Does the Carnivore Diet Keep You in Ketosis? Facts & Myths Explored

I’m on the carnivore diet to help improve my health, and to hopefully achieve various fitness goals, as are many other people. And one common assumption that comes up is that the carnivore diet is the same as a ketogenic diet, or at least works the same way. But is this actually true?

The carnivore diet does not aim to keep you in ketosis. However, as a consequence of following the carnivore diet, most people will stay in a state of ketosis for the overwhelming majority of the time. This is unlike the ketogenic diet, which aims to keep you in a ketogenic state constantly.

So, what does this mean for weight loss, healing, and all the other reasons one might want to follow the ketogenic or carnivore diet? Does it mean it is better to follow the ketogenic diet because you stay in ketosis?

In this article, we’ll discuss:

1. How often you are in ketosis when on the carnivore diet
2. How to stay in ketosis on the carnivore diet
3. The benefits of Carnivore diet vs the benefits of Ketogenic diet

To start with, what’s the big deal with ketosis anyway?

What is Ketosis & What Does it Do to The Body?

Ketosis is a metabolic state in which your body primarily relies on fats, rather than carbohydrates as an energy source. Following a ketogenic diet of high amounts of fat, and low amounts of carbohydrates induces ketosis in the body.

Essentially, your body goes into ‘fat burning mode‘, where it is using up all the fat reserves in your body for energy. This concept is what the ketogenic diet is based on, and it is achieved by making sure that you only eat a limited amount of carbohydrates per day, while also consuming plenty of fats (instead of carbs).

As the body is no longer getting enough carbohydrates as fuel, it is then forced to break down stored fats into ketones, which are then used for energy. The process is called ketogenesis, and being in a state of ketosis offers a variety of potential benefits, including:

• weight loss
• improved mental clarity
• increased/sustained energy levels

How Do You Achieve Ketosis?

Although it varies from person to person, most people would be able to stay in ketosis by restricting carbohydrates to around 20-50 grams per day.

The ketogenic diet consists of a list of all foods that contain a low amount of carbohydrates, which will include:

• meats
• eggs
• low carb dairy
• low carb vegetables
• low carb fruits

And when eating this way, you also have to keep an eye on the amounts you are consuming. For example, a certain fruit may be low carb, but if you eat that and nothing else all day, you’ll go over your carb threshold and come out of ketosis!

TOP TIP: As long as you keep your carbohydrates intake to under 20 – 50 grams per day, you will remain in a state of ketosis.

Is The Carnivore Diet Ketogenic?

Now, you’ll notice from the food list above, that there is an overlap of foods allowed on both the carnivore diet and the ketogenic diet; namely:

• meats
• eggs
• dairy

So, we could say that the carnivore diet is a more restrictive form of the ketogenic diet. In fact, the carnivore diet is often called a near-zero carbohydrate diet. But remember, that the point of the carnivore diet is not to be in ketosis, it is to remove all plants from the diet.

Many people who move from the ketogenic diet, over to the carnivore diet have a tough time getting their head around letting go ‘trying to stay in ketosis’.

When you follow the carnivore diet, you usually end up letting go of eating more than 2 meals a day, because you simply don’t feel too hungry most of the time. This also means that your meals ten to be bigger, as you are eating less often.

And some of the things that can kick a person out of ketosis is:

• Having too much protein in one sitting
• Having too many calories in one sitting

Both of which are entirely possible on the carnivore diet. And yet carnivore dieters still see amazing health benefits, despite potentially going out of ketosis during meal times (of course, this doesn’t necessarily happen every time you eat, but it can).

So, is the carnivore diet ketogenic? Yes and no….

Once your body has adapted, being on the carnivore diet means you are highly likely to stay in ketosis for the overwhelming majority of the time, and if you come out of ketosis during large meal sittings, your body goes into ketosis quite quickly again afterwards.

Because you are having such few, or almost no carbohydrates whatsoever, you get into ketosis pretty quickly, but the many benefits that you get from the carnivore way of eating is not only because you are in deep ketosis most of the time, it is also because:

• you have removed foods that may be causing reactions/inflammation
• you have removed almost all carbohydrates
• the only foods you are eating are extremely nutrient dense and bio-available

This means every single calorie entering your body is providing nutrients in an extremely efficient and bio-available way. You are giving your body the opportunity to work in an extremely efficient way by cutting out anything unnecessary, and increasing al the building blocks you need to heal and be at your best.

FUN FACT: Eating a high amount of protein or too many calories in one sitting can kick you out of ketosis.

How Can I Make Sure I Stay in Ketosis on the Carnivore Diet?

If you want to stay in ketosis on the carnivore diet, there are a couple of things you can do:

1. Have smaller meals more often rather than larger meals less often
2. Ensure you are eating a higher amount of fat than protein with each meal
3. Limit dairy, which tends to contain some albeit very few carbohydrates

Although staying in a ketogenic state has its benefits, I would encourage you to challenge the notion that this is the only reason why being on the carnivore is beneficial. Many people, including myself benefit from being on the carnivore diet without the need to worry about being in ketosis or not.

The diet is so low in carbohydrates that even if you had larger meals that kicked you out of ketosis, it shouldn’t affect the benefits you get from the diet because you will spend so little time outside of ketosis anyway.

Ketogenic Diet Vs Carnivore Diet: Which is Better?

I go through in more detail the differences of the carnivore and Ketogenic diets in my article here. But here is a brief summary of the pros and cons of the 2 diets in the context of ketosis:

Carnivore Diet	Ketogenic Diet
Deeper ketosis but possibly intermittent	Sustained Ketosis
Almost zero carb	Low carb
Less food options	More food options

Both diets are going to bring you benefit, and arguably, carnivore tends to give people better results (this is anecdotal from people who have tried both diets, including myself) but it is a matter of looking at the key differences and deciding which one is right for you. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Will I do well with more variety of foods (keto), or will I find it easier to have less choice (carnivore)?
2. How determined am I to see healing results? (carnivore tends to give faster/bigger results)
3. Which way of eating is more sustainable for my lifestyle?

NOTE: For a full breakdown of the differences between the Keto and Carnivore diets, check out my article “Carnivore vs Keto: Which Should I Choose?”. You can get an idea of which one might be best for you. (I’ve also compared carnivore to the Lion diet here, and the Mediterranean diet here).