Thanks for your ideas, guys!

Ghee would be a good option, of course, but it is still dairy. My purpose now is to remove ALL dairy from my diet for about 6 months and see if this will make any difference.

I agree with Iguanna about frozen stuff. I absolutely believe that fresh, when available, is always better than frozen. This is one of the reasons I do not rush to get a freezer and do not want to order big bunches of frozen meats and fats, no matter how good the quality is. I get my meats always fresh every 2-3 days.

So, fats remain the only problem. What do you guys think of good-quality egg yolks as a major source of fat (plus whatever fat is contained in lean meats and seafood and several avocados per day)? Would, say, 10 supplementary egg yolks cover all fat requirements?

Cheers,
FoxWoman

Well, it is the second day since I ditched all dairy. My first observation is that I am really hungry all the time. I realize now that butter and cheese composed quite a big part of my diet and kept me full.

For a number of reasons (don't drive, don't have a freezer, etc.) my only shopping option for now is a supermarket within a walking distance (it will be a farmer's market opening in the spring though, just a block from my apartment). The supermarket is pretty good (and expensive as hell). It offers a wide selection of naturally raised meats, wild fish, live seafood, pastured eggs, unheated honey, organic fruits and veggies, etc. The only sad thing is that all good meats are painfully lean and there are no things like suet or bone marrow (no organ meats, either). So, I have to work with what's available. Before I put generous amounts of butter on my meat and seafood, but now dairy is out...    I am trying to compensate by eating lots of egg yolks and some avocados and stone-pressed olive oil... Not the same thing!

Well, on a positive note, maybe I will lose some weight! 

FoxWoman

It sounds like you have had a panic attack.

Ah, definitely coffee for me! I enjoy my espresso or Turkish brew, although it's not really paleo.

I am blood type B and, in the past, was trying to incorporate Dr. D'Adamo's recommendations, which for me meant ditching grains, chicken, tomatoes and eating tons of dairy, fish and alternative meats, like lamb or rabbit. I think that maybe because of those recommendations I always insisted on eating lots of dairy - even when an overwhelming body of arguments was against it, there was always "but dairy is great for my blood type!"

If you do believe in the blood type dietary theory and in the RPD at the same time, you are lucky to be blood type 0 or B. As far as I remember, Dr. D'Adamo recommends whole grains and tofu for blood types A and AB.

It seems like I have not been feeling too great lately on my semi-raw lacto-paleo diet. I frequently now get weird aching sensations in my joints, especially in my fingers, and the back and neck pain which I don't remember ever having before. The skin seems to be getting worse, as well, and I am constantly sleepy, head-achy and lethargic... which makes me wonder... I don't really think that it is a detox, because this seems to be lingering now for many weeks. I am probably doing something wrong.

I do eat lots of cheese (labeled "raw", from Quebec) and butter (unfortunately pasteurized, and also grain-fed). Raw butter is prohibited for sales in Alberta (where I live) - I was also researching Canadian "organic" butter and cheese brands and it seems that the dairy cows are fed "organic grains" and never see the pasture. Maybe it's about time to give a dairy-free diet another try...

I eat about 4 raw eggs a day (with wonderful, thick, deep-orange yolks), and about a pound of meat/fish or seafood (at least half of which is raw): fish is always wild, seafood is mostly farmed (like live crabs, for example), and I eat Alberta beef (which is at least partially grass-fed, we don't really have feedlots here, it's a ranch country), local bison (strictly grass-fed) and game whenever available.

The rest of my diet is some carbs - avocados, unheated honey, tomatoes, lacto-fermented cucumbers and kimchi, lemons and limes, and occasionally a young coconut, papaya or banana.

Any ideas what could be causing my symptoms? Well, probably dairy, I know....


FoxWoman

I used to make a lot of broth before... It's very simple. Get different types of meaty bones from one type of an animal (say, beef) - those should include marrow bones, neck bones, and also pieces of tough meat. Cover with COLD water and put on a medium to high heat. When close to a boiling point, a lot of scum will start appearing on the surface. Reduce the heat a little and collect the scum with a spotted spoon until there is no more. After that, add veggies - whole carrots, onions and celery, and good sea salt. Reduce heat to a minimum. After about 1 hour of simmering, remove the veggies (otherwise they will get too mushy and spoil the taste of broth). Let simmer for about 24 hours - on the LOWEST possible heat. Some also recommend to put vinegar into the broth but I never do - IMO, it spoils the taste. When broth is ready, turn off the heat, let it cool a bit, throw away all bones and meat (or give those to your dog) and filter the liquid through cheese cloth. It will keep well for over a week in the fridge, or you can freeze it.

Sort of dreamy / sleepy and very original. Laurie Anderson.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu12pGMKp5I

You absolutely can, Goodsamaritan! You can mention there that I had psoriasis for 20 plus years, never went into remission, was getting progressively worse, with pitted nails and patches on my knees, elbows, bum (yucky!)and especially face and scalp. Psoriasis all cleared up after about 2 years of a strict grain-free, low-carb lacto-paleo with a fair amount of raw animal foods (my diet was heavy on raw grass-fed beef). In addition, depression, anxiety and hormonal problems all disappeared. Two years of eating some (very little!) grains (brown rice) and mostly cooked foods after that made psoriasis come back, but this time only on my scalp / face. Since I am resuming my initial grain-free, 50 to 75 percent raw diet, I expect it to go away again, although I don't know how much time it will take. I'll keep you posted.

Cheers,
FoxWoman

Thanks for your support and advice!

