Eliminate Vitamin C Deficiency on the Carnivore Diet: Proven Tips

If you’re following a carnivore diet, you may already know about its benefits, but did you know that vitamin C deficiency can be a serious concern? In this post, we’ll explore how you can prevent vitamin C deficiency on a carnivore diet with nutrient-rich animal-based foods.

As vitamin C can only be found in sufficient amounts in fruit, you’re probably going to suffer from vitamin C deficiency. I’ll give you the top tips to prevent yourself from vitamin C deficiency in the carnivore diet. Let’s go!

Eliminate Vitamin C Deficiency on the Carnivore Diet: Proven Tips

Why Vitamin C is Crucial for Your Health

Vitamin C has a lot of different functions, which are hard to replace with other vitamins. Vitamin E comes the closest to vitamin C because both function as powerful antioxidants.

However, other functions cannot be replaced. These include:

Antioxidant Protection

By protecting cells from free radicals, pollutants, and toxins, vitamin C contributes to the decreased risk of chronic diseases, such as cancer.

Collagen Formation

Vitamin C also helps in the formation of collagen, which is the foundation of healthy and good-looking skin. Besides that, collagen is also important for the bones, cartilage, and blood vessels.

Immune System Support

Vitamin C boosts the immune system by supporting various cellular functions, such as the body’s ability to fight infections.

Iron Absorption

It improves the absorption of non-heme iron (iron from plant-based sources), reducing the risk of iron deficiency anemia.

Wound Healing

By promoting tissue repair and regeneration, vitamin C plays a critical role in healing wounds.

Potential Role in Disease Prevention

Research suggests Vitamin C may help lower the risk of some chronic diseases, such as heart disease, by reducing inflammation and supporting overall health.

Potential Risks of Vitamin C Deficiency and How to Avoid Scurvy

The most common symptoms of vitamin C deficiency on a carnivore diet are not different then the symptoms on a normal diet. The main symptom is dry, rough, and bumpy skin.

Early Signs of Vitamin C Deficiency (e.g., dry skin, joint pain)

• As vitamin C is responsible for collagen production, a lack of it may lead to a skin condition called keratosis pilaris. In this condition, bumpy “chicken skin” forms on the back of the upper arms, thighs, or buttocks due to keratin protein buildup inside the pores.
• Also, hair can grow in bent and coiled shapes due to the change in protein structure in the hair. Eventually, these damaged hairs are more likely to break off or fall out.
• Easy bruising is also something you should be aware of. Poor collagen production (due to vitamin C deficiency) can cause weak blood vessels. These can be recognized as small purple dots under the skin.
  • Slow-healing wounds are also common at a vitamin C deficiency.
• The joints contain many collagen-rich connective tissues. For that reason, painful, swollen joints are also common among vitamin C-deficient carnivores.

There are a lot more symptoms of vitamin C deficiency in carnivores. However, these are the most common ones.

How Vitamin C Deficiency Leads to Scurvy

Scurvy is the most severe outcome of prolonged vitamin C deficiency, caused by impaired collagen synthesis. Without collagen, the body’s tissues lose structural integrity, leading to widespread symptoms.

Early Symptoms of Scurvy

Early signs include fatigue, weakness, and irritability as collagen depletion begins to affect cells. These symptoms may seem minor but can escalate quickly.

Advanced Symptoms and Risks

As scurvy progresses, gums swell and bleed, teeth may loosen, and bruising or petechiae appear due to weakened blood vessels. Joints become painful, and wounds heal slowly. In severe cases, internal bleeding and organ failure can occur, making scurvy life-threatening if untreated.

For those on restrictive diets like carnivore, preventing scurvy requires careful attention to vitamin C intake.

Scurvy appears after 8-12 weeks of insufficient vitamin C intake.

Best Vitamin C-Rich Meats and Seafood for the Carnivore Diet

So, shocked? Most carnivores aren’t aware of their vitamin C deficiency until it’s too late.

