I was eating prickly pears, filtering the seeds was annoying, so I decided to eat them like an animal would in nature seeds and all. Doing so was liberating, it made the prickly pears a joy to eat and they became tastier somehow.

The seeds passed through gently, which was good because I was concerned about the possible effects of eating so many seeds.

Hi Zym,

Vitamin A overdose is possible.

Liver was a relished staple in my diet. One pound of liver a week was my average, sometimes more. After about a year I began experiencing headaches after eating liver. During a fateful feast of a massive serving of mature beef liver, WAM! I was hit with instant and painful flu-like symptoms.

I experienced pounding headaches, insomnia, joint pain, and nausea (especially when thinking about liver); my symptoms matched those of vitamin A overdose. Fortunately the symptoms are said to subside once the consumption of the offending substance (liver) is discontinued. It took about 3 days to recover. I continued to eat foods with vitamin A, only liver was excluded. Although it was a struggle, it was good to know that my vitamin A stores are full.

Keep eating as much Vitamin A as you like, and if you begin to get headaches especially after eating liver, you are probably reaching your maximum storage limit and can reduce consumption.

All the best.

PaleoPhil
Your research is extensive.

Insoluble fiber is the fiber which the general public is familiar with, it forms the indigestible mass which has value in the process of elimination, but has low fermentation and health potential. The beneficial fiber we are after is soluble fiber, which forms a gel and provides metabolic and health benefits. The public is largely unaware of this fiber distinction. So, when fiber intake is calculated, only the soluble fiber should be considered.

aLptHW4k4y,
Consumption of plant material should be well managed, even wild animals intentionally select plants with the lowest anti-nutrient content. I feel that the root vegetables I am consuming for soluble fiber are low in anti-nutrients and relatively easy to digest.

Hello PaleoPhil,

Thank you for driving me to do more empirical research.

Through calculations based on a research paper (linked below) I estimated the following:

1. 100g of Jerusalem artichokes (my current soluble fiber source) provides 18g of inulin.
2. Lets assume that 50% of the soluble fiber becomes short chain fatty acids.
3. Butyric acid makes up 35% of inulin generated fatty acids, therefor 18g of inulin makes 3.1g of butyric acid.

So if these calculation are correct, then 100g of tasty Jerusalem artichokes at 73kcal, will provide as much butyrate as 100g or 700kcal of butter!

If I include the rest of the prebiotic fiber and starch I eat, the amount of butyric acid production will be higher. The other short chain fatty acids can also be included bringing the net amount of beneficial short chain fatty acids even higher.

But wait, there's more.

The same paper showed that butyric acid production increased exponentially in rats as they adapted and build up their gut flora.  After two weeks of eating raw potato starch, waste analysis revealed 6% butyric acid, and by four weeks it had risen to 19% indicating ramped up production of butyric acid due to micro-flora adaptation.

The link to the pdf paper is http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=short-chain%20fatty%20acid%20formation%20at%20fermentation%20of%20indigestible%20carbohydrates%20by%20ifsa%20henningsson%2C%20inger%20bjiirck%20and%20margareta%20nyman&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCMQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.foodandnutritionresearch.net%2Findex.php%2Ffnr%2Farticle%2Fdownload%2F1801%2F1708&ei=27J3T9z7Oeb50gGsyaTTDQ&usg=AFQjCNHPQ2xu4rVbuYSDdDAYQbkngcCrIg&cad=rja

 

Hi Wattlebird,
When I was feeding farm animals they would look at the food, sniff it, and then decide if they wanted to eat it; this is the instinctive process which you described. It will be fun to shop instincto style, if there's an ostrich egg it will be consumed with gusto in your honor .

Hello PaleoPhil,
Meat sources of butyric acid would be awesome, however my research revealed only limited amounts in dairy products. Perhaps there is a creature which concentrates short chain fatty acids in its tissues, I'll have to keep searching.

The capacity for humans to ferment fibers varies individually and is less than herbivorous creatures. However, the benefit of short chain fatty acids are their healing properties rather than being a primary energy source.

Hey GoodSamaritan,
Learning about nutrient dense animal foods, and then raw foods were two positive paradigm shifts for me. Learning about the importance of gut microbes is like a whole new field of dietary adventure. Perhaps the missing key to vigorous health and wellness in modern society is gut microbe and flora health.

I am devising a plan to improve my gut health with prebiotics which include soluble fiber, oligosaccharides, and resistant starch. Practical sources for the following substances are as follows:

Soluble fiber
Carrots, parsnips, and bananas.

