7 useful supplements to support a carnivore diet

1) Vitamin C
2) Freeze-dried beef liver
3) Oakseng
4) Betaine HCL + digestive enzymes (protease + lipase)
5) Beef Bone Soup (Bone Broth)
6) Folsvar (Vitamin B9)
7) Magnesium Glycinat
->CONCLUSION

The carnivore diet has gained a lot of attention in recent years. More and more people are eating exclusively animal-based foods to lose excess pounds or fight autoimmune diseases. The fact that the carnivore diet can help people with inflammatory bowel diseases, skin diseases or depression can now hardly be denied.

The representatives of the carnivore diet are less unanimous when it comes to the correct design of such a diet. While Shaun Baker, orthopaedic surgeon, world record holder in rowing and carnivore advocate from the very beginning, believes that a carnivorous diet consists only of meat, eggs and salt, other representatives are much less dogmatic. Paul Saladino, physician and, along with Shaun Baker, the best-known representative of the carnivore movement, has meat, fish and offal as well as easy-to-digest fruits and honey on the menu (=animal based diet).

We at Carnivoro are a bit more pragmatic and think that both extremes have their raison d'être. The classic carnivore diet is a radical elimination diet and is recommended for people suffering from autoimmune diseases or obesity. The far less restrictive "animal-based diet", for which there is unfortunately no concise German translation yet, allows easily digestible fruits, dairy products and honey on the menu.

If you have just become aware of the carnivore diet, you will most likely be dealing with the classic variant of this diet, which prohibits the consumption of all plant foods. Often, such a radical change in eating habits leads to certain difficulties in adapting. For example, carnivorous newcomers often report flu-like symptoms (keto flu) in the first few weeks. Diarrhea, fatigue, difficulty concentrating or nausea are not uncommon.

This is often accompanied by nutrient deficiencies, because vitamins such as vitamin A, C, E, or folic acid (B9) are only present in very low concentrations in cooked or fried meat. Also, fried muscle meat contains only relatively small amounts of important minerals such as magnesium or calcium. This is particularly problematic for people with intestinal diseases, in whom nutrient absorption is often impaired due to illness and excessive amounts of minerals are excreted due to frequent diarrhoea.

The Carnivoro team has compiled the seven most important supplements for you that are intended to support you in switching to a carnivore diet and ensure that nutrient deficiencies are prevented in the long term.

1) Vitamin C

One of the main criticisms of the carnivorous diet is the lack of usable amounts of ascorbic acid, which is better known as vitamin C. Vitamin C is an essential vitamin because it cannot be produced by the body itself and must be obtained in sufficient concentrations through food. Ascorbic acid is involved in the production of hormones, optimizes the function of the immune system and helps in the absorption of other nutrients.

If fruits and vegetables are on the menu, you usually don't have to worry about a vitamin C deficiency. However, the situation is quite different if only animal-based foods are consumed. Although small amounts of the vitamin are found in raw muscle meat, useful concentrations are only found in fresh offal such as liver or spleen.

According to the German Society for Nutrition (DGE), the recommended daily dose is 90-110 mg. If, on the other hand, you believe the prevailing opinion in the "carnivore community", then 20 mg daily should be sufficient. It is often argued that the vitamin C requirement should be significantly lower in ketogenic, low-carb diets. This is because glucose, whose chemical structure is similar to ascorbic acid, is supposed to compete with vitamin C for the amino group of a protein. In conclusion, it is assumed that low-carb and zero-carb diets require less vitamin C from the body.

We believe it's better to be safe than sorry. If you eat a strict carnivore diet, avoid raw offal, and eat your meat medium-well or well-done, you certainly can't go wrong with a vitamin C supplement.

