Did things get worse before they got better when starting to eat raw meats?

[Caveman]

I am curious as to how people have reacted early on to eating specifically raw meat. I am not on a 100% raw paleo diet as of yet, but have been focusing on raw meats for two weeks now. The only thing I haven't been eating raw is Wehani rice, because I feel I need the carbohydrates. Things I've eaten raw so far include wild caught salmon, bison steaks, grass-fed ground beef, and grass-fed smoked uncured bacon (probably doesn't count). Money is very scarce for me right now, so I can't be buying bulk products from sites like Slanker's.

A few weeks ago, before starting on raw meats, things were just ok in terms of health. I've had some severe health problems ever since taking antibiotics years ago which include leaky gut, candida, parasites, acne, chronic fatigue, bloating and weight loss. I've been fighting this for at least two years now with nonstop research, but rarely getting any relief.

The first things I felt from eating raw meats was a little more energy and a kind of euphoria which has only occurred early on once or twice. I pay attention to food combining rules, as my digestion seems like anything but optimal. I have had no digestive discomfort from any raw meats, especially compared to the heavy feeling of eating cooked meats. I usually ate my carbs (rice) in the morning/midday and proteins and fats at night (not at the same time though). I've now switched this since yesterday to eating my meat and fats in the day while eating rice at night. I absolutely know when I eat what affects my energy levels.

I couldn't find any fatty grass-fed meats around my area, but I did pick up some uncured, smoked bacon of very high quality and would go crazy for the fat on it. It seemed to give me a tremendous boost in energy. I've read a lot about raw animal fats and how important they can be for your health, so I really think this is very vital for me. Because I can't get any raw animal fats at the moment, I've been drinking a number of big spoonfuls of extra virgin olive oil, thinking it would help me out with my energy levels as I usually get extremely fatigued during the day, especially when I am at work. The olive oil does seem to be doing me some good as far as I can tell. I used to avoid fats as much as possible because of bloating and fear of fermentation.

Zero carb and high fat is something I've done before, but at that time, things were at an all time low considering my health. It wasn't doing me any good, that's why I eat rice. I did all sorts of cleanses, detoxes and enemas.. and only a certain colon cleanse did something for me.

Now, I love this paleolithic, raw diet, but I have yet to see how it impacts me overall.

How long did it take for you to notice any positive changes due to eating raw meats and fats? Did you experience any worsening of any kind of symptoms before they got better?

I hate to post another typical thread filled with worries of someone that is in a big mess of health problems, but I really am curious here. I also know everyone is different.

Just a while ago, I had some severe cramping after eating my rice for the night and was able to go to the bathroom. Fear of constipation already rose, but I was relieved by a mass of waste. I apologize for being graphic, but it looked extremely dark and murky and looked like it had parasites and some kind of bacterial colonies along with it. I could be mistaken.

My acne, which seemed to be close to being completely gone at the time I started this diet, has now worsened to an extent.

Maybe my body is in no condition to handle this diet, but hopefully my body is cleansing itself how it should..

I will see how things go for at least another week. I appreciate any responses.

[goodsamaritan]

I did my detoxes in 2005 to 2007 while on SAD.
Did raw vegan and raw fruitarian 2007.
By 2008 started raw wai diet.
All better... no drawbacks for me.

I think its because I was already clean by the time I began raw meat and I was meat deprived.

[ys]

everyone has different experiences.  i never did any detoxes of any kind.  my progress has been very gradual without any spikes up or down.

[miles]

I think you should have cooked tubers/roots instead of the rice. Rice will cause problems in your intestines.

Healthy meat shouldn't be marbled, the marbling I think is caused by excess oestrogen. Grass-fed meat 'is' still fatty, but it's just not mixed into the meat, so the butchers usually cut it off before displaying it. If meat doesn't have fat mixed in that's a good sign, but you will need to get your fat some other way; by asking for trimmings/offcuts, or bones(marrow) for example.

[TylerDurden]

Smoked meat is always a bad idea, as it contains toxins. Cold-smoked meat is "less worse" than hot-smoked meats, but still not really healthy. Also cut out the rice.


IMO, for proper results, one should be 100 percent rawpalaeo right at the beginning. I know this sucks, as it usually takes some months for the taste-change to kick in when you start enjoying raw animal foods. However, when one is really unhealthy, especially if one's digestive system is wrecked, one should be 100 percent rawpalaeo so as to avoid any complications. This also helps speed up one's health-recovery. I once added in a cooked omelette, 3 weeks into the RVAF diet, and it suddenly slowed down my health-recovery to zero, so I went clean for most of the next 3 years, barring 1 cooked meal once every 6-12 months or so.

If money is so scarce, you should be looking around constantly for cheaper alternatives. I realise that Slanker's is out of the question(though Lex states that he finds it very cheap as he buys the  raw, grassfed pet-food there); however, you should be replacing the very expensive raw, wild salmon for the FAR cheaper raw wild mackerel, raw sprats, raw sardines etc. If you find raw grassfed meats too expensive, doa huge amount of searching  for raw wild game(like I did). You will find that, despite the fact that raw wild game is nutritionally superior to any grassfed meats, it is often sold at far cheaper prices than grassfed,even organic, grassfed meats.

Also, if your system can bear it, you should try for Intermittent Fasting, as this will help cut down on your food-intake and therefore lower your costs. If one is constantly eating all the time, the constant digestion appears to take away resources that would otherwise be spent on healing the body.

[RawZi]

I think its because I was already clean by the time I began raw meat and I was meat deprived.

    I think here too, same for me.  Not having had meat in so long, that when I started primal diet, I just absorbed and used the nutrients "like crazy".  I didn't really have any problems at all adapting to the food.  I was very ready for it.

    I have gone through a couple of detoxes etc later on, starting about a year later. 

    It has been good for my skin since the beginning.  I was especially careful especially at the start though (carbs very low somewhat balance of foods in order of priority etc).  I say "was", as I have not been careful lately, and have been eating less fats, things like that.

[yuli]

I think you should have cooked tubers/roots instead of the rice. Rice will cause problems in your intestines.

Healthy meat shouldn't be marbled, the marbling I think is caused by excess oestrogen. Grass-fed meat 'is' still fatty, but it's just not mixed into the meat, so the butchers usually cut it off before displaying it. If meat doesn't have fat mixed in that's a good sign, but you will need to get your fat some other way; by asking for trimmings/offcuts, or bones(marrow) for example.

True dat, good call on the starch choice and explanation for people saying grassfed is shitty cause its lean - hate when people think that. Sometimes I buy the ground grassfed because they blended its fat in instead of cutting it off 

[yuli]

...If money is so scarce, you should be looking around constantly for cheaper alternatives. I realise that Slanker's is out of the question(though Lex states that he finds it very cheap as he buys the  raw, grassfed pet-food there); however, you should be replacing the very expensive raw, wild salmon for the FAR cheaper raw wild mackerel, raw sprats, raw sardines etc....

Cheaper is good, but to someone getting used to raw I find salmon is worth it, I find its more filling in its raw form and more satisfying then other raw fishes, except maybe raw butterfish (heavenly) but I never was able to buy that in big enough amounts to know. I never found raw sprats but the cold smoked ones I had are very good, I'll see if I can find some raw...its so hard to make the time to look for things now, as I am busy with deadlines >< it sux

[miles]

How do you eat sprats? Do you open it up and avoid the guts like bigger fish/animals, or is it small enough that you'd just eat the whole thing?

[TylerDurden]

How do you eat sprats? Do you open it up and avoid the guts like bigger fish/animals, or is it small enough that you'd just eat the whole thing?

The latter.