Question Dear GEOFF!
Do you know that old tale about a guy who always cried "WOLF" just for fun and when he was in a real trouble nobody came to rescue... I'm afraid to find myself in the same situation! But I hope you won't be bored to death with my silly and such frequent questions and won't lose touch with me. Because, for the reasons I already mentioned (no credic card and residing in the back of beyond) you are my only source of valuable advice in the RPd field. And despite my burning desire I still cannot aford Aajonus' books which are essentials for the greeners like me. That's why I'm so pestilent fellow these days. I just srtave for robust health!
I'm not quite sure whether my own "health story" could be talking point here, but perhaps I may be allowed to scratch but a few lines. You said that grain(eg:- buckwheat) and raw dairy can be a serious health problem for many people... I completely agree with you, mate! You know, I've been on all-raw high-fruit vegan kind of set-up without any cheating for about three months (for a year before on mostly raw with some cooked grains or legumes). I ate two meals per day each consisting of some nuts (3 oz max) and different vegetables (most non-starchy) with greens plus two fruit snacks about lb each or more. It resulted in really heavy health problems... I became so weak that I could hardly skip upstairs two at a time. Then I backed-off to diary which I quite freely consumed untill I was raw fooder. I noticed some improvement (anemia caused by food deficiency seemed to disappear) and I gained nearly 10 lb in weight (from health-looking athlete I changed into skinny boy loosing 40 lb in the process). But no more than that. Even buckwheat didn't do the tric for me ;) Then, I finally that though there were slight improvements, they were not sufficient. I figured out that damage was done by high fruit diet and also the proteins were not sufficient, they were inadequate. That persuaded me to make that step to start eating meats again. I followed Atkin's-like kind of diet (I ate rare meats) for about a month but I didn't have the intended critical effect... And only after that I lucked onto a vein of gold - interview of Aajonus. That was the way I started... though through hear-say only, but never more confident in the results I was seeking for so long.
Still I don't feel easy on the diary point and some other aspects. As for the diary you mentioned specific symptoms of raw dairy-allergy... That vegan diet brought so many problems that I even cannot distinguish any symptoms... As well I may have numerous other ailments but I neglect everything except for the RPd. And if it fails it's a grim prospect long term!
But I want to stay the course. Though a mere amateur I might be, the most nourishing food for me is raw meat wich has non-comparable nutrient value! From the very outset on Primal Diet even absolutely uninformed on the parasites I decided I'd rather die from them than continue deficient diet.
As for the Ukrainian issue a lot has changed for the past 10 years... Though we are still VERY friendly people and those mineral water bottles sold on the street still actually had nothing more than tap-water in them... But I have to trust those people implicitly because it's the only possible source of raw foods here. All in all the meat situation is some way better. Though marrow is not available (just not popular) and tongue considered a dainty (costing twice as much as the best beef sirloin but still comparatively cheap by European measures for 5 pounds per kilo) I find it possible to be RAFooder here. Oh, yes, you said "must be very difficult to find organic, grass-fed meats, there, though,(except further out in the countryside?)"... Nowhere in this country you will hear organic or grass-fed... It's nonsense. Everything depends on the season. In most spring/summer/outumn animals eat mostly grass (it is rather cheap), in winter there is no source of it so they are probably fed grains, hay or beet pulp (presscake). That is the situation. Take it or leave it. But I still invite you to visit Kyiv once again, we will solve a difficulty somehow ;)
Since this site is question-oriented and not designed for the privat testimonials, let me apply to you for some information. If it is not particularly difficult would you be so kind to outline in a nutshell some crucial principles or basics of RPdiet (i.e. 1.organ eating 2.high-meat consumption 3.non-frequent meals and so on)?
Thank you again!
Yuriy
AnswerOh, I agree that cattle in colder climates can't be fed grass through the winter, but many unscrupulous farmers in the UK tend to feed their animals with lots of grain, throughout the year, in order to fatten them up faster - generally speaking, the more reliable farmers only feed their animals with hay and silage in winter rather than cereals/grains, and leave the animals to feed on grass for the rest of the year. Anyway, the general rule is that the poorer the (local)farmer the more likely it is that the meat is better, as the farmer then can't afford to give his cattle all the nasty antibiotics/chemicals/artificial hormones etc. that the richer farmers can.
Re general basic diet guidelines:-
That would be 1) An emphasis on eating raw organ-meats -ie heart, liver, kidney, as well as the high-fat organs such as tongue, marrow, suet, brain - and the white fat on muscle-meats(eg:- pork belly fat).
