A diet loved by influencers and celebrities, including podcasting giant Joe Rogan, could trigger a serious kidney disease, US medics have warned.
Social media is awash with accounts hyping the carnivore diet, which sees proponents mainly or only consume animal-based foods like steak, eggs and butter.
Advocates claim to have seen a huge a range of health benefits, including weight-loss and easing of gut symptoms, by making the switch.
But doctors from the Indiana University School of Medicine have now warned the diet could lead to increased risk of agonising kidney stones — stone-like lumps in the organ that form from excess waste products.
In some cases, large stones block the flow of urine out of the body, leading to potentially life-threatening infections and risking sepsis.
The medics’ warning was sparked by a recent case of a patient who adopted the diet after learning about it on YouTube, and suffered major complications.
Writing in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, they stated that the 68 year-old man lost two-stone while only eating meat.
However, tests performed a year after he began his diet revealed that his body was in the earliest stages of forming the painful crystals.
The NHS says meat is a good source of protein which the body needs to maintain and build muscle, and can also provide a good source of vitamins and minerals like iron, zinc and B vitamins
Social media is awash with accounts hyping the carnivore diet, which sees proponents mainly or only consume animal-based foods like steak, eggs and butter. Pictured Brian Johnson, better known as the Liver King, who has built a following from his raw carnivore diet, mainly filled with meat
One particularity harrowing case saw a man on carnivore diet suffer cholesterol levels so high that it started to leak out of his hands
Analysis revealed he had an increased risk of all three types of major kidney stones, those formed of calcium oxalate, calcium phosphate, and uric acid, and these were now at ‘levels consistent with stone growth’.
Medics said they eventually convinced him to ditch the carnivore diet. He was also given medication to help with gout, a type of arthritis and the condition he was attempting to treat with the extreme eating plan.
A year after quitting the diet, the medics reported their patient remained kidney stone free.
Commenting on the case they said it highlighted the potential risks a carnivore diet posed for kidney stone formation.
‘This patient’s urine studies demonstrate the potential hazards of the carnivore diet,’ he said.
‘Due to increased animal protein, the exclusion of dairy products, and the removal of fruits and vegetables, the diet creates an optimal environment for the development of all stone types.’
They added: ‘The lack of literature on this and other fad diets’ safety and efficacy should be a cause for alarm among physicians.
‘The advent of social media and the use of such communication for health information will make fad diets a continually growing issue.’
The medics said a wealth of evidence showed eating too much meat contributed to kidney stones by increasing levels of uric acid in the body.
The ‘acidic environment’ helps the waste products to crystallise, they wrote.
Interest in the diet has been partly fuelled by advocates like Joe Rogan (pictured) and Jordan Peterson saying it improved their mental and physical abilities
They added that recent studies suggested a fibre-rich diet, which includes carbohydrates avoided by carnivores, helped feed bacteria in the guts that could hinder the formation of kidney stones.
Kidney stones are considered a relatively common ailment, affecting about 1 in 10 people in the UK.
They are more likely to develop in men than women and are typically diagnosed in patients between the age of 30 and 60.
Many kidney stones are passed through urine without patients noticing.
If they do cause pain, they are usually easily treated via either medication or a number of different procedures.
But if left for a long period of time untreated, they can cause serious complications, dramatically increasing the risk of potentially deadly infections.
Carnivore diets have grown in popularity in recent years with clips on the subject attracting over 1 billion views on TikTok.
Interest in the diet has been partly fuelled by advocates like Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson, who say it’s improved their mental and physical abilities. However, as popularity soared, so has research warning of potential hazards.
One 2023 study found people who eat just two servings of meat per week are at an increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes.
The Harvard University research, which is based on data from over 200,000 people followed almost 40 years, found those who ate the most red meat had a 62 percent higher risk compared to those eating the least.
And research from Oxford University found higher consumption of red meat increased the risk of heart disease by 18 percent for each additional 50 grams eaten per day.
One particularity harrowing case even saw a man on a carnivore diet suffer cholesterol levels so high that the fatty substance began leaking out of his hands.
Experts have also warned that those who limit their diet to meat could be at increased risk of conditions like scurvy and even cancer due to the diet’s lack of vitamin C and fibre.
Cancer Research UK estimates about one in four of the some 45,000 cases of bowel cancer diagnosed in Britain each year is caused by lack of fibre.
However, some experts dispute some of findings of studies about the dangers of eating too much meat.
They highlight much of research fails to distinguish between the impact of processed meat like sausages and burger patties and less processed cuts like steak.
Most experts advise adopting a balanced diet of healthy animal products like lean cuts of meat, dairy and eggs alongside plenty of fruit and vegetables and wholegrain carbohydrates.
