The Daily Brine / On the plate / The Living Carnivore Diet, Explained
On the Plate
The Living Carnivore Diet, Explained
There's a meat-lover's diet making the rounds that asks for a fermented side at every single meal. That puts a jar of kraut right next to the steak, which is a place we're very comfortable. Here's how it works, and where our ferments fit in.
What is the Living Carnivore Diet?
The Living Carnivore Diet, sometimes called the Living Diet or "meat and microbes," comes from Dr. Sean O'Mara, a physician who focuses on visceral fat and metabolic health. It starts from the standard carnivore diet, where you eat mostly animal foods and cut out nearly all plants, and adds one big rule: eat fermented foods with every meal.
The thinking goes like this. Our ancestors didn't eat sterile meat. Freshly hunted animals came with plenty of microbes along for the ride. Modern processed meat arrives clean and lifeless by comparison. The "living" part of the diet is meant to put the microbes back.
How it works
Versions vary, but the core ideas look like this:
- Meat first. Mostly grass-fed and grass-finished ruminants like beef, bison, lamb, elk, and venison, plus wild game and wild-caught seafood.
- Ferments at every meal. Sauerkraut, kimchi, fermented pickles and vegetables, kefir, live yogurt, and aged cheeses like Parmesan, Gruyère, and aged cheddar.
- Chew them together. O'Mara recommends a bite of ferment with each bite of meat, on the idea that the meat helps carry the microbes past stomach acid. He calls it co-masticating, which is a great word.
- Salt, not vinegar. Vegetables on this plan should be fermented in salt brine. Vinegar pickles don't count, because they were never fermented in the first place.
- Skip the "dead food." Most packaged foods, added sugars, seed oils, and long ingredient lists are out.
- Eat on a schedule. Set mealtimes, no grazing, and a longer overnight fast.
People following a looser version often keep ferments to a tablespoon or two per meal, more garnish than side dish.
Where our ferments fit
Our ferments happen to check the boxes this diet cares about. Everything we make is fermented in salt brine, with no vinegar, no added sugar, and no pasteurization. The cultures are alive when they leave our kitchen.
A few pairings from the crew:
- Classic Kraut with a seared ribeye or a grass-fed burger.
- Traditional Kimchi with pork belly or short ribs. It's made with anchovy sauce, which makes it about as carnivore-friendly as a cabbage can get.
- Garlic Dill Pickles with eggs in the morning, or alongside a plate of aged cheddar.
- Ginger Beets with venison or lamb.
- A shot of Beet Kvass or Pickle Juice with dinner, if you like your microbes in liquid form.
Not every jar labeled fermented will do the job here. Shelf-stable kraut that's been cooked and canned has lost its live cultures, and vinegar pickles were never fermented at all. If the goal is living food, look for "raw," "unpasteurized," and "keep refrigerated" on the label.
The fine print
The Living Carnivore Diet is new and has plenty of enthusiasm behind it, but very little published research so far. O'Mara has said he is tracking results in his own patients, and there's no peer-reviewed clinical trial yet to point to.
Many doctors have concerns about meat-heavy, very low-fiber eating. Gastroenterologists point out that fiber feeds the gut bacteria that make butyrate, and that cutting it out often means constipation and other trouble. One gastroenterologist noted that fermented foods may modestly boost microbiome diversity, and gave the credit for that to the ferments rather than the all-meat plan.
We make kraut for a living, and medical advice is outside our lane. If you're thinking about a big change to how you eat, talk it over with your own doctor first.
What we'll happily stand behind is eating more real fermented vegetables with your meals. People have been doing that for a very long time, on every kind of diet.
Whatever's on your plate, carnivore, vegetarian, or somewhere in between, there's room for a forkful of kraut. Our Best Sellers Sampler Pack is an easy way to find your favorite.
~Dave & Carly & the F&F Crew
