Newbie Here :)

[Ioanna]

Hello All,

I've transitioned from vegetarian to mostly raw to raw vegan to now half-raw paleo with fully raw intentions!  I knew something wasn't right when I began to crave insane amounts of nuts and seeds on raw vegan, so I started adding raw dairy and raw eggs.  This helped a lot.  I then learned about AV and moved on from there.  My diet is pretty much a complete 180 degree turn from where I was a year ago, and I feel so much better for it!  I hardly eat any vegetation these days.  I don't digest it well at all.  I love salads, and if I ever get to the point that I can actually digest them well I'll start eating them again.  I thought it was all the fiber, but juicing doesn't help either. 

I love eating raw red meats.  In fact cooked red meat looks ruined to me now.  I've not tried white meats, not even fish...I've not yet the nerve for that. 

The only thing keeping me from being 100% raw is that I still have some learned fear about eating raw animal food that kicks in every once in a while.  Anyone else have this?

Look forward to conversing with all of you!

[goodsamaritan]

I love eating raw red meats.  In fact cooked red meat looks ruined to me now.  I've not tried white meats, not even fish...I've not yet the nerve for that. 

Well hello.  First time for me to know of someone eating land animal raw red meats but not having the nerve to eat raw FISH 

It's probably a cultural thing.  Eating raw fish is normal with us if it is with vinegar and we have too much exposure with Japanese culture / restaurants they eat sashimi on a regular basis.

Congratulations on finding a better diet.  I'm in the me-too category like you.  I was on raw vegan then raw fruitarian, but something was missing.

[JaX]

hello Ioanna. Great to see more girls on taking up the raw paleo way

A lot of people end up eating raw paleo after having tried EVERYTHING. People seem to eventually settle for a raw paleo diet with most of their calories coming from raw ruminants (beef/goat/lamb), after they have tried raw vegan, fruitarian, and even primal diet (very few people do well on that much raw dairy).

I did like you try raw vegan to heal some major health issues, and because of what all the gurus and other people were saying about how healthy it is.. Initially some of my digestive problems healed, my blood pressure went down, and so on.. but it didn't take long before I realized that vegetables didn't digest very well, fruits left me craving more and  juices/smoothies eventually failed as well. Dry skin, tooth aches, weak nails, cravings, bloatedness, mood swings - that's just not signs of good health, I don't care if any guru calls that detox. And those nut binges... eating 7-8-9 handfuls of almonds per day... Glad to have finally found a diet which provides me with good health..


Which state are you from?



-Seeker

[Ioanna]

hello goodsamaritan!  i know, raw fish does sound more appealing, but i tend to be iron defficient, so i went straight for the red meat.  also, i can get red meat from a local farm so i feel better about that.  i'm not sure what kind of processes the fish might go through?  like could it be treated with perfumes, dyes, or other chemicals that aren't indicated?

hello seeker!  you pretty much nailed my nutritional experiences up to this point!  i do enjoy raw dairy, though...is it so bad???  it's been an easy form of raw fats for me.  (the other ways i get fat are from egg yolk and consumption of ground meat that is usually pretty fatty.)  i haven't had dairy for quite sometime (stopped any grocery store dairy a long time ago).  finding a farmer with raw milk and having milk/egg shakes has been kind of fun i guess i'm kind of primal right now.  i don't consume a lot of dairy, but i do when it is available.

i do wonder how everyone likes to eat their meat though, especially those eating it raw. like a fave sauce or spice?i'm trying to get away from stuff like that too, but there's still a 'yuk' and 'fear' factor that is for some reason somewhat alleviated by covering my food in a garlic/egg yolk mixture, lol.  my guess is that everyone well on their way with this diet is rolling their eyes right about now, but that's where i am.  so any words of encouragement or
advice would be much appreciated!

oh, and i'm from northern virginia.  how about you?

hello Ioanna. Great to see more girls on taking up the raw paleo way
-Seeker

thanks, yeah, i figure i've just about sabotaged the dating scene 


thanks, all!!

[Raw Kyle]

I came from just about the same background. To try raw fish it's easiest to get it at a Japanese place fight so it seems "normal" and then try getting fish yourself and eating it at home. And for white meats like chicken or turkey some people marinate them in citrus juice which chemically cooks them and makes the texture and taste much more like cooked than raw. Two ways to ease in raw white meats. Welcome!

[goodsamaritan]

thanks, yeah, i figure i've just about sabotaged the dating scene

Maybe you will eventually date a cooked paleo man, there are more of those.
Maybe you will get to date a raw paleo man, that could be interesting.
... paleo babies... hmmmm...

[TylerDurden]

Actually I've  heard some female RPDers claim that they got more attention from men if they mentioned doing  this diet.

[goodsamaritan]

Actually I've  heard some female RPDers claim that they got more attention from men if they mentioned doing  this diet.

That sounds logical.  Men are curious creatures.

[Satya]

Hi Ioanna!

Yeah, I agree with other comments:  Raw Paleo is a guy thing mainly.  (At least it seems to be now.  We need more woman voices heard.)  So you are now in this guy's world.  It reminds me of when I was in the USAF.  Guys flocked to me, cuz I was in the minority 17% of the population.  Guys will think you are cool.  You will have your pick of the lot.

