THE METHOD
The most common, lowest-variable entry point into the carnivore way of eating. Four foods, salt to taste, water to thirst, thirty days.
Not medical advice. Read the kickoff page before you start.
THE PROTOCOL
Beef. Butter. Bacon. Eggs.
Salt to taste. Water to thirst. Nothing else for 30 days.
Salt is the only seasoning. No ketchup, mustard, hot sauce, mayo, dressings, marinades, or spice blends.
Butter is the only dairy on the strict starter. No milk, cream, cheese, yogurt, or cottage cheese.
Strict for 30 days, then re-evaluate. No cheat meals, no carb-up days, no "just this once" — the value is that it eliminates variables.
WHY STRICT
Most diet approaches fail to produce a clear signal because they leave too many variables in. If you change five things at once and feel different at the end of thirty days, you can't tell which change did the work.
BBB&E strips the variable count to almost zero. Beef, butter, bacon, eggs, salt, water — six inputs, all of them well-tolerated by most people. If something is going to shift over 30 days on this protocol, it shows up clearly because there's almost nothing else in the picture.
That's also why it is not the only path or the only correct way to eat carnivore long-term. It's the cleanest place to begin. Day 31 onward is where reintroductions, dairy, organ meats, fish, and other choices get evaluated — but only after a 30-day clean baseline.
THE FOUR FOODS
Fatty cuts, ground 80/20, ribeye, chuck, brisket. The foundation.
Salted or unsalted. Real butter only. Use it generously.
Sugar-free, no nitrate fillers, ideally pasture-raised.
Whole eggs, cooked in butter or bacon fat. Yolks intact.
FOOD 1 · BEEF
Build every meal around a fatty cut of beef. It's complete protein, dense in iron, B12, and zinc, and the most well-tolerated food on the strict-carnivore plate.
Rule of thumb: 1.5–2.0 g of protein per kg of bodyweight, with fat to satiety.
FOODS 2 · 3 · 4
Real butter, salted or unsalted. Cook eggs and steaks in it. Add a slab on top. Grass-fed if you can. Margarine and seed-oil "spreads" are not butter.
Sugar-free, nitrate-clean if you can find it. Render the fat — it becomes your cooking oil. Read labels: no maple, no honey, no dextrose, no "natural flavors."
Whole eggs, scrambled, fried, soft-boiled, or raw in a beef shake. Yolks are the point. Pasture-raised when possible. Three to six per day is normal.
SALT & WATER
When the carbs come out, insulin drops, and the kidneys flush sodium and water. Replacing sodium is the single fastest way to clear adaptation symptoms. No electrolyte powders, no Gatorade — just real salt and water.
REMOVE
If it's not beef, butter, bacon, eggs, salt, or water — it's off. No exceptions. Strictness is what makes the protocol diagnostic and the results clean.
No chicken, pork (other than bacon), lamb, fish, or game.
No milk, cream, yogurt, cheese — even hard cheese.
No vegetables, fruit, herbs, spices, or plant oils.
No sugar, honey, stevia, monk fruit, or "natural" alternatives.
No coffee, tea, alcohol, soda, juice, or broth. Water only.
No sauces, marinades, vinegars, mustard, or hot sauce. Salt only.
MACROS
On a calorie basis, most people land near 70 % fat and 30 % protein. By weight on the plate, that's roughly equal grams of fat and protein.
Pick fattier cuts: ribeye, chuck, 80/20 mince. Add a slab of butter on every steak.
Cook eggs in butter or rendered bacon fat. Eat the fat on the steak — don't trim it.
Hunger back in two hours? Fat was too low. Add fat to the next meal.
A DAY ON THE PLATE
Two meals are fine. One meal is fine. Eat to satiety, then stop. No snacking between meals.
SHOPPING LIST
A single weekly shop for one person on strict BBB&E. Buy in bulk where you can — the freezer is your best friend on this protocol.
5–7 lb total: 2 lb ribeye, 2 lb 80/20 ground, 1–2 lb chuck or short rib.
1 lb of real butter (grass-fed if available). Salted or unsalted.
1.5–2 lb of sugar-free bacon. Render and save the fat.
2–3 dozen pasture-raised eggs.
Real salt — sea salt or Redmond Real Salt. One container lasts months.
NEXT
If you're taking any medication for blood pressure, diabetes, autoimmune disease, or any chronic condition, the kickoff page is not optional reading. Then comes the 3-day water fast that opens the protocol.