I've been trying to devise alternatives to toilet paper for a long time now. Of the techniques I've experimented with: using my hand (as they do in India and other countries), using a re-usable handkerchief, using water or a bidet, using leaves and grasses like (I'm assuming) Native Americans did and lastly re-usable wipes that are washed regularly.

Out of all of these, re-usable wipes may be the most appealing for the average person because of the cleanliness, comfort and lack of waste. Here is the article that inspired the use of re-usable wipes. When I'm not at home I generally use my hand and be sure to wash my hands.

The fact that toilet paper gets broken down and put back into the water system; toilet paper is wasteful; and toilet paper is always made with bleach and recycled papers are generally made with BPA caused my concern.

I keep a stack of wipes on my toilet and when I use them, I soak them in a water and natural anti-bacterial solution until I need to wash a load.

Check out the zeer:

(Skip ahead to 42 seconds in to get to the nitty-gritty)
Flower Pot Fridge!

Through evaporation a temperature of near 40 degrees Fahrenheit can be reached to preserve foods. 

According to this Wikipedia article in a zeer meat can be stored for up to two weeks--all without electricity! Amazing!

I'm going to butcher a goat tomorrow and was concerned that it is not cool enough yet to store the meat in a shed. I'll experiment with a zeer and let everyone know how it works. I intend to use a non-porous inner pot (glazed ceramic) and a porous outer container (most likely unglazed ceramic).

Here is another quick description of a zeer.

While I was in the Philippines over the summer, I stayed at a farm that was raising pigs. I accepted some pork to eat for breakfast one morning and had a terrible reaction afterwards. Immediately after eating the pork my hands trembled and I felt jittery, like I had become high on some sort of stimulant.

A few days later began the diarrhea. I shat for days on end--even until I returned to the U.S. At first I removed all the food matter from my stomach (fruits, the pork, etc.). Then, whenever I would feel the urge to pass something I saw plenty of bile along with a small amount of fecal matter. I hypothesize that my liver reacted in defense, and produced a large amount of bile to flush out whatever was considered a threat (supposedly, the pork).

To some degree, the reaction was good because I passed food very quickly--almost too quickly. After the incident I hardly ate much until I came back to the U.S. Up until I began eating regularly I was moving mostly liquid in my bowel movements. Now, I'm passing much less frequently and the bowels are more dense.

Although my bowel density and frequency have returned back to what I've experienced for the majority on this diet I would say that I'm suffering from constipation. I think I pass all too infrequently and often my bowels smell of putrid meat--a sign that the food has been fermenting and been in my gut for too long.

Also, I've noticed since the incident, my eyes have cleared up: crows feet have disappeared from the corners of my eyes and bags beneath my eyes show subduction.

Hmm. I almost prefer that period when I was passing mostly liquid accompanied by the defined yet weakly bound stools.

==

The way I pass stools now on a VLC diet, the stools seems too dense (and putrid). Often I feel like the only time I have a bowel movement is when my entire GI tract fills up and there is no space, forcing out the lowest matter.

Can anyone relate to this? Does my present condition show signs of constipation, or is this what other's bowels density, frequency, and stench resemble?

If everyone would share a little about their bowels (density, frequency, and stench), I think it might provide some insight for others. Our bowels are much more telling than some would realize. 

The Google search engine was powerful and simple. The search engine that accompanies the forum design doesn't work as well.

Better yet, install a Scroogle search engine. Scroogle mirrors Google's search results but doesn't store cookies, and search terms.

I was reading another thread and came across this post:

The counter point to the over thinking argument is that none of us would have found this diet if we didn't do a lot more than average thinking about diet. The average person doesn't think about what they eat, and they eat SAD foods or whatever their parents brought them up to eat. The average person here who eats primarily RAF's has spent considerably more time thinking about diet.

Can you over think? Probably. Can you under think? Most definitely.

I realized that perhaps those who follow the SAD, those who graze about on whatever is available and whatever they please, are simply acting out a natural tendency. There seems to be a similarity between the way our ancestors most likely ate and those who don't worry about what they eat, in that it wasn't a process that was over-complicated by thought.

