Best App for Animal-Based Diet Tracking in 2026

The animal-based diet has surged in popularity through 2025 and into 2026, driven largely by Dr. Paul Saladino's advocacy and a growing body of anecdotal evidence from athletes and health influencers. But tracking this diet properly is surprisingly difficult. Most nutrition apps were designed around standard Western diets and handle organ meats, raw dairy, and nose-to-tail eating poorly — if at all. Choosing the right tracker matters more for animal-based than for almost any other eating pattern.

What Is the Animal-Based Diet?

The animal-based diet is an eating framework popularized by Dr. Paul Saladino (author of The Carnivore Code) that centers on nutrient-dense animal foods supplemented with select plant foods. It is not a strict elimination diet. It is a nutrient-density-first approach that prioritizes the most bioavailable sources of vitamins, minerals, and macronutrients.

Core Foods of the Animal-Based Diet

Animal foods (the foundation):

• Muscle meats: beef, bison, lamb, elk, chicken, turkey
• Organ meats: liver, heart, kidney, spleen, brain, sweetbreads
• Bone marrow and bone broth
• Eggs (whole, preferably pasture-raised)
• Wild-caught fish and shellfish
• Raw or minimally processed dairy (raw milk, raw cheese, kefir, butter, ghee)

Allowed plant foods:

• Fruits: especially tropical fruits (mangoes, papayas, pineapples), berries, and citrus
• Honey (raw, unprocessed)
• Squash and sweet potatoes (some variations)
• Avocados
• Olives and olive oil (some variations)

Foods typically excluded:

• Grains and legumes
• Seed oils (soybean, canola, sunflower, safflower)
• Nuts and seeds (most variations)
• Leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, and nightshades
• Processed foods of any kind
• Refined sugar

The philosophy is that animal foods provide the highest concentration of bioavailable nutrients, while fruits and honey provide clean carbohydrate energy without the antinutrients (lectins, oxalates, phytates) found in grains, legumes, and many vegetables.

How Is Animal-Based Different from Carnivore?

This is one of the most frequently asked questions about the diet, and the distinction matters for tracking purposes.

Carnivore Diet

• Only animal products: meat, organs, eggs, animal fats
• Zero plant foods — no fruit, no honey, no vegetables
• Extremely low carbohydrate (typically under 10 g/day)
• Relies entirely on fat and protein for energy
• Macro split: roughly 70-80% fat, 20-30% protein, 0-2% carbs

Animal-Based Diet

• Animal products as the foundation, supplemented with fruit, honey, and raw dairy
• Moderate carbohydrate intake from whole food sources
• Includes foods like mangoes, berries, raw milk, and honey
• More flexible and socially sustainable than strict carnivore
• Macro split: roughly 40-50% fat, 20-30% protein, 20-35% carbs

The practical difference is significant. A strict carnivore might eat ribeye steak with butter for every meal. An animal-based eater might have ribeye with a side of mango and a glass of raw milk. The carbohydrate content, micronutrient variety, and day-to-day food diversity are all substantially higher on animal-based compared to carnivore.

Why the Difference Matters for Tracking

On strict carnivore, tracking is simple — you are eating a narrow range of foods and the macro split is fairly consistent. On animal-based, the addition of fruits, honey, and dairy introduces meaningful carbohydrate variation. You need an app that can accurately track both the organ meats and the fruit portions, with reliable micronutrient data for each.

What Macros Should I Track on Animal-Based?

The animal-based diet does not prescribe rigid macro targets, but there are general ranges that align with the diet's principles and most practitioners' goals.

Recommended Macro Ranges

Goal	Calories	Protein	Fat	Carbs
Weight loss	1,800-2,200 kcal	1.6-2.2 g/kg	40-50%	15-25%
Maintenance	2,200-2,800 kcal	1.4-2.0 g/kg	40-50%	20-30%
Athletic performance	2,800-3,500 kcal	1.6-2.2 g/kg	35-45%	25-35%
Muscle gain	2,500-3,200 kcal	1.8-2.4 g/kg	35-45%	25-35%

Key Micronutrients to Track

What makes the animal-based diet unique is its emphasis on micronutrient density. These are the nutrients that matter most — and the ones you should actively track.

