Meat is King: The Rise of the Controversial Carnivore Influencers

Mikhaila Fuller (née Peterson) was just two years old when she first experienced symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. However, it took another five years before she was formally diagnosed. By the age of eight, she was prescribed immunosuppressants such as methotrexate and etanercept. Despite these treatments, Mikhaila continued to suffer from multiple chronic illnesses, including asthma, eczema, and Lyme disease, until she was 23.

In 2015, she decided to experiment with an elimination diet to manage her debilitating symptoms. While nursing her first child, she transitioned to an all-meat diet after gradually cutting out carbohydrates, which she believed triggered her arthritis.

Image: Medical Today

Her father, psychologist Jordan Peterson, soon noticed the dramatic improvements in her health. In 2018, he went viral for promoting a carnivore diet during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience. Peterson claimed that eating nothing but steak, salt, and water had eliminated his gum disease, depression, and anxiety.

On the episode Peterson claimed that eating a carnivore diet solely consisting of steak, salt and water had completely eliminated his symptoms of gum disease, depression and anxiety.  As of the time of writing this article, there are over 78k members of r/carnivorediet on Reddit and the carnivore diet is one of the most Googled diets, receiving over 1 million searches in the US by December 2020. Alongside this rising online interest, multiple health and nutrition influencers emerged touting the potential benefits of a meat-based diet.

Notable influencers include former orthopaedic surgeon Shawn Baker and Brian Johnson, who is more commonly known as his online persona, Liver King.  While the carnivore diet may have at first been proposed by Jordan Peterson and Joe Rogan for its potential health benefits in healing autoimmune diseases and mental illnesses, online proponents of the diet have notably intertwined the need to eat raw meat with right-wing or conservative political beliefs.

Carnivore diet advocate Charles Cornish-Dale, who writes under the pseudonym Raw Egg Nationalist, gained traction after appearing on US political commentator Tucker Carlson’s documentary The End of Man. The programme attempted to find the root causes of a global decline in testosterone and sperm count among men. Cornish-Dale appeared on the documentary stating that plant-based diets had an integral role in lowering testosterone in the modern US male population. 

Image: Instagram

Writing in 2022 about the emergence of plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy, Cornish-Dale not only argued that meat substitutes lacked the same nutritional benefits to real meat and dairy products but also described them as a “corporate effort” to control the global food chain.

In conversation with health and wellness website Unfiltered, Shawn Baker addressed the correlation between those participating in the carnivore diet and right-wing ideology. 

“The nutritional guidelines say eat whole grains, fruits and vegetables and avoid saturated fats. So [to follow the carnivore diet] is going against a major system recommendation,” Baker explains, “And so it’s very easy to say, ‘well they lied to me about meat. What else did they lie to me about?’”

Baker also acknowledges the influence of the 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic and subsequent worldwide lockdown on this line of thinking stating that a lot of Americans felt upset about their government’s response to Covid and how that caused a loss of trust in government bodies like the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration).

However, the carnivore diet isn’t just a rejection of establishment but equally an expression of power and masculinity.

Many influencers and online articles about the carnivore diet state that potential benefits of eating only animal-based products is an increase in testosterone and protein, which are deemed vital in the growth of muscle.

Brian Johnson, or Liver King, notably claimed that his impressive physique was the result of following his ancestral lifestyle and eating raw meat, particularly whole raw organs such as bull testicles and brains. Johnson vehemently denied using anabolic steroids or other performance enhancing drugs in the gym until 2022 when emails surfaced online showing that he had spent roughly $11,000 on steroids. Among the steroids and drugs Johnson had paid for was the hormone Omnitrope, which is typically used to treat children and adults with growth deficiencies.

In her 1990 novel The Sexual Politics of Meat, author and vegan activist Carol J Adams noted that the presence of meat in people’s diets has historically proclaimed both class and patriarchal divisions. 

Adams wrote that meat was a valuable economic commodity controlled by the hunters in charge of collecting it, who were predominantly men. The men in charge of hunting animals and distributing meat achieved power and the substance of meat itself became associated with masculinity and strength.

“One’s maleness,” writes Adams, “is reassured by the food one eats.”

The body and its cultivation has been used in alt-right ideology not only to promote masculine power, but also to provide evidence of racial superiority dating as far back as Nazi Germany.

Before hosting the summer Olympics in 1936, all German sport institutions adopted an “Aryan only” policy, excluding all Jewish, Roma or non-white athletes from competing in the games. Competing athletes were instructed to focus on record beating and an industrial approach to sports. Nazi Germany wanted to create a direct correlation between the performance of its athletes and the power of its state and people.

Outside of its links to conspiracy and alt-right ideology, the prospective health benefits and claims of the carnivore diet have also come under scrutiny as more scientific research is done on eating solely animal-based foods.

High levels of cholesterol, impaired kidney function and greater risk of developing gout, kidney stones and osteoporosis are all listed as dangers of following the carnivore diet according to Harvard Health Publishing.

One man who had followed the carnivore diet for eight months developed xanthelasma, visible cholesterol deposits underneath the skin. A case study on the patient published by JAMA Cardiology reported that his cholesterol level exceeded 1000 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), above the recommended 100mg/dL for a healthy cardiovascular system. While high cholesterol may not cause immediate symptoms within a patient’s body, it can lead to a greater risk of heart attack and stroke according to the NHS.

One TikToker, Eve Catherine, posted a video in March 2025 documenting how her high protein carnivore diet led her to be hospitalised with kidney stones. Catherine required morphine in the hospital to manage the pain.

Fawad Zafar was only three weeks into his carnivore diet when he began experiencing negative symptoms from eliminating all vegetables and grains. Writing for the food blog Dish Diary, Zafar stated that he began feeling dizzy and had brain fog that was detrimental to his work. His muscles ached with pain and he began experiencing stomach aches after eating. 

“After a big steak supper one evening, I felt as though my breathing was laboured,” wrote Zafar, “I was overcome with dizziness and my chest felt constricted.”

After visiting a doctor, a blood test confirmed that Zafar’s body was missing numerous key vitamins and minerals vital to function. His blood pressure was high and his body was dehydrated. Zafar described his visit to the doctor as a wake up call that his carnivore diet was harming, instead of healing, his body.

In a healthy and well-balanced diet, meat can be a good source of protein and is a main source of vitamin B12, which is essential for your body’s DNA and red blood cell production.

Eating only meat can leave you deficient in other substances that your body needs, such as fiber and vitamin C. The NHS recommends at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, stating that fruit and vegetables should account for around a third of the food you eat daily.

The carnivore diet has grown beyond a niche health trend into a cultural and political phenomenon. While some followers claim life-changing benefits, others have suffered serious health consequences.

As with any extreme diet, it is essential to approach it with caution, consider scientific research, and ensure nutritional balance. Whether motivated by health, ideology, or personal preference, those considering the carnivore diet should be aware of both its potential benefits and risks.