Candida, Sardines, and fish

[WannabeCaveman]

New here, been about 80% raw paleo for a few months now...felt really bad initially (I guess detox?), evening out now, but still not feeling as good as I did on SAD a few years ago (despite being so toxic, why did I feel perfectly fine...emotionally, physically, worked out a lot, could manage several jobs, etc)? 

I think I probably have candida overgrowth, but have found this:
http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/articles/candida.html

Candida a problem because of fat?

And is coconut oil really that good because of the salicylates and lectin content? Or the fat, if the link is correct?

A few more random questions:

1) Supermarkets are supposed to be avoided, but if the meat is certified organic and grass-fed is it ok?

2) Are sardines raw? I know canned foods are bad, but I get these which are wild-caught and certified BPA-free: http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Planet-Sardines-Spring-Water/dp/B003H83SMY

3) I marinate my raw beef in apple cider vinegar, should I do the same thing for fish (flounder and shrimp is what I'm looking at since they have low-mercury)?

-Thanks for any help.

[wodgina]

I would look into lifestyle stuff first before worrying about diet.

[raw]

Just consume plain grass fed raw meat. You will see the differences within weeks and months. I wouldn't try any fish first. Only good source of meat. After your improvement, add variety other food. No risk there. Also use the sun energy, like sunbathing, sun water, sun gazing... that will help you for sure.

[TylerDurden]

Avoid coconut oil, I am not remotely convinced that it is a genuine "food", many people have food-intolerance/allergy towards it, and  besides it's processed.


Even if supermarket food is of genuine high-quality, you should really avoid it. You see, supermarkets stamp out competition and in the end offer much less choice and are often more expensive than small-time farmers at farmers' markets due to retail costs etc..

No, those sardines won't be raw, being canned.

Quite a lot of people do better if they go near-100 percent raw as cooked food and raw food don't miw well, as they require different digestive processes(raw requires less stomach acid produced etc.)

[bharminder]

Maybe you did better on SAD diet because you ate more variety, enough calories, or got used to eating lots of carbs.

I've seen sometimes that people who change their diets to raw animal foods (and other raw foods) sometimes don't eat much variety, eating only 1 type of meat and only a specific cut at that, as 95+% (in terms of volume, not calories) of their food intake.

Another thing is that raw animal foods are much lower in carbohydrates than SAD diets because SAD include a lot of refined carbohydrates like pasta, bread, rice, etc. - that stuff is instant energy. For instance, look at Michael Phelps, olympic medalist gold swimmer, leading up to the olympics, during his training, it is reported that he was eating upto 12,000 calories a day. His diet was full of crap . But, since he was burning most of it off, it didn't really matter. In fact he may have needed those extra refined carbohydrates to use as fuel.

In conclusion, variety is very important. Also, compare whether you were eating lots of carbohydrates on SAD diet and how many carbohydrates you eat now. Personally, for carbohydrates, well, theres many options though not too many are raw. Fruits are a good choice, but I prefer higher carb vegetables like carrots, vegetable juices, raw sweet potato. sometimes I eat cooked rice, cooked sweet potato, or a slice of bread for some extra energy from these refined goods.

In terms of fish, well I would freeze the fish first. That's what I do.  I think raw coconuts are much better than coconut oil, as coconut oil most likely isn't raw. You can even make your own fresh coconut oil, but I find it quite tedious so I don't do that.

I think you should do what works in terms of marinade. I think apple cider vinegar isn't a good choice because since it is vinegar it might degrade your teeth over time. Even though I like eating the meats plain with other side dishes, I'd rather use a low sodium, no preservatives hot sauce than apple cider vinegar. Other than the teeth issue, I don't have a problem with apple cider vinegar though.


Good luck, remember, try to get variety and assess whether you are eating carbohydrates.

[WannabeCaveman]

Well, I do work in front of a computer 10 hours a day, but I still work out a few times a week, low-medium intensity (used to work out 2x high-intensity a day on SAD).

I also get less sun than I used to, so I'm definitely gonna get more of that lately.

What other lifestyle stuff?

I would look into lifestyle stuff first before worrying about diet.

[RawZi]

Water/dp/B003H83SMY]http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Planet-Sardines-Spring-Water/dp/B003H83SMY[/url]

3) I marinate my raw beef in apple cider vinegar, should I do the same thing for fish (flounder and shrimp is what I'm looking at since they have low-mercury)?

-Thanks for any help.

    Mercury in raw uncanned, deep sea, cold water, undried, unfrozen, unpackaged, unprocessed fish of any kind is unproven to do any harm to people via eating it.

    If you want to be like a caveman, I doubt most of them carried around a bottle of apple cider vinegar to pour on their mastodon meat.  More nutrition can be gotten out of un-marinated meat.  Marination helps you digest vegetables.  Vinegar denatures meat, and this lifestyle is about renaturing or re wilding.  Use the vinegar until you get over the obstacle.  I never used any in the beginning.  I tried it a couple times eventually, but it dries the texture of the meat out and cooks to un-raw it even if not by a fire or producing heat created toxic molecules.

