Explaining the Lion Diet: Why Going Meat-Only Carries Significant Risks

Lately, it feels like a new ‘miracle’ diet pops up on social media every other week, with each promising to fix all your health issues just with a few simple rules and steps.

The lion diet is one of the latest diets making rounds on TikTok and other social media platforms. This extremely restrictive version of the carnivore diet focuses on only ruminant meat while eliminating almost everything else.

The lion diet has gained popularity thanks to so-called ‘meatfluencers’ who rave about meat from ruminant animals alongside the potential health benefits, from ‘curing’ inflammatory bowel diseases and supporting weight loss to playing a role in mental health.

However, as a nutritionist, I can’t help but question whether enough attention is being paid to the potential health risks of this diet or if we’re simply witnessing another viral trend gaining popularity without proper scrutiny. Keep on reading to discover what I have uncovered.

What is the lion diet?

While I was looking for more information about this dietary pattern, I noticed that the lion diet seems to originate from Mikhaila Fuller (previously known as Peterson), who describes herself as a writer, wife, mother, and podcaster who runs Peterson Academy and Fuller Health.

On a lion diet website, Fuller shares her health journey, which had many roadblocks. According to her shared story, since childhood, Fuller has been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, severe depression, and chronic fatigue. Later in her life, she developed a few other health conditions.

While sharing her story, Fuller described that compared to before the diet, she is a different person now and that this particular dietary pattern may have helped her cope with various health challenges. Let’s take a closer look at what the lion's diet is about.

Foods allowed on the lion diet

The lion diet is described as a ‘healing elimination diet,’ excluding everything except meat from ruminant animals, salt, and water.

According to this meat-only diet, ruminant animals include cows, sheep, goats, and deer, to name a few. So, the lion diet shopping list is quite an easy one to follow as it only includes red meat such as beef, lamb, goat, or venison. The proponents of this diet suggest that meat from ruminant animals may be considered the highest quality meat.

While there are approximate suggestions of how much meat should be consumed on the lion diet per day — for example, one can see recommendations for eating around 2.5 lb of meat for men who are 6’ tall — generally, the only rule is to eat until you’re full.

Other foods can be used only when weaning into the diet or reintroducing the foods back to the dietary pattern, supposedly after the health problems and symptoms subside.

If the diet goes well, during the reintroduction phase later on, pressure-cooked organic carrots and parsnips in broth are considered a slow and careful way of reintroducing vegetables.

Finally, the proponents of this diet also encourage the use of electrolytes, especially in the beginning stages of the diet.

What foods are strictly avoided on the lion diet?

While it's quite easy to remember what the diet includes, the list of foods that are not allowed is much longer.

Processed foods and drinks, apart from water, are also recommended to be avoided; herbs and spices are not recommended as well.

How does the lion diet differ from the carnivore diet?

The lion diet can be considered a stricter version of the carnivore diet, and the main differences between these dietary patterns are focused on how much variety is allowed within the realm of animal-based foods.

Unlike carb diets, both of these diets focus on excluding all plant foods. Apart from that, the philosophies of these two dietary patterns differ quite extensively.

While both offer simplicity, propose weight loss, and focus on inflammation management, the lion diet suggests extreme elimination to ‘reset the body.’ Meanwhile, the carnivore diet suggests that people should eat only animal-based foods to support overall health.

On the other hand, the carnivore diet offers all-animal-based foods, including some eggs, dairy, and seafood, allowing moderate consumption of unsweetened coffee or tea and having a more flexible approach overall.

How does the lion diet claim to offer health benefits?

The supporters of the lion diet believe that this extreme simplification of the dietary pattern may help achieve positive health outcomes and reduce or potentially even eliminate symptoms from various chronic conditions.

Some examples of how proponents claim the lion diet may supposedly ‘solve’ health issues include the elimination of potential food triggers, assumed weight loss promotion, claimed mental health benefits, supposed autoimmune disorders management, digestive health support, and reduced inflammation.

Trigger food elimination

The lion diet is often marketed as an extreme elimination diet to remove potential food triggers and reduce food sensitivities, especially when it comes to digestive health issues.

Dietary elimination approaches are usually meant to help identify potential food triggers in certain cases, but they should always be a highly personalized approach practiced under medical supervision to maintain nutritional adequacy.

Usually, elimination diets are more structured and have phased elimination protocols that try to minimize overrestriction to avoid nutritional gaps. These dietary patterns may contribute to certain symptom reduction in the short term, but it also depends on the amount of the food trigger consumed, individual tolerance, and other factors.

As a nutritionist, I always try to highlight that completely removing plant-based foods or other foods from different food groups all at once may miss the opportunity to identify specific potential triggers. Thus, this process should be systematic and gradual.

Also, not having a proper reintroduction phase may create nutritional gaps that may negatively impact health in the long term rather than providing sustainable benefits.

Promised mood support

Some followers of meat-based diets suggest that such a dietary pattern may support their mental health. However, no robust clinical trials have been done to support the idea that eliminating carbohydrates or plant foods in any way may contribute to mental health in the long term.