(I don't much like the taste of the muscle-meat fat, preferring the marrow, but, given your situation, you will find supplies of raw muscle-meat fat much easier to get hold of - and I know some raw, paleolithic dieters who actually prefer that kind of raw fat to anything else, so you may even like it.
2)The second, most important point is to get hold of enough raw animal fat.
You can rely on raw eggs as a secondary(not primary) source of raw fat, but make sure they are of a high quality, if at all possible - again, standards such as "organic" are often unreliable indicators of true quality, but asking farmers what they feed their birds, and whether they use chemicals, or allow the birds enough space to roam etc., is useful. I've sometimes managed to to do OK on lower-quality raw meats, at times, such as during holidays abroad, but I've never got any benefit from the kind of dodgy eggs sold at the supermarket - even if they were labelled as "organic, free-range".
3) Stick to one large meal a day, if possible, to be eaten within a 4-hour period, max - it's recommended to eat in the evenings, but not vital. At the start of this diet, people are often so fatigued that they need to have a smaller, extra meal at some other time of day as well - that's fine, but try eventually to aim for just having one large meal a day. The less time that the body has to devote to the process of digestion, the more time it has to devote itself to healing the body.
As you start improving, you might want to have a look at the practice of Intermittent Fasting - (but best not to try it until you've got used to all other aspects of the diet). Here's a link:-
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/100/10/6216
So far there've only been a few scientific studies on Intermittent Fasting, carried out only on mice. However they show that mice on an (IF) diet-regime, lived longer than those on a standard diet, and their health was much higher than those mice on famine-diets with restricted calories, even though the latter also lived longer. IF involves eating as much as you need/want on one day, and then fasting the whole of the next day(except for water-intake), and then repeating the cycle.
4) High-meat.
Very useful for aiding digestion and for filling the body with needed bacteria after years of eating bacteria-poor cooked-food diets. You'll need to experiment with several different types of high-meat before sticking to one you are OK with. For example, even after all these years, I still can't handle the taste of fish, shellfish or eggs that aren't absolutely fresh, and I really hate the taste of muscle-meat that's been aged for more than a week or two. By contrast, I love "high-meat" made from kidneys and heart, as long as it's not aged for more than 6-8 weeks or so.
5)Make sure that the raw meat you buy is of the highest quality attainable, without spending too much. Eating raw meat of very low quality isn't harmful in the way that eating it in cooked-form is, but you'll find that your rate of health-increase is slower, as a result.
Basically, eating meat that's been prefrozen is considered alright, but, if you can, try to get meat that's nonfrozen. Obviously, health is improved if you avoid all cooked-meat(including smoked meat etc.). However, people sometimes have to eat cooked-food for social reasons, and it's best to eat some raw eggs and a little high-meat beforehand to counter any negative effects. (I also tend to eat a lot of wild foods such as non-farmed fish and shellfish/wild hare etc., as I consider them superior to even organic meat in nutrients, but I doubt that Kiev would be an easy place to get them cheaply, being so far inland etc.)
6) Avoid non-Palaeo foods such as grain and dairy and veggie-juice, even in raw form. Avoid all foods with chemicals/additives, even if raw.
It's not just that non-Palaeo foods are harmful , but a large part of the reason why people following Aajonus' Primal Diet find the diet so expensive, is because of the cost of buying so much raw veg for their juicer machine, and raw dairy can also be quite expensive in the daily amounts that Aajonus recommends.
6) Restrict the amounts of raw carbs in the diet. I personally seem to do well, with 10% of my diet as raw carbs(usually fruit, but sometimes honey). However, I would strongly suggest you experiment on your own to find out what carb ratio works best for you, as everybody is different.
7) Avoid all processed supplements.
A number of raw, paleolithic dieters go in heavily for artificial supplements such as multivitamin/mineral pills, herbal pills such as ginseng/gingko biloba and food supplements such as chlorella algae, royal jelly etc. These are very expensive, and rather poorly absorbed by the body, and, according to one recent scientific study on artificial vitamin pills, can even lead to a higher mortality risk, in some cases. The only exception might be magnesium supplements. Some people starting on this kind of diet turn out to be severely magnesium-deficient, and can benefit, in the short-term, with taking some magnesium mineral-tablets, but it's best to eat magnesium-rich raw foods, in the long run, really.
8) Always try to get as much variety in your raw food as possible(but don't spend all your money on food). That way you can be sure of getting all the right nutrients.
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