Discover The Benefits Of A Meat And Fruit Diet: Full Guide
Picture this, a plate filled with succulent cuts of meat and vibrant juicy fruits, that’s what a meat and fruit diet is all about.
This unique diet gained popularity in recent years as a method for weight loss, figuring out food sensitivity, and improving gut health.
This post will cover all the positives & negatives of the meat and fruit diet~ furthermore talk about what you should look out for if you’re planning to go on this journey.
What Is A Meat And Fruit Diet?
A meat and fruit diet is a procedure that focuses on consuming primarily meats & a selection of fruits~ along with some low-lactose dairy products, such as hard cheese.
(Meats that are mostly consumed are red meats such as beef steak as they are higher in nutrients).
Same as the carnivore diet, all other types of foods are completely taken out, but with this variation, you can include fruits.
Adding fruits helps fill in the missing nutrient gaps and provides energy from the fructose.
Concerns about health and trying to figure out what foods are actually good for us gave the rise to this diet.
It is believed that in the past, our ancestors mainly consumed meat by hunting and ate some sort of fruit (hence our sweet tooth) for added energy throughout the day.
The diet has been shown to improve many people’s gut health. The theory is by eliminating foods that can cause gut inflammation like nuts and refined carbs~ gives it time to repair itself.
Proponents of the diet also argue that it can lead to improved immune function, and increased energy levels.
However…
No hard studies have been conducted to fully examine the effects of meat and friut dieton your body.
Is Meat And Fruit Diet Effective For Weight Loss?
It has been shown that following the meat and fruit diet can aid in losing weight within weeks.
With consuming fewer carbohydrates there will be less insulin available~ therefore the body burns stored fats for additional energy.
Another factor is proteins are known to satiate you for longer compared to the other macronutrients~ this will help to reduce your overall calorie intake.
Also, protein raises your metabolism naturally, due to its high thermic food effect~ allowing you to burn more calories.
A study showed that in females who consumed high protein foods, after 2.5 hours their metabolism was twice as much in comparison to females who had high carbohydrate foods.
Even though the meat and fruit diet does hold value when it comes to weight loss, the same can be achieved by just controlling your general calorie intake per day.
By sustaining a high-protein diet, it is likely to keep you fuller for longer, so you can still add foods you like on the side while minimizing junk foods.
Yet for a healthy weight loss you should always remember add some sorts of physical activity few days a week
Benefits Of Adding Fruits To The Carnivore Diet
Just including a few fruits a day can support you in various ways…
Here are a few examples:
Maintain good thyroid health
Restricting or completely cutting out carbs and sugar from your diet, such as with the carnivore and keto diet can negatively impact your thyroid hormones.
The thyroid gland produces the hormones called t3 and t4~ their major role in the body is to regulate metabolic processes.
Carbohydrates play an important role in thyroid health because they impact the body’s production of insulin, which in turn affects the conversion of inactive thyroid hormone (T4) to active thyroid hormone (T3).
The conversion of T4 to T3 occurs mainly in the liver, but it requires insulin to be converted efficiently. Insulin helps to transport T4 from the bloodstream into liver cells, where it is converted into T3.
A study has shown that the keto diet can cause Hypothyroidism.
Fill in missing nutrients
Meats and low-lactose dairy contain a lot of vitamins and minerals that your body requires, however there are a few exceptions that would be hard to get enough of through this route.
One example is vitamin C. A fresh grass-fed beef contains around 25 mcg/g of vitamin C. Which is not a lot, if compared to a kiwi, it contains 64 mg.
Another example is flavonoids~ it is only found in plant-based foods, with citrus fruits containing high amounts of them.
It’s important to try and get all of your vitamins and minerals through your meals, to maintain a healthy body and aiding in weight loss.
Sustain your metabolic flexibility
If you strictly only eat meat your body will adapt to this change.
Now it’s hard to predict the future, so for some reason one day you don’t have access to meat and have to be depended on other options. Your body will most likely reject this sudden change and make you feel sick.
