Francois,  many thanks for taking time to answer my questions.

for our main daily meal, we start to choose a RAF, then if we are still hungry we choose a vegetable, perhaps a few other veggies, then if still hungry again perhaps some kind of nuts and if still hungry after some elapsed time, a singe fruit species.

This is contrary to what the American natural hygiene society teaches. They say that fruit should be eaten first on an empty stomach to avoid fermentation because fruit easily gets fermented. What do you think about their concern?

Since yesterday I have been eating raw beef slices and shrimps unblended and unspiced.  But I place them in my dehydrator to warm/dry a little bit. This should be OK? This practice would be like what the primitive people did if they let their food out in a sunny breezy day.  I think this practice does not mess up my instincts, because I always stop eating after a few bites. (In the past I would eat a much larger quantity when my beef/seafood was blended/spiced.)  I am happily surprised that I actually like the unspiced and unblended beef/shrimps.

Hi, all. I finished reading GCB’s book, or rather, parts of his book which are interesting to me at this point. I skipped much of his detailed speculation about germs and so on. His argument appears very convincing. I do have a few questions at this point.

(1)   I remember GCB said (on this forum) that his wife got cancer because she ate one pound of beef daily. So what does that mean? Her instincts did not work? Many of the members on this forum appear to eat over one pound of animal flesh daily; are they in danger? Or is beef more injurious than seafood? Does an instinctive-eating person (if not in the process of healing diseases) then tend to live mostly on fruits/vegetables rather than on animal flesh?

(2)   In his book GCB mentioned that modern fruits are so sweet that one will be mistakenly led (by taste) to eat more fruits than vegetables and so imbalance will happen. Since precious few have access to wild fruits, does that mean the rest of us still need to use intellect to curb our fruits consumption? Do you guys who eat instinctively end up eating much fruit? Too much fruit?

(3)   GCB is against grinding/spicing up foods. I happen to be very fond of my way of eating animal flesh. I mince beef/shrimp/salmon (separately) in my food processer with spices and then warm it in my dehydrator at low-temperature so the animal flesh is still raw. Will this minimal processing really cause my instincts to go awry?

(4)   Has anyone seen GCB in person (not his photos merely)? Did he look young and healthy for his age?

(5)   A couple of days ago I was at my gym when I had no easy access to food except black sesame seeds in my locker. I was hungry because I hadn’t had any food that day. So I ate my sesame seeds even though I felt no special draw to them. But once I started eating them, they tasted quite OK and I finished the whole can (about a cup). So is this instinctive eating or not? After all, sesame seeds had no smell.    On the other hand, while I was eating sesame seeds, I thought of the almonds I had in my fridge. That night, when I was already in my bed, I kept thinking about almonds  and eventually I got up and ate a cup of them. After that I have not felt a desire for almonds.

(6)   I just had my first-ever physical results back. (I do have had good health insurance. I was just too lazy to do a physical. Plus, I have had no needs for doctors/medicines after my childhood and so I thought I did not need a physical either.) Everything is excellent except that my very low red blood cell volume/size. The doctor said that means I had excessive iron-deficiency. I guess this is the result of my years of near-fruitarian diet. It explains my chronic low energy, which is the main reason I am seeking diet improvement. It may also explain why I felt such a big appetite for beef for months when I started Raw Paleo in early 2012. The doctor prescribed an iron supplement and recommended that I take it for at least 3 months but preferably one year. I asked him if I could just eat an iron-rich diet. He said it would take a long long time. I believed him, because for four months earlier this year I average ate more than one pound of beef daily and now my red blood cells are still in a very poor state. So I decided to take the iron supplement. My question is: will this supplement impact my food instincts?

I will really appreciate if anyone will take time to give me answers.

A large local Mexican grocer, Fiesta, usually sells seafood charging about 1/2 of what local Whole Foods stores charge. This week Fiesta is selling Mexican Gulf wild caught Jumble-sized head-on (previously frozen) shrimps for $3.99 a pound. The cheap price baffles me.  When I asked the girls working there, all they could tell me was that the shrimps were government-inspected to be Mexican Gulf wild caught. They said the gulf water is clean. When asked why the price was so low, they said, "We are Fiesta."

Does anyone know if I can trust that Fiesta is selling good-quality Mexican Gulf shrimps as Whole Foods stores do?

BTW, I read that  headless devined shrimps contain more preservative-chemicals than head-on whole ones. And  I read that all wild-caught shrimps/seafood go through a preservative-rinse as they are caught to prolong their freshness. But frozen shrimps/seafood have gone through less preservative-rinses than fresh ones (I mean the shrimps/seafood that are sold as "fresh" at seafood counters) do. Does anyone have sure information on these things?   I am talking only about wild-caught Mexican Gulf Shrimps and other wild-caught seafood. I live in Texas.