Current evidence highlights that among limited scientific studies, positive impacts on mental health and prevention of cognitive issues long-term were noted for people following diets such as the Mediterranean diet, which, in fact, focuses on higher plant foods, legumes, grains, fish, and healthy fats.

Mental health is a complex system that is rarely solely influenced by nutrition strategies, a lack of excessive intake of certain nutrients, or the type of diet we are following. While it may be one of the contributing factors, taking care of mental health includes various steps, from regular physical activity to relaxation techniques and other lifestyle changes.

Proposed weight loss

The lion diet supporters often suggest that this diet may promote weight loss.

In fact, restricting certain foods and especially increasing protein and fat intake, which may lead to a sense of increased satiety, may end up in an unintentional caloric deficit, which may impact body weight over time.

Moreover, from different low-carb diet strategies, scientific evidence notes that some initial weight loss can be noted due to ketosis in the body.

However, it is suggested that as adherence to the diet wanes, the weight loss effect becomes similar to other nutritional approaches.

Claims of autoimmune symptom ‘relief’ and reduced inflammation

Most of the claims about symptom relief of different autoimmune disorders or reduction in inflammation that stems from lion diet supporters are usually based on some case studies.

While some of those cases may report potential promises of improvements, these outcomes often apply only to highly specific circumstances. Due to high individual variability and differing underlying conditions, such findings cannot be broadly generalized to the wider population.

The idea behind curing out plant foods in terms of inflammation management comes from suggestions to avoid compounds like lectins or oxalates, sometimes called ‘antinutrients.’ However, research does not support the claim that these compounds make plant foods harmful.

In a typical diet, cooking and food combinations reduce their effects, making them unlikely to cause any harm. In contrast to all meat diets, diets that include plant-based foods are linked with better management of inflammatory markers in various adult populations.

Assumed digestive health support

The assumed digestive health support of all animal diets, especially in individuals with irritable bowel syndrome or similar conditions, relies on their simplicity of removing fermentable carbohydrates.

While removing certain carbohydrates may offer temporary symptom relief in specific cases, long-term avoidance of certain beneficial compounds that can be found in many plant foods may negatively affect the gut microbiota, increasing various symptoms associated with gut disturbances.

Why might eliminating foods harm gut health instead of healing it?

Dietary elimination techniques of certain foods may work only in very particular cases when there are specific food sensitivities, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach.

Taking care of gut health is associated with the dietary intake of various vitamins, minerals, prebiotic compounds, and probiotics.

Many of these are often found in non-animal products. For example, probiotics — beneficial microorganisms that, when consumed in adequate amounts, confer potential health benefits — can be found in fermented vegetables or dairy products. Meanwhile, prebiotics, often certain fibers, are found in certain vegetables.

These components, alongside other lifestyle and dietary techniques, can help support proper gut function and potentially reduce the risk of bowel irregularity, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, and other symptoms in many cases.

What do health experts say about the lion diet?

While the basics of this diet are clear, I found myself on a mission to see what the health experts may have to say about the carnivore diet and its stricter version, the lion diet.

Upon looking for different discussion channels on the internet, I stumbled upon a YouTube video that sparked my interest. In a video, two doctors — Dr. Zalzal and Dr. Weening — shared their insights on this controversial topic.

In the episode, the doctors highlighted:

The modern person is drawn to the carnivore diet because they may have seen some immediate results of losing weight, but when you eat the diet that’s very restrictive, regardless of what it is, chances are your calories are going down. Also, you eliminating other foods such as processed foods, highly refined grains, sugary snacks and drinks, which we anyway recommend to avoid.

However, the doctors also elaborate that there are many aspects of why these dietary practices may not be good for you, some including malnutrition, kidney issues due to the amount of protein, issues with increased cholesterol levels in the body, and potential constipation, just to name a few.

“You are missing out on a lot of essential vitamins and other nutrients that you just can’t get from only animal products,” the doctors emphasize in their video.

Finally, they also highly suggest being critical in terms of the promotion of these diets on the internet, reminding that “if you have to take a bunch of supplements to support the diet, maybe it's not a good diet for you to start with.”

Since the doctors on their episode discussed some of the potential health risks associated with this dietary pattern, let’s dig deeper into the concerns from the scientific side.

What are the potential health risks and side effects?

The lion diet is one of those dietary patterns where claimed benefits are often outweighed by potential risks. Let’s explore some of the concerns associated with this dietary pattern.

Nutrient deficiences

The lion diet may increase the risk of certain nutrient deficiencies by eliminating all plant-based foods like grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes.

Vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains contribute to key nutrients like daily fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, other B group vitamins, potassium, and magnesium, which play crucial roles in the body. Most of these micronutrients take part in the immune system, nervous system, and heart health support. Long-term deficiencies may contribute to these systems’ disturbance, increasing the risk of developing health conditions.

