Paleo Diet: Raw Paleo Diet and Lifestyle Forum
Raw Paleo Diet Forums => Welcoming Committee => Topic started by: BushTucka on November 28, 2015, 02:47:04 pm
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Hello folks :)
I'm looking to start eating a more wild and raw diet in preparation to a serious lifestyle change (pursing a complete semi-nomadic wild life in norway), and also for health and weight loss (i got seriously fat on a near vegan diet and comfort eating sugar and carbs when battling the blues)...
I have some questions as you can imagine...
Mainly to do with the downsides of cooking certain foods... how to minimize this damage etc etc Because some foods i just find a bit horrible raw (bugs and eggs), and i am yet to try offal (but brains smell like strong fatty meat when iv used them to tan hide which is nice).
Raw meat and 'gameyness'... I've eaten venison before, and it tasted like a stronger, richer beef. Whereas i recently bought some lamb chops that didn't outright claim to be grassfed, so I imagine they weren't, and they had a slight funkiness to them... My dad when he used to breed maggots for trout bait back in our home country NZ said he can't eat gamey meat because it reminds him of the rotting/high meat he used to breed maggots, but i've always made a distinction between rich/gamey meat and funky/high meat flavors... I personally couldn't eat high meat raw or cooked... Do people here with more experience see a connection between gameyness and rottin/high meat, or do you think he is just getting mixed up with his vocabulary?
I've limited experience eating raw meat. I don't like the chilled raw salmon my family sometimes buys but here in aus we only have farmed salmon, no doubt dyed pink to look natural... I also don't like the slivers of raw beef I have eaten... They just seem a bit flavorless and i'll admit after thinking of raw meat as poisonous for so long there is a bit of a mental expectation that it is going to be foul... But it's mostly flavourless... Do gamey/wild animals tend to have stronger flavors than grass fed beef when eaten raw? Does raw meat lose its flavor after being frozen, or when still chilled? I have looked into cooking meat slowly under 130.f, which is like 40-50 degrees.c here which surprises me - as it is still in the danger zone... but have had little success getting desired results (pink and rare all the way through, not raw, not brown/grey cooked. I would like to eat much of my meat, including offal raw, but don't know where to start when it comes to slowly introducing myself... When i sear the outside and keep the middle raw, i can only really taste the outside...
Bugs and critters... I eat snails, slugs, crickets, grasshopers, grubs, and a type of native australian moth when i get the chance. But usually completely charred over a camp fire... I can't imagine many of these being nice cold, grisly, and juicy (bug juice is slimy compared to the juice of yummy rare steak), and snails and slugs are just down right dangerous to eat uncooked because of a deadly disease they can carry from eating rat droppings... The only thing is, of all the types of meats to eat cooked, these (snails and slugs) have got to be the toughest and high protein - and i imagine being cooked would make them very demanding stomach acid wise... I dont eat much because they are very high in protein and i like to look after my liver and kidneys, and they are very rich, but I was wondering what people thought about bugs on a raw diet (because bugs can be foul raw), and whether they are even worth eating if there is enough other food going around...
Eggs... The eggs i would come across in the wild would most likely be fertilized or abandoned, and because we can't be sure of their freshness (although it is pretty cold where i wish to live), i imagine they would stay fresh longer than hear in aus. Would boiling them be a good alternative to frying them? I'm trying to reduce the strain on the digestive system and avoid creating toxins that can be created when sugars, fats, and amino acids fuse during the cooking process, but again there are some animal foods i wouldn't eat rawat this stage.
What are people's thoughts on seafood. Salmon, trout, and tuna, as well as fresh oysters seem to be okay... but what about cod, perch, mackeral, flounder, prawns, crayfish, lobster, squid, mussels, clams and the likes?
What are people's thoughts on marinades as alternatives to cooking with heat? Or would this still denature the meat, destroy nutrients, and make it harder to digest?
And what are some ways to help get into raw meat, come to like the taste, make sure sanitary, and flavorsome too...
I'm really looking forward to this semi-raw diet, because looking at raw meats make me see meat in a positive and 'vitality rich' way whereas looking at and eating cooked protein sources like cook meat, grains, and legumes makes me feel heavy and even a little toxic.
I still blanch cruciferous vegetation in boiling water for 5-10 seconds to remove bacteria and toxins on the outer leaves, and eat small amounts of whole oats and fava beans (both sprouted, soaked, boiled on high heat, drained, and then slow cooked) every now and then, as they seem like the few healthy grains and legumes when prepared correctly - but im not falling for that high carb low fat vegan bullshit again. I also blanch nuts and seeds like almonds, hazelnuts, flax, and hemp - which I still only eat for snacks - but I do this to try and get rid of the lectins - these foods are paleo friendly because they are seen as sometimes foods that can be digested raw (unlike say lentils or oats), so their lectin content is overlooked whereas staple foods like grains and legumes are ousted. I'm trying to be as healthy for all my body's systems as possible. I look at the raw paleo diet on paper and (so long as it is loww protein <=30grams per day) see it as the best diet for all your body's systems barring your kidneys (due to the higher purine content in meat), but can still stick to less than 200 purine a day anyway if i stick to one serving of meat 5 days a week (i have two protein fast days a week), which even GOUT patients consider extremely low.
Anyway it's good to be here, I look forward to hearing from everyone :)
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And when it comes to shellfish and bugs, I am well aware of keeping them alive and 'purging' them of nasties before eating. I just prefer some stuff cooked anyway :)
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You could try cooking at 40 degrees Celsius and then gradually reducing the cooking temperature by 1 degree every so often.