Most of us have done the rounds with every health fad out there.  It's a process, and it's not all or nothing, necessarily.  Any increase in rpd foods, with an accompanying decrease in crap SAD foods will help. 

Dairy is an iffy thing.  Just moderate it so that you can see how you feel with and without it.  No animal sucks on its mamma's breasts past child years, and adults lose the enzyme rennin to process dairy (even human milk) unless it is constantly eaten.  Something to chew on.

Enjoy the journey, fellow female!

[RawZi]

Definitely Ioanna, guys are curious to say the least when I say I eat raw meat.  Welcome, and don't worry.  People may have a different perspective on you, but it could be a good thing.  You're not run of the mill.  You are wise.

Satya, you're wise too, but with raw milk (from humans) one may not need our own enzymes as the milk has "enzymes" itself.

I've also been the only female or one of the few in classes, etc.  Guys aren't just to pick up either, they can be like (great) brothers, etc.  Truthfully, I'm not sure I've met a RPD in person.  Maybe if I told more people how I eat, I'd find out.

Raw breast milk from a medically certified woman has growth hormone and colostrum has stem cells.

Some places even use it for cancer treatment, it is that much of a boost to the immune system.

Do they mean pasteurized breast milk?

That is probably just as bad as cow's milk.

Rockefeller in his old age used to order breast milk from a bank.

Yeah, I agree with other comments:  Raw Paleo is a guy thing mainly.  (At least it seems to be now.  We need more woman voices heard.)  So you are now in this guy's world.  It reminds me of when I was in the USAF.  Guys flocked to me, cuz I was in the minority 17% of the population.  Guys will think you are cool.  You will have your pick of the lot.

... 

Dairy is an iffy thing.  Just moderate it so that you can see how you feel with and without it.  No animal sucks on its mamma's breasts past child years, and adults lose the enzyme rennin to process dairy (even human milk) unless it is constantly eaten.  Something to chew on.

[Satya]

Satya, you're wise too, but with raw milk (from humans) one may not need our own enzymes as the milk has "enzymes" itself.

Raw milk has enzymes, but those enzymes don't digest the proteins in milk for us.  Mammals need to coagulate milk in their stomachs so it doesn't pass through without initial protein digestion.  Rennin (chymosin) does this for the infant animal, for whom the milk is intended.  Pepsin can do it in older animals who have lost rennin, but it is not as good at this always.

To get milk, an animal must be lactating, which means the animal must be pregnant most of the time.  This depletes the health of the animal.  Thus, I feel strongly that any dairy consumption should be highly seasonal if at all.  Anyone with weight or hormonal problems would do well to severely limit dairy consumption.  That's because even pristinely raise cows produce IGF-1 and other growth factors in their milk.  But conventional rBGH treated cows have more IGF-1 than organic.  These are implicated in reproductive cancers.

All said, I do consume raw, fermented dairy products on occasion in the winter only, but it's a cheat food.  I never drink milk.  Dairy is not a health food.  It's a crutch.

[RawZi]

    LOL maybe Rockefeller ate raw meat to help himself, but for a few extra stemcells and some hoohah fun bought the aforementioned breastmilk, it's wellknown!  I've given my breastmilk to several.  I nursed one everyday six and a half times longer than how long I was pregnant.  This one is adult now and just surprised me out of the blue and verbally thanked me again for it, for the valuable fortitude/headstart it gave.  I hear now that Inuit used to nurse twice as long.  Look Satya, I'm a woman.  Milk is an abhorent thing to me.  Cows are treated beyond pitifully.  This is a paleo forum too, so of course, milk isn't paleo.  However, I'm not so sure homemade kefir or kumhos is not a healthfood, in some circles, or could be.  Commercial organic milk is garbage, but we're not all into commercial, the one who do dairy here.  I'm not sure about Ioanna's though.  I'm sure we'll all come to the right answers when we're ready.  One thing, although nursing may have been hard on my bones if I did not eat enough, my body had much greater healing while nursing, as if I was eating rawmeat, even though I wasn't.        

Raw milk has enzymes, but those enzymes don't digest the proteins in milk for us.  Mammals need to coagulate milk in their stomachs so it doesn't pass through without initial protein digestion.  Rennin (chymosin) does this for the infant animal, for whom the milk is intended.  Pepsin can do it in older animals who have lost rennin, but it is not as good at this always.

To get milk, an animal must be lactating, which means the animal must be pregnant most of the time.  This depletes the health of the animal.  Thus, I feel strongly that any dairy consumption should be highly seasonal if at all.  Anyone with weight or hormonal problems would do well to severely limit dairy consumption.  That's because even pristinely raise cows produce IGF-1 and other growth factors in their milk.  But conventional rBGH treated cows have more IGF-1 than organic.  These are implicated in reproductive cancers.

All said, I do consume raw, fermented dairy products on occasion in the winter only, but it's a cheat food.  I never drink milk.  Dairy is not a health food.  It's a crutch.