Keto vs Carnivore: What's the Difference Between the Diets?
What's the difference between keto and carnivore? Keto is a very low-carb, high-fat diet that still includes plant foods, such as leafy greens, low-carb vegetables, nuts, seeds and a few berries, usually at 20–50g of carbs a day. The carnivore diet goes further: it cuts out all plant foods and is built only on meat, fish, eggs and, for some people, dairy, so carbs are close to zero.
At a glance
- Plants vs noneketo keeps low-carb plant foods; carnivore leaves them all out
- 20–50gcarbs a day on a very low-carb (ketogenic) diet, per the British Dietetic Association
- 0gfibre per 100g in beef mince and eggs, against 4.0g in raw broccoli (CoFID)
- 30gof fibre a day: the UK guideline for adults (SACN, NHS)
On this page
- What's the difference between keto and carnivore?
- What is the keto diet?
- What is the carnivore diet?
- Keto vs carnivore side by side
- Carbs, fibre and vitamin C in everyday foods
- Are both diets ketogenic?
- A day of eating on each diet
- Shopping, cooking and eating out
- Is keto or carnivore better?
- Low-carb foods from Groovy Keto
- FAQs
- Sources
Keto and carnivore often get mentioned in the same breath, and they do overlap: both cut carbohydrates right down, and both lean heavily on meat, fish, eggs and fat. But one still fills half the plate with vegetables, while the other doesn't allow a single leaf. This guide explains what each diet involves, which foods are in and out, how the carbs and fibre compare using UK food data, and what the two look like day to day.
What's the difference between keto and carnivore?
The difference between keto and carnivore comes down to plants. Keto sets a carbohydrate limit, usually somewhere between 20g and 50g a day, and lets you choose how to spend it. Most people spend it on vegetables, salad, nuts, seeds, avocado and a few berries, alongside meat, fish, eggs, cheese and cream. Carnivore doesn't count carbs at all. Instead, it limits the food list to animal products, so plant foods are left out completely, and carbs end up close to zero as a side effect.
That one rule changes a lot. Keto meals can look like ordinary meals with the starchy part swapped out: a roast chicken dinner with cauliflower cheese instead of roast potatoes, or a curry with cauliflower rice. Carnivore meals are meat, fish or eggs on their own, cooked in butter or animal fat and seasoned with salt. There are no sauces made with vegetables, no salad and no nuts.
Harvard Health describes the carnivore diet as a type of ketogenic diet, and in practice many people come to it from keto. But they're run on different rules: keto is a carb budget, while carnivore is a food list.
What is the keto diet?
The ketogenic (keto) diet is a very low-carbohydrate, high-fat way of eating. The British Dietetic Association's low-carb fact sheet groups diets by how many carbs they provide, and puts very low-carb (ketogenic) diets at 20–50g a day. Harvard's Nutrition Source notes that popular keto resources suggest about 70–80% of daily calories from fat, 10–20% from protein and 5–10% from carbohydrate.
Keeping carbs that low means the body makes more ketones, which is where the name comes from. If you'd like the background, our guide what are ketones? explains the terms.
What you eat on keto
- Meat, poultry and fish: beef, lamb, pork, chicken, salmon, mackerel, prawns. See our guide to red meat on keto.
- Eggs and full-fat dairy: cheese, double cream, butter and full-fat Greek yoghurt.
- Low-carb vegetables: leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, courgette, peppers and mushrooms.
- Fruit, sparingly: avocado, olives, coconut and small portions of berries.
- Nuts and seeds: almonds and almond flour, walnuts, chia seeds and flaxseed.
- Fats and oils: olive oil, coconut oil, MCT oil and butter.
- Sweeteners: erythritol, stevia and allulose, used in baking and drinks.
What you leave out on keto
Bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, breakfast cereals, most fruit, sugar, sweets and regular fizzy drinks are the main foods to drop, because a single portion of any of them can use up most or all of a day's carbs. Pulses such as lentils and chickpeas are usually limited for the same reason. Many people swap these for lower-carb versions, such as cauliflower rice, courgette noodles or keto bread.
Keto usually means counting. Most people track their carbs with an app or by reading labels, at least at the start. On UK labels, the carbohydrate figure already excludes fibre, which our guide to net carbs on UK food labels explains.
What is the carnivore diet?
The carnivore diet is an all-animal-food diet. Harvard Health sums it up as meat, poultry, eggs, seafood, fish, some dairy and water, with all vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, seeds and nuts left out, which is why it's sometimes called the "zero carb" diet. There's no official version or governing body, so the details vary from one book, website or follower to the next.
