Understanding What Diet Does Joe Rogan Use for Peak Performance

October 5, 2025 •

4 min read

Influencer and podcaster Joe Rogan has made the carnivore diet a topic of popular conversation, with his initial month-long experiment in 2020 drawing significant attention to the meat-only regimen. Today, his approach is more nuanced, but for those asking what diet does Joe Rogan use, his carnivorous and intermittent fasting habits remain central to his nutritional philosophy.

Quick Summary

Joe Rogan's diet is a dynamic approach combining the carnivore diet and intermittent fasting. He favors wild game like elk, grass-fed beef, and eggs, avoiding most processed foods, sugar, and carbohydrates. His routine is augmented by an extensive list of daily supplements and a focus on nutrient-dense, animal-based foods.

Key Points

Carnivore and Animal-Based Focus: Joe Rogan primarily adheres to a carnivore or animal-based diet, centered on wild game, grass-fed beef, eggs, and supplementary fats like bacon and butter.
Intermittent Fasting: He practices intermittent fasting, typically eating two meals a day within a restricted time window, often after his morning workout.
Avoids Processed Foods: Rogan avoids processed foods, sugar, and most carbohydrates, which he believes reduces inflammation and regulates energy levels.
Relies on Supplements: To compensate for missing nutrients in his restrictive diet, he takes a wide range of supplements, including multivitamins, Vitamin D, fish oil, and probiotics.
Reports Mixed Results: Rogan has reported benefits like weight loss, improved energy, and reduced inflammation, but also experienced significant digestive issues during initial adaptation.
Medical Experts Raise Concerns: The medical community cautions against the potential long-term health risks of the carnivore diet, including high cholesterol and kidney problems.

Joe Rogan's Dynamic Dietary Approach

Joe Rogan's nutritional strategy is not a single, static plan but rather a dynamic, evolving regimen centered on core principles derived from his numerous podcast guests and personal experiments. His approach has included strict carnivorous periods, especially during annual "World Carnivore Month" challenges in January, and a more flexible, animal-based model in between. A consistent thread throughout his dietary practices, however, is a focus on high-quality, whole foods and a structured eating schedule.

The Carnivore and Animal-Based Focus

Rogan is perhaps best known for his public endorsement and experimentation with the carnivore diet, a restrictive plan that consists exclusively of animal products. For a month at a time, he has famously consumed only meat, eggs, and water, citing weight loss, improved energy, and reduced inflammation as benefits. His animal-based preference extends beyond beef, emphasizing wild game for its leanness and natural nutritional profile.

Staples of the Joe Rogan Diet

Wild Game: Rogan frequently sources his own elk through hunting, valuing the lean, hormone-free meat it provides. He often adds extra fat from sources like bacon or beef tallow to his meals to ensure proper fat intake, a critical component of any low-carb, high-protein diet.
Grass-fed Beef and Eggs: When wild game is unavailable, Rogan relies on high-quality, grass-fed beef and eggs as his primary protein sources.
Fat Sources: He includes fatty cuts of meat and adds butter or beef tallow to his cooking to compensate for the very low-carbohydrate intake and ensure sufficient calories and energy.
Occasional Plants: While his regimen is predominantly meat-based, he sometimes incorporates a limited amount of specific plant-based foods, such as avocado, kimchi, jalapeños, and fruits, especially during periods when he is not on a strict carnivore challenge.

Intermittent Fasting

Beyond his food choices, Rogan integrates intermittent fasting into his daily routine. He typically follows a restricted eating window, consuming two main meals a day, with his first meal often occurring around noon after his morning workout. He advocates this practice for its potential benefits in optimizing health, citing increased energy and mental clarity. Exercising on an empty stomach is not uncommon for him, aligning with the principles of fasting to promote fat burning.

Supplementation for Nutritional Support

Due to the restrictive nature of his diet, especially during strict carnivore phases, Rogan uses an extensive list of supplements to cover potential nutritional gaps. His regimen includes a wide array of vitamins and compounds to support his immune system, energy levels, and brain health.

Joe Rogan's Supplement Stack

Multivitamin: To ensure a broad range of essential nutrients.
Vitamin D3: Crucial for bone health and immune function, especially when sun exposure is limited.
Omega-3 Fish Oil: For brain and heart health.
Creatine: A popular supplement for muscle performance and strength.
Probiotics: To support gut health, which can be impacted by a meat-heavy diet.
Onnit Alpha Brain: A nootropic blend designed to enhance cognitive function.

