Did Paul Saladino Change His Diet? Unpacking the Shift to an Animal-Based Approach

November 14, 2025 •

2 min read

In 2023, after five years on a strict carnivore diet, Paul Saladino experienced significant health issues, leading many to wonder: Did Paul Saladino change his diet? He publicly revealed that he had moved to a new "animal-based" approach, which incorporates fruit and honey alongside animal products.

Quick Summary

Paul Saladino transitioned from a pure carnivore diet to an animal-based diet including meat, organs, fruit, honey, and raw dairy. His decision followed negative health symptoms from long-term ketosis, such as low testosterone, sleep disturbances, and electrolyte imbalance.

Key Points

Dietary Shift: Paul Saladino transitioned from a strict carnivore diet to an "animal-based" diet, which includes fruit, honey, and raw dairy alongside animal products.
Reasons for Change: He cited numerous health issues on the strict carnivore diet, including low testosterone, poor sleep, muscle cramps, and electrolyte imbalance.
Role of Carbohydrates: Saladino added carbohydrates from fruit and honey to provide an insulin signal, which he believes was necessary to support hormone balance and electrolyte retention.
Individualized Approach: His journey emphasizes that long-term ketosis is not optimal for everyone and that listening to individual body signals is crucial.
Controversial Elements: His diet, even in its new form, remains controversial due to its exclusion of most vegetables and inclusion of raw dairy, which health experts often advise against.

The Rise and Fall of a Strict Carnivore Diet

Dr. Paul Saladino, known as "Carnivore MD," gained prominence advocating for a strict carnivore diet consisting exclusively of meat, fish, eggs, and some dairy, arguing against plant consumption. After years on this restrictive diet, focused on nose-to-tail animal consumption, he began experiencing health issues.

Health Problems on the Strict Carnivore Diet

Saladino reported several adverse effects:

Low testosterone
Sleep disturbances
Heart palpitations
Muscle cramps
Feeling cold
Chronically low insulin

He publicly acknowledged these struggles, stating that long-term ketosis might not be beneficial for him or most humans.

The Transition to an "Animal-Based" Diet

Saladino evolved his diet to an "animal-based" approach to retain benefits while mitigating negative effects by reintroducing select plant foods. This was a notable shift for his followers, given his previous stance on vegetables.

The Components of Saladino's New Diet

His current diet includes:

Meat and Organs
Fruit (considered "least toxic" plant foods)
Honey (for carbohydrates and electrolyte balance)
Raw Dairy (cheese, butter, milk)

The addition of fruit and honey provided carbohydrates, which he found necessary for electrolyte retention and resolving sleep and hormone issues. More information about Saladino can be found on his Wikipedia page.

Comparing Saladino's Diet Phases


Feature	Strict Carnivore (c. 2018–2022)	Animal-Based (c. 2022–Present)
Core Foods	Meat, fish, eggs, some dairy	Meat, organs, fruit, honey, raw dairy
Carbohydrate Sources	None (ketogenic)	Fruit, honey
Plant Foods	Excluded all plant foods	Includes fruit (avoids most vegetables, grains, seeds)
Primary Rationale	Avoid plant toxins; ancestral eating	Avoid plant toxins; ancestral eating with carbohydrates for hormonal and metabolic health
Reported Effects	Low testosterone, sleep issues, muscle cramps, heart palpitations	Resolution of previous symptoms for Saladino (e.g., improved sleep, hormones)

Expert Opinions on the Change

Experts and critics note that despite the changes, his diet still involves high animal product intake and raw dairy, which may pose health risks like increased LDL cholesterol. The continued exclusion of most plant foods is also questioned. Many in the health community emphasize the importance of a varied diet.

Key Lessons from Paul Saladino's Journey

Listen to persistent negative health symptoms.
Be cautious of rigid dietary rules; individual needs vary.
Nutrient diversity, including carbohydrates, can be important.
Ancestral dietary patterns may not directly translate to optimal modern health.

Conclusion

Paul Saladino did change his diet from strict carnivore to an "animal-based" approach including fruit, honey, and raw dairy. This shift was prompted by negative health effects from long-term ketosis. While his new diet has both supporters and critics, his experience highlights the importance of individual responses to diet and the complexity of finding an optimal eating pattern.

Frequently Asked Questions

Paul Saladino stopped following a strict carnivore diet, which he had followed for over five years. He now promotes and follows an "animal-based" diet that includes fruit, honey, and raw dairy in addition to meat and organs.

His current diet, which he calls "animal-based," consists of meat, organs, fruit, honey, and raw dairy. He avoids grains, legumes, most vegetables, and processed foods.

Saladino added fruit and honey to his diet to reintroduce carbohydrates. He found that a strict, zero-carb diet led to health problems like sleep issues and hormone imbalance, which he believes were related to low insulin signaling and electrolyte issues.

While on the strict carnivore diet, Paul Saladino reported experiencing a significant drop in testosterone, sleep disturbances, heart palpitations, persistent muscle cramps, and low thyroid function.

Paul Saladino experimented with adding rice and white potatoes to his diet at one point but reported that they negatively impacted him. He found that fruit and honey were better carbohydrate sources for his body.

The main difference is the inclusion of carbohydrates. The strict carnivore diet was zero-carb, focusing only on animal products, while his animal-based diet incorporates carbohydrates from fruit and honey to address symptoms he experienced from long-term ketosis.

Saladino continues to avoid most vegetables based on his belief that they contain plant defense chemicals (toxins) that can be problematic for human health, such as oxalates and isothiocyanates.