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James Blunt Developed Scurvy After Trying an All-Meat Diet
After trying an all-meat diet for a few weeks, singer James Blunt says he developed signs of scurvy, a rare condition caused by a severe vitamin C deficiency.
Blunt ate almost entirely meat and condiments for a full two months while studying engineering and sociology at the University of Bristol in the 1990s, he said in a recent interview on Table Manners, a podcast about food hosted by singer Jessie Ware.
The diet was a bit of a stunt; an effort to assert some kind of masculinity in classes that had far more women than men in them. His engineering classes were dominated by men. But in his sociology classes, “there were 170 girls and only three boys, of which all the girls were vegetarian or vegans,” he said. “So out of principle I decided I’d become a carnivore and just lived on mince, some chicken, maybe with some mayonnaise.”
But after eight weeks or so, Blunt says he became “very, very unhealthy.” So he decided to see a doctor, who then told Blunt that he’d developed symptoms of scurvy and that he was “lacking in vitamin C.” So Blunt started drinking a liter of orange juice every night, which resulted in him developing some acid reflux. “So, as you can see, food is not necessarily my forte,” he joked.
Unfortunately, Blunt is not the only person to try an all-meat “carnivore” diet, although he may have been a bit ahead of the trend. This type of diet, also sometimes called a zero carb diet, typically requires people to avoid fruits, vegetables, and grains in favor of meat-heavy meals. Some people follow it more strictly, while others may eat eggs and certain dairy products in addition to meat. It became more popular over the last few years thanks to a few celebrities who’ve endorsed it, such as Joe Rogan and Jordan and Mikhaila Peterson. But, as SELF explained previously, following a diet like this is probably not a great idea for your physical or mental health.
There aren’t really any scientifically proven benefits of following a carnivore diet. But there are plenty of risks, including—you guessed it—nutritional deficiencies. You don’t necessarily need to eat fruits and vegetables to live, but they do contain some essential vitamins and nutrients that can be difficult to get without eating those foods. And if you don’t eat enough of them, you can develop deficiencies and conditions related to those deficiencies, such as scurvy, which can cause gum disease, skin issues, a general feeling of weakness, and anemia, according to MedlinePlus.
Oranges and orange juice do have a fair amount of vitamin C, but they’re far from the only foods that contain this essential vitamin, SELF explained previously. Other fruits like strawberries, pineapple, and papaya have a ton of vitamin C as well. It’s also found in high amounts in vegetables such as bell peppers, kale, broccoli, and brussels sprouts.
Of course, different ways of eating may work for different people—but only up to a certain point. If your diet is so restrictive that you’re cutting out entire food groups for no medical reason and putting yourself at risk for a vitamin deficiency, you should probably chat with a doctor or registered dietitian for some guidance. And if we can learn anything from Blunt’s experience, it’s probably that haphazardly starting ultra-restrictive diets like this one can have real health consequences—especially when they’re taken up in the name of making some convoluted point about masculinity.