Reported Benefits and Medical Concerns

Rogan and other proponents of the carnivore and animal-based diets report a range of benefits, including weight loss, reduced inflammation, improved mental clarity, and stable energy levels. During his first 30-day carnivore challenge, he documented losing 12 pounds and noted improvements in his autoimmune condition, vitiligo. However, the journey was not without its challenges, including an uncomfortable two-week period of explosive diarrhea as his body adjusted to the lack of fiber.

On the other hand, the carnivore diet remains a subject of intense debate and concern within the medical community. Experts warn of potential health risks associated with the long-term elimination of fruits, vegetables, and fiber. High consumption of red meat, butter, and cheese can lead to increased LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, raising the risk of heart disease and stroke. Doctors have also highlighted concerns about nutrient deficiencies, potential kidney stones, and overall cardiovascular health.

Comparison: Carnivore Diet vs. Standard Diet


Feature	Carnivore Diet (Rogan's Version)	Standard Western Diet	Medical Perspective
Primary Food Source	Animal products (wild game, beef, eggs, fat)	Processed foods, grains, sugary drinks, mixed animal and plant foods	Varied, balanced nutrition is key
Carbohydrate Content	Very low to zero, inducing ketosis	High in refined carbs, sugar, and processed starches	High intake of refined carbs linked to inflammation
Saturated Fat	High intake, often intentionally increased	Variable, often high from processed and fast food sources	Excess saturated fat can raise cholesterol and heart disease risk
Fiber	Non-existent, leading to digestive adjustments	Often low in many diets, but present in whole grains, fruits, vegetables	Essential for gut health and regular bowel function
Reported Benefits	Weight loss, mental clarity, reduced inflammation	None specific, health outcomes depend on individual choices	Benefits often reported anecdotally; limited long-term research
Potential Health Risks	Nutrient deficiencies, high cholesterol, kidney stones	Obesity, diabetes, heart disease due to processed food and sugar	Concerns about long-term cardiovascular and kidney health

Conclusion: A Personalized but Controversial Path

Joe Rogan's diet is a highly personalized and unconventional approach built on periods of strict carnivory, intermittent fasting, and extensive supplementation. While his experience has reportedly yielded positive short-term results in areas like weight loss, energy, and mental clarity, it is crucial to recognize that this is an extreme diet with significant medical and nutritional considerations. It is not a universally recommended plan and comes with potential long-term risks that health experts have highlighted, including issues related to cholesterol and kidney health. Rogan's journey serves as a personal testimonial rather than a blueprint for all, underscoring the need for careful consideration and professional guidance before adopting such a restrictive nutritional regimen. For more information on Rogan's diet, consider reviewing the details on Fast Life Hacks.

Frequently Asked Questions

No, Joe Rogan does not follow a strict carnivore diet year-round. He has repeatedly undertaken the challenge for specific periods, particularly during January, but his regular diet is a more flexible "animal-based" approach that occasionally includes some fruits, vegetables, and kimchi.

Rogan's preferred meat is wild game, especially elk, which he hunts himself. He also regularly consumes grass-fed beef and adds fattier meats like bacon to his meals to ensure an adequate fat intake.

Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern where you cycle between periods of eating and fasting. Rogan typically eats his two main meals within a compressed eating window each day, with his first meal often being around noon.

Rogan takes a variety of supplements, including a multivitamin, Vitamin D3, fish oil, creatine, probiotics, and products from his company, Onnit, such as Alpha Brain.

According to Rogan and his guests, benefits include weight loss, improved mental clarity, more stable energy levels, and reduced inflammation. He also claimed improvements in his vitiligo after his first carnivore month.

Health experts have raised concerns about the long-term risks of a strict carnivore diet, citing potential for nutrient deficiencies, high cholesterol levels, increased risk of heart disease, and kidney stones.

Rogan experienced diarrhea during the first two weeks of his initial carnivore diet challenge because his body was adjusting to the sudden elimination of all fiber, which is crucial for regulating bowel movements.

During his strict carnivore phases, Rogan eliminates vegetables and fruit. However, in his regular animal-based diet, he reintroduces some plant-based foods, often for flavor and potential health benefits, such as kimchi, avocado, and jalapeños.