Can’t Get Enough Calories On Meat-Based, Carnivore Without Exceeding Protein Limit

[Rasheed]

How to get enough calories on a carnivore diet. I don’t understand how Mikhaila and Jordan Peterson are eating. Carnivore is great, but I can’t figure it out. Every time I try it, I can’t get enough calories, and I end up exceeding my protein intake needs, thereby get bad affects from that. What to do? How to get 2,000 calories on carnivore, meat-focused diet without exceeding daily protein intake needs?

Edited January 8 by Rasheed

[Ero]

What's up with a "protein limit"? I have never had side effects from eating a lot of protein. 

[PsychedelicEagle]

IMHO we evolved eating A LOT more fruits and vegetables than meat. If you want to stick to carnivore, research the potential effects of saturated fat on cell membrane, especially regarding insulin sensitivity and glucose uptake, cooking toxins (AGEs, acrylamide, etc.), how a carnivore diet affects gut mibrobiome, and the role of BCAAs in potentially triggering diabetes and the connection between low methionine intake and longevity.

@Ero, as mentioned above, high BCAAs intake is connected to weight gain and diabetes. Also, there are lines of research suggesting a lower protein intake in middle life is desired for longevity, Valter Longo included.

Edited January 8 by PsychedelicEagle

[Sugarcoat]

Why do you do this diet?

[Leo Gura]

1 hour ago, Rasheed said:

without exceeding daily protein intake needs?

Needs?

The whole point here is to only eat protein.

Eat till you're full and that's it.

[Rasheed]

So studies say ideal amount is 0.75g per kilo of bodyweight. Exceed that and you get protein poisoning with very bad side  effects, such as kidney problems, bad breath. dehydration, et cetera

My problem is, I can’t get to 2,000 calories without exceeding this protein limit, and thereby get too much protein side effects.

How do you guys do it? Thanks for answers. 

[PsychedelicEagle]

1 hour ago, Rasheed said:

0.75g per kilo of bodyweight

This is not much even for some vegans like me. I eat mostly vegan and I get 1.2g/kg of bodyweight. Valter Longo indeed suggests 0.8 grams, but I'm not sure if he's considering the level of physical activity of the person. The less active you are, the less protein your body needs.

If you are physically active and trying to build muscle you can easily shoot for 1.2 or 1.3g/kg of bodyweight. See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7727026/ . If you strictly want longevity you may shoot for 0.8.

Personally I'd be more concerned with my overall saturated fat intake would I be eating a lot of meat. But this could be my bias to overweight the side effects of saturated fat in our bodies.

Edited January 9 by PsychedelicEagle

[Phil King]

1 hour ago, Rasheed said:

So studies say ideal amount is 0.75g per kilo of bodyweight

Theres no way its that low. Its more like .75g - 1g per POUND of bodyweight. You should be able to eat 100-200g of protein per day without feeling any side effects from "protein poisoning"

[Bogdan]

Here's my perspective:

On a carnivore diet, fat is just as important as protein.

A good starting point for the macros is a 1-1 ratio of protein to fat, in grams. So a nice fatty cut of ribeye is usually that.

There is nothing wrong with eating a TON of protein on a carnivore diet. The problems appear when high amounts of fats AND high amounts of carbs are all present in the bloodstream at the same time, along with that protein.

That's why eating a high carb diet ideally works with as little fat as you can tolerate. Literally just enough to have hormones. I still think it damages you long-term in some ways, and this diet feels like shit for most people. Imagine how it feels to be on a standard clean bodybuilding diet.

On a meat-based diet, in the absence of carbs, all of a sudden the cells can breathe freely just the one energy source, the one they've been the most familiar with for millions of years - fat.

Although most people go through a tough adaptation period.

Some things really do take years to heal on their own, and some things really don't heal on their own and are not fixable with diet.

I remember how if felt to not understand that, and think it sounds stupid.

But from what i see, for many people it does take 2+, even 4+ years on a strict, high-fat, carnivore/lion diet to heal. But it does happen a lot, i've looked at every good and bad case of the diet i've found in the past year and a half.

so, while some health issues might not be fixable through diet alone, I still feel the best on a high fat, carnivore ish diet. I still eat whatever i want, but my intuition more often than not chooses carnivore. My skin is good, my sweat smells nice, my arthritis pain is gone and my poops are fantastic and i struggled with that all my life.

Eating enough fat is crucial tho. 

i am gathering money to work with different carnivore specialists to find out if i have mold disease or chronic inflammatory disease or parasites and shit.

i'm excited to work with people such as Judy Cho. I'll link a video here:

 

[PurpleTree]

More fatty meat cuts?

Maybe some delicious lard as a dessert?

Or if you can add butter or olive oil?

[Rasheed]

8 hours ago, PurpleTree said:

More fatty meat cuts?

Maybe some delicious lard as a dessert?

Or if you can add butter or olive oil?

Butter is a game-changer 👍

[Leo Gura]

If you're doing Carnivore you are throwing studies out the window.