      

[WannabeCaveman]

Maybe you did better on SAD diet because you ate more variety, enough calories, or got used to eating lots of carbs.

I've seen sometimes that people who change their diets to raw animal foods (and other raw foods) sometimes don't eat much variety, eating only 1 type of meat and only a specific cut at that, as 95+% (in terms of volume, not calories) of their food intake.

Another thing is that raw animal foods are much lower in carbohydrates than SAD diets because SAD include a lot of refined carbohydrates like pasta, bread, rice, etc. - that stuff is instant energy. For instance, look at Michael Phelps, olympic medalist gold swimmer, leading up to the olympics, during his training, it is reported that he was eating upto 12,000 calories a day. His diet was full of crap . But, since he was burning most of it off, it didn't really matter. In fact he may have needed those extra refined carbohydrates to use as fuel.

In conclusion, variety is very important. Also, compare whether you were eating lots of carbohydrates on SAD diet and how many carbohydrates you eat now. Personally, for carbohydrates, well, theres many options though not too many are raw. Fruits are a good choice, but I prefer higher carb vegetables like carrots, vegetable juices, raw sweet potato. sometimes I eat cooked rice, cooked sweet potato, or a slice of bread for some extra energy from these refined goods.

In terms of fish, well I would freeze the fish first. That's what I do.  I think raw coconuts are much better than coconut oil, as coconut oil most likely isn't raw. You can even make your own fresh coconut oil, but I find it quite tedious so I don't do that.

I think you should do what works in terms of marinade. I think apple cider vinegar isn't a good choice because since it is vinegar it might degrade your teeth over time. Even though I like eating the meats plain with other side dishes, I'd rather use a low sodium, no preservatives hot sauce than apple cider vinegar. Other than the teeth issue, I don't have a problem with apple cider vinegar though.


Good luck, remember, try to get variety and assess whether you are eating carbohydrates.

This looks very logical! Thanks a lot of this insight.

Yes, I used to eat TONS of grains/carbs...cereal for breakfast, pastas and rice for dinner almost every day...

My variety is limited (which is why I want to expand more to fish):

Raw eggs for breakfast and/or veggie smoothie (cabbage/broccoli/spinach/parsley combos)
Almonds/Walnuts (eating a lot more lately as I'm always hungry)
Fruits - trying to stay low sugar with green apples, cucumbers, and avocados only.
Fish - Sardines/Shrimp/Flounder

Occasional hemp milk.

Everything is raw except for hemp milk and sardines I guess (although I'm still not sure how exactly they are processed...cold smoked? Maybe not as bad as cooked?)

Should I incorporate some gluten-free/organic brown rice and/or brown rice pasta? Or maybe some organic/gluten-free cereal? Or will this sabotage my progression towards 100% raw?

[WannabeCaveman]

   Mercury in raw uncanned, deep sea, cold water, undried, unfrozen, unpackaged, unprocessed fish of any kind is unproven to do any harm to people via eating it.

    If you want to be like a caveman, I doubt most of them carried around a bottle of apple cider vinegar to pour on their mastodon meat.  More nutrition can be gotten out of un-marinated meat.  Marination helps you digest vegetables.  Vinegar denatures meat, and this lifestyle is about renaturing or re wilding.  Use the vinegar until you get over the obstacle.  I never used any in the beginning.  I tried it a couple times eventually, but it dries the texture of the meat out and cooks to un-raw it even if not by a fire or producing heat created toxic molecules.

Yes, but I am paranoid about bacteria...and the center of the meat remains red (and not denatured?). So even if the ACV compromises the outside of the meat, wouldn't the inside remain natured?

[laterade]

Yes, but I am paranoid about bacteria...and the center of the meat remains red (and not denatured?). So even if the ACV compromises the outside of the meat, wouldn't the inside remain natured?

I started out marinating all of my beef. Total waste of time, you are simply putting off the realization of how good the meat truly is.
Sure, it's not ruined, but you could be getting more from it.

[wodgina]

Well you felt better on SAD then you went rawish...and feel worse Why the change?

[bharminder]

This looks very logical! Thanks a lot of this insight.

Yes, I used to eat TONS of grains/carbs...cereal for breakfast, pastas and rice for dinner almost every day...

My variety is limited (which is why I want to expand more to fish):

Raw eggs for breakfast and/or veggie smoothie (cabbage/broccoli/spinach/parsley combos)
Almonds/Walnuts (eating a lot more lately as I'm always hungry)
Fruits - trying to stay low sugar with green apples, cucumbers, and avocados only.
Fish - Sardines/Shrimp/Flounder

Occasional hemp milk.

Everything is raw except for hemp milk and sardines I guess (although I'm still not sure how exactly they are processed...cold smoked? Maybe not as bad as cooked?)

Should I incorporate some gluten-free/organic brown rice and/or brown rice pasta? Or maybe some organic/gluten-free cereal? Or will this sabotage my progression towards 100% raw?

Well, I think you should differentiate short term and long term goals. In the short term, it may be good to eat some more carbs of your choice for energy, especially if it is getting in the way of the rest of your lifestyle. I've read some information on phytic acid in brown rice or whole wheat carbs that binds to minerals in the body. I don't know if it's true or not. I think you should eat a little bit more carrots and beets, and other high carb vegetables. Sometimes I eat raw sweet potato, which is also high in carbs.