Nutrient	Daily Target	Best Animal-Based Sources
Vitamin A (retinol)	700-900 mcg RAE	Beef liver (1 oz = 7,730 mcg)
Vitamin K2 (MK-4)	90-120 mcg	Goose liver, hard cheese, egg yolks
Iron (heme)	8-18 mg	Spleen, liver, red meat
Zinc	8-11 mg	Oysters, red meat, liver
Copper	0.9 mg	Beef liver, oysters, dark chocolate
B12	2.4 mcg	Liver, clams, sardines
Selenium	55 mcg	Brazil nuts, kidney, fish
Vitamin D	15-20 mcg	Fatty fish, egg yolks, sun exposure
Choline	425-550 mg	Liver, eggs, fish
Omega-3 (EPA+DHA)	1-2 g	Salmon, sardines, mackerel

Most nutrition apps track calories and macros well but completely ignore nutrients like vitamin K2, choline, copper, and heme iron. For the animal-based diet, these micronutrients are the entire point — they are why you eat liver instead of chicken breast and oysters instead of whey protein.

Best App for Tracking Animal-Based Diet?

Nutrola is the best app for tracking the animal-based diet in 2026, primarily because of its deep micronutrient tracking and verified database entries for organ meats, raw dairy, and other nutrient-dense animal foods that most apps handle poorly.

App Comparison for Animal-Based Diet

Feature	Nutrola	MyFitnessPal	Cronometer	MacroFactor	Carb Manager
Organ meat entries (verified)	Yes (extensive)	Few (user-submitted)	Yes (good)	Limited	Limited
Raw dairy entries	Yes	Few	Some	Few	Few
Micronutrient tracking	100+ nutrients	Limited (free)	Detailed	Macros only	Moderate
Vitamin K2 tracking	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Choline tracking	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Heme iron distinction	Yes	No	Partial	No	No
AI food recognition	Photo, voice, barcode	Barcode	Barcode	Barcode	Barcode
Database size (verified)	1.8M+ verified	Large (unverified)	Curated	Curated	Large (mixed)
Recipe import	Yes (URL)	Manual	Manual	No	Manual
Ad-free	Always	Paid only	Paid only	Yes	Paid only
Price	From €2.50/month	Free / €9.99/month	Free / €7.99/month	€11.99/month	Free / €8.49/month

Detailed Comparison

Nutrola stands out for animal-based tracking because of its combination of deep micronutrient data and verified organ meat entries. When you log "beef liver" in Nutrola, you get accurate data for retinol, K2, choline, copper, B12, folate, and iron — not just calories and protein. The 1.8M+ verified database includes entries for less common animal foods like beef heart, kidney, spleen, bone marrow, and various raw dairy products. At €2.50/month with no ads, it offers the most comprehensive tracking at the lowest price point.

Cronometer is the strongest alternative. Its curated database has good organ meat coverage and tracks a wide range of micronutrients. However, its food recognition is limited to barcodes, the interface can feel clinical, and it costs more. For pure micronutrient tracking depth, Cronometer is comparable to Nutrola, but Nutrola wins on speed of logging (AI photo and voice), recipe import, and price.

MyFitnessPal has the largest database by raw entry count, but most entries are user-submitted and unverified. Search "beef liver" and you may find 40+ entries with wildly different nutrition values. The free version does not track most micronutrients, and organ meats are poorly represented. It is not a good fit for animal-based eating.

MacroFactor is excellent for macro tracking and calorie adjustments but tracks macros only — no micronutrients. Since the animal-based diet's value proposition is micronutrient density, an app that only shows protein, fat, and carbs misses the point entirely.

Carb Manager is designed for keto and low-carb diets. It handles high-fat animal foods reasonably well but has limited organ meat entries and moderate micronutrient tracking. It also does not account for the moderate carbohydrate intake from fruit and honey that distinguishes animal-based from carnivore.

Nutrient Density of Key Animal-Based Foods

One of the reasons the animal-based diet emphasizes specific foods is their extraordinary micronutrient concentration. Here is a comparison of common animal-based foods versus standard Western diet alternatives.

Organ Meats vs. Muscle Meats

Nutrient (per 100 g)	Beef Liver	Beef Heart	Chicken Breast	Ribeye Steak
Calories	135	112	165	291
Protein	20.4 g	17.7 g	31 g	24 g
Vitamin A (retinol)	16,898 mcg	0 mcg	6 mcg	0 mcg
Vitamin B12	59.3 mcg	8.6 mcg	0.3 mcg	2.6 mcg
Folate	290 mcg	3 mcg	4 mcg	6 mcg
Iron	6.5 mg	4.3 mg	0.7 mg	2.6 mg
Zinc	4.0 mg	2.0 mg	0.7 mg	6.4 mg
Copper	9.8 mg	0.4 mg	0.04 mg	0.1 mg
Choline	333 mg	164 mg	85 mg	64 mg
CoQ10	3.9 mg	11.3 mg	1.4 mg	3.1 mg

Beef liver delivers nearly 19 times the recommended daily intake of vitamin A, 25 times the B12, and four times the choline of chicken breast — in fewer calories. Beef heart is the richest food source of CoQ10, a nutrient critical for mitochondrial function and energy production.

