Library

Videos, papers & books

A curated list — not an endorsement list. We include advocates, critics and neutral researchers so you can hear the strongest version of each argument. Each entry notes why it's worth your time and what to watch out for.

Paper

Neutral Paper · 1930

Clinical Calorimetry XLV: Prolonged Meat Diets with a Study of Kidney Function and Ketosis

Walter S. McClellan & Eugene F. Du Bois, MD, Russell Sage Institute of Pathology / Bellevue Hospital, New York

The report of the Bellevue experiment, in which Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson and a colleague ate only meat and fat for a year under medical supervision. The authors tracked kidney function, ketosis, vitamin status and general health and found no clear harm over that period.

Why it's here: The original primary source behind many carnivore claims; note it covers just two men, and the study was funded by the Institute of American Meat Packers.

Paper

Neutral Paper · 2014

Diet rapidly and reproducibly alters the human gut microbiome

Lawrence A. David, PhD; Peter J. Turnbaugh, PhD et al., Harvard University (Nature)

Volunteers switched for five days between an entirely animal-based diet and a plant-based diet. The animal-based diet shifted the gut microbiome within days, raising bile-tolerant microbes such as Bilophila wadsworthia and lowering fibre-fermenting species.

Why it's here: The most-cited controlled look at what an all-animal diet does to gut bacteria; short-term and small, so it shows how fast the gut changes, not long-term health outcomes.

Paper

Neutral Paper · 2022

Elevated LDL Cholesterol with a Carbohydrate-Restricted Diet: Evidence for a "Lean Mass Hyper-Responder" Phenotype

Nicholas Norwitz, PhD; David Feldman; Adrian Soto-Mota, MD, PhD; Tro Kalayjian, DO; David Ludwig, MD, PhD (Harvard Medical School)

Using data from the carnivore survey cohort, the authors show that the leanest and most metabolically healthy low-carb eaters (low triglycerides, high HDL) tend to see the largest LDL increases. Case reports suggest modest carbohydrate reintroduction can bring extreme LDL back down.

Why it's here: Essential if you are lean and your LDL jumped on carnivore; pair it with the critical reply that follows, as cardiovascular risk in this group is still unresolved.

Paper

Neutral Paper · 2024

Carbohydrate Restriction-Induced Elevations in LDL-Cholesterol and Atherosclerosis: The KETO Trial

Matthew Budoff, MD (cardiologist, Lundquist Institute) et al., with Nicholas Norwitz and David Feldman (JACC: Advances)

Coronary CT angiography in 80 long-term ketogenic dieters with LDL of 190 mg/dL or more, compared with 80 matched controls from the Miami Heart cohort. Despite average LDL of roughly 272 versus 123 mg/dL, plaque burden did not differ significantly between the groups.

Why it's here: Widely quoted by both sides; it is a cross-sectional snapshot of a self-selected group, and a later longitudinal KETO-CTA paper in the same journal was retracted, so read the commentary before drawing conclusions.

Neutral Lecture

Published Research on Carnivore, Ketogenic and Carbohydrate Restricted Diets

Belinda Lennerz, MD, PhD, paediatric endocrinologist, Boston Children's Hospital / Harvard Medical School (Low Carb Down Under)

The lead author of the 2,029-person carnivore survey walks through her published work on carnivore, ketogenic and carbohydrate-restricted diets. She covers what the data show, how they were collected and the open questions they raise.

Why it's here: Hear the study's methods and caveats from the researcher who ran it, rather than second-hand from advocates or critics.

Neutral Podcast

What are LMHRs (Lean Mass Hyper-Responders)?

Dave Feldman (engineer, Citizen Science Foundation), Nick Norwitz, PhD, and Dominic D'Agostino, PhD (University of South Florida) on the Levels podcast

The researchers behind the lean mass hyper-responder idea explain why some lean, active people on low-carb or carnivore diets see very large LDL rises. They cover the proposed lipid energy model and the research designed to test it.

Why it's here: The clearest explanation of the LMHR hypothesis from its proponents; balance it with the critical papers and videos in this library.

Suggest a source. Know a well-referenced talk, paper or book we should consider — for or against? Tell us. We add items that cite their evidence and disclose conflicts of interest.