[MarkKol]

1. you can't exceed the protein limit cuz there's no limit

2. diets high in red meat without any fiber (the soluble kind especially) are dangerous long-term and not sustainable even if you feel better

there are no side effects of high cholesterol

3. butter is just isolated milk fat, it does absolutely nothing

Mikhaila had severe auto-immune issues

[Thought Art]

On 1/8/2025 at 3:13 PM, Rasheed said:

How to get enough calories on a carnivore diet. I don’t understand how Mikhaila and Jordan Peterson are eating. Carnivore is great, but I can’t figure it out. Every time I try it, I can’t get enough calories, and I end up exceeding my protein intake needs, thereby get bad affects from that. What to do? How to get 2,000 calories on carnivore, meat-focused diet without exceeding daily protein intake needs?

Are you doing this to be like them or do you also have dietary issues?

[sholomar]

A restrictive diet is not really needed unless you have some health problem that necessitates it's use. Especially if you weight lift or exercise, you should be eating carbohydrates. Even paleolithic hunter gatherers ate roots, leaves, nuts, seeds, etc.  Do you have a reason for a specialty diet or are you just following social media trends/subreddits?

 Read this book... it's $3 on kindle:

https://www.amazon.com/Bigger-Leaner-Stronger-Building-Ultimate-ebook/dp/B006XF5BTG

Edited Monday at 06:31 AM by sholomar

[Rasheed]

I think carnivore-focused, low carb diet is healthy. And it’s ideal for intellectual performance. Much superior to high carb alternatives…

[sholomar]

21 hours ago, Rasheed said:

I think carnivore-focused, low carb diet is healthy. And it’s ideal for intellectual performance. Much superior to high carb alternatives…

Then you need fatty cuts of meat get ground beef with at least 20% fat in and eat all the fat if you don't want the protein then you need to get your extra calories from somewhere if you're not going to get them from carbohydrates you need to get them from fat.  If you're trying to body build with this diet it's going to just hinder your progress not including carbohydrates however ask anybody who lifts.

Rolled oats, smoothies with berries in them, various legumes, and nuts, these are pretty much staple items for any person into fitness. Also wheat bran cereal with a banana in it, things like that.  Potatoes are good too. Also almond or cows milk.  Adding plant-based Foods and dairy adds potassium to your diet that is otherwise missing because meat tends to be heavily salted to one degree or another. You ideally want a potassium sodium ratio of one to one or greater because that's how we evolved as a species.

Edited Tuesday at 07:23 PM by sholomar

[PurpleTree]

I’m thinking about going carnivore or keto too because of inflammation/pain and videos like these and the comments under it

 

[toasty7718]

On 1/14/2025 at 11:00 PM, PurpleTree said:

I’m thinking about going carnivore or keto too because of inflammation/pain and videos like these and the comments under it

I think it would be a good idea personally to watch some debates between carnivore diet gurus and people who actually know what they're talking about. It's actually a wake up call to many of them to step out of their echo chambers, and it reveals all manner of logical contradictions and fallacies.

Anthony Chaffee is a resident and honestly I’ve heard some things that make me suspect he may not even be able to complete residency, but it’s mostly hearsay from people who went to school with him along with the fact that it’s virtually impossible for a neurosurgery resident to have time for his coaching business and all the interviews/social media. In his debates it's made clear than he has no idea what he's talking about most the time and doesn't even read the studies he cites.

[Schizophonia]

On 12/01/2025 at 11:55 AM, Bogdan said:

Here's my perspective:

On a carnivore diet, fat is just as important as protein.

A good starting point for the macros is a 1-1 ratio of protein to fat, in grams. So a nice fatty cut of ribeye is usually that.

There is nothing wrong with eating a TON of protein on a carnivore diet. The problems appear when high amounts of fats AND high amounts of carbs are all present in the bloodstream at the same time, along with that protein.

That's why eating a high carb diet ideally works with as little fat as you can tolerate. Literally just enough to have hormones. I still think it damages you long-term in some ways, and this diet feels like shit for most people. Imagine how it feels to be on a standard clean bodybuilding diet.

On a meat-based diet, in the absence of carbs, all of a sudden the cells can breathe freely just the one energy source, the one they've been the most familiar with for millions of years - fat.

Although most people go through a tough adaptation period.

Some things really do take years to heal on their own, and some things really don't heal on their own and are not fixable with diet.

I remember how if felt to not understand that, and think it sounds stupid.

But from what i see, for many people it does take 2+, even 4+ years on a strict, high-fat, carnivore/lion diet to heal. But it does happen a lot, i've looked at every good and bad case of the diet i've found in the past year and a half.

so, while some health issues might not be fixable through diet alone, I still feel the best on a high fat, carnivore ish diet. I still eat whatever i want, but my intuition more often than not chooses carnivore. My skin is good, my sweat smells nice, my arthritis pain is gone and my poops are fantastic and i struggled with that all my life.

Eating enough fat is crucial tho. 

i am gathering money to work with different carnivore specialists to find out if i have mold disease or chronic inflammatory disease or parasites and shit.

i'm excited to work with people such as Judy Cho. I'll link a video here:

 

I do better with both high fat and high carb than HCLF.