This community gets lots of negative attention, and for a very vocal group of people it becomes a focus of animosity
Carnivore is a tool - the people using this tool want to be healthy
Opportunities for common causes:
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- Whole foods - Single Ingredient foods - No Processed Foods
The Zero carb community as a whole focuses on single ingredient foods, without any processing.
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- Sustainably produced
We all live on spaceship earth, and that system needs to be maintained for our future and our children’s future. Any solution to health needs to be sustainable ecologically. That means using natures own biocycles and minimizing the need for industrial chemicals. i.e. crop rotation rather then mono-cropping, using ruminants to regenerate top soil
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- Locally sourced foods
Moving a special product around the globe via airplanes or ocean vessel simply is a waste of energy, time, and logistics. This should be minimized in the food supply, and any solution to health and sustainability shouldn’t use any imported food or ingredients. Food independence is critical for every community.
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- Ethically raised animals
Carnivores are aware that they are part of a complex biocycle that involves many levels of life and nature interacting. Sadly this means animals will die for food production (this is unavoidable regardless of food choice). Animals that live as close to their natural biocycle as possible are the healthiest for the food supply. Good carnivores who can afford it will try to find sources of ethically raised and harvested meat - animals that are eating their natural diet in as close to their natural environment as possible.
Industrial farming is bad, and needs reform.
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- Reduction of sugars in the diet
By virtue of being zero carb Carnivores avoid dietary sugars, but we do recognize how dangerous fructose and sucrose is in the general population (remember most of us are here to be healthy). Many Carnivores recognize the benefits of ketogenic and low carb metabolism.
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- Progress not Perfection
For the most part the zero carb people I’ve met are very welcoming, non-judgmental, and don’t prosecute people for not being perfect. I think we all have histories of struggling, and the understanding and empathy we can provide is the best thing we can do for each other (including our non-zero-carb friends).
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- The need for self-experimentation
Seeing is believing, encouraging people to try their different theories and diets and seeing their own results is the only way to resolve “debates”. Whatever the “philosophy” is it should be tested, and if its not working it needs debugging, or given up on.
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- Avoiding industrial processed oils
Along the philosophy of avoiding processed foods, and foods from plants, we have double strikes against most of the industrial seed oils. While there is open debate and unclear literature on the harm of these oils, there is almost no downside to removing them from a diet, and it just becomes another uncontrolled variable that could be impacting people’s results. This is just KISS
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- Monitor your progress, only you are responsible for you
Everyone should record their biometrics periodically, especially if they are experimenting with a diet. I think Carnivore’s by virtue of trying to be healthy are very likely to have a record of their biometrics going back years. This helps in the self-experimentation of the dietary adventure. In addition to the normal metrics
- height
- weight
- muscle mass
- blood pressure
- resting heart rate
- lipid panels
- hba1c
people should include a daily feeling journal, how much energy they had, any small aches or issues, just so they can look back and see their mood changing over time and make connections with diet.
While we may not agree on most things, or even many things, there should be some philosophical overlap so that our communities could be on nodding terms with each other.
Given the dearth of real nutritional science in the literature - I would stereotype carnivores in the “Ok Prove it” camp… Whatever the theory is, lets collect some data and see if it works.
Personally I know I’m wrong! I just don’t which part of my philosophy is wrong, or which nuance is missing. I’m open to change, I’m open to new data, I’m open to experiments. I’m trying to be a lifelong scientist. Trust… but verify
Carnivores are not some degenerate food addicts. Sure steak tastes good, but its not addictive. People don’t go out at 3am to find a steak, but they do that for sugar.