The shellfish thing I think is self-evident; of course they were around in paleo times but they were obviously less a part of anyone's diet than land animals. Even today if you had a nice piece of land on the coast, several hundred acres, I would imagine just naturally you would hunt more land animals than fish/shellfish because it's more reward per effort and requires less tools.

I don't know of any cultures consuming dairy in paleolithic times myself but it does have a long history in Mongolia (camel dairy) and probably other places. I would not be surprised either way, whether it was consumed pre or post Neolithic, but it seems the possibility is there and hasn't been disproven. That's really the idea here is that saying dairy is absolutely only Neolithic in every civilization requires more burden of proof than saying perhaps it wasn't. I agree though it's more likely that dairy is generally or completely Neolithic.

You'd be surprised how much shellfish one can pick up on an isolated beach free of human interference.  I believe "wodgina" mentioned how his own local beaches are absolutely covered in them. One should also remember that hunter-gatherers tend to view all sorts of things as food which modern peoples never would(for example, I eat raw limpets when I'm on the Italian coast, but these don't appear on most(if not all) Western menus in restaurants. Granted, though, the migrating herds of bison would have perhaps been easier to deal with.

Another point is that, at least in the Late Palaeolithic, the various peoples had at least rafts and perhaps even boats - otherwise the Australian Aborigines couldn't have reached  Australia c.40,000 years ago - AFAIK, there was no land-bridge connecting Australia to Southeast Asia at the time.

As regards dairy, it's been suggested by a few Fallonites et al, that dairy might have been consumed in the Palaeolithic. This seems unlikely as cattle, according to online sources, were only domesticated at around 8,000 BC, well into the Neolithic era. Some have suggested that hunters in Palaeolithic times must have drunk the milk from the udders of slain wild cows(ie female aurochs), but the amounts of milk left in udders after death  is very small - indeed, in mammals, milk-production is stimulated via  hormones in response to the suckling effect of the relevant infant, so there's no need to store milk in the breast-area.

Haven't touched cacao since going rawpalaeo.

Who says that?

I know the Up day down day diet has a similar theme.

There were some studies mentioned on the fasting  yahoo group which stated that leaving more than 24 hours between meals(ie not eating every alternate day) was more effective than eating just one meal a day. I can't recall, offhand, though, which studies confirmed this.

How do you deal with the social pressures?

i find this to be the hardest part, when im home i can eat 100% raw good, but if at a party or holiday its extremely difficult and if i just eat fruit or something and turn down the food, i get an awkward stare and a feeling of being tense...people connect through food.

how do you do it?! and still keep friends and family.

i want to be the life of the party but not engage in there unhealthy acts... i havent been able todo it yet.

Also, do you ever lecture friends or family? or is it best to not say anything?

This is a much-needeed question to ask on this board. I was wondering when people would get around to it.

Here are various suggestions offered by various RPDers over time, to cope with social pressures:-

1) Be confident about your diet. If you show nervousness when explaining your diet, then other people will feel nervous too. In short, humans are naturally empathic, and it's wise not to show any uncertainty re your diet. That said, it's not a good idea to boast about the diet in public unnecessarily- , if you're asked, mention that you're doing a raw, palaeolithic diet,  vaguely in passing, as though it's only a minor part of your life. No one has a clue about what a "raw, palaeolithic diet" is, and few will enquire further, usually.

2) Make compromises. Some American RPDers go to restaurants and ask the chef to cook their meats "cold on a cold plate", meaning the meats are only cooked for 10 seconds on either side, or so. Or they always invite people to restaurants offering raw seafood such as Japanese Sashimi restaurants etc.(my favourite option as they usually offer sushi as well which is good for my cooked-food-eating acquaintances). Some do naughty things like go and eat raw at  Korean restaurants - some types of Korean restaurant give you the pan etc. on the table along with  the raw animal food which they expect you to cook right there, but some RPDers just go to an isolated table and pretend to cook them, but just warm them for a few seconds).

3) Third option is to eat some high-meat and some enzymes before going out to  every single cooked-meal, so as to minimise digestive-issues that often arise after such meals. Also, eat those cooked-foods but just eat little bites at each meal, claiming that you're on a diet.


