So, now, a couple days later, and the dust is settling and I'm going - why?
Why are some of you refusing to eat any plant food at all?
Because some of us have personal health-problems with carbs as a result of eating cooked/processed diets for years and years. Others here have problems with raw dairy or raw coconut oil, due to genetics or past health-problems gained on cooked/processed diets.
Are there some of you who do eat plant foods? What kind of percentage of meat versus vegies?
Yes, a majority of us also eat some raw plant foods, though those who eat only raw meats form a very large minority indeed. Among raw omnivores, that varies between 90 percent of a raw diet to only 1-2 percent of the diet.
Are there some of you who have a concentration on plant foods (fruits and vegies) and then just add some meat?
Yes, a few people like SkinnyDevil, but not many. Most here feel the need to concentrate mostly on raw animal foods for health, with raw plant foods given a lesser emphasis.
Is the primary point to eat everything raw - including plant foods if those are eaten?
Yes, of course.
What is it about eating raw meat that is supposed to be so good for you? (This is probably the biggest question I have.)
This is way too big a question to answer in such a short post, but I can do a vague, short resume. There are so many advantages:-
1) Cooked animal foods have the highest amounts of heat-created toxins in them, of all cooked foods. By eating the meat raw, you avoid taking in those heat-created toxins, and thus slow down your rate of aging by comparison to cooked-food-eaters. (Heat-created toxins, such as Advanced Glycation End Products figure heavily in diseases normally associated with old-age).
2) Enzymes. Enzymes in raw foods help predigest raw foods in the upper stomach for a little while before being destroyed in the lower stomach. As people grow older on cooked diets, they routinely find that their digestion worsens, to the point where they need extra artificial enzyme supplements in order to improve their digestion, as their enzyme-producing organs deteriorate from excessive use due to not eating enough enzyme-rich raw foods.
3) Bacteria. Bacteria are essential for the gut and the sheer lack of bacteria in the modern world has directly led to a dramatic rise in developed nations of things like asthma, allergies etc. Read up on the Hygiene Hypothesis in this regard.
4) Raw foods, including raw meats have a higher water-content than their cooked equivalent, which appears to help with digestion. Also, proteins in raw meats etc. are not denatured as in their cooked equivalents, so are easier to digest.
I have been doing online searches and have come up with not very much at all about eating raw meat. Is this guy named Anjulus or whatever, the only guru out there promoting raw meat or are there others that I could do a search on?
He is the main guru, and, IMO, somewhat flawed as he recommends things like raw dairy, but he is on target re many beneficial aspects of raw diets. There is also Guy-Claude Burger and Wai Genriuu and Weston-Price(albeit only partially raw as a guru).
Are there any videos with interviews of people who have experienced a raw meat diet and gotten better (I found one.)
I would appreciate anything any of you would like to share about this. I'm freaking out here about what I've gotten myself into and not understanding exactly what I'm doing or why I'm doing it.
Ultimately, nothing will really convince you or any other newbie more than trying a rawpaleodiet yourself. I , for example, tried raw, fresh meats at first, and was convinced that, sooner or later, I would get food-poisoning, despite so many long-term RVAFers stating they were fine on such a diet. After some months(and some wrong paths due to basic mistakes I made when doing RVAF diets) I realised I was alive, and indeed better on such a RVAF diet. It took me a further 3 years before I finally got up the courage to try "high-meat"(="raw aged, rotting meat), but I also found that to be very useful for health as well.
In the meantime, read up on as many threads/posts on rawpaleoforum as you can(not irrelevant stuff such as "what are you listening to", but pretty much everything else). Also read the articles on rawpaleodiet.com and in the "Info for Newbies" section of rawpaleoforum.
Videos of people doing these diets are dotted all over rawpaleoforum and there is a fledgling testimonials section on rawpaleodiet.com