Lex discusses the idea of over-complication in another thread:

I think the whole premise is mostly nonsense. Our ancenstors didn't measure their blood glucose levels before deciding what to eat.  Neither did they agonize over whether they should combine fruits with fat, fat with protein, protein with fruit or eat all three together.  They ate what was available to them when they were hungry and they ate until either the food ran out or their hunger was satisfied.  To the best of my knowledge, no other animal agonizes over BG levels or food combining issues and all seem to do rather well when living their natural lifestyle.

Leave it to humans to overly complicate that which every other lifeform can do without giving a second thought - eat.  Makes one wonder how our species has survived this long.

Lex

So what has changed? Why must we feel the need to extrapolate, theorize and debate the minute details of nutrition? Its truly only the environment. Our ancestors most likely ate in a similar fashion to the way modern people eat--without too much thought--because there was food everywhere and the environment (and thus food) was pure. Now that civilization has tainted the environment and food supply, some of us feel inclined to constantly wonder about radiation fallout in the atmosphere, the HFCS content in our beverages and the omega 3 and omega 6 ratio in our foods. Although many of us here have good reason to worry about nutrition and the environment, we would also benefit from learning from our modern-day counterparts who are much more careless and therefore exert less energy worrying over trivialities.

I brought this topic up just to provide perspective. I know that since I learned about the difference in organic and conventional agriculture I've become much more obsessive about my health and the state of the environment to the point where I may be worrying too much.

I suppose that some of you have already realized this, but too much attention to detail can be detrimental to mental health. Perhaps the best advice is to experiment and find something that works for you and just stick with it until it doesn't. This seems to be a theme on the boards. Worrying about results and so forth will just exhaust you mentally. 

I'm curious of the ways that members of this board determine their health. Of course there is the most readily accessible technique of observation, but what are some of the other trusted methods of observing one's health?

Those that come to mind: blood test, cholesterol test (event though the idea of cholesterol is debatable here), fitness test. Are there any other methods that are good ways to determining one's health?

Before beginning a raw paleo diet, I had planned to invest into a cleansing protocol to cleanse the organs of my body (liver flush, parasite purge and so forth). Now that I have begun RPD, I'm interested to know whether people feel these measures are necessary?

Dr. Hulda Clark recommends the removal of toxic materials from the body and parasites destruction through electricity.

On Cure Zone, a similar cleanse program is recommended.

How do people feel about these measures after having started a diet that is nutritious? Do these measures simply speed up the healing process or do they address problems that nutrition provided on a raw paleo diet cannot provide?

Over the past few days I have lost my appetite completely. I have decided to stop eating as of today and fast until I regain my appetite again. For the past few days I persistently ate even small amounts of food (raw fruit, meat, and honey) regardless of my lack of appetite out of confusion and fear.

I have experience fasting in the past, but this would be the first time my body has expressed a will to fast; beyond my control my body is not interested in any forms of food. Sometimes I yearn for something but it is not hunger for food and small amounts of water usually quell this desire.

==

My daily diet since I began eating raw meat has been:

Consistent
1 piece of fruit (apple, kiwi, apricot, etc.)
raw fat
raw muscle meat
water
raw honey
raw egg yolk
raw, bio-active protein powder (One World Whey)

Inconsistent
lemon juice
sprouted nuts and seeds (almonds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds)
some leafy vegetables
raw garlic
raw avocado

==

Hypotheses:

Ketosis
Since I began a RAF diet, I would tend to gorge myself on fat which led me to wonder if I have unknowingly induced ketosis? Can anyone confirm whether or not ketosis is characterized by a complete lack of appetite?

Garlic
For the past week I have been eating 2 cloves of raw garlic every day to see if this would cause a reaction among the parasites I harbor. This may seem bizarre but, the only hypothesis I can think of which is related to parasites and the increased intake of garlic would be that my loss of appetite may be controlled by parasites. This seems unlikely but perhaps parasites reacted to the increase intake of garlic by somehow shutting down my appetite in order to stop me from continuing to eat garlic.

Intense Cleansing
Perhaps the loss of appetite is a sign of detoxification?

I'm at loss as to what to do. I want to eat but there is no way I can bring myself to eat. My low energy levels are bothering me but I feel as if I have to be patient and wait for my appetite to naturally return.

