Would you feed steak to a baby? Why the carnivore diet is dangerous.

The so-called carnivore diet, which promotes eating large amounts of red meat, is a bad idea for young children, regardless of what TikTok and advocates of the diet tell you. I will never forget learning in medical school that young children frequently develop fatty streaks in their coronary arteries, which could develop into full-fledged coronary artery disease later in life.

Most scientists agree that saturated fats help speed this development by lining the coronary arteries with waxy cholesterol, and one of the greatest sources of saturated fats is red meat.

While some journalists and scientists have challenged this idea, I agree with the American Heart Association, which recommends limiting saturated fats to less than 6% of total calories.

“Decades of science have proven that saturated fats can raise your ‘bad’ cholesterol and put you at higher risk for heart disease,” the AHA says.

Children need to eat fruit and vegetables

Red meat is a good source of protein and iron, but it contains little fiber compared with vegetables and fruit, which are also laden with antioxidants that decrease the amount of inflammation in the body. That is another major reason why a carnivore diet for toddlers is so unhealthy. Saturated fats (meat is often accompanied by butter and eggs) take the place of healthy alternatives.

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A diet high in saturated fat also can be addictive, meaning a child who starts with eating large quantities of fat-laden meat is likely to continue with it into adulthood because it tastes good and the body gets used to it. That leads to long-term risks, including cancer.

Although advocates of the carnivore diet point to small studies that show a lower C-reactive protein (one marker of inflammation), this cherry-picking of research leaves out other important markers of inflammation such as cytokines, which build up over time.

Parents, in some cases, are even feeding their babies raw meat, which contains bacteria that could be life threatening.

Young children lack the ability to choose healthy food for themselves. Whether its ultra-processed food or red meat, they become victimized when their parents impose their ideology.

Keep in mind that babies can become just as accustomed to healthy fruit and vegetable purees as to pureed bone broth, another part of the carnivore diet. Using broth in lieu of breast milk can lead to nutritional deficiencies. Bone broth lacks fiber crucial for digestion, is high in sodium and can introduce heavy metals that are particularly neurotoxic to babies and can stifle development.

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Raising so-called carnivore babies

Why is all this happening?

According to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, parents are inspired by doctors – with popular YouTube channels – who are raising so-called carnivore babies. This coupled with a growing awareness of the harm of ultra-processed foods causes many parents to look for alternatives.

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However, infants need vitamin C, which is crucial for the development of cartilage, bone and muscle, and vitamin C is mostly lacking in red meat.  And if ultra-processed food is addictive, so is red meat. Many meat products, including bacon, hotdogs and sausage, are processed foods loaded with salt and unhealthy chemicals.

The path to a healthy diet passes through an olive grove and a broccoli patch, but it doesn’t lead to a cattle farm or to a butcher shop. Let’s not replace unhealthy options like fast food, soda and candy with unhealthy options like lamb chops and steak.

It’s one thing for an adult to occasionally eat meat, but to daily subject children to a meat intensive diet is quite another.

I vote that the carnivore diet should not be part of Making America Healthy Again.

Dr. Marc Siegel is a professor of medicine and medical director of Doctor Radio at New York University’s Langone Health. His latest book is “COVID: The Politics of Fear and the Power of Science.” Follow him on Twitter: @DrMarcSiegel

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is carnivore diet safe? The truth behind the TikTok trend | Opinion