What you eat on carnivore
- Red meat: beef, lamb and pork, often fattier cuts such as ribeye, brisket, mince, lamb shoulder and pork belly.
- Poultry and game: chicken, turkey, duck and venison.
- Fish and seafood: salmon, mackerel, sardines, prawns and mussels.
- Eggs: usually a staple.
- Organ meats: liver, kidney and heart, which some followers eat regularly.
- Animal fats: butter, beef dripping, lard and duck fat for cooking.
- Dairy, for some: butter and hard cheese are the most common; others leave dairy out, or keep it to cream in coffee.
- Drinks and seasoning: water and salt. Some people also keep tea, coffee, pepper and herbs, though strictly these come from plants.
What you leave out on carnivore
Everything that grows from the ground or on a tree: vegetables, salad, fruit (including avocado and olives), nuts, seeds, grains, pulses, plant oils, sugar and sweeteners. Cleveland Clinic notes that the diet also recommends against highly processed meats such as sausages and deli meats, because of their additives. Many sausages and cured meats also contain rusk, starch, sugar or dextrose, which come from plants.
Carnivore usually means no counting. Most followers simply eat animal foods until they're full, rather than tracking carbs, protein or calories.
Keto vs carnivore side by side
| Keto | Carnivore | |
|---|---|---|
| Main rule | Keep carbs low | Animal foods only |
| Carbs a day | Usually 20–50g | Close to zero |
| Vegetables | Yes, low-carb ones | No |
| Fruit | Avocado, olives, a few berries | No |
| Nuts and seeds | Yes | No |
| Dairy | Yes, full-fat | Some people |
| Sweeteners | Yes, e.g. erythritol, stevia | No |
| Fibre | From veg, nuts, seeds | Almost none |
| Tracking | Usually counts carbs | Usually none |
Based on the British Dietetic Association, Harvard Health and Cleveland Clinic descriptions. Both diets vary from person to person.
What the two have in common
- Very few carbs. Neither includes bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, cereals or sugar.
- Meat, fish and eggs at the centre. Most meals on either diet are built around a portion of protein.
- Plenty of fat. Both use butter, cream or animal fats freely in cooking, rather than lower-fat versions.
- Home cooking. Both are easiest when you cook from scratch, since most ready meals and takeaways contain starchy or sugary ingredients.
Carbs, fibre and vitamin C in everyday foods
To see what the food lists mean in practice, here are UK figures from the Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset (CoFID 2021) for foods eaten on both diets, then for plant foods that only keto includes.
Foods eaten on both diets
| Per 100g | Carbs | Fibre | Vit C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beef mince, raw | 0g | 0g | 0mg |
| Eggs, whole, raw | Trace | 0g | 0mg |
| Cheddar cheese | 0.1g | 0g | Trace |
| Butter, salted | 0.6g | 0g | Trace |
| Double cream | 1.7g | 0g | 1mg |
| Lamb liver, raw | Trace | – | 19mg |
Plant foods only keto includes
| Per 100g | Carbs | Fibre | Vit C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broccoli, raw | 3.2g | 4.0g | 79mg |
| Cauliflower, raw | 4.4g | 1.8g | 56mg |
| Courgette, raw | 2.3g | 0.5g | 5mg |
| Avocado (Hass) | 1.8g | 3.1g | 1mg |
| Almonds | 5.3g | 12.5g | 0mg |
| Strawberries | 6.1g | 3.8g | 57mg |
CoFID 2021, Public Health England / Food Standards Agency: food codes 18-469, 12-937, 12-346, 17-685, 12-334, 18-413, 13-502, 13-512, 13-627, 14-386, 14-896 and 14-324. Carbohydrate excludes fibre, as on UK labels; fibre is AOAC. "–" means CoFID gives no fibre figure for lamb liver.
What the figures show
Meat, eggs and hard cheese carry little or no carbohydrate, which is why a carnivore diet ends up close to zero carbs without any counting. Dairy is where the small amounts come from: cream and butter contain traces of milk sugar.
The bigger difference is fibre. None of the animal foods in CoFID's tables contains fibre, so a strict carnivore diet provides almost none. UK guidance, set by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) in 2015 and repeated by the NHS, is for adults to have 30g of fibre a day. On keto, fibre comes from vegetables, nuts and seeds: 100g of almonds has 12.5g, for example, though that's a large portion of nuts.
