Merry-Almost-Christmas! As soon as Thanksgiving was over, our tree went up! If you are a Christmas before Thanksgiving person, we can still be friends, but you are a little crazy. I’m kidding!
It’s hard to believe that we’ve made it to Christmas already. Life has been absolutely wild this past year, but I wouldn’t change it for anything – it’s all part of God’s plan.
As we near another food-filled holiday I wanted to bring you a food-based topic that gets as much attention as the carnivore diet does – the animal-based diet.
No, this isn’t the same as the carnivore diet. So, what is it?
Here is a nice diagram I’ve drawn up to explain this:

The tiers do not represent importance, each section plays a specific role and has different benefits. They do represent the quantity and how often you eat each section. For example, people don’t eat animal organs super often because they don’t have to in order to get the benefits of them. Sometimes people literally eat 1 ounce of an organ and reap the benefits of it.
The bottom tier represents what you eat the most: Red Meat. This includes beef, lamb, elk, deer, and things like this. This tier is the bulk of your calories and the main part of what this diet is made of.
The next tier up is Light Meat. This would be chicken, pork, fish, liver, and other animal organs. I know it sound gross, sorry, but animal organs are super important for this diet.
3rd tier is going to be Dairy, Yogurt, and Butter. This will be higher fat, less protein.
The last tier is Fruit. You will eat the least of this section compared to the others. BUT, it gives you good sugars, natural vitamin C, and other micronutrients the other tiers do not bring. Fruit is a carbohydrate so you will eat less of it.
That is one of the major differences between the carnivore and animal-based diet. The carnivore diet allows you little to no- most of the time it is absolutely none – fruits or vegetables. The animal-based diet has the spot for fruits even though it’s a small spot.
You could say the Animal-Based Diet is just a less intense version of the Carnivore diet. So, if you are looking to go to the carnivore diet from a normal diet, I recommend going to the animal-based diet first.
The Don’ts of the Animal-Based Diet
- Oils: corn, soybean, canola, peanut, vegetable, sunflower, safflower, cotton seed.
- These are super processed and cause serious inflammation. You are just going to completely cut this out of your diet.
- You can still have olive, avocado, and coconut oils.
- Most of the time people just use butter on this diet.
- Grains
- These are also inflammatory which is why they are cut out of the diet.
- Many people have gluten sensitivities they don’t even know about so this nips that in the bud!
- Sweeteners: Any ‘natural’ sweetener
- This includes Stevia and Monk fruit sweetener. Oftentimes ‘natural’ sweeteners are still processed so this diet takes them out.
- The only sweetener you can use on this diet is honey. Honey has naturally occurred fructose – there are reasons fructose isn’t as bad as everyone says it is.
- Vegetables
- Veggies can be problematic because of pesticides and toxins that are found in them.
- Any Processed Foods
- Only single-ingredient foods allowed!
Cautions to Watch Out For
Paul Saladino is a doctor that talks about and has done the animal-based diet. He is super knowledgeable about this topic. His videos are extremely helpful if you are wanting to start this diet. One of his videos is linked below – I encourage you to watch his channel!
This video specifically is about the 3 most common mistakes he has seen with this diet after talking with other animal-based dieters.
- Not eating enough collagen
- Not eating enough carbs – The animal-based diet is more flexible than the carnivore diet, so don’t be afraid of the carbs in fruit!
- Not eating enough organs – Organs are packed full of micronutrients, see the diagram below for reference!
These mistakes are not mistakes for everyone. Many people thrive off no carbs or collagen, and many people thrive with it. It’s all about how your body reacts and what it needs.
I definitely recommend doing this diet before jumping to the carnivore diet. I have seen many people with gut and inflammation issues thrive on this diet.
There is not a one-size fits all solution when it comes to dieting. Plant-based isn’t for everyone, animal-based isn’t for everyone, carnivore isn’t for everyone.
Think about the different people groups throughout history- hunter gatherers only ate animal-based foods.
Small tangent for the meat haters – red meat nor any other certain type of meat are not solely causing our cancers. It’s a generational problem from our environment and other factors.
The animal-based diet can be really healthy and healing, getting rid of the processed mess in our bodies.
If you are wanting to try it, I encourage you to do your research and make sure you are eating all the food groups on the pyramid. I recommend watching Dr. Paul Saladino’s videos because he explains how to do this diet well.
Here is a free e-book on how to follow the animal-based diet, just click here.
If you are interested in nutrition counseling and having personalized workouts, Steel is the place for you! Let our experts work with you and help you reach your goals, whatever they may be.