Any comments or insight would be greatly appreciated! 

Introduce aspects about your life besides your diet!

What are your hobbies? What do you do for a profession? What are your aspirations?

We can't all just be eating meat all day long (even though I know some wish we could). 

This post is directed to Goodsamaritan specifically but anyone with knowledge of Linux is more than welcome to respond.

I noticed you work with Linux for your profession.

I have a laptop that I installed Linux Ubuntu onto and made an error that unmounted the hard drive (I think) and now I must boot from a CD every time I desire to use my laptop.

Would you be able to assist me by chance? If not, I will understand!

According to in this post provided by TylerDurden, man has yet to become adapted to the consumption of milk. What about cheese, yogurt, butter, sour cream and clarified butter?

Isn't  it correct that when lentils and grains sprout, the carbohydrates change into sugars? What about using raw milk and altering it to through souring or adding culture it? Does the milk become safe, or just relatively safer?

To be honest, I discovered that even though my blood type is A, I digest meat exceptionally well. I don't normally get gas or feel uncomfortable. After introducing raw meat into my diet I realized how even when I drink fresh vegetable juices, my body creates gas!

I love how efficiently my body (seemingly) digests raw meat. I want to quickly move my diet to ZC as soon as I can, but as I have a bit of leafy greens and such around the house I will have to eat through these slowly. Hopefully I will soon be predominantly ZC, supplemented by fruits and only eat veggies when I truly feel like it.

I have to reiterate how amazing it feels when the diet is simplified--not just in a broad sense, such as removing modern denatured foods--but when meals are tapered down to bare minimums (such as nothing more than raw meats), I feel my body working easier.

After have read articles on the human GI tract that suggest humans are more similar to carnivorous dogs rather than herbivorous sheep, all of my experiences with the RAF diet seemed to be confirmed.

==

On another note, after being a vegetarian and vegan for several years, the transition to a RAF diet seemed to contradict my very core--in some ways a slight case of identity crisis seemed to disturb me mentally. It is so peculiar how after being a firm vegetarian and understanding a sense of moral "correctness" how quickly I was able to change my diet, but how I lingered emotionally, mentally in the realm of how I defined myself. I'm sure this will affect everyone I know too; all of my acquaintances and family members know me as a vegetarian and relate to me as such. As a diet of raw meats is not only outright weird (in America) it is not only inconvenient, but also socially estranging.

Regardless of the peculiarity when compared to the SMD, I know I will quickly be comfortable with eat raw meats in public unabashedly. The only concern I have is trying to be able to relate to everyone in my life; food is a part of culture and by eating differently than anyone else (virtually everyone else) my social life will shift dramatically.

This is truly an experiment of several sorts. More people who believe in eating raw meats in my area would be well appreciated. I would enjoy the company.

It doesn't seem like that a thread of stories and experiences exists. If you have any tales of eating raw meat in public or converting your friends--share them here!

==

After 2 days of this diet, I decided to jump on a special opportunity to share this new philosophy of eating raw meat with a friend of mine. A vegetarian for several years, my friend was turning 24 and I wanted to prepare a special meal for him for his birthday that would challenge him (in several ways). Furthermore, my friend is also about to leave the country for the first time to live in Taiwan temporarily and I wanted to help prepare him for experiences and situations he may have to encounter (such as specifically eating meat, and more broadly, things that are abnormal for him).

I invited him over and we enjoyed some carrot juice and a very light vegetable dish to prepare our stomachs. Afterwards, I served liver (a la  goodsamaritan's recipe) rib, sweetbreads, and cow tongue as the main course.

As for his reaction, at first sight of the liver he looked completely shocked and confused but once he tried the liver he enjoyed the flavor. He continued to try everything that I had prepared and asked for second servings of the liver! 

Also, and this is very key: that I took the time to prepare the meal--that is cut the meat into manageable pieces and put effort into the presentation (much like Inger does), enjoying the meat was much easier for both him and I. Had I not done that, the shock value might have been too intense for him and might have scared him (but, that all depends on the individual). In short, presentation is important--whatever your purpose be! 

I don't think he will become a raw meat eater, but now he seems completely comfortable with the idea of eating raw meat--that is, if the meat is of good quality and safe.