Raw meat/fish

Question
QUESTION: Hello, I just have a few questions...

1. I've read where toxins are stored in animal fat especially their organs...  And people eat these animals that have these stored toxins raw?   Is this safe?  

2. Do you eat raw fish?   Is their particular fish you eat raw/ or stay away from ?   I've heard farm raised is bad to eat raw.  

3. I've never seen any scientific  proof to back up the claims that eating raw meat is healthy.   Is there any proof or is this just based on personal experiences?

4. I have been eating raw grass-fed beef liver the past few days now and I'm actually feeling like I'm catching the flu.   But I just got over the flu.  Could this be a detox reaction?


Eric.


I'm sorry for the questions,just still want to try to find out as much as I can before sticking to this way of eating .

ANSWER: It's true that toxins get stored in animal fat and the organs of animals. However, if one eats raw meats from healthy animals then one is fine. It's only a problem if one is eating meats(cooked or raw) from unhealthy animals fed on unnatural diets. Such unnatural diets usually involve huge amounts of grain or soy which are highly toxic to animals who feed on grass or herbs in the wild. Basically, always eat either raw, grassfed meats or raw wild game and you'll be fine. The only exception might be fowl like chicken since they are adapted to grain-consumption to some extent - however, chickens in the wild are omnivorous, eating things like worms, insects and the like a lot and only small amounts of grains, so only buy "pastured" chickens, not those raised on 100% vegan diets with soy etc.

Yes, I eat raw fish, though I prefer raw shellfish even more(raw scallops/oysters/mussels). I eat whatever fish I can get, but I suppose I personally prefer the fattier raw, wildcaught fish such as raw mackerel and raw swordfish. And I avoid farmed fish like the plague. For example, farmed salmon contains the harmful carcinogenic dye, canthaxanthin, which is used to give a fake pink colour to farmed salmon as the original colour of the latter is a sickly grey.

Re raw-meat-studies:-  There are no studies done on raw meat diets because of stupid, excessive health and safety regulations. Even studies on animals always involve them being fed on grains and highly processed foods. That said, there is some scientific evidence that the hysteria and phobia in the media towards raw-meat diets is way overblown:-

http://www.karlloren.com/Diabetes/p78.htm

Some of the very few studies on raw vegan diets and raw dairy products are shown here:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_foodism#Research

Read up online about the Hygiene Hypothesis which goes on about the benefits of bacteria which are found in moderate amounts in fresh, raw animal foods, and in very high amounts in aged, raw animal foods(endless refs to studies in the various pages):-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygiene_hypothesis

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/66840.php

http://www.waiworld.com/waidiet/rawbacteria.html

There is very considerable scientific data on the harm done by cooking. Here is just a small sample thereof:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_foodism#Potential_harmful_effects_of_cooked_foo

http://www.waiworld.com/waidiet/wd-smoking.html

http://www.waiworld.com/waisays/diseases/dis-cancer-food.html

Basically, there are at least 5 types of heat-created toxins. There are advanced glycation end products,advanced lipoxidation end products, heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hyrocarbons(both are not just cooking-derived toxins but are also components of cigarette-smoke and car-exhaust fumes), nitrosamines(present in smoked/prepared meats). Looking at pubmed in a vague search, I came up with 30,000 studies done in advanced glycation end products. Studies on the other types of toxins are fewer but still significant.

Re flu:-  *edit*-(Didn't you already ask me that in a previous question?*)Almost everyone gets a detox soon after going rawpalaeo. I, for example had 2-3 days of green diarrhea occurring every half an hour during waking hours, at first. Then, every 2-4 months, I would get mild flu-like symptoms(warm forehead, moderate fatigue) for between 2 to 7 days. Each time I would feel very slightly better afterwards than before the episode. These episodes eventually declined in terms of severity, duration and frequency until they stopped after 2 years or so. I still get detox symptoms(these days just a hangover-like feeling) if I eat any cooked foods, as my body is healthier, so is quicker in getting rid of any toxins, but otherwise not.

HTH,
RPG.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hey!

http://www.biblelife.org/woman7700.htm




I did want to ask you about food combining.    Yesterday I ate bread along with the raw beef liver and felt really bloated the whole day.    Can you tell me what you eat during the day...   I know food combining is important.  I just don't want the meat to putrify in my stomach.   also, do you have any before and after photos of before you started this diet and after?    What kinds of positive things have you experienced with this diet ?   Anything negative?

Answer
Here is a thread in which I occasionally post about what I'm eating:-

http://www.rawpaleodietforum.com/off-topic/what-are-you-eating-right-now/

As regards food-combining, I usually follow the Instincto practice of "Mono-eating", eating just one food at a time. It's less wearing on the digestive system.

My photos are a bit deceptive:-

http://www.rawpaleodiet.com/testimonials/geoff-purcell-uk/

In one photo, I am raising my arms in a mock-pose because I had been doing caloric restriction a lot, so was skinny and had no muscles. But I was a lot healthier than before, being a year and a half on the diet at the time. The other photo shows me as looking tired with reddened eyes, and I had been 6 months or so on the raw, palaeolithic diet, and had recovered from many health-issues by that stage. By contrast, photos of me well before the diet show me to be looking very fat and happy, but in fact I was in great pain and severe ill-health at the time. As a result I never take photos seriously as they are no good at detecting health.

As regards positive things, well, like I said before, I had been in great pain pre-rawpalaediet with chronic fatigue and  several dozen other health-problems. I had tried virtually everything else in the way of diets and supplements and other gimmicks, and none of them worked.  

The only "negative" thing I ever had from the rawpalaeodiet was once I had tapeworms coming out the other end. I got some minor pain in my bladder which quickly disappeared but otherwise had no other symptoms(tapeworms are almost always harmless). I found, however, that smelly segments came out the other end, which was somewhat unaesthetic so I got some anti-tapeworm drugs from a doctor and that solved the issue immediately.

HTH,
RPG.

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