While the Carnivore Diet focuses on nutrient-dense animal foods, some individuals may worry about missing out on certain nutrients. Let’s find out if we have to take Carnivore Diet supplements and what the most common supplements are on this diet.
The short answer is no, the Carnivore Diet doesn’t lead to nutrient deficiency, but since it eliminates plant-based foods, you may lack plant-based nutrients.
However, you can provide the necessary nutrients from animal-based foods. And you can survive without plant nutrients unless you have certain health issues.
The Carnivore Diet is built around highly nutritious animal foods, which provide the most essential vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. This diet with this composition can be more nutrient-dense than a standard Western diet full of processed foods.
Nutrients like vitamin C, manganese, magnesium, and some beneficial phytonutrients may be lower on a strict Carnivore Diet.
Fiber is another component not usually found on a zero-carb, all-meat diet, which can affect digestive health in some individuals. However, no specific issues have been reported by carnivores for not eating fiber. Learn more about the Carnivore Diet and fiber.
It is also important to remember that nutrient deficiencies are rare if you consume different animal products, including organ meats and seafood.
That said, the Carnivore Diet might not be suitable for everyone. People with specific medical conditions, digestive sensitivities, or those with higher nutrient needs (like athletes or pregnant women) can use Carnivore Diet supplements.
So, how do we know if we need to take supplements on a Carnivore Diet?
Learn More: How to Get Vitamin C on a Carnivore Diet? What Meats to Eat?
If you eat a nose-to-tail Carnivore Diet, meaning you include muscle meat, organs, bones (broth), fat, and seafood, you may not need any supplements at all.
Animal-based foods can offer all the essential nutrients you need to survive and stay healthy, even without plant sources. That said, supplements can fill the gap of plant-based nutrients.
Supplementing can help balance nutrients on a Carnivore Diet, especially during the transition phase when your body tries to adjust to consuming lower levels of carbohydrates.
Some people also use Carnivore Diet supplements to improve their gut health or increase energy levels, not necessarily to address a deficiency but to boost well-being and their body’s function.
So, you don’t have to take supplements on a Carnivore Diet; it is very personal. If you experience symptoms like fatigue, muscle cramps, digestive issues, or cravings, you can consider supplementation.
Although only healthcare professionals can decide whether we need Carnivore Diet supplements after doing the necessary tests, the following are the most common supplements.
Learn More: Carnivore Diet Side Effects and How to Avoid Them
When you eat fewer carbohydrates, your body loses water and electrolytes like sodium, potassium, and magnesium more rapidly [1].
This is because every gram of stored carbohydrate (glycogen) is attached to about 3–4 grams of water in your muscles and liver [2] [3].
Eating fewer carbohydrates means your body uses glycogen stores to make energy, and as glycogen is depleted, the water attached to it is released. That’s why you lose a lot of water weight in the first days of low-carb diets like Carnivore [4].
Eating fewer carbohydrates also lowers your insulin levels. Insulin doesn’t just regulate blood sugar, it also makes your kidneys keep sodium. When insulin drops, your kidneys start excreting more sodium (and water goes with it) [5] [6].
As you lose sodium and water, your body loses potassium and magnesium too, either because of direct loss or because the body takes them out from tissues to keep balance.
This is why during the early transition phase, you may experience symptoms like headaches, fatigue, muscle cramps, and dizziness. It’s often not because of keto flu, but because of electrolyte loss.
So, to avoid symptoms like dehydration, muscle cramps, and fatigue, you can supplement with electrolyte powders or mineral drops, or simply add more salt to your food.
You can also add magnesium glycinate or potassium chloride (Lite Salt) after consulting a healthcare professional.
Grass-fed beef and wild-caught fish that you can eat on a Carnivore Diet contain omega-3s, but you can still use extra fish oil or krill oil supplements. Omega-3s are good for heart health, reduce inflammation, and promote cognitive function [7] [8].
Although fatty fish, egg yolks, and liver provide some vitamin D, supplementation is usually necessary, especially in winter or for people with limited sun exposure [9].
You can give blood tests to check your vitamin D levels. If your doctor approves, you can pair vitamin D with K2 (found naturally in grass-fed dairy and organs) so calcium is absorbed properly into bones rather than arteries [10] [11].
During the early days of a Carnivore Diet, your digestive system may experience some changes.
If your previous diet was high in carbohydrates (bread, rice, fruits, veggies), your body produces more enzymes like amylase (to break down carbohydrates) [12].
When you minimize carbohydrates and increase fat and protein, your body produces more of other enzymes like lipase (to digest fat) and proteases (to digest protein) [13] [14].
So, while your body tries to adjust to low levels of carbohydrates, your enzyme production might not catch up fast enough, which can cause symptoms like bloating, nausea, diarrhea, or constipation. To avoid these, you can take lipase and protease supplements to help digestion until your natural enzyme levels improve.
Traditional probiotics (like Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium strains) that live in our gut mostly feed on fiber and plant carbohydrates.
If you're eating only animal foods, you're not feeding those bacteria much, so they naturally decrease, but this isn't necessarily bad. Your gut microbiome changes to match your diet, which is part of a natural adaptation [15].
If you want to improve your gut health and avoid digestive discomfort while your body is trying to adapt to a low-carb diet, you can use spore-based probiotics (like Bacillus subtilis), which don't depend on fibers and are more resilient [16].
You can also eat fermented animal foods (like aged, raw cheeses, kefir made from animal milk, fermented fish or meats), which naturally contain useful bacteria.
Multimineral supplements can provide trace minerals like iodine (important if you're not eating much seafood) and selenium (found in organ meats).
Although taking them is not mandatory, it can be helpful for those who aren't consuming different animal products daily [17].
Please remember that taking Carnivore Diet supplements should be under the supervision of healthcare professionals. You can even balance nutrients on a Carnivore Diet without supplements and just by eating proper animal-based foods.
Learn More: The Best Multivitamin on Carnivore Diet
To balance nutrients on a Carnivore Diet, you should pay attention to variety, quality, and your body's needs. Essential macronutrients like fat and protein should be balanced and set based on your metabolic flexibility.
You can also use this free Carnivore Diet Macro Calculator to find the right balance for you.
To absorb different nutrients and avoid deficiencies, you should eat different kinds of animal-based foods. The key is to practice nose-to-tail eating.
This means you should consume not just muscle meat but also organ meats (like liver, heart, and kidney), fatty cuts, collagen-rich foods (like bone broth or oxtail), and seafood.
Each part of the animal provides unique vitamins and minerals — for example, liver is full of vitamin A and B vitamins, while bone marrow and broth contain minerals like calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus.
Also, high-quality grass-fed, pasture-raised, wild-caught, and minimally processed animal products are better because they have more fatty acids and micronutrients than conventional meats.
You should also consider your body’s reactions and how you feel. Changes in energy levels, digestion, mood, and sleep can tell you secrets about your nutritional balance.
If you start experiencing persistent issues, it might be time to tweak your food choices or consider supplementation.
Learn More: Carnivore Diet Food List
If you eat different high-quality, nutritious foods, you naturally don’t need Carnivore Diet supplements. But you can take supplements like electrolytes, omega-3s, vitamin D, digestive aids, and multi-minerals after consulting a nutritionist to make the most of your Carnivore Diet.