But I’m here to save you because vitamin C deficiency isn’t unavoidable even on a carnivore diet.

Vitamin-C Rich Meat

Liver

As we see, beef liver, lamb liver, pork liver, and chicken liver are the highest in vitamin C when it comes to meat. As meat is generally not that high in vitamin C, liver is a real exception here (if you’ve read my previous blogs, you know that liver is a vitamin A powerhouse)

These are the nutritional values of 100g of each liver:

Kidneys

Beef kidneys and lamb kidneys contain the most amount of vitamin C per 100g, coming down to 11mg and 10-12mg of vitamin C. Slightly less than beef liver.

Heart

Lastly, the heart contains <5mg per 100g of vitamin C. Not much, but good to know. I prefer some grass-fed, pasture-raised beef liver instead!

Vitamin-C Rich Seafood

The next vitamin-C source that’s carnivore diet-friendly is seafood. Especially oysters, mussels, and clams are high in vitamin C and are a solid addition to your carnivore diet for preventing scurfy.

Here’s a detailed summary of the vitamin C content, calories, and macros for 100g of seafood.

How to Get Enough Vitamin C on a Carnivore Diet

Okay! Now we know which vitamin C sources are carnivore diet-friendly and will prevent you from a deficiency and therefore scurfy, let’s have a look at how much vitamin C you actually need per day.

The recommended daily amount of vitamin C is 75mg for women and 90mg for men. During pregnancy, this increases the vitamin C intake to 120mg.

The upper limit for everyone is 2.000mg a day, but good luck in reaching that on a carnivore diet. Here’s what 90mg of vitamin C on meat-sources only looks like:

• 200g of beef liver + 100g of oysters
• 100g of lamb liver + 200g of mussels
• 150g of pork liver + 150g of clams
• 100g of chicken liver + 200g of oysters
• 100g of beef liver + 100g of clams + 100g of mussels
• 150g of beef liver + 150g of mussels
• 200g of lamb liver + 100g of clams
• 300g of oysters
• 250g of pork liver + 100g of mussels

The Danger of High Vitamin C (?)

While vitamin C is water-soluble and excess amounts are typically excreted through urine, it’s worth noting that excessively high intakes of vitamin C (greater than 2,000mg per day) may cause gastrointestinal issues like diarrhea, nausea, and stomach cramps.

However, reaching this level on a carnivore diet is highly unlikely without supplementation, so it’s generally not a concern unless you’re consuming supplements alongside your meat.

Vitamin C and the Carnivore Diet: What to Keep in Mind

While the carnivore diet offers numerous health benefits, it’s important to stay mindful of the potential for vitamin C deficiency. A diet centered exclusively around animal products can lead to low vitamin C intake, putting you at risk for symptoms like dry skin, slow wound healing, and even scurvy if you’re not careful.

Fortunately, by incorporating organ meats like liver and seafood options like oysters, mussels, and clams, you can help prevent vitamin C deficiency and ensure you’re getting the essential nutrients your body needs to thrive.

If you’re following the carnivore diet, be sure to monitor your health, look out for the symptoms of vitamin C deficiency, and consider rotating in these nutrient-rich animal-based sources to keep your vitamin C levels up.

References

• Office of Dietary Supplements – Vitamin C. (n.d.). https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminC-HealthProfessional/
• Keratosis pilaris: a common follicular hyperkeratosis. (2008, September 1). PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18856156/
• Hirschmann, J., & Raugi, G. J. (1999). Adult scurvy. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 41(6), 895–910. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0190-9622(99)70244-6
• Galimberti, F., & Mesinkovska, N. A. (2016). Skin findings associated with nutritional deficiencies. Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine, 83(10), 731–739. https://doi.org/10.3949/ccjm.83a.15061
• Léger, D. (2008, October 1). Scurvy: Reemergence of nutritional deficiencies. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2567249/