Vitamin C follows a similar pattern. The NHS says adults aged 19 to 64 need 40mg of vitamin C a day, and lists fruit and vegetables such as peppers, strawberries and broccoli as good sources. In CoFID, raw broccoli has 79mg per 100g, while most meat, fish, eggs and dairy have little or none. Liver is the main animal-food exception, at 19mg per 100g for raw lamb liver.
Are both diets ketogenic?
Yes, in the sense that both keep carbohydrate low enough for the body to make more ketones, a state known as ketosis. Harvard Health calls the carnivore diet "the most ketogenic diet" because it allows almost no carbs, and notes that its fat content isn't set: it's whatever fat comes with the meat, fish, poultry and dairy you eat.
The difference is how each gets there. On keto, fat is a deliberate target, often 70–80% of calories, and protein is kept moderate. On carnivore, nothing is targeted, so the balance of fat and protein depends on the cuts you choose. A diet of lean chicken breast and white fish looks very different from one of ribeye steak, pork belly and eggs fried in butter.
Some people find the first few days of either diet hard going, with tiredness or headaches, which is often called "keto flu". Our guide to what keto flu is explains the term, and our guide to electrolytes on keto covers sodium, potassium and magnesium.
A day of eating on each diet
Here's how a typical day might compare. These are examples, not meal plans, and portion sizes are up to you.
| Keto | Carnivore | |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | Spinach and mushroom omelette, coffee with cream | Fried eggs and bacon, coffee |
| Lunch | Chicken Caesar salad, no croutons | Tinned sardines or leftover roast beef |
| Dinner | Salmon, buttered broccoli, cauliflower mash | Ribeye steak cooked in beef dripping |
| Snack | Cheese and a handful of almonds | Hard cheese or a boiled egg |
| Pudding | Berries with double cream | None, or cream for some |
Check bacon labels: many sweet-cure bacons contain sugar. Our low-carb meal plan has full sample days for keto.
The keto column has more variety, but it also takes more planning, because you're balancing carbs across the day. The carnivore column is simpler to shop for, but repetitive. If you're new to keto, our keto recipes are a good place to find ideas, and our list of common keto mistakes covers the usual slip-ups, such as hidden carbs in sauces.
Shopping, cooking and eating out
Shopping in the UK
Both diets work with an ordinary supermarket shop. A keto basket is mostly meat, fish, eggs, dairy and vegetables, with nuts, seeds and a few speciality items such as almond flour or a sweetener. Our keto shopping list for beginners goes aisle by aisle. A carnivore basket is almost all from the meat, fish and dairy counters, so it's simpler, but meat makes up the whole shop, and that's usually the costliest part of anyone's trolley. Cheaper cuts such as mince, chicken thighs, lamb breast and pork shoulder, plus eggs and tinned fish, keep the cost down on either diet.
Eating out and family meals
Keto is the easier of the two in a restaurant or pub: order meat or fish, swap chips for salad or vegetables, and skip the bread basket. On carnivore, a steak or a bunless burger with no sides is usually the simplest choice, and sauces are often off the menu because they're thickened with flour or made with onions and tomatoes.
At home, keto meals can often be served to the whole family, with potatoes, rice or pasta on the side for anyone who wants them. Carnivore meals work as part of a family meal too, if everyone else adds their own vegetables, but you'll be leaving out a lot of what's on the table.
Exercise
People do exercise on both diets. If you're active, our guide to keto and exercise looks at how carbs and training fit together.
Is keto or carnivore better?
There isn't a single answer, because it depends on what you want from the way you eat. Comparing them as diets:
- Choose keto if you want variety, like vegetables, salads, nuts and the odd bit of baking, and are happy to count carbs.
- Carnivore suits people who want the simplest possible rules and are happy eating meat, fish and eggs at every meal, every day.
It's worth knowing how UK guidance sees both. The NHS Eatwell Guide recommends at least five portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables a day, and basing meals on starchy carbohydrates such as potatoes, bread, rice or pasta. The NHS also advises that if you eat more than 90g (cooked weight) of red and processed meat a day, you cut down to 70g. The British Dietetic Association's fad diets fact sheet lists low-carbohydrate diets, the carnivore diet and the paleo diet as examples of plans that cut out or severely limit a whole food group. Carnivore departs from these guidelines further than keto, because it leaves out fruit, vegetables and fibre entirely.
For more on keto itself, see our pros and cons of the keto diet. To compare keto with other low-carb plans, read our guide to keto vs paleo vs Whole30 vs Atkins or our Atkins diet food list.