Speaking of percentage of raw foods in the diet for a recovery, I only can rely on my own experimenting and experience, since there is so much controversy in the subject. For example, Polish Dr. Ian Kwasnievski very successfully implements a completely cooked low-carb low-protein and extremely high-fat diet to put numerous diseases in remission, especially asthma. The SCD, or a more modern version of it - GAPS diet - also puts a lot of emphasis on well-cooked foods, especially broth - -however, it is very successful in curing different digestive disorders (or so they say). 

In my own experience,  a diet with 50% to 75% raw foods (and no even traces of grains!) within 2 years was enough to almost completely eliminate my health problems, and especially dramatic results were with psoriasis which went into a remission for the FIRST TIME in my entire life (and I had it since I remember myself, and it was only getting progressively worse).

Theoretically, I also have several other considerations for keeping some cooked foods in my diet. The first is that I do not want to lose an ability to digest cooked foods (I remember several years ago Lex was describing his traveling experience with having to eat what "normal people" usually eat and how he was suffering from indigestion, severe bloating, etc.) Since I live in a society where cooked food is a norm, and my profession requires frequent "socializing" and dining out with clients, it would be wise to keep an ability to still consume cooked foods.

Another consideration is a fear of developing an obsessive attitude to food. Even following a semi-raw paleo diet is an extreme dietary pattern for most people (well, even Sally Fallon's diet is considered extreme by some!), so "going against the mainstream" is quite hard psychologically, at least for me. The more "extreme" I become with my diet, the more I start questioning myself so maybe I am developing some kind of a mental disease and an obsessive syndrome,  , so my solution against this is to give myself some "wiggle room" and be more flexible.

Another, hedonistic reason  for keeping it partially cooked is that, although I love raw meat, eggs and fruits and eat them daily, some of my favorite seafood (like crabs, oysters, shrimps, etc.) I only like cooked and cannot enjoy them raw. Well, yes, I still want to enjoy my food, too. 

Therefore, my current goal is to stick to 50 to 75 percent raw diet, so that to keep my diet "balanced" with my social life, still enjoy it, and not to slip into an obsession. I am also contemplating a thought of repeating an experiment with quitting dairy...

Wish me luck! 


Cheers to everyone,
FoxWoman

Hi,

I have been experimenting with different types of pure and semi-paleo diets for over 5 years now to find a solution for my psoriasis, digestive issues, depression & anxiety. My skin, digestions and mood problems almost completely disappeared after 2 years of a low-carb (about 2 fruits a day) lacto-paleo diet with absolutely no grains and a fair amount of uncooked foods. Unfortunately, I then added some brown rice back to my diet and started cooking almost everything, and within two years all my problems returned. Now for about several months I have been back to what worked - strict low-carb lacto-paleo with about 50% to 75% raw foods. This is my typical daily menu:

Breakfast: I always eat a cooked breakfast. It is usually several sunny-side-up eggs and a tomato cooked in butter; bacon; and Turkish coffee.

Lunch: raw. AV-style smoothie (2 eggs, 1 avocado, juice of half lemon, and a spoon of unheated honey).

Snacks: raw. Raw aged cheese or home-made jerky. Whenever I am thirsty, I drink Appolinaris mineral water(very high in magnesium).

Dinner: depends. Usually, raw or lightly seared beef or bison steak, or fish sashimi plus a couple of raw egg yolks. A glass of red wine. Alternatively, my dinner could be lightly cooked seafood - -steamed crab or mussels, shrimps with butter and garlic, etc. I also eat several `century eggs`(raw `high`eggs from Asian markets) a week.

I don`t really like organ meats, either raw or cooked, so I am trying to compensate by eating the highest quality eggs (yolks) available and raw aged cheeses instead. Whenever I can afford it, I also eat caviar.

Before, I also experimented with a zero-carb approach for 6 months, and it was a disaster (constant fatigue, hair loss, heart palpitations, cramps, depression, etc.).

Another experiment was to cut out dairy completely - I stayed dairy-free for about 8 months - but did not observe any improvements. To the contrary, my skin became much drier, to a degree that my knuckles started bleeding, and I also developed a lot of (dry) dandruff on a dairy-free diet. Several months after re-introducing butter and raw-milk cheeses into my diet those conditions disappeared.

Hopefully, my experience is helpful.

Cheers,
FoxWoman

From what I read about varicose veins, this condition tends to develop when the diet is deficient in Vitamin K2 (Price X-factor) - which is very hard to obtain in substantial quantities from a modern diet, unless you eat a lot of specific organ meats, strictly grass-fed butter, aged cheeses and caviar. AV also mentions in his book that caffeine is one of the major triggers of varicose veins.

I would suggest a law carb diet, but not zero-carb (maybe about 40 grams?) - I personally suffered from aggravated depression / lack of energy during my 6 months zero-carb experiment. The symptoms pretty much disappeared when I added 1 to 2 fruits a day. On the other hand, upping carbs higher produced symptoms of anxiety / sugar drops - and subsequent depression, again. Maybe, 1 to 2 fruits a day would be an ideal amount of carbs to keep blood sugar levels stable which would help with hypoglycemia-induced depression?

Another thing which was already mentioned is "high meat". However, I do not make my own high meat since I find the smell really disgusting and revolting and cannot put it in my mouth. My alternative to high meat is century eggs (those are black aged raw duck eggs that you can find really cheap in any Asian market). I strive to eat several of those eggs a week. I chop them, deep in Tamari and eat as an appetizer. Just don't smell them, or you won't be able to eat them! The taste is actually pretty tolerable. Another alternative to high meat is really aged, "smelly" raw milk cheeses - a delicacy! I eat quite a lot of those (just don't do it in an office!  ).

Hopefully this is helpful.

FoxWoman