Thanks a lot, George Kelly. Just when I thought that eating meat was a giant no-no, your book comes along and gives me pause. What’s a hopeful vegetarian to do in an age of contradictory health studies and health-related Netflix documentaries that seem so sure of themselves?

Carnivore Diet for Beginners + Cookbook greatly exceeded my expectations, which weren’t much after seeing the highly specific book title and raw-looking, animal-laden food items on the cover. Yet as I became sucked into the fast-moving chapters, it was hard not to be swayed by many of Kelly’s points. In fact, I began wondering what it might be like to try this sort of diet for a limited time, perhaps a month or so.

That’s because I do think there is some truth to some of Kelly’s claims about the health benefits of this type of diet. It’s hard to dispute that exclusively eating meat lowers a person’s blood sugar, and I’m inclined to believe that it would also lower one’s inflammation and blood-sugar levels. Kelly also says, rather convincingly, that eating a meat-only diet helps to reverse autoimmune symptoms and cleans up the gut. Beyond the supposed benefits of the carnivore diet, his book has more solid, practical advice than I thought it would.

Kelly is a registered dietician nutritionist who writes in a clear and straightforward way. Just when I was beginning to wonder whether he was going to write about some of the questionable aspects of eating meat, such as studies showing the correlation between the high consumption of red meat and higher cancer rates, he did indeed go into that territory. As the book went on, I noticed he was undeniably fair and even considerate in how he presented his information.

Kelly also talked a lot about the pros and cons of a vegan diet, which I didn’t expect. It was interesting and informative to read about the nutrients people miss out on when practicing veganism, but Kelly is also honest about the nutrients lacking in meat, writing, “There are certain vitamins, like vitamin C, and minerals, such as potassium and magnesium, that are abundant in fruit and vegetables but in short supply in meat.”

There are commonalities between a carnivore diet and veganism according to Kelly, but no matter how you eat, it boils down to the following things when trying to attain good health: getting quality protein, staying away from foods rife with inflammatory properties, eating foods high in nutrient density, avoiding processed foods, avoiding sugary foods, eating healthy types of fats, and staying away from too many unhealthy carbs.

I would add that moderation is key regarding anything you eat, drink, and do in life, and that perhaps no strict diet is the ultimate answer.

The carnivore diet is a no-nonsense endeavor that I imagine would be difficult for many folks to abide by. The all-meat dishes would eventually become dull, I would think. But Kelly has qualitative evidence (not included in this book) from enthusiastic individuals who have succeeded greatly with this way of eating, no different from a Netflix special I watched in which athletes gushed that veganism was the key to their health and vitality.

Like I said, what’s a health-conscious vegetarian to do?

The book gets a few points off for a hardcore cookbook section that felt out of place (carnivore black pudding contains lamb liver and dried pigs blood in it – yum) and some punctuation errors here and there. But otherwise, Carnivore Diet was nearly a five-star read for me. Who’d have thought?

Photo by José Ignacio Pompé on Unsplash