Therefore, it is important to introduce fruits to your body at least a few times a week, just so your metabolic flexibility stays somewhat sustained and won’t go into panic mode if a time comes when you have to eat plant-based foods.
Will Eating Too Much Meat Cause Heart Problems?
One of the concerns is that because meat contains saturated fats and consuming a lot of it can lead to heart complications in the future.
The debate on whether saturated fats are bad has been going on since 1961 when the American heart association concluded that these fats raise the bad cholesterol in the body.
There are studies pointing at saturated fats being harmful and on the flip side there are also studies that show it has no correlation with heart problems.
So where do we go from here? Who do we listen to? Why is there never a straightforward answer?
After I complained some more 😭, I did some further digging, and here is what I found:
Looking at a survey on how Americans typically obtain saturated fats, it seems it is not primarily from meats, but rather comes from your typical ‘unhealthy foods’ like cookies and cakes.
So it can get confusing on what could be causing the problems to arise in the first place, is it due to the high sugar and carbohydrate content or because of meat.
Likewise same as with how processed food and whole foods may provide similar macronutrients~ the delivery of health benefits is completely different.
The same goes for what saturated fats you consume. So it’s hard to say if a meat & fruit diet will really affect your heart health.
However, it can be useful to mix in highly fatty pieces of meat with leaner ones to maintain a healthy balance.
What Are The Benefits Of Meat & Fruits Diet?
There are many benefits that come with following this diet and here are a few:
Reduce insulin sensitivity
One benefit is that it showed to help improve insulin sensitivity. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels by helping cells absorb glucose from the blood.
Insulin resistance can occur when we start accumulating excess body fat and when we have a constant spike in our blood sugar.
With this diet, you are eliminating sugary foods & drinks and refined carbohydrates which prevent your blood sugar from spiking~ it also gives you support to lose body fat, therefore improving insulin sensitivity and reducing the risk of diabetes.
Now you might think, don’t fruits raise your blood sugar level too? Fruits contain a sugar called fructose. Yes, this does spike up your sugar level, however its effects are not as significant as refined sugar or carbs.
Elimination Of Junk & Processed Foods
Your typical junk & processed food, in most cases, are stripped of essential nutrients and packed with added sugars, unhealthy fats, and chemical additives.
Providing you with little to no benefits~ at the end it just becomes empty calories that contribute to weight gain and pose potential risks to long-term health.
As the whole principle of the meat & fruit diet is consuming whole foods (except for some low-lactose dairy products)
It helps you eliminate unnecessary foods, and focus your attention on more natural ingredients which your body will thank you for it.
Improve gut health
Another benefit is it improves your gut linings. Meats are dense in many gut-healthy nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids and glutamine.
Also, some foods like the nightshade family vegetables are known to cause inflammation due to the chemical called solanine.
So having a simple diet that consists of only meat and fruit, eliminates potential foods that can harm your gut health, while also making it easy for your body to digest foods, as our body is familiar with them since the beginning of time.
What Are The Negatives Of Meat & Fruit Diet?
On the flip side, there are also some negatives effects that you might have to face:
Ketosis
By limiting carb intake you are bound to get into the state of ketosis, where your body will start using your fat tissues as energy due to a lack of glucose production.
Now, this can be a good thing for fat loss, however since your body is not used to this type of process to make energy, you can face adverse effects such as light-headedness, confusion, chills, constipation, and bad quality sleep.
The time for your body to get used to this state will vary depending on person to person~ it can just take a few days or even a few weeks.
May harm the kidney
With this diet consisting mostly of meat, you will be consuming large amounts of proteins.
It has its benefits in curbing your cravings and increasing metabolism, however the large quantity of it can put an excessive load onto your kidneys.
Some research has been shown that implementing a high-protein diet can increase the chance of kidney disease, and this is particularly true for individuals with pre-existing kidney problems.
One study found that individuals who consumed a high-protein diet can lead to a higher risk of kidney disease progression.
