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Interior and Designer: Rachel Haeseker
Art Producer: Hannah Dickerson
Editor: Anna Pulley
Production Editor: Ashley Polikoff
Photography 2021 Antonis Achilleos, food styling by Loren Wood
courtesy of Sean P. Kinney
ISBN: Print 978-1-64876-820-0 | eBook 978-1-64876-247-5
R0
For our children: Casey, Cassidy,
Abby, Jourdan, and Steven
CONTENTS
Part I
Going Carnivore
CHAPTER ONE
Carnivore Diet Primer
CHAPTER TWO
The Meal Plans
Part II
The Recipes
CHAPTER THREE
Carnivore Basics
CHAPTER FOUR
Breakfasts & Starter Meals
CHAPTER FIVE
Seafood & Poultry Mains
CHAPTER SIX
Beef & Pork Mains
CHAPTER SEVEN
Organs & Other Meats
Like us, you may be interested in the carnivore diet because youve tried many other strategies to gain your health back. This way of eating might sound crazy to you at first, just like it did to us. We started the carnivore diet in January 2018, intending to commit to 30 days. We never looked back. Following a ketogenic diet had improved our health, but some issues lingered. Removing plants seemed worth a try, even though this was contrary to healthy diet recommendations. Surprisingly, when we went carnivore, our digestive issues, joint pain, hormonal imbalances, and stubborn weight began to improve.
When researching the carnivore diet, one story from famous arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson put our minds at ease. He lived among the Inuit people for long periods in the early 1900s and wrote extensively about humans ability to thrive on a diet of just meat and fat.
Our own experiences echo this truth. After more than three years of eating in a carnivore dietary pattern, our overall health has improved. Our results are monitored through blood tests, coronary artery calcium scans, and regular health checks with our physician.
This book will help you navigate all aspects of going carnivore, from sourcing animal proteins and fats to providing enough variety to fit any budget. Your pantry and shopping list will shrink as you embrace eating exclusively from the animal kingdom, especially since we use salt as our primary seasoning. In our experience, the carnivore diet is a simple, time-saving, and cost-effective method to build a healthy body and mind.
To make this transition even more convenient, we created a customized 6-week meal plan utilizing easy-to-find ingredients and inexpensive kitchen equipment to guide you. The use of cooking methods such as roasting, braising, slow-cooking, and fast-searing gives you a variety of preparation choices and provides leftovers and meal prep options. This keeps your time in the kitchen manageable. The recipes use a range of animal proteins and fats and will progressively introduce dairy, eggs, and seasonings back into your diet. Once you become accustomed to eating exclusively from the animal kingdom, you may find certain types of meats make you feel better than others. This is true for many longtime carnivores.
We are excited to kick-start this journey with you and share some of the recipes and transition strategies that have worked in our lives.
GOING
CARNIVORE
Before we jump into the meal plan action, lets talk about the carnivore diets key points. In this part, youll learn what a carnivore diet is and why this way of eating works where other diets fail. Well also teach you how to outfit your kitchen with the equipment needed to prepare each reciperest assured, you probably already have most, if not all, that is required. We will address how to recognize a healing reaction, which sometimes occurs when removing or adding certain foods from or to your diet. You will learn essential tips on mitigating carbohydrate withdrawal symptoms to ensure your transition to healthiness is as smooth as possible.
This chapter will prepare you for what the carnivore diet is and is not. There are many opinions about the rules even within the carnivore community. This book is designed to get you started with the basics. How extreme or inclusive you choose to be with the optional ingredients is based on your individual health concerns and goals. You will learn the basic principles of eating an all-meat diet and answers to some of the most common questions. This section will address concerns about consuming larger quantities of animal proteins and fats and whether theres credible research showing the carnivore diets benefits. If you find yourself worried about removing foods considered the bastions of health, such as high-fiber vegetables and complex carbohydrates, we know how you feel. Lets begin!