Animal-Based Carb Sources vs. Standard Carbs

Food (per 100 g)	Calories	Carbs	Fiber	Vitamin C	Potassium
Mango	60	15 g	1.6 g	36 mg	168 mg
Raw honey	304	82 g	0 g	0.5 mg	52 mg
Banana	89	23 g	2.6 g	8.7 mg	358 mg
Papaya	43	11 g	1.7 g	62 mg	182 mg
White rice (comparison)	130	28 g	0.4 g	0 mg	35 mg
Whole wheat bread (comparison)	247	41 g	7 g	0 mg	250 mg

The animal-based carb sources (fruits, honey) provide vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants alongside their sugar content, while refined grains provide calories with minimal micronutrient value. Raw honey also contains beneficial enzymes and antimicrobial compounds that processed sugar lacks.

How Nutrola Tracks Organ Meat Micronutrients That Other Apps Miss

This is where the app choice becomes critical. If you eat 100 g of beef liver and your app only shows you "135 calories, 20 g protein, 4 g fat" — you are missing the entire reason you ate liver in the first place.

The Micronutrient Gap in Most Apps

Most nutrition tracking apps were designed for calorie counting. Their databases prioritize macronutrients (protein, carbs, fat) and maybe a handful of common micronutrients (vitamin C, calcium, iron). But the animal-based diet depends on nutrients that most apps simply do not track:

• Vitamin K2 (menaquinone): Found in organ meats, hard cheeses, and egg yolks. Critical for calcium metabolism and cardiovascular health. Most apps do not distinguish between K1 (found in greens) and K2 (found in animal foods).
• Choline: Essential for brain function, liver health, and cell membrane integrity. Found in high concentrations in liver, eggs, and organ meats. Most apps do not track it despite 90% of Americans being deficient.
• Heme iron vs. non-heme iron: Animal-based iron (heme) has 15-35% absorption rates compared to 2-20% for plant iron (non-heme). Most apps list total iron without distinguishing the type, making it impossible to know your actual iron status.
• Copper: Beef liver is extremely rich in copper, which is essential for iron metabolism and connective tissue health. Few apps track copper intake.
• CoQ10: Found in heart, liver, and other organ meats. Critical for cellular energy production. Almost no nutrition app tracks this.
• Retinol vs. beta-carotene: Most apps list "vitamin A" as a single number, but retinol (from animal foods) is immediately usable, while beta-carotene (from plants) requires conversion at a rate of only 3-28% depending on genetics. The distinction matters for animal-based eaters who rely on organ meats for their vitamin A.

How Nutrola Handles These Nutrients

Nutrola tracks over 100 nutrients, including vitamin K2, choline, copper, retinol (preformed vitamin A), and detailed fatty acid profiles. When you log beef liver in Nutrola, the entry includes:

• Retinol (preformed vitamin A): 16,898 mcg
• B12: 59.3 mcg
• Folate: 290 mcg
• Choline: 333 mg
• Copper: 9.8 mg
• Iron (heme): 6.5 mg
• Zinc: 4.0 mg
• Selenium: 39.7 mcg
• Riboflavin: 2.8 mg

This level of detail lets you see whether your one weekly serving of liver is actually meeting your micronutrient targets, or whether you need to adjust your organ meat intake.

Sample Animal-Based Day with Full Nutrition Breakdown

Meal 1 — Breakfast (8:00 AM)

Food	Amount	Calories	Protein	Fat	Carbs
Pasture-raised eggs	4 large	312	25.2 g	21.2 g	1.4 g
Butter (grass-fed)	15 g	108	0.1 g	12.2 g	0 g
Raw honey	20 g	61	0.1 g	0 g	16.4 g
Mango (fresh)	150 g	90	1.2 g	0.6 g	22.5 g
Subtotal		571	26.6 g	34 g	40.3 g

Meal 2 — Lunch (12:30 PM)

