Forget Keto: I Went All-In on Joe Rogan’s Carnivore Diet for a Month (Here’s How It Changed Me)

I was never a fan of restrictive diets, but after hearing about the carnivore diet on the JRE podcast and reading about its effects and benefits, I decided to try it. Admittedly, it wasn’t until I saw the results of a medium-scale survey from 2020 that I was completely sold on the idea. (1)

Why? Well, the carnivore diet wasn’t exactly popular four years ago, so I believe this data isn’t influenced by trends or placebo, which I suspect would be the case if we were to recreate that survey now.

That said, it has been 30 days since I embarked on this extreme meat-eating journey, and I have to say, Joe Rogan’s carnivore diet was a lot easier than I expected it to be. Here’s everything I did, ate, and my overall impression.

What I Ate on Joe Rogan’s Carnivore Diet

I went with Joe Rogan’s carnivore diet instead of Mikhaila Peterson’s (she’s the one who made the carnivore diet popular when she discussed it with Joe on his podcast) because Rogan’s diet isn’t as restrictive.

Peterson only eats steak seasoned with salt, and that’s it. That was a bit too extreme and too expensive for my taste, so I had to take a different route.

That said, my 30-day long carnivore diet consisted of:

Meats	Dairy	Other
Beef (steak, minced)	Full-fat yogurt	Eggs
Chicken (breast, drums)	Kefir	Butter
Turkey (breast, drums)	Cheese (various sorts)	Lard
Fish (salmon, tuna)

Why I Didn’t Eat Just Meat?

Contrary to popular opinion, the carnivore diet isn’t restricted to meat. It includes all foods that come from animals in some shape or form. While meal variety is one of the reasons I didn’t decide to limit myself to meat, I was more concerned about my probiotic, vitamin, and mineral intake.

While eggs aren’t one of my favorite foods, I decided to eat three whole eggs every single day for breakfast because they’re rich in vitamins A, D, E, K, and B. Also, eating just two eggs per day covers up to 30% of your daily vitamin requirements. (2) And no, eating two or three eggs daily won’t raise your cholesterol levels if you’re a healthy adult.

As for dairy products, I went with full-fat yogurt and kefir because they’re super rich in probiotics, which is one way I wanted to combat the lack of fiber in my diet without resorting to supplements.

My Experience After 30 Days Of Joe Rogan’s Carnivore Diet

Now that you know what I ate and why I ate what I ate, I want to take you through my entire journey, discussing every notable change I experienced during the first month.

Energy Levels

I can’t say I noticed a massive spike in energy, as my regular diet was all this, plus veggies and fruits, but I did notice I stopped getting sleepy during the day. My energy levels remained stable from dusk till dawn, and I didn’t feel sluggish around 1–2 p.m., which would sometimes happen if I ate oats with some berries and almonds for breakfast.

There were also no drastic spikes in my energy levels. Since there are zero fast-acting carbs on a carnivore diet, there are no ‘pick me up’ meals here. But that also means there are no crashes during the day, either, so that’s a good thing in my book.

This is one of the main reasons why the carnivore diet is especially popular among those struggling with type 2 diabetes. The absence of carbs helps with glucose control tremendously, and if you go back to the survey I referenced earlier, you’ll see that many diabetics reported feeling much better when they were on a carnivore diet.

Strength & Endurance

Most lifters have days when they enter the gym, and their typical working weight feels heavier than usual. That’s how it was for me all the time during the first two weeks. I just didn’t feel as strong as I usually do. The last two weeks were a bit better, but I still didn’t feel 100% when it came to pure strength training.

I wanted to try eating some honey before training just to spike my blood sugar and get some quick energy, but for some reason, I felt like that would be cheating, so I didn’t do it.

On the other hand, my muscular endurance and stamina were outstanding. This didn’t make a lot of sense to me because there were essentially no carbs in my diet, but I simply felt more durable than ever. I felt so much better when biking or running. It was a day-and-night difference in that regard.

Sleep

I’ve seen many people struggle with insomnia when they try the carnivore diet, but thankfully, that wasn’t the case for me. Based on what I learned over the years, you need fat in your diet to sleep better, and while the carnivore diet certainly isn’t keto, I made sure to get enough fats from dairy, eggs, and lard.

That said, I can’t say I noticed any changes in my sleep schedule or quality. I never struggled with falling asleep or waking up early, which continued during my 30-day carnivore bout. However, if you eat enough fats and ensure your meal isn’t too close to bedtime, you shouldn’t experience any issues.

Weight and Fat Loss

I didn’t lose much weight during my 30-day carnivore experiment, but I didn’t have that much to lose in the first place. According to my scale, I am now four pounds lighter, and judging by how I look, I lost quite a bit of fat.

I was always quite lean, with around 11-12% body fat, but I believe that has gone down a few points. My arms and legs were always super dry, but I carried a little bit of fat around my stomach. That stubborn belly fat is mostly gone after eating meat, eggs, and dairy for a month. I suspect I’m around 10% body fat now, which is a massive improvement considering my starting point.

Muscle Gain

Sadly, I didn’t gain any significant muscle during this 30-day meat-eating experiment. Apart from the reduction in my waist circumference, the rest of my body remained the same.

Truth be told, I was eating for maintenance. It is incredibly hard for me to eat in a caloric surplus without any carbs in my diet, so I am just thankful I didn’t lose any muscle mass.

That said, it is entirely possible to gain muscle on a carnivore diet. If you’re an untrained person who decided to start lifting alongside the carnivore diet, you can achieve massive gains if you eat the necessary calories.