Your variety of meat does not seem very diverse, especially since the sardines aren't raw. I think you should eat more raw fish (prefrozen) and more raw unfrozen: grassfed or free range meats like beef, lamb, chicken, etc. If availability makes it difficult, check out websites like www.northstarbison.com and also Slanker's. Get some raw: liver, heart, kidneys. Liver will give you a lot of energy.


You may be eating too many nuts.
Basically all I've said is to try and decrease the things in your diet you think are not so good and increase the things that are good. Obviously, you don't want a diet where the majority of calories comes from nuts. And again, I think your meat variety should be more diverse, and you should eat more. Fish is low calorie but superb. Consider eating shellfish like clams, oysters, which have organs in them already. Oysters will give you a lot of energy, like liver.

Also, I've read that excessive broccoli or cabbage (or those predisposed to metabolic conditions) can cause anti-thyroid activity. Thyroid regulates metabolism. Metabolism is linked to energy levels. Consider changing the vegetables you use so you aren't always eating so much broccoli or cabbage. I think many, but not all, cruciferous vegetables can have this anti-thyroid effect. I personally don't avoid cruciferous vegetables, but I don't over indulge in them either. If I had an energy problem, I would strongly consider modifying diet, exercise, nutrition, and/or sleep habits/schedule.

In regards to your question, I don't think it will be harmful to add some carbs to your diet. but which ones I can't say because.....apparently whole wheat and brown rice have phytic acid which is bad, and white flour and white rice is bad too. So that's why I eat raw sweet potato sometimes, because it has no phytic acid in it. Sometimes though if I don't feel like eating sweet potato and feel sluggish,  I will eat some other kind of carbohydrate like a piece of white sourdough bread, or some white rice--and it helps a lot. I used to eat brown rice sometimes ( a few months back) but I'm not sure if I should eat it with this whole phytic acid business. I also don't think you should eat too much fruit, so you seem to be good on that regard.

[WannabeCaveman]

Well you felt better on SAD then you went rawish...and feel worse Why the change?

Do you mean why the change in diet?

Couple things, was putting on weight (eating a lot of fast food), insomnia, and I also have a lot of really bad keloid scarring which is painful. I read that raw animal meat/fats is the best way for the body to heal itself.

[WannabeCaveman]

Well, I think you should differentiate short term and long term goals. In the short term, it may be good to eat some more carbs of your choice for energy, especially if it is getting in the way of the rest of your lifestyle. I've read some information on phytic acid in brown rice or whole wheat carbs that binds to minerals in the body. I don't know if it's true or not. I think you should eat a little bit more carrots and beets, and other high carb vegetables. Sometimes I eat raw sweet potato, which is also high in carbs.

Your variety of meat does not seem very diverse, especially since the sardines aren't raw. I think you should eat more raw fish (prefrozen) and more raw unfrozen: grassfed or free range meats like beef, lamb, chicken, etc. If availability makes it difficult, check out websites like www.northstarbison.com and also Slanker's. Get some raw: liver, heart, kidneys. Liver will give you a lot of energy.


You may be eating too many nuts.
Basically all I've said is to try and decrease the things in your diet you think are not so good and increase the things that are good. Obviously, you don't want a diet where the majority of calories comes from nuts. And again, I think your meat variety should be more diverse, and you should eat more. Fish is low calorie but superb. Consider eating shellfish like clams, oysters, which have organs in them already. Oysters will give you a lot of energy, like liver.

Also, I've read that excessive broccoli or cabbage (or those predisposed to metabolic conditions) can cause anti-thyroid activity. Thyroid regulates metabolism. Metabolism is linked to energy levels. Consider changing the vegetables you use so you aren't always eating so much broccoli or cabbage. I think many, but not all, cruciferous vegetables can have this anti-thyroid effect. I personally don't avoid cruciferous vegetables, but I don't over indulge in them either. If I had an energy problem, I would strongly consider modifying diet, exercise, nutrition, and/or sleep habits/schedule.

In regards to your question, I don't think it will be harmful to add some carbs to your diet. but which ones I can't say because.....apparently whole wheat and brown rice have phytic acid which is bad, and white flour and white rice is bad too. So that's why I eat raw sweet potato sometimes, because it has no phytic acid in it. Sometimes though if I don't feel like eating sweet potato and feel sluggish,  I will eat some other kind of carbohydrate like a piece of white sourdough bread, or some white rice--and it helps a lot. I used to eat brown rice sometimes ( a few months back) but I'm not sure if I should eat it with this whole phytic acid business. I also don't think you should eat too much fruit, so you seem to be good on that regard.

I added some brown rice recently, and it definitely made a difference! Feel a bit better.

I will add some diversity with meats/organs and clams/oysters next, and try to limit the nuts a bit more.

As for the carrots, I read they have a lot sugar and promote candida, as well as have phytic acid as well. Just like potatoes, which also have enzyme blockers and lectins.

Thanks for the help, that was a really well-rounded response, helped a lot.