However, it’s important to note that not everyone will have this problem. Most healthy individuals can safely consume a high-protein diet without causing harm to their kidneys.
The key to preventing harm to the kidneys while following a high-protein diet is to ensure that individuals stay hydrated and consume plenty of fiber from fruits to support healthy kidney function.
This is because the kidney needs water to take out the waste products from the blood. Additionally, fiber can help remove waste products from the body by promoting healthy bowel movements.
What Foods Can You Eat?
There are only 3 types of foods you have: meats (meat products), low-lactose dairy, and fruits while excluding everything else.
- Meat- Chicken, Beef, Pork, Turkey, Lamb and etc
- Low-lactose dairy- Hard cheese, Butter, Full-fat raw yogurt, Lard, sour cream and etc
- Fish- Salmons, Sardines, Trout, Cod, Mackerel and etc,
- Fruits- Banana, Kiwi, Oranges, Watermelons, Apples and etc
- Liquids- Only water
People might call this diet boring, which is somewhat true, there are limited choices.
But you can get creative with these ingredients to create some amazing dishes
What Fruits To Add Into This Diet?
Adding fruits to the meat-based diet has its benefits as mentioned above. But does this mean all the fruits hold the same value?
Not necessary, thanks to modern technologies fruits are different than they were in the past.
(Here is an example to what banana used to look like in the wild!!)
Fruits are designed to be much bigger and sweeter than if they had been naturally grown in the wild.
Two problems arise from this:
Firstly with the increase in size and sweetness, not only is it easy to overeat them but it can also raise your blood sugar high, taking away the whole purpose of this diet.
I know I mentioned fructose does not have a large effect on blood sugar levels, however consuming too much of it is easy, as it satisfies your taste buds and due to its nutrients component it takes away your guilty conscience.
Secondly, fruits are heavily sprayed with Pesticides to keep them fresh. These chemicals can be potentially harmful to people and do not favor good health for the body.
Here is a list of fruits researched by the Environmental Working Group on what fruits & vegetables have been chemically sprayed the most and which ones are cleaner.
So if you have the budget it is better to buy organic foods when possible to lower chemical consumption.
FAQ
Can I Eat banana On Meat and Fruit Diet?
Yes you can.
But…
You need to be careful because bananas are both high in sugar and carbohydrate. Therefore it can get you out of the ketosis state and raise your blood sugar high if you are not careful.
To be safe, consume banana only at the start of your day or before any physical activity, to prevent spikes in blood sugar levels.
Can You Lose Weight In Meat and Fruit Diet?
One of the main purposes of this diet is to help people to lose weight.
Many aspects of the diet support you in it.
First of all, eating high amounts of protein will make you full quicker and for longer~ thus reducing your cravings and the chance of overeating.
Secondly, protein also raises your metabolism naturally due to the thermogenic effect, therefore assisting you in burning more calories.
Lastly, this diet eliminates processed and junk foods, which will lower your overall calorie consumption throughout the day.
Can You Survive By Just Eating Meat and Fruits?
You can obtain all of your essential nutrients and minerals by just eating meat and fruits.
Red meat contains higher amount of protein, iron, b vitamin, and zinc than white meat, but is also higher in fat. So vary from white meat to red to balance it out.
Conclusion
The meat & fish diet is extremely restricting, the only thing you can eat are meat, low-lactose dairy, and fruits.
With there being fewer varieties of foods to choose from, many people might find this ‘boring’.
Having to cut out refined carbs and sugar, is likely to assist you in weight loss, through ketosis and the reduction of calories.
In spite of that, you need to be wary of the adverse effects that you may face due to ketoses such as dizziness, confusion, chills, and constipation.
If your aim is only for weight loss, this can be achieved by reducing daily calories and cutting out or limiting junk foods~ you don’t have to take the meat & fish diet route.
Prior to starting this diet, your plan should not be ‘I will do this for my whole life’ but rather try it for a month and see how your body reacts.
Your body might fight against the changes and in this case, trying to keep on insisting for months on end will just make your life miserable.