If you eat steak or chicken breast twice a day, plus a few eggs and some dairy, you’ll easily hit your protein goals. This will provide your muscles with a ton of amino acids, helping them grow.

Recovery

My recovery was out of this world. This past month was quite drastic for me in terms of physical activity, as there was a lot of tennis, some basketball, and four gym sessions per week because I wanted to go for volume as I couldn’t go as hard as I usually do, and let me tell you, I was sore precisely zero times.

I don’t know whether it was the lack of carbs or a ton of protein, but I simply wouldn’t feel soreness the next day, no matter what I did the day before. Granted, I am in excellent shape and have been for quite some time, but I usually feel a thing or two the next day, especially if I pair resistance training with 1-2- hours of tennis.

Inflammation

As my physiotherapist once told me, “It’s a miracle your Achilles is the only thing bothering you, considering how much you do.” Well, my Achilles has stopped bothering me two weeks into the carnivore diet. The pain just went away.

I’ve heard that the carnivore diet is life-changing for people with arthritis and chronic inflammatory illnesses, like Chron’s, but I wasn’t expecting it to help with my Achilles issue. But it did, and now that 30 days have passed, I’m going to slowly start reintroducing carbs into my life so I can see what’s making my tendonitis act up. It seems that carbs are contributing to the issue.

Bowel Movement

My biggest concern before starting the carnivore diet was constipation. I read that most people get constipated for a few days after starting the diet, and the same thing happened to me. It took me five days to visit the john again and then three more days before I saw any regularity in my bowel movement.

I’m still not back to where I was before I got started frequency-wise, and I doubt I will be. However, the consistency and other notable factors are great. I am not feeling any side effects. There’s no pain, no cramping, nothing.

Now, would I struggle more if I didn’t include kefir and yogurt in my diet? Probably. With so little dietary fiber, you need probiotics to keep the gut microbiome in a decent condition.

Mental Clarity

I don’t know how or why (and no one does; we’re all just guessing), but my mind was super clear during this experiment. I wouldn’t get foggy or drift away, and I noticed I could stay focused on a single task for much, much longer than usual.

There were days when I sat in front of the computer and did what is usually a day’s worth of work in one fell swoop. Instead of wasting six to eight hours with all the breaks and distractions, I would finish it all in less than four hours and just enjoy the rest of my day.

I noticed the changes in the gym, too. I wouldn’t get distracted by a great song, would never lose count of the reps, and would stay laser-focused on my form no matter the exercise. So, I am really pleased with how meat-eating affected my mind.

Is the Carnivore Diet Sustainable Long-Term?

Despite my overwhelmingly positive experience with the carnivore diet, I genuinely doubt eating this way is sustainable in the long run. There are just too many missing pieces, and as a nutritionist, I can’t sit here and tell you to go eat meat and eggs and forget about veggies and fruits.

The drawbacks are simply too obvious and too significant to ignore. Sure, some may be addressed with multivitamins, probiotics, or fiber supplements, but until there’s ironclad data showing that supplements are as good as whole foods, I will always suggest prioritizing whole foods.

Is the carnivore diet better than some other diets? That’s up for a debate. Every restrictive diet has its pros and cons, and one is not inherently better than the other. As far as I’m concerned, a balanced diet is still the best.

Dr. Mike Israetel, a professor of exercise science and a professional bodybuilder, is not shy to express his views on various health-related topics, including the carnivore diet, so let’s hear what he had to say:

“It is just not a cogent thing to say that everyone should only eat meat. Some people, for special circumstances, absolutely. Many people, if they want to live a life that is also pretty healthy, can do so while mostly eating animal products and supplementing with some fiber, maybe getting a greens powder or adding a few veggies here and there. It’s totally a fine way to live, and it’s pretty healthy — not the healthiest, but totally cool. If that’s your jam, that’s your jam.”

Wrapping Up: Would I Go Back to the Carnivore Diet?

While the carnivore diet has done me good, I doubt I’ll ever return to it. I love veggies too much, and as I said earlier, I will slowly start reintroducing various foods in my life, see how I react, and go from there.

I plan to return to my regular, completely balanced diet in a month or so. It will take some time to test out some high-carb culprits that may be contributing to my tendonitis, but apart from that, most of the veggies are already back on my plate and will stay there.

Do I think some of you can benefit from a carnivore diet? Absolutely. I can see how Rogan’s “I am on a carnivore diet for 30 days every year” approach could benefit a lot of folks, especially if they struggle with arthritis or something similar, so sure, give it a try. As long as you aren’t starving yourself and you’re otherwise healthy, there’s nothing wrong with trying the carnivore diet.

Read also:

• Joe Rogan Workout Program and Diet Plan
• I Trained Like Rocky Balboa for 45 Days: The Eye of the Tiger Transformation

References:

1. Lennerz BS, Mey JT, Henn OH, Ludwig DS. Behavioral Characteristics and Self-Reported Health Status among 2029 Adults Consuming a “Carnivore Diet”. Curr Dev Nutr. 2021 Nov 2;5(12):nzab133. doi: 10.1093/cdn/nzab133. PMID: 34934897; PMCID: PMC8684475.
2. Réhault-Godbert S, Guyot N, Nys Y. The Golden Egg: Nutritional Value, Bioactivities, and Emerging Benefits for Human Health. Nutrients. 2019 Mar 22;11(3):684. doi: 10.3390/nu11030684. PMID: 30909449; PMCID: PMC6470839.

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