Carnivore Diet vs Vegan: A Summary of the Arguments of Both Camps (Ideology, Philosophy, Nutrition, Health, Ecology, Spirituality, etc.)

You read it right in the title my Mouver, today we are going to talk in a single article about the carnivore diet and the vegan diet .

The two most antagonistic food ideologies.

In this article I would like to do something that has never been done before: discuss the arguments of both sides in the most objective way possible.

I myself was vegan in my career, then carnivore , so I know what I'm talking about...

Happy reading to you, my Mouvers!

Vegan or carnivore: who is right?

Vegan ideology is rooted in the rejection of the idea that an animal suffers for our food consumption , comfort, or any other human use.

A person who becomes vegan is often looking for more consistency and a diet that corresponds to their deep values.

Such as reducing animal abuse, reducing pollution linked to animal exploitation, or even religious reasons...

As can be found in India in particular.

Also one of the big arguments of the followers is the fact that the vast majority of primates, the branch of evolution of which we are a part, feed mainly on fruits and vegetables .

So, it would make sense for us to follow the same diet, which is made up of a very large majority of plants.

We can also naturally find many physiological parallels with our cousins ​​the chimpanzees and gorillas , including the shape of the jaw, the number of teeth, and the length of the intestines.

As for the carnivore ideology , it is essentially based on our hunter-gatherer past, a practice on which our species would have developed.

Enlarged human brain, improved social ability, etc.

For those who eat meat, we are carnivorous primates , and it is this difference in diet that allowed us to evolve very quickly compared to our cousins.

In fact, humans have changed their diet over the past 2 to 3 million years.

By stopping eating fruit from trees and coming down to earth to eat animal flesh.

To give you a quick summary...

First, hominids, not strong and robust enough to face large predators, became scavengers.

That is, they waited until the large predators had finished eating the best parts of the animal to extract the leftovers, particularly the offal and bone marrow.

Which he managed to do with small tools, such as small cut stones.

Another piece of evidence, often cited by the carnivore community, is the acidity of our stomachs .

In fact, we have the same stomach acidity as our other scavenger cousins, the vultures and hyenas, a commonality that would suggest we were scavengers for several million years.

This very high acidity would have allowed us to protect ourselves from bad bacteria and bad germs which were present in the pieces of meat left on the carcasses.

Finally, one of the most common arguments put forward by proponents of the carnivore diet is the link between hunting and brain development.

The first tools that were created by our ancestors were tools used to cut meat, kill animals or even open certain shellfish.

Moreover, hunting is an activity that will require the implementation of strategy , a human alone cannot kill a mammoth, he needs these pairs and an effective action plan.

Thus, it is these tools and strategies that shed light on the development of the brain alongside the first hunts of ancient hominids.

In each of the ideologies we will find interesting clues in history which point in the direction of veganism and carnivorism.

But many variables come into play in the great history of the human species , and it would be a clever person to create the model that would correspond to all human beings who have lived through the ages.

What diet is best for health?

For veganism, the lack of protein or iron is often pointed out, while for the carnivore diet, it will be the excessive intake of protein or fat that will be questioned.

So what about it?

As you know, a vegan diet will exclude all animal products from your diet: meat, fish, eggs, cheese, honey, etc.

But it will also and above all be very rich in fruits and vegetables , these containing very large quantities of micronutrients , vitamins and minerals, which are essential for the proper functioning of your body.

Moreover, in today's society, a large number of people are deficient in micronutrients.

Many specialists agree that a vegan diet will limit cardiovascular diseases, cancers, type 2 diabetes, vision diseases, strokes, etc.

In short, all the diseases of civilizations.

With side effects such as bloating and a risk of vitamin B12 deficiency .

The famous vitamin that is found only in animal products, moreover several well-known vegan personalities say they supplement with vitamin B12.

With the carnivore diet you won't have to worry about vitamin B12 deficiency, and that's the least we can say since your diet is made up exclusively of animal products.

Your meals will be simplified .

Meat, and particularly red meat , provides you with large quantities of assimilable micronutrients , unlike certain fruits which have interesting nutritional values, but which in reality are less well assimilated by the body.

