Carnivore on the Tightest Budget: Can You Survive on Tuna and Eggs?

May 28, 2026

There's a post on the carnivore subreddit that's been getting a lot of attention. A guy who'd been strict carnivore for five years - two pounds of steak every single night, said he felt fantastic - lost his job. He's starting his own business, believes in it, but money is tight right now. First he swicthed to ground beef. Then even that got too expensive.

Now he's eating exclusively tuna and eggs, Twelve eggs cooked in bacon grease, a can of tuna, sometimes two. When he runs out of bacon grease, he buys bacon for a few days to replenish it. That's it. That's the whole diet.

The thread got 24 comments and a lot of them were basically: is this even still carnivore? And more importantly, is it sustainable?

Is Tuna Carnivore?

Short answer: yes. Fish is an animal. Tuna is about as carnivore as it gets - it's a predator that eats other fish. There's nothing plant-based about it. The purists who only eat ruminant meat (beef, lamb, bison) will tell you it's not "lion diet" compliant, but carnivore in its broader definition absolutely includes fish.

The bigger question is whether a tuna-and-eggs diet can keep you healthy long-term. Tuna is lean. Like, really lean. Canned tuna in water has almost no fat. Even tuna packed in oil is a fraction of the fat content you'd get from ribeye or even 80/20 ground beef. On a diet where fat is supposed to be your primary fuel source, that's a concern.

Twelve eggs help. Eggs are one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet. Each egg has about 5 grams of fat, mostly in the yolk. So twelve eggs gets you 60 grams of fat, plus high-quality protein, choline, vitamin D, and most of the B vitamins. That's not nothing.

But let's do the math. A typical carnivore meal plan aims for around 70-80% of calories from fat. Two cans of tuna (about 40g protein each, minimal fat) plus a dozen eggs (60g fat, 72g protein) gives you a ratio that's more like 50-60% fat. That's lower than ideal. You'd need to add more fat to get into the optimal range for energy and satiety.

That's what the bacon grease is doing. It's not just for flavor - it's a fat delivery system. Smart move.

The Mercury Question

This came up in the comments. Tuna is at the top of the marine food chain, which means it accumulates mercury in its tissues. Eat enough of it and you could be looking at mercury buildup over time. The FDA recommends limiting albacore tuna to one serving per week for pregnant women and children.

For a grown man eating one or two cans a day? That's way above those guidelines. There's debate about whether mercury from fish is as problematic as people think - selenium in tuna supposedly binds to mercury and makes it less bioavailable - but it's not nothing. If you're going to lean hard on tuna, skip the albacore and go for skipjack or light tuna, which have lower mercury levels.

Or mix it up. Sardines, mackerel, and canned salmon are all cheaper than tuna in some places and have better fat profiles. Sardines especially are packed with fat, calcium (from the bones), and have much lower mercury levels. They're an acquired taste, but they work.

Making the Bare Minimum Work

The guy in the story is making it work. He feels fine, he's maintaining his weight, and he's keeping his business going. That counts for something. But he's also clear this is temporary. The moment the business takes off, he's back to steak.

And that's kind of the point. Tuna and eggs can keep you alive and reasonably healthy for months. Maybe longer if you're smart about it. But it's not an optimal long-term carnivore diet. It's survival mode.

If you're in a similar spot - between jobs, starting something new, or just trying to stretch your grocery budget - here's how to make a tuna-and-egg diet work better:

• Add fat wherever you can. Butter on the eggs. Bacon grease for cooking. A spoonful of tallow if you have it. The eggs need the fat and so do you.
• Get enough salt. Canned tuna is often already salted, but eggs need salt too. Don't be shy with it. Your body needs more sodium on a low-carb diet, and eggs and tuna won't get you there by themselves.
• Rotate your fish. Don't eat tuna every single day. Mix in sardines, mackerel, or canned salmon when you can. Better fat profile, less heavy metal risk. Most grocery stores carry them for around the same price.
• Watch for boredom. This is the real killer. Eating the same two foods every day gets old fast. Vary how you cook the eggs - scrambled one day, fried the next, hard-boiled for variety. Tuna can be eaten cold, pan-seared if you buy it in pouches instead of cans, or mixed with egg yolks for a makeshift patty.

The original poster is doing it right in one important way: he's still eating to appetite. A dozen eggs plus one or two cans of tuna is probably around 1,000-1,200 calories. That's low for an active man. But he's eating until he's full and not forcing it. That instinct matters more than hitting a calorie target.

The Bottom Line

Tuna and eggs is not a long-term optimal carnivore diet. But it's a perfectly valid short-term survival strategy. You're getting high-quality protein, decent fat if you add bacon grease or butter, and a wide range of vitamins and minerals from those eggs. It's a hell of a lot better than going back to processed food or junk.

The community response to this thread was mostly supportive. People understood the situation. They offered suggestions - sardines, cheaper cuts of beef, bulk egg buying. Nobody told him he was doing carnivore wrong. Because honestly, in a tight spot, you do what you can.

And this guy is doing what he can. Eating meat. Staying healthy. Building his business. That's the spirit of the diet, honestly. Not purity. Practicality.

If you're curious about the original thread, it has a lot more discussion about tuna, mercury, and alternatives people have tried when money got tight.

Read the original Reddit discussion here →

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