You can jump to the recipe if you don’t want to read the introduction. 

Introduction 

🤏🥊 for the first of the month and the beginning of the Australian 2024 financial year. 

Dear Reader, 

Greetings from Canberra. I’ve enjoyed a good week. I hope yours was equally rewarding. 

I was fascinated this week by the number of people I work with who spent so much time on smart devices or at their computers trying to buy Taylor Swift concert tickets. I was at a meeting on Monday and sat next to someone I’d never met; she spent almost the entire time looking at her smartphone. When she succeeded, she squealed and exclaimed she’d paid nearly $1000 for the concert ticket. I immediately thought about how many beef short ribs I could buy for $1000. 

Apart from work, one of the avenues I’ve been exploring out of curiosity started with listening to Jordan Peterson’s “12 Rules for Life” after Gabe Maté’s “The Myth of Normal”. 

I went to YouTube to see if there were more insights into their thoughts on the human condition. The YouTube algorithm presented me Mikhaila Peterson, Jordan Peterson’s daughter. Mikhaila is a young woman who has adopted the Lion diet to manage her chronic health condition. She claims she is in remission and the best health of her life. Her father has also adopted the Lion diet to counter his health problems; likewise, he credits the diet to his excellent health. 

What followed was watching more YouTube videos about this way of eating and a growing fascination on my part. 

As far as I could find, there’s only one published study of the Carnivore diet: a self-reporting observational study. Follow-up commentary on that work has also been published^{[1, 2]}. 

Lion diet and the Carnivore diet 

The Lion Diet and the Carnivore Diet are both restrictive diets that focus on eating only animal products. However, there are some differences between the two diets.

The Lion Diet

• Only allows meat from ruminant animals, such as beef, lamb, bison, and goat.
• It does not permit plant products, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, or seeds.
• It may include salt and water.
• It is often used as an elimination diet to identify food sensitivities.

The Carnivore Diet

• The diet permits all types of meat, including ruminants, poultry, fish, and seafood.
• It may also include eggs, dairy products, and animal-based fats.
• It does not allow any plant products.
• It claims to improve gut health, reduce inflammation, and boost energy levels.

Critics have raised some concerns:

Nutritional deficiencies: Both diets are restrictive and may not provide all the nutrients humans need. 

Digestive problems: Some people may experience constipation, diarrhoea, or bloating when they follow these diets.

Increased risk of heart disease: A high-fat diet, such as the Lion Diet or the Carnivore Diet, can increase the risk of heart disease.

Consulting a general practitioner is recommended before considering any diet. A GP can help assess individual risk factors and advise if the diet is your best option.

Unless they travel with freezers of meat, I guess people on the carnivore diet won’t be on any Mars expeditions, given its fresh meat and organs that contain enough vitamin C to prevent scurvy. 

Dear Reader, please note this is not medical advice. Please take a look at my medical disclaimer. 

I am writing about this because I am curious. I also note Katharine’s recent blog post on the Carnivore diet. Katharine is a retired medical practitioner from Scotland. She mainly writes about diabetes mellitus. I’ve been reading her blog for many years.  

Recipe 

I may not be embracing the Carnivore diet; however, tonight’s meal could be eaten by a carnivore san the vegetables. 😆

Equipment 

• Pressure cooker 
• Air fryer 

Ingredients 

• Beef short rib fingers 
• Bone broth 
• Iodised salt 
• Brussels sprouts 
• Red cabbage 

Instructions 

1. Put the beef and broth into the pressure cooker and close the lid. 
2. Cook for 1 hour under pressure. 
3. Allow the pressure to equalise naturally. 
4. Remove the meat and place it on a cutting board. 
5. Gently pat the surfaces of the beef with some paper towel to avoid the fatty liquid making a mess. 
6. Place the cooking liquor through a sieve and store the filtered liquor in a jar in the refrigerator. 
7. Pat the surface of the meat to absorb excess moisture and set one aside while placing the others in a vacuum bag and sealing it for use later. 
8. Rub some butter onto the surface of the meat and cook in the air fryer for 5 minutes on each side at 220 °C. 
9. Plate up the meat and vegetables. 
10. Give thanks to the Lord. 
11. Eat with a knife and fork while watching the football (The Dolphins play the Broncos tonight). 

Thoughts on the meal 

What’s not to like about beef short ribs? A quick high-temperature cook in the air fryer at the end gave the meat a nice crust for a bit of mouthfeel. 

Final thoughts 

Would you spend $1000 on concert tickets? 

Have you heard of the Carnivore diet? What do you think about it?

Photographs 

References 

1.         Kirwan, R., et al., Limitations of Self-reported Health Status and Metabolic Markers among Adults Consuming a “Carnivore Diet”. Curr Dev Nutr, 2022. 6(5): p. nzac037.

2.         Lennerz, B.S., et al., Behavioral Characteristics and Self-Reported Health Status among 2029 Adults Consuming a “Carnivore Diet”. Curr Dev Nutr, 2021. 5(12): p. nzab133.