Speak to your GP, diabetes nurse or a registered dietitian before you make big changes to your diet. This is especially important if you have diabetes and take insulin or other medicines that can cause hypos, or take SGLT2 inhibitors, as your medication may need to change. The same goes if you're pregnant, breastfeeding or have a history of eating disorders.
Low-carb foods from Groovy Keto
We make low-carb versions of the foods keto usually leaves out, so they're for keto rather than carnivore. They're made with plant ingredients such as seeds, nuts and fibres.
- Bread and wraps: our keto bread and low-carb wraps, or the Carb Swap Bread Bundle Box with bread, wraps and pizza bases. Our guide to wraps on keto compares the carbs in UK wraps.
- Breakfast: keto porridge made without oats, and nut-and-seed keto granola.
- Baking: keto baking mixes, mug cake mixes, baking ingredients such as almond flour and psyllium husk, erythritol and stevia sweeteners and keto chocolate chips.
- Snacks: keto bars and our bundles.
We also sell a keto electrolytes range. For vitamins and minerals on keto, see our guides to keto vitamins and magnesium and keto.
Our Low Carb Keto Bread contains cereals with gluten (wheat), soya and sesame. Keto Granola Cinnamon contains nuts (cashews, walnuts and almonds). Always check the allergens in bold on each pack.
Free delivery on orders over £30.
Key takeaways
- Keto counts carbs. It usually means 20–50g a day, and includes low-carb vegetables, nuts, seeds and dairy.
- Carnivore counts foods. It's animal products only, so carbs fall close to zero without tracking.
- Fibre is the big gap. Meat, fish and eggs contain none; UK guidance is 30g a day for adults.
- Carnivore is the stricter of the two. It leaves out every plant food, including vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds.
Frequently asked questions
Can you eat vegetables on the carnivore diet?
No. The carnivore diet leaves out all plant foods, including vegetables, salad, fruit, nuts, seeds, grains and pulses. Meals are built from meat, fish, eggs and, for some people, dairy such as butter and hard cheese. If you want to keep vegetables while eating very few carbs, keto allows low-carb ones such as broccoli, spinach and courgette.
Is the carnivore diet a type of keto?
Broadly, yes. Harvard Health describes the carnivore diet as a type of ketogenic diet, because it allows almost no carbs. The rules are different, though: keto sets a daily carb limit, usually 20–50g, and lets you choose your foods, while carnivore limits you to animal foods and doesn't count carbs at all.
Can you have dairy on the carnivore diet?
It depends on the version. Many people on a carnivore diet include butter and hard cheese, and some add cream to coffee. Others leave dairy out and eat only meat, fish and eggs. Hard cheese has very little carbohydrate, with 0.1g per 100g for Cheddar in CoFID, while milk and cream contain small amounts of milk sugar.
How many carbs can you eat on keto?
Usually 20–50g of carbohydrate a day. The British Dietetic Association puts very low-carb (ketogenic) diets in that range, and many people start nearer 20g. On UK labels the carbohydrate figure already excludes fibre, so you can count it as it is. Low-carb vegetables, nuts and seeds use up only a small part of that allowance.
Is keto or carnivore better?
Neither is better for everyone; it depends on what you want to eat. Keto offers more variety, with vegetables, nuts, seeds and dairy, but usually means counting carbs. Carnivore has simpler rules but leaves out every plant food, and with it almost all fibre. Speak to your GP or a registered dietitian before making big changes to your diet.
Sources
- British Dietetic Association. Low carb diets food fact sheet (carb ranges, including 20–50g a day for very low-carb ketogenic diets) and Fad diets food fact sheet.
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The Nutrition Source: diet review, ketogenic diet (typical fat, protein and carb shares).
- Harvard Health Publishing. What is the carnivore diet? (foods included and excluded; carnivore as a type of ketogenic diet).
- Cleveland Clinic. The carnivore diet (food list, including limited dairy and processed meats).
- Public Health England / Food Standards Agency. Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset (CoFID) 2021: sheets 1.3 Proximates and 1.5 Vitamins, food codes as listed under the tables.
- Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition. Carbohydrates and Health (2015), the source of the UK's 30g a day fibre guideline for adults.
- NHS. The Eatwell Guide, How to get more fibre into your diet, Vitamin C and Meat in your diet. Checked 29 October 2026.
- Groovy Keto product pages: Low Carb Keto Bread, Keto Porridge (Original) and Keto Granola Cinnamon (carbs per serving, pack sizes and allergens). Checked 29 October 2026.