2) Freeze-dried beef liver

Beef liver is often referred to as a superfood, and for good reason. Because the liver is the undisputed pound-for-pound champion of all common foods and makes kale and blueberries green with envy. Packed with vitamin A, vitamin B12, iron, copper and zinc, the liver should not be missing from any carnivore diet. Liver contains high amounts of folic acid, a B vitamin that is often neglected in a classic carnivore diet. By the way, 100g of fresh liver contains 27 mg of vitamin C - almost as much as a whole lemon.

But be careful, because the dose makes the poison: The same amount of liver contains 5-20 times the recommended daily dose of vitamin A, which is toxic in high concentrations. That's why fresh liver should only be eaten once a week as a meal. When it comes to the taste of the liver, however, opinions are divided. Because not everyone can make friends with the typical liver aroma. This is probably the reason why freeze-dried beef liver capsules are our best-selling product.

We at Carnivoro think that supplementation with freeze-dried beef liver is safer, more sensible and less time-consuming. Beef liver in capsule form is easy to dose, neutral in taste and can be taken anywhere. 3g of freeze-dried beef liver is equivalent to about 9-10g of fresh liver and should be taken with meals.

3) Oakseng

Those who eat carnivores get at least half of their calories from animal fats. Especially at the beginning of a carnivore diet, supplementation with bile acid can be useful. Due to the omission of almost all carbohydrates, significantly more fats have to be metabolized by the stomach and small intestine. The energy previously generated by carbohydrates is now substituted by calories from fats. In a typical carnivorous diet, 50-60% of all calories come from fats, in competitive athletes it can be up to 80%.

Unfortunately, the stomach and small intestine are not always happy about the extremely increased fat consumption. Especially in the first weeks of a carnivore diet, the body often does not produce enough bile acid to metabolize the additional amount of fat consumed. Fatty stools, flatulence or constipation are the result, as only some of the fatty acids are absorbed into the blood. The rest is excreted through the stool and often leads to unpleasant diarrhea, one of the main reasons for premature discontinuation of the carnivore diet.

All beginnings are difficult. The switch from sugar to fat metabolism requires patience and often brings unpleasant side effects at the beginning. Ox gall powder can help support the body's own bile production and thus boost fat metabolism. Meat lovers with a high basal metabolic rate (< 2,500 kcal/day) need more fat from the diet and should think about longer-term supplementation. Ox bile should be taken just before meals.

4) Betaine HCL + digestive enzymes (protease + lipase)

Betaine HCL is a second supplement in our list that is designed to help the stomach digest proteins. Betaine HCL is the hydrochloric acid-bound form of betaine (a derivative of the amino acid glycine) and is thought to increase hydrochloric acid levels in the stomach. Similar to fats, increased meat consumption requires the body to produce more stomach acid to efficiently digest the increased protein intake. Betaine HCL is said to support hydrochloric acid production in the stomach. This is because nutrient absorption can only be ensured if sufficient stomach acid is present. Flatulence, diarrhea, but also heartburn can be the result of a stomach acid deficiency.

For carnivore beginners, it may be worthwhile to take a combination preparation, which contains lipases and/or proteases in addition to betaine HCL. Lipases are enzymes that break off free fatty acids from fats and are therefore an essential part of fat digestion. Proteases cleave protein or peptides and catalyze the conversion of inactive protein precursors to active proteins. Supplementation can be particularly useful from the age of 50, as gastric juice production decreases with age.

5) Beef Bone Soup (Bone Broth)

For carnivore purists who eat almost exclusively muscle meat, we recommend regular intake of beef bone broth. There are various carnivore influencers on Instagram who seem to eat nothing but steak and salt. Unfortunately, the classic variant of the carnivore diet can lead to various deficiency symptoms after a short time. If neither fish nor cheese are consumed, an undersupply of calcium or magnesium can quickly become noticeable. Brittle fingernails, muscle cramps or skin changes are the first indication of a calcium deficiency. Magnesium is found in raw muscle meat, but not in sufficient concentrations.