Many thanks to all who responded and gave me valuable suggestions. 

I was referring to the ground beef. I guess I should have clarified that, sorry. Your right they have a few different cuts to select from. I wish they had more. What can you do?

Chris, I  do not buy ground beef. I buy cuts and grind/mince them in my food processor. I think it is safer that way.  The butchers may use harsh chemicals to clean their machines...and who knows if they clean the meat well before they grind it.

organic grass fed, meaning no antibiotics, hormones, gmo feed, and not grain fed, but, since it is not certified organic, there is the option for them to do all of those things.

IOW, if you want to be sure that whole foods' beef is clean, then you would ask if the cattle get anything other than grass, water, and organic minerals.

So you think Sprouts "organic 100% grass-fed beef" from Uruguay is raised properly? I will just buy from Sprouts then.

Once I asked a saleswoman at a WF seafood department in NW Austin whether the Mexican Bay water from which their shrimps came was clean. She said (with no hint of politeness) that I needed to do my own research. I felt embarrassed by the way she responded to me. Another customer besides me told me that the water was very clean. His kindness saved me from my embarrassment because now somebody was talking to me. I wonder if she responded that way to me because I am Asian and she thought I didn't know the rights of a customer.. Or is it true that customers have to do their own research and have no right to ask questions?

Chris, I tried the Sprouts Uruguay beef and like it. Thanks for confirming that it is good beef.

At a local Sprouts grocer I found "organic 100% grass-fed beef" from Uruguay.  I was told that the Uruguay beef has never been frozen and is vaccum-sealed and it takes only one day to transport it from Uruguay to my city Austin.   Does anyone know of any objections against beef from Uruguay?  It is less expensive than the grass-fed beef sold at my local Whole Foods stores. (WF said they get their beef from Texan farms.)   So if the Uruguay beef is good  I plan to buy at Sprouts instead of at WF from now on.

Dorothy, I see you are very proud of your chickens/eggs.    Many thanks for sharing your experience/knowledge.  I will just trust your judgment  instead of doing my own research.  Vital Farm is the the eggs sold at Natural Grocers.  So I will be satisfied with Vital Farm eggs until your chicken farm produces suplus eggs.

Jessica,  thanks for your response. I meant shell colors.  So are the "organic pastured" eggs sold at the natural grocers in colorado Vital Farm eggs?

Maybe one day I will drag myself to farmers markets.  But really I do not know enough about farming to ask the right questions. I am not a big egg eater anyway. I am more into grass-fed beef and alaskan wild salmon.  Maybe the reason is that  I have never eaten an egg that is produced  truly  in a natural way.

 

good eggs will have super yellow/orange thick yolks with a very distinct flavor, thick egg whites and solid shells

That is good to know. Thanks.   When you say "thick egg whites" do you mean the egg has a small yolk and lots of white?

    Magnesium is used by people for the same symptoms raw fats relieve..B-1 etc. Hal Huggins recommends raw butter I think. Raw fat feels like it helps my teeth..just like some foods feel bad for them. Since Ive been eating raw fat and eating it regularly I haven't felt symptoms to take magnesium. I used to have to take large doses of magnesium to function last year that I was vegan.

    My skin glowed alright..it was too tightly stretched and oily neon lol kind of. It burned too. Now it only burns when I don't eat very saturated fats.

Thanks for your perspective.
Do you count coconut oil and coconut butter as "very saturated fats"?

I strive to make this forum a place where you can find the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth...about diet, anyway.

I appreciate a mod with such a goal.


Adora, thanks for sharing your experiment.

Try to be more respectful.  I know you are sincere in your responses, that's not in question.  I just wish I wasn't getting complaints about you from other moderators in PMs.  Please make some effort in this direction.  I have absolutely no wish to ban you, and I mean that, but if the complaints about you continue, and I don't see improvement, then you force my hand.

 I agree that Christ sincerely wants to help others. He probably thinks his advice will be accepted and benefit others if he uses strong language.

I hope we can help Chris to not get banned before it is too late. He surely has some valid opinions to offer.


Christ, it appears that your perfect RP diet does not resolve your anger issue.

Are you a perfectionist? Did someone who was important to you in your past often use harsh language against you when you did not meet his/her expectation? Do you require yourself to be perfect--but fail to meet your own expectation from time to time? Are you judemental towards yourself because you cannot achieve perfection in many areas of your life? Could it be that your critical attitude towards others actually is your anger at yourself?

Adora, thanks for sharing. Please keep posting.