This controversial way of eating is gaining traction online. Photo: Food & Wine / Getty Images Have you ever eaten a stick of butter? Not in a pie crust or spread on toast — I’m talking about biting into a plain stick of butter. Or maybe you’ve browned butter, frozen it into “popsicles,” and enjoyed it as a treat?
Either of these options will likely shock most people or sound like something you’d do on a dare, but they’re often par for the course for those who adhere to the carnivore diet and their audiences online.
The idea of an animal-based diet has existed for centuries. German author Bernard Moncriff’s 1856 book The Philosophy of the Stomach; or an Exclusively Animal Diet is the Most Wholesome and Fit for Man outlines an argument for why men can and should eat an animal-only diet. Throughout the 19th century, James Salisbury, a physician and creator of the Salisbury steak, advocated for a beef-heavy diet with low amounts of fruits, vegetables, and carbohydrates. In 1979 Scottish doctor John Rollo began prescribing a diet of only meat and fat for patients with diabetes, a practice that became popular with other physicians until the discovery of insulin.
But the term “carnivore diet” was only popularized in the past few years, and social media’s ability to cultivate subcultures has created the ideal space for carnivore communities to form and grow. Simply put: there’s never been a better time to be a carnivore diet content creator. Although carnivore influencers can now leverage Instagram and TikTok to reach other like-minded individuals who are interested in eating animal products exclusively, part of their success is thanks to the controversy that this kind of content stokes. Someone biting into a stick of butter will certainly stop you in your tracks — and it will either catch your attention in a good way or possibly prompt you to leave a disgusted comment. Either way, it’s generating engagement, the fuel of algorithmic success.
For someone like me, who deeply values having carbohydrates and vegetables throughout the day, it might seem easy to dismiss the carnivore […]
The Carnivore Diet Wants to Convince You to Eat a Stick of Butter for Breakfast
