Still Feeling Ill

Question
Hello,

I have been following Aajonus' raw Primal Diet, including dairy, for just less than 5 months. Prior to this diet my health was going downhill fast for about 2 years; I was feeling nauseous all the time #sometimes throwing up for what seemed to be no reason#, losing weight despite eating and eating, my blood pressure was consistently measured to be around 87/60, getting nosebleeds out of the blue, I started getting terrible acne, and I couldn't sleep more than a couple of hours in a night. Quickly after starting the diet my blood pressure went up to a much healthier 115/70, I've put on healthy weight and I now sleep a full 8 or more hours most nights. My skin has generally cleared up too and I also notice myself regaining mental clarity! The only thing that remains a problem is that I still feel nauseous most of the time, and every several days it is to a degree that is debilitating, though I rarely throw up now and tend to have diarrhea and a painfully upset digestive track.

So my question is this: Is it normal to continue to feel this general "sickness" and is there any way to estimate how long I can expect it to go on? Also, based on what I've told you about my experience thus far, do you have any tips as to how I might improve the way I feel on a daily basis regarding this nausea?

Thank you for taking the time to answer.

Sincerely,
Sarah

Answer
I had much the same experience. I initially got well from not eating cooked foods any more and eating raw meats. I subsequently found, though, that, like many RVAFers, I had a serious allergy towards raw dairy which have me a nauseated feeling and my previous digestive upsets which I'd formerly only got from eating any cooked animal foods, came back with a vengeance when I included raw dairy into my diet. I also became totally addicted to the taste/feeling of raw dairy(due to the addictive opioids in it) and would feel increasingly nauseated by normal foods like raw meats so that, after getting partially used to them, I was avoiding raw meats like the plague, which made things even worse.


Simply put, on the Primal Diet, raw dairy causes the most frequent problems, due to allergies. Overindulging in raw veggie-juice(more than 1 glass a day) is the 2nd one(due, it's claimed, to veg-juicing not only increasing the number of nutrients but also the number of anti-nutrients as well). Another problem is that Aajonus recommends eating far too much, with several small meals throughout the day. This is a very bad idea as the body heals better when it is not constantly digesting, as digestion diverts resources away from healing:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermittent_fasting
Besides, raw foods contain higher levels of nutrients than cooked foods, so you actually don't need to eat as much on a raw diet.

There are other problems such as AV's recommending of vast amounts of raw honey(honey was not available in large quantities in palaeolithic times, only in small amounts) Then he recommends vast quantities of raw eggs(RVAFers do better with smaller amounts and some have food-intolerances towards eggs however raw), coconut cream/coconut oil can also be a cause of food-intolerance etc.

And don't believe in the standard detox-explanation. A genuine detox lasts only for a short time, never more than 2 weeks or so, and one generally feels slightly better after such an episode. If it just continues the same or gets worse and worse, then it's a sign of something else being wrong such as a food-allergy to a particular raw(usually non-palaeo) food.


Simply put, you'd be far better off eating a diet consisting of raw meats, raw vegetables and raw fruits. A small amount of raw honey, raw eggs and raw nuts would be fine, but the emphasis should be on raw meats(of a high quality re 100% grassfed or wild) and raw organ-meats like raw tongue, raw heart/liver/kidney etc. have been reported by several long-term RPDers as speeding up the rate of recovery from ill-health.

Here's a  series of threads which should be of interest to you:-

http://www.rawpaleoforum.com/important-info-for-newbies/

This post may be of interest to you:-

http://www.rawpaleoforum.com/display-your-culinary-creations/high-meat-recipe-pr...

Usually, high-meat is only recommended for people who've been on a RVAF diet for at least a year, the idea being that they won't be able to handle the taste of high-meat until they have long become used to the taste of raw fresh meats. However, a few beginners to RVAF diets have had such very serious health issues that they out of desperation tried the high-meat very early on and   found high-meat to greatly help their digestion/mood etc., which is why I mention it.

HTH,
RPG.

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