The 'carnivore board' is the new 'girl dinner.' The fad diet may have serious health consequences.

A juicy steak, a few eggs, a piece of cheese and maybe even a stick of butter and you’ve got yourself today’s trending food fad: a carnivore board.

It’s the latest iteration of the carnivore diet, which has been popular with male influencers like Joe Rogan, Jordan Peterson and Dr. Paul Saladino. They’ve all sworn by an animal-based meal plan for boosted energy levels, a remedy for skin conditions like eczema, weight loss and an increase in muscle mass.

Fitness influencers and biohackers followed suit. But now young women in the lifestyle and wellness space are giving it a whirl as highly influential individuals like Lauryn Bosstick of the Skinny Confidential promote it for weight loss, clear skin and healthy hair.

Bosstick prefers a “bowl of meat,” which she features in various versions on social media. They usually consist of venison or ground beef with eggs, raw cheese like parmesan and hot sauce. What they lack, aside from the occasional addition of sauerkraut, is vegetables. But that’s the point.

“The carnivore diet is a fad diet that is extremely restrictive by including only foods from animal sources: meat, poultry, fish and other animal foods like eggs and specific dairy products,” Joan Salge Blake, a nutrition professor and dietitian at Boston University, author of Nutrition & You and host of the podcast, "Spot On!" tells Yahoo Life. “It eliminates all the other food groups; namely, whole grains, fruits and vegetables.”

So how have women gone from the girl dinner to the carnivore board? Let’s get into it with the experts.

What is the carnivore diet?

It’s a high-fat, high-protein diet similar to low-carbohydrate diets like keto and Atkins. The difference, however, is that the carnivore diet in its truest form is zero-carb and eliminates all plant-based foods entirely, according to Dr. Jennie Stanford, an obesity medicine physician and medical contributor for Drugwatch.

Interest in the animal-based diet stems from a larger preoccupation with protein. “A high protein diet will provide a robust source of iron, which many women are falling short of in their diets,” says Blake. “Protein is also a nutrient that increases satiety, that feeling of fullness. Thus, a high protein diet may help curb hunger.”

Sticking to animal proteins has been particularly appealing to women. Isabella Ma, a former vegan who now goes by “steakandbuttergal” on TikTok, claims that her diet of “nothing but animal foods” has helped heal her hormones and regulate her period. “I can eat as much as I want without calorie counting [and] have energy to finally move my body the way that I want to,” she said in one video.

These goals don’t require the amount of meat that these women are eating, nor the elimination of other protein sources and plant-based foods. “Plant-based foods such as high fiber veggies and beans can also help reduce hunger and provide the added benefits of many vitamins and minerals that are missing in animal foods,” says Blake.

In fact, sticking to an exclusively animal-based diet has consequences.

Is it healthy?

Blake says she wouldn’t recommend the carnivore diet, not only because overconsumption of red meat, is linked to health conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart disease and several forms of cancer, but because of what the diet excludes.

“Because this is an extreme elimination diet of major food groups, this diet could perpetuate long-term health problems, such as the elevation of the unhealthy low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, vitamin and mineral deficiencies,” says Blake, noting that folic acid and other B vitamins, vitamin C, fiber, potassium, vitamin E and essential fatty acids, which are all essential for good health, would be lacking. She says this could lead to “scurvy, low bone mass, constipation, kidney stones and malnutrition, just to name a few.”

The elimination of so many foods might also be a contributing factor to initial weight loss. But even that wouldn’t be sustainable, according to Stanford.

“Diets that are extremely high in animal products promote ongoing chronic inflammation,” she says. “Without plant-based anti-inflammatory compounds over time, chronic inflammation can cause organ dysfunction, weight gain and a dysregulated metabolism.”

Saladino said on a podcast that he experienced unpleasant symptoms like a drop in his testosterone levels, sleep disturbances, heart palpitations and muscle cramps after sticking to the carnivore diet for two years. He has since revised his eating habits to include carbohydrates.

Claire Couv Smith, a TikTok creator who has also documented her journey with the animal-based diet, complained of “carnivore headaches” by day three. She now incorporates carbohydrates in the form of avocados and fruit.

Avocado, which appears on most of the viral carnivore boards, isn’t enough, according to Blake. “Over 80% of the calories in an avocado is coming from fat,” she says, noting that it’s unsaturated fat and heart healthy. “An avocado will provide some nutrients such as fiber and potassium but can't replace all the other vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals in a diet that are plentiful in fruits and veggies.”

How to better incorporate meat and protein into your meal

Stay away from extremes is the take home here.

“While lean meat is a wonderful source of protein, iron and vitamin B12, you don’t have to consume excessive amounts at each meal to reap these benefits,” says Blake. “Adding about 2 to 3 ounces at each meal, coupled with veggies and some whole grains, will provide a balanced meal that increases satiety and dishes up other important nutrients. A little protein at each meal, throughout the day, will go a long way in providing nutrient and satiety benefits without the risks of micronutrient deficiencies.”

She recommends that protein-rich foods occupy about a quarter of your plate at each meal. But even the daily recommendation is individualized.

“Depending on the women’s age and activity levels, consuming about six ounces daily is a healthy goal. It should be from lean sources and include other protein sources such as omega 3-rich fish as well as poultry and spread out throughout the day,” says Blake.

The universal advice that she’s confident in, however, is to not rely on social media for nutritional guidance. “The fact that many social media content creators lack science-based credibility yet are referred to as 'influencers' based on their number of followers is absurd,” she says.