I've noticed some anecdotes on here asserting that teeth have strengthened with zero carbs and all animal meat/fat, which I find very interesting (it totally flies in the face of renal acid load and internal hygiene/endotoxin/mycotoxin theory).
I'm one of those who found that bone density in my jaw increased, loose teeth firmed up, gums quit bleeding, teeth that were losing enamel became hard again etc. All the conventional wisdom you read about renal overload and such is nonsense. I've been eating primarily meat and fat for many years now and my health has done nothing but improve.
Many disease recovery programs cite that meat promotes dysbiosis of the GI tract (recommending elimination of any raw/cooked animal products) and also provides no fibre or antioxidants...I'm confused!
Again, this seems to be a myth. My doctor paniced when I decided to go Zero Carb several years ago. He said that I'd face all kinds of deficiencies, my cholesterol would go off the charts, I'd be risking kidney failure, colon polyps would run rampant risking colon cancer, constant constipation due to lack of fiber, and a host of other problems. None of it occurred and in fact, all my lab tests improved to well within the normal range and they get better each year that I stay with a Very Low Carb Paleo diet. I had a colonoscopy a year ago and all polyps from the previous test had disappeared and the GI specialist told me that my colon was in such good shape that I would never again need to repeat the procedure. Complete opposite of what the doctors and popular press tell you will happen.
Does anyone know a good source in the UK for grass-fed meat? I know only one shop in my city that offers grass-fed meat (www.realmeat.co.uk), which comes from southern England.
Tyler Durden is the best person to answer this one.
Assuming that I use this company for my meat, what should I ask them to ensure that the flesh is safe for raw consumption (bacteria, parasites etc.)? Should the butcher be able to identify worms/larvae/eggs in muscles/organs? Is there any marinade that destroys parasites/bacteria without denaturing the meat/fat?
Do most butchers give out free fat and bones? Is it easy to remove the marrow and then slow cook the bones for broth? Is fat difficult to chew?
Generally speaking, most of us have been eating large amounts of raw meat and have never encountered any problem with bacteria or parasites. Not saying they don't exist, but after about 4 years of eating only raw meat and fat you'd think that if there was going to be a problem I'd have run into it by now. In fact, many of us eat meat that has been either sitting out in room temperature for many hours and turned a bit sour tasting, or purposely created "High Meat" in the fridge in an effort to add bacteria into our diets. Our paleo ancestors had no refrigeration or other long term storage methods to keep meat fresh. Once they took a large animal down, it would begin to rot, and depending on the temperature could get rather "ripe" in a very short time. They also didn't have fancy butcher shops with sterile stainless steel tables and poly cutting boards and did their butchering with sharp rocks and sticks on the dirt and grass. We are well adapted to handling bacteria in our digestive systems or we wouldn't have made it this far. Many of us are of the opinion that we have a symbiotic relationship with these decay causing bacteria and that they are actually good for our health. I long ago threw away all the disinfectants in my house with nothing but good effects to my health.
Does anyone use the high vitamin fermented cod liver oil (high quality, unprocessed) and ghee as a supplement of fat-soluble vitamins (I realise ghee is cooked, but it would be the exception in a high raw diet)?
I personally use no supplements at all and haven't for many years. I'm rare in that I'm totally Zero Carb and eat only raw meat (I don't necessarily recommend this, I think most people do better on Very Low Carb) for about 4 years straight and have absolutely no signs of any deficiencies and infact the exact opposite. All previous signs of deficiencies disappeared when I went VLC Paleo and they haven't return after 4 years of (fanatical?) zero carb. I don't think you'll have any worries with nutrition eating this way.
One last thing, I've heard about bacterial amines being formed on meat, especially after 2 weeks from slaughter. What does everyone consider fresh and how fresh/tender is a good compromise?
So what is "fresh"? Once something dies it starts to decay immediately. If in a warm area it will be bloated and well on it's way to becoming a liquid goo within hours, and certainly not 2 weeks. Amines may be formed in the decay process, I have no idea, but to think that our bodies can't handle this would indicate that we shouldn't be here at all because our paleo ancestors, without modern methods of preservation, would have eaten lots and lots of these amines.
Is anyone just eating fat without all that protein? Really, I would like plenty of fat for the vitamins, but not massive amounts of protein. I also find it interesting that raw meat provides a measure of vitamin C (an antioxidant!).
I've tried eating all fat without protein and found after a few days that I craved protein, just as when eating all protein, after a short time I started craving fat.
I don't think that meat meets our vitamin C requirement. Current theory is that uric acid steps in as an even more powerful antioxidant and takes the place of vitamin C. No idea if this is correct, but this is what some of the latest research is pointing to. It seems that the role of antioxidants is to give up an electron to neutralize the charge of free radicals. Vitamin C plays this role and according to the latest reseach, uric acid does this even better, thereby reducing or possibly eliminating the need for actual vitamin C.
Is anyone preparing jerky (meat/fish) or herby/spiced burgers/sausages (from ground meat) in the dehydrator?
I make jerky and pemmican but not sausages or other meats preserved with chemicals.
Jerky could be considered paleo in that it just uses a natural dehydrating process - especially when done at low temperatures, usually below 120F. Salting or seasoning the meat is not paleo, and though my Jerky Maker manual shows seasoning the meat, this was done for the Boy Scouts for whom I first created the manual. I use very little seasoning and usually none at all. Here's a link to my Jerky Maker instructions. Thousands of these have been successfully built and used.
http://www.traditionaltx.us/images/JerkyDrierInstructions.pdfPemmican is not strictly paleo because it uses rendered fat which is not a technology available in the paleo era. I eat mainly raw meat for my diet, but do eat pemmican when traveling or in situations where carrying raw meat is inconvenient. I make (and eat) my pemmican without any salt or seasonings whatsoever. Eating salted pemmican for more than a few days as your primary food will cause nutritional deficiencies, where eating unsalted pemmican will not. No clue why this is so, it just is. I've eaten pemmican for up to a month at a time as my only food and have never experienced any health issues at all, in fact, I feel great. I eat about 1 lb per day. I also know others (and one entire family including childern) who eat only unseasoned pemmican as their only food - in the case of the family, for almost 5 years now. The children who are ages 3 and 5 have known no other food. Pemmican may not be strictly paleo, but when properly made, it is clearly a food that supports all our nutritional needs. Here's a link to my Pemmican Manual. You may find this useful as well:
http://www.traditionaltx.us/images/PEMMICAN.pdfAlso, what about the impact of freezing/thawing on nutrients/taste/texture?
There is much agonizing and hand wringing over this subject. I consume frozen and thawed raw meat all the time as it is the most efficient way for me to get my food which comes from over 1,000 miles away. I have had zero problem. Many people insist that freezing damages the cellular structure of the meat. Well, yes that's true, but so does chewing the meat, or letting the meat slowly decay in the refrigerator, or just about anything else we do or don't do to it. Meat starts to decay and breakdown from bacteria and enzymes in the meat the instant the animal dies. Freezing slows this process down but doesn't entirely stop it. Freezing is a natural process and happens naturally in our normal environment without any additional use of technology. If our paleo ancestors made a kill in the winter, it would freeze on it's own - without any help from humans. In fact, we would have had to go to heroic efforts to keep it from freezing.
Does freezing do measurable physical damage to the meat (just like cutting, chewing, or other mechanical damage) yes. Does this critically impact the nutritional quality of the meat, I've seen no evidence of this. In this case, you pays your money and you takes your choice. Feel free to obsess and agonize over this issue if you are in need of something additional to worry over in your life. As for me, I' have better things to do.
Lex
Topic: Confuzzled... (Read 21031 times)