Food	Amount	Calories	Protein	Fat	Carbs
Ground beef (85/15)	200 g	430	38 g	30 g	0 g
Beef liver	50 g	68	10.2 g	1.8 g	2.0 g
Banana	1 large	121	1.5 g	0.4 g	31 g
Raw milk	250 ml	150	8 g	8.3 g	12 g
Subtotal		769	57.7 g	40.5 g	45 g

Meal 3 — Dinner (6:30 PM)

Food	Amount	Calories	Protein	Fat	Carbs
Ribeye steak	250 g	728	60 g	53 g	0 g
Bone marrow	30 g	225	2.1 g	24.6 g	0 g
Blueberries	100 g	57	0.7 g	0.3 g	14.5 g
Raw cheese	40 g	160	10 g	13 g	0.5 g
Subtotal		1,170	72.8 g	90.9 g	15 g

Daily Totals

Nutrient	Amount	Notes
Calories	2,510 kcal	Maintenance range for active male
Protein	157 g (25%)	1.8 g/kg for 87 kg individual
Fat	165 g (59%)	Primarily saturated and monounsaturated
Carbs	100 g (16%)	All from fruit, honey, and raw dairy
Vitamin A (retinol)	~8,800 mcg	978% DV from liver alone
B12	~33 mcg	1,375% DV
Choline	~420 mg	76% adequate intake
Iron (heme)	~14 mg	175% DV
Copper	~5.2 mg	578% DV

Logging this day in Nutrola takes approximately 5 minutes using AI photo recognition. Each organ meat entry includes the full micronutrient breakdown, so you can verify that your 50 g of liver is delivering the vitamin A, B12, and copper that makes it the most nutrient-dense food on your plate.

Tips for Tracking Animal-Based Successfully

Track Organ Meats by Frequency, Not Just Daily Intake

You do not need to eat liver every day. Most animal-based practitioners eat organ meats 2-4 times per week. Track your weekly average to see whether you are hitting micronutrient targets over time rather than stressing about daily numbers.

Log the Fat You Cook With

Animal-based cooking often involves butter, ghee, tallow, or lard. A tablespoon of butter adds 102 calories and 12 g of fat. Since the animal-based diet is relatively high-fat, cooking fats can represent 200-400 untracked calories per day if ignored.

Track Your Fruit Carbs Separately

If you are monitoring ketosis or carb tolerance (as some animal-based eaters do), track carbohydrates from fruit and honey separately from trace carbs in eggs and dairy. Nutrola lets you review your carb sources at the end of each day, making it easy to see whether your carbs are coming from the right places.

Use Recipe Save for Repeated Meals

Animal-based eating tends to be repetitive — the same base of ground beef and liver, the same fruit combinations, the same egg preparations. Save your standard meals in Nutrola as recipes so logging becomes a single tap. This is especially useful for organ meat blends (like ground beef mixed with liver and heart) where calculating individual nutrients manually would be tedious.

Pay Attention to Electrolytes

The animal-based diet can be lower in potassium and magnesium than diets that include large quantities of vegetables. Track these minerals weekly and consider adding electrolyte supplementation if your levels are consistently low. Nutrola's micronutrient tracking makes these deficiencies visible before they become symptomatic.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I track animal-based on a free app?

You can track calories and macros on free apps, but you will miss the micronutrient data that defines the animal-based diet. Free tiers of most apps do not track vitamin K2, choline, copper, or heme iron. Nutrola at €2.50/month provides full micronutrient tracking without ads — less than the cost of a single grass-fed steak.

How many calories should I eat on animal-based?

Most men eat 2,200-3,000 kcal on animal-based for maintenance, while most women eat 1,800-2,400 kcal. Because the diet is nutrient-dense and includes significant fat, satiety signals tend to regulate intake naturally. Tracking for the first 4-6 weeks helps establish your baseline.

Is the animal-based diet safe long-term?

Long-term safety data specific to the animal-based diet is limited. However, populations like the Maasai, Inuit, and traditional Mongolians have thrived on animal-dominant diets for centuries. The inclusion of fruit and honey in the animal-based approach provides additional micronutrients and fiber that strict carnivore lacks. As with any diet, tracking your nutrient intake helps identify and correct potential deficiencies early.

The Bottom Line

The animal-based diet is one of the most micronutrient-focused eating patterns in modern nutrition, but tracking it properly requires an app that goes far beyond calories and macros. Nutrola's 100+ nutrient tracking, verified organ meat database entries, AI photo recognition, and €2.50/month price point make it the best app for animal-based diet tracking in 2026. When your diet is built around nutrient density, your tracker needs to measure what actually matters.