4) There are various sites online which tell you how to reduce the amounts of toxins created by cooking:-

http://www.aolhealth.com/health/bbq-grill-cooking-safety

5) Re lecturing:- Don't bother lecturing anybody. I was in an appalling state of health pre-raw diet with  extremely obvious quite visible symptoms of ill-health, yet most people around me just pretended that I was always OK  with no difference after several years on raw - I even have one acquaintance who is a total moron (and a doctor), who tried to delude himself that I was only a little healthy as a result of eating less fat(actually, I told him that my raw-fat-intake was pretty high). This moron is a 100% believer in the Balanced Diet and is in appalling state of ill-health(he's 69 and has to take pain-killers every single day in order to cope with extremely painful joints ruined by decades on cooked diets).

 Plus, by avoiding the preaching/lecturing, you avoid the "them and us" view that some Rawists mistakenly have. After all, if you criticise other peoples' diets, you can't expect them not to criticise yours. The best thing is to just do the diet, and occasionally some wise people will notice how healthy you are and ask questions. Few will go all-raw, unless they're in dire straits, but one or two, here and there, will make healthier choices such as eating lots of sushi instead of the usual fried junk-food or whatever. At least, that's what I've found.



*Hopefully, others on this board will have further suggestions re this rather important topic*.

Karl Loren, judging from what I read earlier, likes to promote Aajonus' Primal Diet but only eats partially-raw. I have to admit that his website was very useful when I first started this diet all those years ago (at the time, it was the only website on Raw-Animal-Food diets other than Vinny's website).

Here's an excerpt in this section of the  wikipedia "Saturated Fat" page:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturated_fat#Dietary_recommendations

"Another confounding issue may be the formation of exogenous (outside the body) advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) and oxidation products generated during cooking, which it appears some of the studies have not controlled for. It has been suggested that, "given the prominence of this type of food in the human diet, the deleterious effects of high-(saturated)fat foods may be in part due to the high content in glycotoxins, above and beyond those due to oxidized fatty acid derivatives." [34] The glycotoxins, as he called them, are more commonly called AGEs[28]"

You should also be able to find any number of webpages showing how easily EFAs(essential fatty acids) get turned to transfats by heat(eg:- "All these oils are available at natural foods stores and should be cold and raw when consumed, not used in cooking because again, with the exception of olive oil (which is higher in saturated fat), exposure to high heat and oxygen damages unsaturated fats and creates trans fatty acids." taken from:-

http://www.womentowomen.com/nutritionandweightloss/fatandcholesterol.aspx

Let's celebrate at the annual Primal Potluck at Aajonus'


   Our rawfood feast is almost here.  Whether you eat Primal Diet 100%
          or not, let's get together for some culinary fun!  Bring your favorite raw-food dish!
  It’s  easy; select and make a recipe from Aajonus' recipe book.


Sunday, August 24, 2008 from 1 - 5 p.m.
(Potluck from 1-3 PM and Q&A from 3-5 PM.)

2300/2900 S Kanan Dume Road, Malibu, CA 90265

You do not need to RSVP, but if you get lost, call
Aajonus at 310-589-0589

 !!!! Some people are very SCENTsitive so please refrain

from using colognes, perfumes and fragrant oils.  Thank you!!!!




If you stay beyon potluck-festivity to enjoy and learn from Aajonus’
answers, please bring $25.  Raise your hand if you have a question.
There is no fee for the potluck, but everyone is expected to bring
and share a raw-meat dish for 4 people that is compatible with
Aajonus’ Primal Diet (no salt, no store-bought sauces, and no
vegetable salads, please!).


P.S.  You may bring guests and guests are required to bring raw-
food dishes, not wear perfumes or fragrance oils, and pay $25 if
they stay for Q&A. Anyone wanting to ask questions must have
read the book:  We Want To Live.  This will be available at the
Potluck, standard price, and Aajonus will autograph them if you wish.


If you have an email address and receive this flyer via postal mail, please
let us know by emailing optimal@earthlink.net with “Potluck - postal to
email” as Subject; we will save trees and reduce pollution.  Thank you!


