I would guess that the lubricating benefit of raw fat would likely be reduced by cooking - plus, there are all the extra toxins from cooked-fats, by comparison to cooked-proteins.

Well, if you believe Loren Cordain et al, stearic acid is supposed to be the only "good" saturated fat.

People either eat "high-meat"  or take EM-products before any cooked-meal(some also take additional enzyme-supplements) so as to minimise detox-issues  and/or they deliberately only eat the healthier cooked-foods. So, in my own case, I buy and share  organic christmas puddings at christmas as they don't contain vegetable-oils(nonorganicones give me extreme fatigue) etc.

I just took my first bite of tongue... bison tongue to be specific.
It's taking all my strength to chew it...
Tongue people, do you find it very hard to chew?

Newbies should probably cut off the tip of the tongue and the stringy underside of the tongue. I've got used to eating the whole tongue(and don't usually chew more than once or twice, just bolt it down as it's small enough).

That looks great, Tyler.  Thanks for the idea.

And if you wrap that image link in an image tag, it will show up in your post, without any © issues whatsoever.

Done

You should avoid all vegetable-oils, not just olive-oil. Even coconut-oil and palm-oil/palm-kernel-oil, rich in saturated fats, should be avoided. Vegetable oils are simply not a natural part of the human diet, and consuming such concentrated oils/fats is a really bad idea, healthwise.

Coconut oil, apparently, contains antinutrients, which explains why I got stomach-aches when I tried the stuff, and olive-oil just goes quickly through my body unabsorbed, producing diarrrhea, in effect.

As for the whole issue of saturated fats/polyunsaturated fats, you don't really have to worry about it, as long as you're eating a natural diet, you're getting SFAs and PUFAs in the right proportions.

Welcome to the forum!

I think that this is analogous to Wrangham.  We can accept the data of the python study without having to accept any of Wrangham's far-fetched conclusions.  It would be a career-killer for Stephen Secor, who has studied and published more about the digestion of pythons than anyone else, to publish research that could be so easily falsifiable by anyone else who is willing to do the experiment.  I do not claim that Wrangham set the conditions and that some junior scientist did the work.  As reported by Science and Health journalist Rachael Gorman, http://www.rachaelgorman.com/article_full.php?article_stamp=1202161241, Wrangham sought out Secor because he already had experience studying the evolutionary design of the digestive system.  Yes, the research found what Wrangham wanted it to find and he uses it to prop up his theories, but I don't think that that indicates the data to be erroneous any more than I think that the data actually supports his theory.  As I've said before, I find it very hard to believe that the snake data in isolation tells us anything meaningful about the human digestive tract.  I also don't think that this study tells us anything about the quality of the nutrition that the snake is absorbing.  It just tells us that the snake can absorb cooked food more quickly and with less energy than it can raw food.

Even if Wrangham wasn't remotely responsible for that python experiment(highly unlikely as stealing others' credit would be damaging), there is also the point that 1 lone study, such as this, is never accepted as likely by scientists unless there are at least a large number of other studies confirming the same result. This is partly because there are so many scientists like Wrangham, who start off with what seems like a nice theory, and then try to set up an experiment where they manipulate the facts to fit the theory, rather than what should happen which is to work out some facts and build a theory from them. The studies on the deleterious effects of heat on food may not be 100% comprehensive on all aspects, as food-science is such a new field, but the amount of data re the harm done to food by heat comes from so many different scientific papers on AGEs, HCAs etc. etc. that it can no longer be dismissed.

As regards the whole issue of AGEs in less-heated foods, claiming that they're only in small amounts is irrelevant as the amounts are still way, way above the microscopic amounts of AGEs in raw foods. Plus, there are also other toxins such as heterocyclic amines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nitrosamines. So, over a lifetime, it's inevitable that these build up over time, especially given the known tendency for the human body to store (and form) AGEs in itself. Here's a standard table showing 22 KUs of AGEs for boiled beef, yet only 0.05 KUs of AGEs for raw mother's milk:-

http://www.newcastleyoga.com.au/links/Food%20AGEs%20text.pdf


As you can see from the table, even boiling foods increases AGEs considerably by comparison to raw foods, so that boiling or lightly-cooking foods may be less worse than frying or baking foods, but it certainly still does harm, judging from this and other studies.

 *One important point:- fats are especially affected by heat, in terms of producing AGEs,  so this confirms Aajonus' point that the best food raw is the worst food cooked*
]

 Since the studies show that  amounts of AGEs and other toxins rise inexorably , on a linear level, as temperatures get ever higher, it becomes more and more difficult to argue that there is no change in the digestibility of foods once the content of foods starts getting changed(ie enzymes getting destroyed at 40 degrees celsius).

As for the issue of phytonutrients, it doesn't really matter whether cooking destroys the phytonutrients(deemed bad by SAD-dieters, and good by zero-carbers) as the process of cooking itself creates further toxins, thus negating any supposed benefits re removing antinutrients.

But what about fat consumption? Reduce it, increase it, keep it steady? I have no problem dealing with panicky feelings from eating fat. I've experienced enough to know that they are self-limiting. I just don't want to do anything that could possibly worsen any pre-existing condition.

Not sure, to be honest. At the nd of the day, all one can do is experiment to find what works for one as an individual. I personally find very large amounts of  fat not necessary(but only harmful if on zero-carb).

Well, given that intolerance to cold is a classic symptom of hypothyroidism, it's best to use the  thyroid capsules you've received. Failing that, all I can suggest is a visit to a doctor.

Welcome!

Don't bother with sushi-grade fish, it's way too expensive, just go in for normal cuts, like all RPDers do, sooner or later. It's perfectly OK.

Read the child-boards on the top in the General Discussions Forum, as they give  a lot of information.

Re organs:- Easy ones to get used to= tongue, marrow(newbies generally prefer cutting off the stringy parts of the tongue but more experienced RAFers eat the whole tongue once they're used to it all). Liver's usually the most difficult organ to get used to, but there are plenty of people who love raw liver from the get go, and hate marrow or whatever. Everyone has unique tastes.

What I eat as a long-term RAFer(just a quick review, foods listed are eaten raw,  organic/grassfed/wildcaught or free-range/grassfed etc.):-

wild hare carcasses-plus organs/ leg of lamb/mutton plus lamb organs, venison organs, goose-/quail-/duck-/chicken-eggs, sea-urchin-eggs, swordfish, giant tiger prawns, lobster, crab,mussels, kingfish, shark, beef organs, free-range turkey breast-fillets(whole goose and whole turkey at Christmas), wild boar muscle-meats/organs, horse-muscle-meat, heather honeycomb, samphire, blueberries, cherries, raspberries, wild mallard duck and organs, limpets, goat muscle-meat.

Organs would usually include tongue, liver, kidney, heart, plus, in some of the above cases, brains(rarely), suet and marrow. Some items are only eaten by me  rarely or seasonally(eg:- eggs or sea-urchin-eggs)

 My understanding is that "lard" is heated fat, in other words, it's definitely not a RAF-diet food. Cooked fats are to be avoided even more so than cooked lean protein or cooked carbs. If you do want raw pig fat as opposed to cooked, get it from pastured pigs as most pigs, nowadays, are force-fed on 100% grain-diets which is not a good idea.