil.”

Soybean Oil and Cancer

The effects of soybean oil on cancer are limited to animal studies, but the results deserve attention. 

In a 2009 study, mice with implanted tumors (poor mice!) were divided into groups that were fed with different fatty acids. 

The group of mice fed linoleic fatty acids suffered a 400% more aggressive spread of cancer than the rodent groups fed monounsaturated fatty acids like you find in olive oil and saturated fatty acids from red meat.

A 2010 study found that mice fed soybean oil that had been heated in a deep fryer suffered 400% greater cancer metastasis than mice fed unheated oil.

The takeaway is that soybean oil feeds cancer cells, and when it’s heated, it’s even worse. 

Another study found that tumors in rats began to form once they consumed 20% of their fat in the form of linoleic acid.

Keep in mind that vegetable oils account for around 20% of fat intake on the American diet, while 37% of Americans regularly eat food cooked in vegetable oil.

To underscore the potential cancer risks of soybean oil, let’s take a look at the classic Los Angeles Veterans Administration Study

The study split participants into two groups. One group increased the percentage of total fat intake from vegetable oil. The other (control) group didn’t change the type of fat they consumed. 

Both groups consumed the same total amount of fat. 

The vegetable oil group was found to be 82% more likely to die from cancer. 

Interestingly, though the groups were randomly selected, the control group had twice as many heavy smokers. Yet, even with more smokers, this group had significantly fewer deaths from cancer.

Is Soybean Oil Bad for Brain and Mental Health? 

A 2020 study in mice found that consuming soybean oil leads to weight gain and triggers a gene dysregulation associated with increased rates of neurological disorders, including autism, Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, and depression.

Consuming soybean oil was also found to reduce levels of oxytocin, the hormone responsible for loving bonds. 

In recent years, there has been a national focus on the need for more mental health resources. Yet, it may be the case that Americans would not be experiencing such a dramatic mental health crisis if soy and other vegetable oils were eliminated from our diets. 

Interestingly, consuming meat and animal products has been routinely associated with improved mental health

The study authors conclude, “If there’s one message I want people to take away, it’s this: reduce consumption of soybean oil”.

In another study from 2013, soybean oil in infant formula dysregulated genes in ways that were associated with inflammation and neuroendocrine, neurochemical, and insulin signaling. These factors are associated with specific autistic behaviors.

Soybean Oil is Unstable and Easily Oxidized

Because soybean oil is composed of mainly unsaturated fatty acids, it is susceptible to oxidation when stored at room temperature and when heated for cooking.

In both human and animal studies, oxidized vegetable oils have been found to damage brain and liver cells, cause widespread inflammation, and increase the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Alternatives to Soybean Oil

The best alternatives to soybean oil are saturated (molecularly stable) animal fats like butter, ghee, and tallow. 

For example, butter is composed of approximately 67% saturated fats, 29% monounsaturated fats, and 4% polyunsaturated fats. 

It’s worth keeping in mind that vegetable oils like olive and avocado, which have lower PUFA content, are often adulterated with cheaper soybean oil. 

One study 2022 study out of the University of California Davis, found that out of 22 domestic and internationally produced samples of avocado oil, 82% were rancid and/or mixed with other soybean and other oils. Two brands were almost 100% soybean oil!

Is Soybean Oil Bad for You? The Bottom Line

Soybean oil is the most common vegetable oil in America, and its consumption is expected to grow over the coming decades. 

Unfortunately, soybean oil is also one of the most toxic substances that people unwittingly consume on a regular basis. 

High in inflammatory linoleic acid, soybean oil is bad for our health in various and significant ways, including increased risk of 

  • obesity
  • diabetes
  • Autism
  • Alzheimer’s disease
  • Depression
  • Ulcerative colitis
  • IBD and intestinal permeability
  • Chronic inflammation

To avoid the negative health consequences of soybean oil (and all toxic vegetable oils), we strongly recommend completely eliminating it from your diet and replacing it with the nourishing animal fats that humans have thrived on since the dawn of our species nearly two million years ago.