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I have known Aajonus Vonderplanitz since he started the raw food movement here in the Los Angeles area, and was saddened at his untimely demise. So that's my long-term background (about 26 years or so).
Some ideas on your questions:
Gamey/High meats: Quite different. Gamey is straight from a (hopefully) healthy animal that has eaten proper food. It does have a rather distinct aroma (better description than "odor"). High meat, on the other hand, has been left to ferment and is rife with bacteria. If you want to experience the high meat, I suggest starting with fresh raw meat and adding a small piece of the high meat to that (1/2 inch or so) and then on subsequent days, adding a little bit more. I got up to eating about 4-5 tablespoons without any fresh meat. Results were marvelous, no discomfort (except the smell), no gut problems, better toilet, and clearer thinking (my brain likes that food). Don't forget to brush your teeth after eating to avoid affecting your friends (unless you are solitary or nomadic). I happen to enjoy grass-fed bison meat, which is gamier than, say, grass-fed beef. One thing to keep in mind is that one's taste will change over time - what is gamey now will taste "normal" after several months.
Freezing fresh grass-fed meats can be done for several weeks or a month or more. Freezing kills many of the normal bacteria on the fresh meat, so it does lose it's smell a bit. I do this when availability is low and buy in bulk (say, five bison skirt steaks will last easily two months, but beef only about one month). I let the meat rise to room temperature before cutting it up to eat so some of the bacteria can recoup their losses.
Introducing yourself to raw meat: just mix fresh, cooked meat with a small portion of raw meat and eat it together, increasing the amount of raw meat over several weeks. Your taste will change and you'll eventually like it better than cooked.
Eggs and meat cooking - boiling is always better since the temperature will not get above the boiling point of water. Sauteing is a “no-no” due to the carcinogenic compounds created. I recently cooked a duck breast in the oven on "drying" temperature of 120 degrees F. It took awhile, and then the outside (skin) was a bit done, but the inside was pleasantly pink. Since those are range free ducks and fed organically the proper foods, I often just eat them raw. But it helps to experiment.
Even though they are farmed here in the U.S., oysters are still raised in the ocean. I go for the ones that are up north off the shores of Canada, Alaska, and Washington State, etc. I have never found any problems with those - delicious and good for men due to the zinc they contain. However, on fish and crustaceans, I am more circumspect.
First, deep sea fish are better than lake fish (here in the U.S. due to much pollution). But some saltwater fish have high/higher concentrations of mercury. And, while I could use a chelating mix of herbs to handle the mercury, I'd rather not have to deal with that. So the list of mercury-containing fish is:
HIGHEST: (never eat) Marlin, Orange roughy, Tilefish, Swordfish, Shark, Mackerel (king), and Tuna (bigeye, Ahi).
HIGH (eat no more than three 6-oz servings per month): Sea Bass (Chilean), Bluefish, Grouper, Mackerel (Spanish, Gulf), Tuna (canned, white albacore), Tuna (yellowfin)
LOWER: Bass (striped, Black), Carp, Cod (Alaskan), Croaker (White Pacific), Halibut (Pacific and Atlantic), Jacksmelt (Silverside), Lobster, Mahi Mahi, Monkfish, Perch (freshwater), Sablefish, Skate, Snapper, Sea Trout (Weakfish), Tuna (canned, chunk light), Tuna (Skipjack).
LOWEST: Anchovies, Butterfish, Catfish, Clam, Crab (Domestic), Crawfish/crayfish, Flounder, Haddock, Hake, Herring, Mackerel (N. Atlantic, Chub), Mullet, Oysters, Perch (ocean), Plaice, Salmon (Canned, Fresh), Sardines, Scallops, Shad (American), Shrimp, Sole, Squid (Calamari), Tilapia, Trout (freshwater), Whitefish, Whiting.
Beware if the fish is “sustainably raised” - that means farmed and usually fed the wrong kinds of foods, with the exception of oysters.
Finally, on marinades. Ceviche is a very good way to start eating raw (uncooked) foods. The marinade starts to break down the food immediately in a chemical reaction similar to cooking but without the heat. Marinades do not destroy any of the nutrients, but does tend to stem the growth of normal bacteria in the food. If you have a family to deal with (re: raw foods) and they are not comfortable with raw protein, a ceviche is perfectly suitable as an introduction - the food is safe after marinating (well, was safe all along) and tasty too. Lots of good recipes out there. I find ceviche is very easy to digest - just as easy as the raw versions (chicken, red meat, fish, etc.). As a side note, I did find that my digestion was much easier when I moved to raw protein than cooked protein, and, of course, my health was very much better as a result. [Thank you, Aajonus]
Choose your food sources carefully - go to farmer's markets, ask questions (what do you feed your animals? Are they out on the grassland feeding there? Do you ever feed any grains to them? And for fowl, do you feed them an omnivorous diet? (I once saw some wild chickens on Hawaii feeding on a dead boar. So don't be charmed by the idea that the chickens are fed an "organic, vegetarian diet" as it is actually an unhealthy diet for many fowl since they eat bugs and meat in the wild when available.
Start off slowly eating raw (mix with cooked for awhile until your tastes change). Go even slower when trying high meat (and it is okay to hold your nose while eating – LOL).
I constantly ask around about good sources of food and use mail order when necessary. The Bison comes from a totally grass-fed farm in Wisconsin (no grains, no vaccines, organic methods, free-range), the chicken and duck and eggs come from a local farm (free-range, mixed diet, organic), fish are chosen seasonally, and from the good list of lowest mercury, and vegetables (when eaten) are all certified organic. I am fortunate here in Southern California as there are many farmer's markets and good, wholesome, and well-grown foods to choose from.