Questioni am so interested in this diet.. I磀 love to know what you can and can't eat when on a raw diet!
I heard Demi moore does it too, is that true>?
Well would you please tell me what this diet is all about?
AnswerHello,
Well, I don't know whether Demi Moore does the Primal Diet or something similiar, but it's quite possible I'm sure. I do know that Mel Gibson does a version of our raw,Palaeolithic diet, called "The Tiger Diet".
Basically, the idea behind the diet is that up to c.20,000 years ago, we used to eat a more natural 100% raw, Palaeolithic diet involving mainly raw animal products and innards(tongue,liver,kidneys, etc.), with 10% of the diet consisting of raw honey, berries, and other fruits. Our apeman ancestors seem to have gained greater intelligence 3 million years ago by switching to eating mainly raw animal innards, which produce more concentrated energy per kilo than fruit or vegetables.(NB:- I read a scientific article pointing out that our Palaeoilithic cavemen ancestors had c.11%(?) more brain volume than modern man, which might be due to our eating grain and dairy products).
The main idea behind the Primal Diet is that bacteria are GOOD for you. One of the many reasons why our bodies are breaking down on a modern junk-food diet is that we don't have enough bacteria in our guts to help break down our food, which forces our body to expend its own resources unnecesarily to break down the food, thus weakening and aging the body over time - that's why you see those bacteria capsules in health-food stores these days( a very poor substitute to a healthy diet).
The other idea behind the Primal Diet is that all foods have within them natural enzymes which break down the food of their own accord once eaten - in other words the body expends very little effort in digesting them. When foods are processed in any way, these enzymes are ruined and the body has to work twice as hard to digest the foods. This is why any form of processing food is forbidden(eg:_ smoked foods, cooking,boiling,broiling,frying foods). Freezing foods is not as damaging as boling it, but it is still not a good idea. Foods stuffed with preservatives are also absolutely forbidden as we are not evolutionarily adapted to eating them, so this means that supermarkets are virtually out of bounds unless you want to buy natural mineral water. Also note that, on this diet, Organic foods are far more preferable to nonorganic foods, of course.
Raw vegetables are also forbidden, except in juiced form. This is because vegetables contain cellulose which cannot be digested properly by humans as we are a mainly carnivorous not herbivorous species -we don't have the necessary 3 to 6 stomachs and 60,000 enzymes needed to break down raw veg properly(read the website "the naive vegetarian" for more info on our carnivorous tendencies).
The one snag with the Primal Diet is that it preaches an almost 100% raw,palaeolithic diet, such as our ancestors ate, yet it preaches that drinking raw cows'milk and other raw dairy is OK. Since our ancestors definitely did NOT drink raw cows' milk etc., this is very dodgy. MANY people who have tried the Primal Diet, such as myself, have not doen well on raw milk - I, like many Primal Dieters, am allergic to milk, whether raw or pasteurised. However, it is true that some people seem to have no problems with raw dairy. I would suggest trying the Primal Diet for 3-6 months with raw dairy and then without to see which is better for you.
For more info on daily diet guidelines look at the website www.rawpaleodiet.org and you'll find several articles with all the info you need. Bear in mind the website owner does NOT do the Primal Diet 100%- he eats some cooked food and takes lots of supplements. Most of us Primal Dieters have found that you have to have at least 85% of your diet in the form of raw,palaeolithic food, or your health recovery is almost negligible. As for supplements and vitamin pills etc. they are definitely forbidden on the Primal Diet as they are not a natural source and harm the body over time.
For full info on the primal Diet read the book "The recipe for living without disease, by Aajonus Vonderplanitz"-available from amazon.com etc.). Also look at the website "eating the aajonus way" and look in "Google" under "aajonus vonderplanitz" "karl loren" "Primal Diet", "raw,palaeolithic diet" etc. for articles on the Primal Diet.
Bear in mind that in the book Aajonus makes a lot of claims for this diet which are a bit extreme in my opinion. He has helped many, many people to greater health but you should always keep an open mind, and take things with a pinch of salt so to speak. The best thing is to keep on experimenting with this diet, and learn from your own experience.
Geoff Purcell
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