At any given time, Joe Rogan’s podcast is pretty much guaranteed to be in the top five most popular on iTunes, and the man has millions of listeners hanging on his every word about fitness and nutrition. (As well as mixed martial arts, hallucinogenic drugs, politics, and wherever else the very-unrehearsed conversations wind up covering.)
It turns out, Rogan has revealed, that for all of January he’s been following the Carnivore Diet, which is what it sounds like: absolutely nothing but meat and eggs. (Usually pasture-raised.) Maybe some herbs on your ribeye. No vegetables. No fruit. It’s just meat.
Naturally, you should read our complete guide to the Carnivore Diet, also called the Zero Carb diet, which answers common questions such as “Wait, what?” and “But how do they poop?”
But this article is about how Joe Rogan tried it out for a month and feels awesome. Here’s the 52-year-old, who has been taking testosterone replacement therapy since he turned 40, showing off his results.
So I did the Carnivore Diet for all of January. I lost 12 pounds. Gained a ton of energy, my energy levels were completely flat the whole month. No ups and downs from crashing after eating. I had a belly, a lot of people made fun of me, fat shamed me. I lost all my fat. I lost all the belly, I lost my love handles. I don’t know if I’m gonna keep eating like this but it was tremendously beneficial.
And I also have an autoimmune disorder, it’s called vitiligo, and my vitiligo improved. I had a bunch of white spots fill in, so. I don’t know. I went into this thing thinking this Carnivore Diet is wacky and I probably think it’s nonsense, but this is as good as I’ve felt in a long time and it’s just one month.
The Instagram caption he wrote pretty much said the same thing, but had an added edit:
Edit: the explosive uber diarrhea stopped around 2 weeks in. It’s been totally normal last two weeks.
In a post from January 3rd, he noted that he got some bloodwork done and was planning to compare the results from before and after the one-month experiment, but even in that short timeframe his energy levels had been “kind of shockingly good.”
We’re looking forward to seeing him talk more about his lab results, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention what a lot of experts, like Dr. Mike Israetel of Renaissance Periodization, say in response to the improved blood markers, and it’s not the lack of vegetables: it’s the reduction in calories.
Since weight loss is a huge driver of overall health, it can overwhelm the negatives of the restricted eating and be a net positive. Individuals reporting great results from the Carnivore Diet will be from weight loss.
Still, Rogan’s looking pretty good and we’re sure there will be no shortage of new carnivores before the month is over.
Featured image via @joerogan on Instagram
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Carnivore Diet?
Also called the Zero Carb diet, the Carnivore Diet involves eating nothing but meat and eggs. Usually, the meat needs to be grass-fed or pasture-raised, as this appears to improve the fatty acid composition.
