I'm not strictly talking about adherent carnivore or keto lifestyles, though those certainly do count towards this discussion.

I feel like there's an absolute plethora of good, different reasons to include animal proteins. The big one for most people right now is obviously cost. Simple meals like meatloaf or stroganoff still make sense to me because the payoff is worth it. A single $8/lb chuck roast feeds a family for two days, and even ground beef stretches further than any plant substitute when you actually cook it right. But lots of other reasons like nutrition, protein density, and animal products being a complete, time-tested food exist.

As far as a lifestyle goes, it definitely feels like the winds have shifted considerably. While IRL here in the southeastern US you do still see plenty of folks grilling out every weekend, online, that type of "meat lover" pride is really loud now. I find myself pushing back on it a bit. I recall not too long ago, everyone was gushing over plant-based meats and fake burgers at cookouts, and the pressure to go meatless felt constant. In fact, quite the opposite seems to happen today. There's a lot of "I used to eat that, but I just feel better with real meat" type comments, and people getting back into cooking whole cuts of their own. Just seems like things are shifting culturally.

I'm personally not strictly carnivore or keto, but I have drastically increased my whole-food meat intake. I make smash burgers instead of veggie patties. I load my fried rice with pork and shrimp. I make a lot of stews that are heavy on beef and bone broth. I just bought groceries for the next 2 weeks and the total amount of animal products is 2 pounds of ground beef, a whole chicken, a pound of pork chops, and a block of aged cheddar. That's it. Years ago I was mostly eating beans, lentils, and tofu every single meal.

Is it just me? Or have most people been eating more meat too? It's hard to tell because everything at the grocery store is "protein protein protein" and there's a lot of social media content of body builders eating a dozen eggs and 3 rotisserie chickens for dinner and that type of content, but I'm not sure how much of that actually exists in real life. Seems like a lot of people are quietly doing the same thing, cutting the ultra-processed plant stuff and going back to basics.