Whether it’s for weight loss or strengthening your immunity, taking stock of what you eat and supervising your daily nutrition is, no doubt, an affordable and relatively easier way to significantly improve your health.
The carnivore diet is one such fad that focuses on weight loss and boosting overall nutrition in the body by cutting out carbs entirely. That last part is where things get dicey because people’s primary concern about the carnivore diet is the potential lack of Vitamin C in meat.
What Is A Carnivore Diet?
A carnivore diet is the latest in a series of diets that focus on lowering or completely cutting out carbs. While ketogenic diets focus on high fat intake and Atkins focuses on carb reduction, a carnivore diet, as the name suggests, asks you to only and only eat meat.
This means that every meal you eat is 100% carb-free, and your primary nutrient intake focuses on proteins and fat. This is considered a problem as a meal without any fiber is unlikely to be rich in Vitamin C.
What Is Vitamin C?
Vitamin C is a power-packed nutrient and antioxidant found in abundance in fruits, vegetables, and even meat. It protects the body from immune deficiencies, skin problems, cardiovascular disease, and eye problems.
Vitamin C is directly responsible for creating enzymatic reactions in the body that assist in collagen production. Collagen is necessary as it helps in building blood vessels and tissue connections.
Vitamin C and Humans
While most animals produce Vitamin C by using the glucose in their bodies, humans and primates have evolved somewhat of a genetic defect. Humans cannot produce high amounts of Vitamin C due to the lack of a specific enzyme called DHA that helps in synthesizing glucose into it. But there is a way humans make up for the lack of this enzyme.
In most animals, the DHA cells will stay as glucose and move through their bloodstream. In humans, the level of naturally created Vitamin C is quite low due to a lack of internal synthesis. This, in turn, causes the body to pull out all Vitamin C from the DHA cells and use it 100%. This means that the lack of a sugary and glucose-filled diet will negate your need to consume Vitamin C rich meals regularly.
Vitamin C and Meat
Vitamin C in meat is not as abundant when compared to fruits and vegetables. What you should focus on is the amount of Vitamin C you require. On average, Vitamin C intake should not fall below 10 mg per day. When this number is observed with the amount of meat you may consume in a day, you’ll notice that you are easily meeting that benchmark.
But remember, on a carnivore diet, you aren’t eating anything other than meat, which in itself is rich in hydroxylysine and hydroxyproline, responsible for building collagen in your body. This eliminates the need to consume Vitamin C supplements.
The Outlook
The carnivore diet is known to reduce inflammation and help with weight loss in countless cases. While it does not provide an abundance of Vitamin C, there is little to no chance of suffering a Vitamin C deficiency should you start this diet.
The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.
