An article in the Guardian came out today about carnivores, including Bitcoin carnivores. Below is my uncut email interview, which goes much more in depth.

Check out “They mock vegans and eat 4lbs of steak a day: meet ‘carnivore dieters’” (archive link) by Olivia Solon. I was previously interviewed in Motherboard. You can read that interview here.

Why do you think there is a cluster of people in Bitcoin who advocate eating all meat?

As I’ve said elsewhere: Bitcoin is a revolt against fiat money, and an all-meat diet is a revolt against fiat food. Once someone has grown capable of seeing beyond the lies and myths that experts peddle in one domain, it becomes easier to see beyond them in other domains as well.

Why do you endorse a carnivore diet rather than something like keto/atkins? (or maybe you endorse both?)

We were born to eat meat, not to track calories or ketones or feeding windows. Keto, Atkins, and mainstream paleo can help many people, but involve too many plants, which have anti-nutrients that can cause problems like autoimmune disorders or poor nutrient absorption. Carnivory is nutritionally complete and rich in nutrients missing from plants like B12, DHA, heme iron, and taurine.

What are the health benefits you experience from eating like this?

I personally have much clearer skin, sharper focus, improved dental health, increased lean mass, and more energy. Others have experienced relief from lifelong digestive problems, autoimmune issues (including rheumatoid arthritis), severe mental illness such as suicidal depression and bipolar, and more. Meatheals.com has many examples of people attaining better health or weight loss, and Paleomedicina is a clinic in Hungary that treats a variety of conditions with carnivorous diets, such as Crohn’s disease and brain cancer.

What about in terms of productivity/work?

Grocery shopping takes all of 10 minutes, most of which is standing in the checkout line. I spend little time in the kitchen. I spend little time thinking about food. I only need to eat once or twice a day (no snacking or cravings). Basically, it’s the greatest productivity hack, and Silicon Valley should have listened to me about it while I was there.

Why did you set up justmeat.co?

When people hear about carnivory, they often think it’s just the dietary fantasies of one guy, me, when really, there is a lot of information out there from many lines of evidence and experience. Justmeat.co is my ongoing attempt to make an introductory portal to these ideas by sharing quality links and documents to help people learn more. I include online groups such as Zeroing In On Health, where thousands of people have shared their experiences for almost a decade, blogs by researchers such as Amber O’Hearn, old books such as those by Weston Price and Vilhjalmur Stefansson, clinical case studies by Paleomedicina, and much more.

It seems as though there’s a joke/trollish element to the whole Bitcoin carnivore “movement” (for lack of a better word). Do you agree? If so, how would you characterise this aspect?

I think of it as a healthy irreverence for the “experts” who have told us that inflation is good, that Bitcoin is going to die, and that low-fat diets are healthy and saturated fat will give us heart disease. Such stupid and thoroughly dismantled myths (bullshit, if you will) has a hard time earning respect in an environment where people have more access to information.

Have you recruited many people to eat like you do?

Hundreds of people have started eating like I do, and I receive messages all the time thanking me for encouraging them to eat more meat and learn about Bitcoin. It humbles me, and I am so glad I could help people examine the world from a fresh perspective.

What do you eat in a typical day?

I eat about 2 - 2.5 pounds of ribeye every day. Ribeye is very popular, but we see carnivores enjoying a variety of meats, including ground beef, lamb, fish, and organ meats like liver, as well as eggs.

Do you take any supplements?

Yes, it’s called steak.

Do you ever have days when you eat pizza/chocolate/ice cream?

No, never. I don’t have cravings for them either. They don’t even register in my brain as food.

Do you ever eat any greens/vegetables?

Same as above.

How much do you spend on meat in a typical week/month?

I spend about $400/mo, but I also treat myself to premium cuts. I could live very cheaply off ground beef if I needed to.

Where do you source your meat from?

Costco and HEB

What’s the most challenging aspect of carnivory?

Carnivory can be a challenge socially, because people like to “reward” themselves with sugar at every chance they can get. I just politely decline. As a lifelong contrarian, I’m used to doing things a bit differently.

Do you ever eat out? If so how do you navigate that?

Not much, but I eat out with friends. I order a steak or a burger. Fast food burger patties are a great choice on the go. Unfortunately, most restaurants use industrial seed oils because they are cheap. I wish restaurants would use lard and tallow instead. They also tend to give very small, overpriced meat portions.

What about booze. Do you ever have a glass of wine with your steak?

I don’t drink.

The 2.5lbs of meat you eat per day - how do you prepare that?

The reverse sear is currently my favorite way of making a steak. I like my steaks very rare.

And why don’t you eat other meats or fish?

Carnivores gravitate towards fatty beef or other ruminants because they are the most satiating. Some really like pork. Other meats, including chicken and fish, are perfectly fine if you like them, but they are often lean and not as satiating. As Charles Washington from ZIOH says, “Eat the meat you like and can afford.”

For more resources on carnivory, visit my site Just Meat.