Oligosaccharides-Inulin
Jicama and Yacón have huge amounts of inulin and soluble fiber, they are also edible raw and said to be mildly sweet and crisp, I'll probably make them into raw fries. Jicama and Yacón are one of the richest and most practical sources of prebiotic material. Onions and leeks are also an excellent sources of inulin oligosaccharides and go well with salads.

Resistant starch
Bananas are my go to guys for resistant starch, I also intend to experiment with small amounts of raw winter squashes, sweet potatoes, and edible tubers.

It may also be beneficial to take probiotics in the form of cultured dairy or fermented foods to help the process. A good mixed salad and various fruits will round off the prebiotic intake.

It will take time to adapt to a higher intake of raw plant matter, but once the gut is colonized by good bacteria it will be smooth sailing form there.

Butyric acid has amazing benefits for your health. Butyric acid is a short chain fatty acid which dramatically improves insulin sensitivity, metabolism, blood lipids, body composition, and reduces stress and inflammation.

Butyric acid is made by the fermentation of fiber in the large intestine. The lower digestibility of raw vegetables may be a blessing in disguise. Feeding the large intestine more undigested plant matter will increase butyric acid production. Butyric acid also occurs in dairy products.

This has been a great discovery, it challenged my previous paradigm: raw plants are indigestible and provide virtually no starch, sugar, or nutrients. Now I realize that short chain fatty acids made from fiber have fantastic health benefits. In what appeared to be raw indigestible fiber, nature was providing sustenance for us all along.

Iguana emphasizes that you should trust in nature, eat foods which agree with you, and have peace of mind, his style is wise indeed.

Further Readings:
This link has a good overview about the benefits of butyric acid.
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.ca/2009/12/butyric-acid-ancient-controller-of.html

This link has information on resistant starch which ferments into butyric acid.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistant_starch

This link is about captive gorillas that switched to a natural whole foods diet and lost weight and improved their health. The indigestible fiber they ate increased their production of short chain fatty acids.
http://180metabolism.com/blog/?p=145

This is exciting new information; eating more raw vegetables, roots, and tubers may bring great health and wellness benefits via short chain fatty acids. Please share your ideas about this subject.

Joy, following are the links which you requested.

Protein and kidney health
This link is by researchers who reviewed the scientific literature concerning protein intake and renal function. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1262767/
The researchers conclude that a high protein intake (>1.5g/kg) is fine for people with healthy kidneys.

Low protein and deficiency symptoms
The following link concerns body composition changes during overfeeding. The subjects who ate a hyper caloric- low protein diet (42-50g), gained fat but actually lost lean body mass. http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/307/1/86
This shows that even with surplus calories protein deficiency symptoms occur. Loss of lean body mass is not as dangerous as kwashiorkor syndrome, but it is still a protein deficiency symptom.

PaleoPhil, I have ancestors from Eire myself. Thus you compel my Irishness to respond to your question, with a question of my own .

Low-carb is optimal for humans in what way? Advocates of low-carb diets have to define which aspect of human life is enhanced by adopting a low-carb diet e.g. health, fitness, my grocery bill, etc. The specific aspect can then be investigated to evaluate the validity of low-carb optimality claims.

In response to your original question, my opinion is that LC proponents believe the following logic:

If humankind's natural diet is optimal,
and a low-carb diet is humankind's natural diet,
therefore a low-carb diet is optimal.

I have never met an astute woman then....Or you are so young that you do not understand women.

Joy, your accurate insight made me smile. On such superficial subjects I tend to be blunt and offer my female friends rational solutions, indeed what my friends are really seeking is emotional support.

I meant pull-ups . Chin-ups are great as well, I find them easier to do.

For both variations I've recently lowered my reps and focused on form. The results have been fantastic, strength and endurance have improved rapidly.

Hi Wattlebird,

You are correct; the yolk is a golden delight to those feasting monkeys. It would be blissfully fun for us humans to eat a giant ostrich egg in a like manner. Wattlebird you are invited to an ostrich egg breakfast with me anytime  .

Hello aLptHW4k4y,

I thought that the biotin and protein inhibitors were all in the egg white, which anti-nutrients are contained within the yolk?

In the first monkey clip a large portion of the egg white was discarded. The second clip showed the monkey going after the yolk. Do monkeys naturally prefer the yolk, perhaps because its tasty and free of anti-nutrients.