Zero carb diets can be dangerous, particularly if the diet isn't very high in fats (google "rabbit starvation").
A zero carb diet would mean protein and fat only (essentially meat and nothing else) - no vegetable matter of any kind.
Even carnivores, generally get some vegetable matter in their diet by eating the digestive organs of their prey. They will get ill and malnourished if they eat only the muscle tissue - they must eat the skin, bones, organs.... as well.
In theory - a completely carvivorous diet is perhaps possible for humans - but only if you're willing to eat the parts of the critter most Americans avoid - the skin, brain, eyes, cartilage, bones(at least the softer ones) marrow and other internal organs.
I have not been following the diet, but have been very interested in what I have been reading. I have been low carb on and off for years and had never heard of zero carbs. There are lots of people that follow this I have found.
kaplods-From what I am finding, your right. Nothing but meat and ater. Some eat eggs and cheese, but most work there way to meat and water only.
Some have been eating this wya for years.
Right now I am just trying to watch my calories again. I go back and forth a lot
In theory, a meat only diet can work - but only if it includes more than just muscle tissue. Carnivorous animals always eat more than just the muscle tissue - nothing is wasted. Also, many carnivores aren't exclusively carnvorous. For example, even wolves will sometimes eat berries to supplement their diet.
There was a very fascinationg article several years ago that wild mountain lions (in Colorado, I believe) were getting ill from malnutrition because people were taking meat from the grocery store out into the woods, and leaving it for the cougars to eat (it was a particularly hard winter, and some people were afraid the cougars would starve).
The muscle-tissue and fat only wasn't a balanced diet. I believe rickets was a serious problem (from lack of vitamin D - which I believe they ordinarily get from eating the skin and liver of their prey). People were mostly donating beef - ground beef and beef roasts. Without the skin, bones, and internal organs of their natural diet, the cougars began to get sick.
The human diet closest to a carnivorous diet is that of the traditional Inuit (Eskimo). The traditional inuit diet is primarily meat - but they do eat nearly the whole critter including the skin and internal organs (as most hunting societies and carnivores do - nothing goes to waste) - and they also eat berries and herbs in the summer. The main source of vitamin C comes from whale blubber (fat and skin tissues), which is said to have more vitamin C ounce for ounce than an orange.
Because humans cannot make their own vitamin C, they have to ingest it. It isn't present in muscle meat tissue - only in the skin and subcutaneous fat.
So, unless you're eating the skin and organs, not just the muscle tissue, you can end up with serious vitamin deficiencies.
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Southerngrl,
Out of curiousity, have you tried Atkins? Its LOW carb, not NO carb....but, I can attest, when done correctly it does work and it is maintainable
Last edited by JerseyGyrl; 10-29-2009 at 06:52 PM.
Sounds dangerous to me- I can't even do Atkins it makes me ill. South Beach I can handle- I've lowered my carbs enough to keep losing but not really get into ketosis.
Does 3 fat chicks have a forum for zero carb diets?
