raw-al, I've discontinued the practice for now and will be trying the homemade bonemeal instead.

I didn't notice any improvement with the egg shell but then probably didn't religiously stick to it for long enough.  My concern with it was also that, whilst they're high in Ca, they're NOT high in Mg.  Therefore, they're potentially causing further harm by unbalancing the critical Ca/Mg ratio if sufficient Mg is not obtained from elsewhere.  I did have a period of eating raw cacao for this reason (very high in Mg) which was only edible when eaten with raw honey.  Eventually I decided the whole practice was becoming farcical and far removed from true paleo principles.

ha, ha    Very good KS!

I'm not the warring kind but my partner tends to get a telling off if she washes up my razor-sharp blade with a metallic scrubber after hours of sharpening! 

I think you're right.  They really did capture something almost magical.  Something that we'll never see again.  A very personal window into the past.  I think much can be learned from such photos if observed closely.  Call me sad (without capitalisation!), but I have a large collection of National Geographic magazines going back to, I think, late 1950s.  It's truly incredible and revealing to look back at the different periods.  Even the advertisements are revealing!  They can also expose mankind's ability to rewrite history!

This should get Tyler good and riled up: ..... (that should also get Tyler going ).

ha ha    Over to you Tyler!   

PaleoPhil, I'm glad that I wasn't the only one confused and mystified by William's pemmican posts!   I would dearly love a sufficient and reliable source of marrow but just can't seem to get it.  Coconut oil pemmican?!  My god, you're brave even trying it.  Just the thought makes me feel extremely nauseous right now!

My partner is still feeding vast quantities of breast milk to my son daily and, importantly, eating well herself.  He'll be 15 months old in a few days time.  I'm hoping she'll keep it up until at least 2yrs old which I'd be exceptionally happy with!  He has plenty of teeth already but rarely bites her.  No molars yet though so chewing meats etc is not possible.  I'm hoping to get him on the good stuff as soon as the molars are through and he's learned what they're for! 

Hey, sabertooth.  Truly beautiful babies!  Good work!

In a similar fashion to Wolf, I too have recently re-introduced raw butter and egg yolks into my diet due, mainly, to the great difficulty I have obtaining sufficient quantities of other raw animal fats.  Therefore, I clicked RAF.

But, otherwise it would've been Raw Facultative Carnivore for me.

I know this topic has been beat to death on this forum, but my experience is that fruit in any form leads to dental pain, canker sores, stomach ulcers, you name it.

Yes, I experience days of dental pain now anytime I indulge in even a little fruit!

Thanks for the other thoughts on receding gums raw-al.  I rarely brush my teeth now as I don't particularly feel the need.  When I do, I just use a little homemade toothpaste which revolves around food items such as coconut oil, peppermint oil, bicarb.  Thanks for the indian tooth powder suggestion.  I'll look into it.

How about raw bone marrow? Doesn't that contain the most minerals out of all animal fats?

Does it?  I wasn't aware of it containing much in the way of minerals but would be interested in any information you have on this DeadRamones?

It's been my own experience that 'good' salt such as Celtic or Himalayan can be useful.

I've had long-standing adrenal problems which results in my body being unable to suitably hold salt to the point that it's extremely difficult to work up a sweat.  Of course, like Susan mentioned, this also causes low blood pressure and it's associated consequences.  In addition, I've also long had suspected hypochlorhydria (low stomach acid) causing digestive difficulties which I supplement with Betaine Hydrochloride.

Using Celtic seasalt on my food and a pinch in drinking water seems to help immensely in my case with all of these issues.  Of course, I've been hoping the problems would resolve on long-term RAF/RPD but they certainly haven't so far.  I've tried many times cutting salt out entirely for long periods as I fear the practice may have consequences of it's own but have always felt much worse.

So, perhaps the answer to the dilemma of using salt is not quite so black and white.

Matter of taste (pardon the pun). I much prefer raw broccoli to cooked (even lightly steamed).

I once had a discussion with a raw vegan who said that steak sauce sales were a testament to the fact that meat doesn't taste good alone (and thus is not natural for humans to eat). I countered that salad dressing sales should thus be viewed as a testament to the unhealthiness of veggies, not to mention the use of salt & sugar on raw fruit.

He thus concluded that living on sunshine and fresh air was the way of humans. I wished him all the luck with such an approach, then ate salad & sashimi....