We are talking here about bioavailability , a very important value which shows that there is an interaction between a food and the organism which absorbs it.

And when it comes to micronutrients, offal will be a real panacea for our body, with very high nutritional values ​​in iron, zinc, phosphorus, vitamin A, C and a whole range of B vitamins, and in particular vitamin B12 which will prevent you from falling into anemia.

The carnivore diet is often known for its slimming properties . In fact, by eliminating all carbohydrates, the body will use fats to create energy. This phenomenon is called ketosis , a phenomenon that followers of the ketogenic diet know well.

In one of my podcasts, one of my guests shared with me that he lost 10 kilos in just a few weeks, and that without exercise!

Finally, a 100% meat diet will allow you to eliminate many toxins and pollutants from your diet.

In fact, no more sweets, chocolate or refined sugar of any kind.

No more ready meals wrapped in plastic, and no more bread filled with pesticides.

Your body will be able to regenerate using the energy from your trout fillet or calf's liver!

This will allow your body to function in a better way, we can take the example of testosterone which will be generated in greater quantity .

The vegan diet does not require the elimination of industrial products; in fact, many vegan fast food restaurants are popping up all over the world and are becoming increasingly successful.

In both veganism and carnivorism, a healthy diet will be as raw and natural as possible .

In other words, avoid supermarkets!

What is the most ecological food?

On the vegan side, many people are convinced that this way of eating is the most ecological of all.

It is true that most of today's agricultural land is cultivated not for human consumption, but for the intensive breeding of cows, sheep and others.

Thus, by eliminating intensive livestock farming and curbing industrial agricultural activity, vegan food would be very interesting for the ecology, because the agricultural industry linked to livestock farming is one of the most polluting in the world according to the FAO global report.

But on the carnivores' side there is no shortage of arguments...

According to one of my friends , Jean-Christophe Ordonneau , whom I invited onto the Mouvers podcast, every human on the planet could live on a carnivore diet.

In fact, agricultural land represents a quarter of grazing land and is already being used to its maximum.

By using them in this way, we exhaust them.

And this observation is quite obvious when we see these hectares of monoculture fields...

Apart from corn, soybeans and wheat, there is only clay.

A desert would be richer in biodiversity!

Whereas cows and sheep, on the contrary, feed the earth, through their droppings, their saliva, etc.

According to my guest, the planet could support 20 billion cows , which could provide for the needs of all humanity , not counting the smallest ruminants, fish and birds.

However, it is important to understand that we are not talking about intensive farming here, but rather about sustainable farming with large plots of land where the animals can graze all year round.

Does the placebo effect matter?

The placebo effect is known to all, particularly in medicine, where a very large number of studies have been conducted on this subject to confirm its effect.

For Pierre Dufraisse, a friend and enthusiast of the subject, the placebo effect and nocebo , its opposite, are of great importance in our diet .

If you are convinced that this or that type of food is good for you, then you will appreciate it more, digest it better and in the end the beef entrecôte or the melon from the garden will really have been good for you.

Let’s clarify this a little…

When a person starts a dietary practice, whether it be veganism or carnivorism, they are often very excited by the dozens of arguments and testimonials that they can find on the web.

As a result, she will sometimes be convinced of the benefits of this diet even before having tried it for a long period of time, which is where the placebo effect comes into play.

The person is convinced that this food is good for them and will provide them with a lot of energy, so that's what will happen.

Does this seem too exaggerated to you?

So how can we explain pregnancy denials?

A woman who is expecting a child can have a flat stomach for more than 8 months, even though there is actually a tiny human being inside her.

The reason why the baby is not seen is that the person is absolutely convinced that they are not pregnant.

So why wouldn't the same thing happen with your new diet...

There is no simple answer, it will be up to you to know what is happening in your own biology.

Thank you for your attention, my Mouver!

And if you want to bounce back or simply share your experience with meat or vegan food, I look forward to hearing from you in the comments section 😉

Nomad Slim
Founder of MOUVERS