Carnivore Diet: High Protein or High Fat?

The Carnivore diet should be simple, right? Just eat animal products. 

In fact, many people come to the Carnivore diet for its simplicity. 

But when you start trying to work out the macronutrients (macros), things can get complicated. 

What is the Carnivore diet? 

At its most basic, Carnivore is a diet made up of animal products only. 

There are variations, some people are more flexible than others. 

You can read more about the Carnivore diet here. 

But for the purpose of this article, we’re going to look at getting the macros right. 

Since a Carnivore diet is made up of animal products, the macros we’re talking about are fat and protein. 

There are no carbohydrates (or very little) in a Carnivore diet. 

Why worry about macros?

Ideally, you shouldn’t have to worry so much about it. 

But there’s a scenario that frequently unfolds with newcomers to this way of eating.

It goes something like this: 

You start Carnivore, either for weight loss or to heal some health issues (or both), and everything is going great. 

But then you either hit a stall or you run into some other issue. And you start researching. 

Or, you hear some popular Carnivore teacher tell you you’re doing it all wrong.

This is where something that really should be simple gets messy and frustrating. 

Because you’ll find long time Carnivores who tell you to focus on lots of fat and moderate protein. 

And then you’ll find others who say the exact opposite and that protein is king. 

How in the world are you supposed to know which way is right? 

Can they both be right?

The bottom line is that it comes down to the individual.

First 

If everything is going great, keep doing what you’re doing. There’s an old saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” 

You don’t have to change what’s working for you just because so and so said you should.

That being said, if you need to troubleshoot your macros, here’s a few pointers to help:

Start tracking

First thing you need to do is track what you’re currently eating for a while. 

We know tracking is a pain, but you can’t make adjustments if you have no idea how much fat and protein you’re actually getting. 

There are many apps you can use to track accurately, such as Cronometer or MyFitnessPal. 

What are you trying to correct? 

Next, what is the actual issue you’re running into? 

Is it a weight loss stall? 

Or a health issue?

PLEASE NOTE: You should always discuss your diet with your doctor if you have medical conditions that are affected by diet. 

Or maybe you’re just not feeling so great on the Carnivore diet? 

Experiment 

Now that you know where you are with the macros, and you know what you’re trying to fix, you can make some adjustments and see what happens. 

There are many differing opinions, but the general rule of thumb is an 80/20 ratio, 80% of your diet coming from fat, and 20% protein. 

That’s a good baseline to start with, if you’re not already there. But it’s only a starting point!

If this doesn’t fix whatever your issue is, then you can make adjustments. 

Up your fat intake a little, make notes and see how your body responds. 

If that doesn’t work, do the opposite, bring the fat back down again and get more protein in. 

Maybe this works better for you? 

This is the best way to know where you should be with your fat/protein ratio. 

Because everyone is different. It’s not possible for there to be “one way” to do this. 

One person might thrive on high fat/moderate protein, and another person feels terrible. 

You have to make this work for you. 

Other possibilities 

If you make adjustments and still don’t feel good on the Carnivore diet, consider that there might be other issues at play:

• Your electrolytes could be off

• You might be chronically dehydrated

• You could be experiencing Keto flu or oxalate dumping 

• You could be having something that’s sabotaging you (artificial sweeteners, for example)

• You might be experiencing something totally unrelated to the Carnivore diet (always check in with your doctor if you don’t feel better)

Make the Carnivore diet work for you

Carnivore works well for most people. 

But it’s a very individual journey. 

Experiment until you find the balance that works best for you.