Good luck with the raw broccoli SD!  I suppose you're right and it's really just a matter of taste which is dependent on many factors.
Same for the meat and salad too I guess.  To be honest, I used to use the same argument as your vegan friend in my 8 years of vegetarianism.  After 10 years of raw meats I'm not sure I've yet acquired a taste for raw meat alone and still find myself using celtic salt, pepper, garlic, herbs etc.  I have been reducing this recently so live in hope.

Of course, it's a ridiculous and laughable notion but, if I'm honest again, I do love the idea of living on sunshine and fresh air myself.  I once had high hopes for the supposed achievements of Hira Ratan Manek and his 411 day sungazing fast!

The point is that cooking produces heat-created toxins so the benefit of the extra nutrients derived from cooking some plant foods would be negated.

Besides, I have derived plenty of nourishment in the past from raw seaweed, raw samphire, raw carrots, raw radishes and similiar vegetables. As long as I don't rely on them as 100% of my diet, I'm fine.

With much of the heat-created toxins revolving around protein and carbohydrate, Tyler, and without disputing your claim - what are the heat-created toxins from plant foods such as broccoli, greens, carrots etc?  Are they really that damaging?  Also, do you have information to debunk the cellulose wall problem with regard to eating the raw carrots, seaweed etc?

Any updates on the RunAmoks yet Eric?

Also, I was wondering if anyone had heard about Inov8's proposed new leap into the minimalist market.  Check these out!

http://birthdayshoes.com/a-five-toed-minimalist-shoe-by-someone-other-than-vibram-meet-inov-8-s-upcoming-evoskin-breaking-news

http://www.fitnessfootwear.com/p-3145-inov-8-evoskin-smoke.aspx

Bingo! Thanks Miles and Michael. Just what I was looking for.

Glad you were able to benefit from my ignorance and questioning Phil! 

Lots of info to work our way through there, thanks.  I hereby declare you the resident forum researcher!    Nice work.

BTW, I've now finally acquired a suitable farrier's file (known here as a rasp).  It certainly wasn't cheap but seems to do the job on the beef and lamb bones I've tried it on so far.  It seems to take a while filing to get any worthwhile quantity but I intend to pursue with this new venture and have taken a teaspoon of raw bone filings for each of the last couple of days.  I'm also starting to up my intake of liver, CLO and sunshine and I have some nightshade-free low carb kimchi fermenting away in my crock pot.  I hope to report back to the forum with any outcomes over the coming months.

You make some good points there KD many of which I agree with.  Congratulations on overcoming your avascular necrosis too!

Personally, I eat very little in the way of plant matter now - just a few garlic and onion flavourings.  It appears that the less plant matter I eat the better I feel which doesn't surprise me with the issues of indigestible cellulose walls and anti-nutrients.  But, when I first started eating RAF 10 years ago by way of my own version of the primal diet I was feeling great on regular homemade vegetable juices.

I think if one truly wants to include plant matter in the diet it's probably best in order of preference as juiced, fermented, cooked, raw.  Of course, this may vary somewhat depending on the individual.  I am in the process of making a batch of low carb, nightshade-free kimchi which I haven't made in a long time so I will see how I feel after including this high quality fermented vegetable dish.

Thanks for book link Cinna!  I haven't read Rosenberg's work but will add it to the list.  You're keeping me busy!    My own thoughts on non-violent communication, as always, has really just stemmed from my own experiences, work, observations and reflections.  I do have various books on buddhism, taoism, Gandhi etc but, like many of my vast library of books, have only found the time to dip in and out of them.  I live in hope that the wealth of knowledge at my fingertips will somehow diffuse into my spirit without the need to physically read the information!   

Aikido is beautifully graceful isn't it.  I agree that to the spectator, perhaps even the practitioner at times, it is like dancing.  I've heard stories of the creator of the art, Morihei Ueshiba, reducing his aggressors to tears by physically nullifying their attacks whilst whispering in their ear a form of psychological counseling.  I guess that refers back to something you mentioned previously about other's anger and hatred being merely a consequence of their own insecurities and fears.  Now that's non-violent, non-harmful self-defence.  It can actually be beneficial to the welfare and personal growth of the attacker!

Interesting to hear of your mum's experiences with utilising honey's healing properties.  I've used it in the past for various external issues myself and for others by using it alone or as a basis for homemade creams.  As you said, manuka seems to be the best for this and, I understand, is even certified for medical application in Australia and New Zealand.  My own investigations into various manuka honey's I've found here have unfortunately shown that it has been heated in production.  Any commercially produced honey is almost certainly going to have been heated beyond ideal temperatures.  Perhaps for external application this isn't relevant although I would expect a portion of the healing properties to be due to the heat-sensitive enzymes.  I would certainly love to have access to truly raw manuka honey!