A formerly vegan influencer followed the meat-only carnivore diet for 30 days and her fans are not h
- A formerly vegan influencer followed the carnivore diet for 30 days and documented her experience on YouTube.
- Alyse Parker, from Connecticut, was vegan for nearly five years before reintroducing animal products to her diet in early 2019.
- But she recently went one step further and ate only meat, fish, eggs, and some dairy for a month, which she says gave her "mental clarity."
- Having grown her sizeable online following largely by posting about her plant-based lifestyle, many of her fans are not happy.
- What's more, nutrition experts do not recommend the carnivore diet — specialist dietitian Nichola Ludlam-Raine told Insider it's "absolutely ridiculous."
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
A formerly vegan influencer has divided her followers by following the carnivore diet for 30 days.
Connecticut-based vlogger and Instagrammer Alyse Parker was vegan for over five years and grew her 728,000 strong YouTube following largely by posting about her plant-based lifestyle.
However, Parker — whose account was formerly known as Raw Alignment — announced she was no longer vegan in March this year, and she's recently gone one step further by consuming only meat, fish, eggs, and some dairy for a month.
An increasingly popular but controversial way of eating, the carnivore diet is considered by some of its advocates as a good way to lose weight and heal diseases like diabetes, arthritis, and fatigue — a myth that Insider's Gabby Landsverk previously dispelled.
However, these claims have largely been debunked.
Parker wanted to inspire people to challenge themselves
Having previously challenged herself to drink only fruit juice for 21 days, go a year without using deodorant, and forgo shampoo for a month, Parker decided her latest challenge would be following the carnivore diet for 30 days.
Speaking in a YouTube video about her experience, Parker said she wanted to inspire people to challenge themselves and expand their perspectives.
"Before starting this diet I was eating a pretty balanced diet including meat and plants and things like gluten-free bread and dark chocolate," she said, and she also explained that she was mainly worried about surviving social situations.
Parker, 25, cleared her kitchen of all the foods she couldn't eat — grains, fruit, vegetables, anything sweet — but announced she was allowing herself two "comforts" — bulletproof coffee and matcha.
Her cravings disappeared after a few days
On day six of 30, Parker said she was desperate to eat "anything other than" meat, fish, or eggs, and had been craving carbs too. But these cravings actually went away, apparently.
There were days where Parker felt bored of eating meat but she said she never felt too restricted.
The self-described "mindset transformation queen" started out by grazing over the course of the day and consuming dairy too, but a few days in she realized her digestion wasn't great so decided to cut out dairy and switch to consuming just two meals a day and no snacks in between to "give her digestive system more of a break."
"My digestion has been on point," since, she said on day 23, and later added that it was better than when she was vegan.
Parker said she felt "super mentally clear"
By the end of the 30 days, Parker said she was feeling "super mentally clear" but missing the freedom of eating whatever she wanted, especially in social settings.
"The main mental change I experienced was having way more stable energy and focus throughout the day, literally every day," she said, adding that she no longer experienced energy crashes.
When it came to physical changes, Parker said she noticed some fat loss and increased power in the gym.
"I ended up losing around 2 lbs in the full 30 days," she said. "My physique changed slightly but nothing crazy — I mainly just felt more lean and more comfortable in my body."
Having missed eating burgers with buns (and not just the patty), Parker said she wouldn't continue following the diet 100%, but had noticed enough benefits to want to eat mainly carnivore going forward.
Many of her followers are not happy
Parker has received mixed reactions to her carnivore challenge.
Some praised her for experimenting. "The best thing we can do is self-experiment to figure out what works for us," wrote "animal-based nutrition coach" Health Coach Kait on Instagram.
But many of Parker's other followers said they found her decision "disappointing," "fickle," and "disgusting."
Most nutrition experts do not recommend the carnivore diet
Although proponents of the carnivore diet — which was originally popularized by controversial psychologist Jordan Peterson and his daughter Mikhaila — claim it gives you everything your body needs, many nutrition experts say it deprives your body of various essential nutrients and vitamins.
"This diet is absolutely ridiculous," specialist dietitian Nichola Ludlam-Raine told Insider.
"It's massively devoid in nutrients, carbs, and fiber which will most likely leave you feeling lacking in energy (with headaches) and constipated too.
"Long term it could have some pretty serious health implications, not to mention a poorly functioning immune system leaving you more susceptible to catching coughs and colds."
Aside from anecdotes from carnivore-devotees, there's little scientific evidence to back up the supposed positive benefits of the diet.
"We all react in different ways to various foods and what works for one person will not work for someone else," registered nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert previously told The Independent in relation to the carnivore diet.
"In particular when it comes to diet, encouraging the elimination of whole food groups is extremely irresponsible.
"It is essential that if you are looking for advice in regards to your health and nutrition, that you seek professional advice from a registered nutritionist or dietitian."
Insider has contacted Parker for comment.
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