A good compromise is the regular intake of high-quality, gently prepared beef bone broth, bone broth is characterized above all by its high mineral content. Gentle, slow cooking releases valuable minerals such as calcium, magnesium and potassium as well as trace elements (iron and copper). How many minerals ultimately make it into the broth depends on the cooking time and the quality of the bones used. If a homemade beef bone broth is cooked for less than 8 hours, often only a small part of the minerals can detach from the bone.

Especially for the endurance athletes among the meat eaters, the supply of additional minerals is particularly important, as electrolytes are excreted through sweat. For example, it is almost impossible to cover the increased mineral requirement with steak, eggs or salt alone. By the way, beef bone broth is also an excellent source of collagen and often makes taking a collagen supplement superfluous. Again, organic is better. Ideally, the bones used come from grass-fed grazing cows.

Carnivoro says: Certain minerals are often neglected in a carnivorous diet. Calcium and magnesium are found in meat in insufficient concentrations. Especially for sports enthusiasts or meat eaters with lactose intolerance, the regular intake of beef bone broth can provide missing minerals and trace elements. Due to its high calcium and collagen content, beef bone broth is also an ideal dietary supplement for women of advanced age.

6) Folsvar (Vitamin B9)

Folic acid is one of the B vitamins and is often referred to as vitamin B9 or, more rarely, vitamin B11 or vitamin M. The name comes from the Latin word folium, which means leaf. Therefore, it is not surprising that particularly high concentrations of the vitamin are found in green, uncooked leafy vegetables. Strictly speaking, we should actually be talking about folate here, since folic acid is the synthetic version of the folate found in nature, as found in dietary supplements.

Bad news for steak lovers: folic acid is unfortunately only found in extremely low concentrations in beef muscle meat. Although useful amounts of the vitamin are found in liver and egg yolks, you would have to consume just under 70 g of liver or 150 g of egg yolk (equivalent to about 8 eggs) daily to get 50% of the recommended daily intake.

Folic acid plays an important role in the division, formation and regeneration of cells and is involved in the formation of white and red blood cells. A persistent folic acid deficiency can lead to anemia and often manifests itself as fatigue, dizziness or shortness of breath.

At Carnivoro, we think that folic acid, along with vitamin C, is often not consumed in sufficient quantities, even with a high-quality carnivorous diet. Although both vitamins are found in usable concentrations in raw liver, spleen or egg yolks, they carry the risk of vitamin A toxicity due to daily consumption of offal.

7) Magnesium Glycinat

Magnesium is one of the essential minerals and is involved in over 300 enzymatic reactions in the body and is responsible for the proper functioning of muscles and nerves. Nuts, legumes, fresh fruit and cereal products are particularly rich in magnesium. However, some edible fish such as sole or turbot also contain high concentrations of this important mineral.

However, in order to reach the daily amount of 350-400 mg recommended by the DGE for men (300-350 mg for women), carnivore purists would have to eat 1 1/2 kg of beef. However, for people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), people with a strong tendency to sweat or competitive athletes, the recommended daily amount is likely to be significantly higher than the DGE mark.

The most common preparations on the market are magnesium citrate, oxide and carbonate, in which magnesium is bound to salts or oxygen. Less commonly, magnesium bisglycinate is found, in which magnesium forms a bond with two molecules of the amino acid glycine. By combining it with glycine, the sensitive mucous membranes in the digestive tract remain better protected from irritation. For example, magnesium citrate can cause stomach pressure or diarrhea more often, as the compound can have a laxative effect even in smaller amounts.

Magnesium glycinate, on the other hand, is considered to be particularly well tolerated and could be particularly helpful for IBD patients or people with a tendency to thin bowel movements. By binding to glycine, magnesium glycinate cannot be bound by mineral robbers such as phytic acid. Be careful with dosage: Magnesium glycinate contains only about 14% pure magnesium. If you want to absorb 100 mg of pure magnesium, you need 7 times the amount of magnesium glycinate.