Heart health concerns

A diet solely consisting of meat and sodium is like a bad nightmare for cardiovascular health, especially long-term. A high saturated fat intake may contribute to an increase in LDL cholesterol in the blood, which, according to the American Heart Association (AHA), may increase the risk of heart disease. Meanwhile, high sodium intake is linked to the risk of increased blood pressure.

The AHA suggests that in a healthy and balanced dietary pattern, if you need around 2,000 kcal per day, no more than 120 kcal, which is about 13 grams, should come from saturated fats.

My nutritional background often encourages me to put things in perspective. For example, one cooked beef steak provides around 16.8 grams of saturated fat, and a serving of lamb (around 3 oz) may provide 26.8 grams, which already exceeds the suggested AHA limits per day.

Potential weight regain

The lion diet may promote an unintentional caloric deficit, as well as it may initially work similarly to low-carb diets, where the sudden weight loss may be attributed to fluid loss due to carb elimination.

However, extreme dietary restrictions may be hard to sustain long-term, meaning that at some point, regular eating patterns may be resumed. Such fluctuation can lead to weight gain and increase the instances of yo-yo dieting.

Blood sugar imbalance

While the lion diet excludes carbohydrates, including refined carbs that are linked to blood sugar spikes in some instances, by removing all carb sources, it also excludes fiber, which intake is linked to the support of blood sugar regulation.

Even people with type 2 diabetes are recommended to include some complex carbohydrates in their diet to support overall well-being.

Digestive disturbances

Some people may experience some digestive discomfort right at the start of following the lion diet. High intakes of fatty meat may disturb bowel movements, and a sudden extreme dietary change may contribute to indigestion and similar symptoms.

After some time, shifts in gut microbiota may appear, leading to symptoms such as constipation, diarrhea, excessive bloating, and gas.

Who is this diet not recommended for?

As a nutritionist, I would not recommend these only meat-based or animal-based dietary patterns to anyone due to the multiple concerns and a lack of scientific validity these dietary patterns have.

For certain groups of people, this dietary approach is not suitable, including:

• Children and adolescents
• Pregnant or breastfeeding people
• People with a history of eating disorders
• People with blood sugar irregularities
• People with heart disease or high cholesterol levels
• People at risk of osteoporosis
• People with nutritional deficiencies and other health conditions

Remember, these diets are purely experimental and not evidence-based for long-term use. Various nutrient levels, kidney function, gut health, and many other health-related parameters should be monitored constantly by a qualified professional if such diets are followed.

Are there safer, evidence-based ways to identify food sensitivities?

There are many more scientifically grounded techniques to identify food sensitivities, both from a nutritional perspective and a medical perspective.

Always make sure to work with a health professional who can evaluate for true food allergies, intolerances, or sensitivities, order reliable tests, and help you design a nutritionally balanced plan to address symptoms without unnecessary restrictions.

From a dietary perspective, a targeted, yet not overly restrictive, elimination of common trigger foods such as dairy, gluten, soy, eggs, or nuts may help support the identification of individual food sensitivities, particularly when aligned with specific symptoms or health conditions. However, it's important to emphasize that elimination alone does not confirm sensitivity or intolerance.

Where possible, clinical testing should be used to help rule out or confirm specific food-related conditions, as temporary removal without proper evaluation may lead to unnecessary long-term restriction or misattribution of symptoms.

In certain cases, like irritable bowel syndrome or inflammatory bowel disease, medical practitioners or registered dietitians may offer a low FODMAP diet.

Why should you be critical of health claims found only on social media?

As a health advocate who follows evidence-based practices, it is no news that I’m often exposed to a tremendous amount of health-related information on social media platforms daily. With such high information accessibility, it is important to remember that social media platforms are designed for engagement, not accuracy.

Recent research by WellnessPulse uncovered that only 25% of U.S. longevity influencers’ health advice posts can be considered likely trustworthy.

Using unverified diets or proposed ‘treatment’ methods gathered from the internet for chronic or other serious conditions can lead to:

• Delayed diagnosis by qualified medical professionals
• Worsening symptoms long-term due to a lack of proper care
• False hope, especially when the proposed health benefits do not translate into real life
• Irreversible harm to long-term health in some extreme cases

I always recommend sticking to some simple recommendations to see whether the information may be trustworthy:

• Check whether the information comes from reputable institutions and sources like public health agencies, universities, and hospitals
• Likely trustworthy content should cite credible research
• Consider whether the author's qualifications and credentials meet the topics they are discussing
• Watch out for overpromises and buzzwords; instead, look for transparency and balance

Finally, always remain at least a little skeptical about the information you see on social media. Remember, there are no quick fixes or miracle results — any real, sustainable health changes take time and consistency.

Final thoughts

The lion diet is a highly restrictive, all-meat-based elimination diet promoted for certain symptom management, but it lacks scientific backing and poses certain health risks. While some people may notice some initial improvements in health-related parameters, such dietary patterns are not considered a one-size-fits-all approach.

General dietary recommendations for a healthy diet to support overall well-being include adding various food groups to the daily meal choices while eating meat occasionally as a part of a balanced approach.