DIRECTIONS:  FROM LOS ANGELES CITIES, SOUTH:  Take
Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) to Kanan-Dume Road (approximately
18 miles north of I-10, just beyond Paradise Cove) and turn right. 
Drive 3.5 miles, pull to the right and turn in front of the yellow
diamond-shaped road sign with an arrow pointing downward and
stop in front of the short stone/cement wall and pole gate.

FROM LOS ANGELES CITIES NORTH EAST:  Take I-101 to Kanan
exit in Agoura Hills and exit.  Turn southbound.  Follow Kanan
Road for 9 miles through 3 tunnels (after a few miles the street
name changes to Kanan-Dume Road)).  At approximately 1/2 mile
past the 3rd tunnel (posted T-1) look for a “break area” road sign
on the right with an arrow pointing downward.  Turn left onto the
wide shoulder on the opposite side of the road and stop in front
of the short stone/cement wall and pole gate.

FROM EITHER DIRECTION:  Park outside the gate on the
shoulder of the road.  Or park in the lot to the right just inside the
gate if the gate is open.

Walk down the drive and take the left fork in the road. (Follow
the signs to "Aajonus" & "The Cliff House" to the left.)
After approximately 60 feet there is a stairway on your right.
Descend the staircase until you come to two houses at the
bottom. It’s the house on the left!  Walk on the right side of the
house to the backyard.  Welcome!

I'm sort of surprised because I live and work in a touristy environment and the female Europeans, even British Europeans, have had to be told that they can't go topless on our beaches. It is against the law. They seem surprised. Also young European men are about the only men you'll see wearing speedos to the beach. Elderly American men seem to have no qualms about it though! What a sight THAT can be!  The younger American males, teens and early twenties, might wear the standard trunks but so loose as to let their cracks show. But they wouldn't be caught dead wearing speedos.

Continental Europe has a tradition of toplessness and nudism. The UK doesn't really. The only exception is on the beach where UKers can wear the skimpiest things(as long as the lower private parts are covered). But going around bare-chested as a man when you're more than a mile away from the beach is frowned upon heavily.

In a recent thankfully failed) action by the medical council to only allow doctors in California to give advice on nutrition, Aajonus pointed out that such doctors typically receive only 6 hours of lessons on nutrition in their entire time in Medical Education.

I truly sympathise with you as I've had similiar problems in the past. What would be best is if you could find a local farmer who does his own slaughtering - they do exist.  A farmer who just has the abattoir do it all, will have no control over anything and the abattoir people will be too limited to be able to change their inflexible routine(and won't care about the customer).

I'm surprised that US farmers wouldn't know what suet is - even UK farmers who haven't a clue about what adrenals are, do know what suet is. The trouble is that most farmers tend to slaughter their cattle too soon (2-3 years after birth), partly due to stupid government regulations and their desire to make a profit, and grassfed cattle need more time to build up enough fat.  You could substitute the suet with ox-/beef-tongue which is very high in fat(50-60%?) though not as high as suet. As regards tallow, that is rendered(ie cooked) suet so is not ideal, but if there are no other sources ....

Raw butter is better than other kinds of raw dairy, in that short-term effects are much less common. But people do frequently report minor to major symptoms from it, in the long-term.

Check out www.eatwild.com and search the site under "New York" to find some farms listed for that region.

In short, I definitely don't recommend zero-carb for anyone who doesn't have a cast-iron guarantee from one or more farms as regards regular delivery of high-quality grassfed meat with enough quality fats. So, I would suggest going back to zero-carb only when you're in a position to order from Slanker's or NorthStar Bison(US wellness seems to hvae acquired a bad reputation from other US RPDers, so I don't recommend it).

Come to think of it, I even feel guilty recommending Dr Ron's supplements, but the trouble is that harsh government laws in the West prevent us  from buying such things as raw adrenals from organic, grassfed animals etc.

Last I checked, biblife.org had a silly page which purported to debunk so-called  vegan "myths" about how harmful intensively-farmed meat is. But the trouble is , that this is true, not false - though Vegans are, of course, dead wrong in labelling grassfed meat as being bad as well.

I was amused by the Biblical references re justifying a meat-rich diet - I mean the Bible is only the human interpretation of God, with multiple authors, so if one wants to, one can find and justify any diet by simply looking through the whole Bible to find a relevant source.