Raw meat causing depression

[NicolaS99_]

I used to THRIVE on the primal diet. It was the literally the best thing that had ever come into my
life and simultaneously fixed almost all of my issues. A euphoric time that I miss dearly.

Being so enamored with this new found health, radiance and energy...i kept experimenting. I did
a whole bunch of fasting for a summer plus zero carb. By the time it was time to eat after 48hrs or 72hrs I was so
hungry i was refeeding on junk foods and it wasn't something that could be maintained long term.

When I tried to return to my beloved raw meat meals, the day after eating them I would wake up with EXTREME depression.
My digestion was fine, no gas, bloating, diarrhea, vomiting nothing. Just awful shaky anxious, depressed
suicidal feelings. Of course no one can continue on eating the diet if thats what keeps happening. So its
been over 2 years of not being able to do Raw Primal.

Things ive ruled out: High meat. I dont have a history of anxiety and depression. At all. I only have these symptoms after eating raw meat
and I dont have them when im eating the standard diet. I'm typically a happy, optimistic person. So high meat made no difference.
Clay and milk, juicing, eating more fat, milk, kefir, calcium from bones all have made no difference.

My efforts to pass it off as DETOX and to push through the feelings went horribly and made things alot worse. I used to
react this way off of 1lb of meat and the feelings would poof and dissipate halfway throughout the next day. Nowadays I will
get a extremely bad reaction from eating only a few bites of raw meat and the depression will last well into 2/3 weeks and
eventually dissipate.

My gut after all this trial and error has led me to believe that I depleted something while fasting. Something used in
protein synthesis or utilization. Something such as Vitamin A being necessary for protein utilization. But ive eaten liver
and gotten same reaction so its not exactly that but my gut tells me something similar. A nutrient, vitamin or mineral has been
depleted. I plan do get a hair mineral analysis, full vitamin panel, thyroid/pancreatic enzymes check.

I wanted to post this here as there are alot of experienced people on this forum with tons of experience going back to 2010.
Please please reach out to me if you know anything about this issue or have any ideas. I am really struggling right now and
appreciate any advice, theories or discussion!

[goodsamaritan]

My teenage daughter had depression problems, she was 14 when the New World Order lockdowns started in March 2020.
Vitamin SEA did the trick for her when I got a beach house and she got into surfing.

Which may be be connected to the Cosmic Death Fungus thing I've posted recently here.
https://www.rawpaleodietforum.com/index.php?topic=13904

[TnMann]

To me it sounds like your body is telling you to change it up for the time being. There are seasons for everything. Might be worth leaving meat out for a while and focusing on milk, eggs, fish, etc for protein and animal based nutrients. Instead of junk food, you could use rice, potatoes, or tubers for carbs.

You might be pleasantly surprised how light and alive you feel going primal vegetarian/pescatarian. Red meat digests nearly perfectly, but it is indeed more energy expensive and slower to digest than milk and eggs. Your body might need a hiatus is all. Depression is a symptom of gut distress as the gut and mind are intimately linked.

[dariorpl]

An economic depression is a time when the economy needs to liquidate massive malinvestment incurred during the preceding artificial boom, and the malinvestment is so massive that a lot of industries must suffer massive reorganization, be started from scratch or be entirely scrapped off the system. The problem is compounded by actors (usually govt) attempting to pump the economy back up via more artificial stimulus, which was what caused the problem in the first place.

A mental depression is often similar in nature. One lifestyle is good and healing, but can be isolating in an insane world, and the other is just artificial highs and conformity, and it can make it easier to navigate the insane world we live in.

I highly doubt your problem has anything to do with nutrition. It's probably what you think about the different lifestyles.

[NicolaS99_]

To me it sounds like your body is telling you to change it up for the time being. There are seasons for everything. Might be worth leaving meat out for a while and focusing on milk, eggs, fish, etc for protein and animal based nutrients. Instead of junk food, you could use rice, potatoes, or tubers for carbs.

You might be pleasantly surprised how light and alive you feel going primal vegetarian/pescatarian. Red meat digests nearly perfectly, but it is indeed more energy expensive and slower to digest than milk and eggs. Your body might need a hiatus is all. Depression is a symptom of gut distress as the gut and mind are intimately linked.

It's been 2 years since I've been able to do Raw Primal. I think
Thats a pretty long time. Raw fish, milk, eggs give me the same symptoms too unfortunately. Also ive done all the diets there is around town. Keto, paleo, plant based. Plant based was easily the WORST one. Never again.

[TnMann]

It's been 2 years since I've been able to do Raw Primal. I think
Thats a pretty long time. Raw fish, milk, eggs give me the same symptoms too unfortunately. Also ive done all the diets there is around town. Keto, paleo, plant based. Plant based was easily the WORST one. Never again.

If this is the case, I can think of a few causes some of which you already suspect:
1.  Enzyme deficiency. Maybe raw honey, lemon, and ginger would help (to digest sugars, fats, and proteins respectively)
Protease deficiency is my best guess because the standard diet is mostly carbs and fat. Ginger also can relieve depression related to inflammation so raw ginger might be a remedy for these feelings.

2. Detox. It sounds like you might have not completed a healing cycle when fasting. Having read "Fasting and Man's Correct Diet", the author cites many cases where it is imperative that a longer fast is not broken when the body is not ready, otherwise it will not be able to digest food properly or at all until the cycle is completed. Maybe with all that fasting you initiated one of these "healing cycles" where the body requires all energy to complete (little left for digestion).

3. Gut bacteria is somehow off. (related to detox). Maybe you dumped something toxic into the gut to eliminate. When eating certain biologically alive foods (i.e. NOT the standard diet) bacteria is introduced but the toxins alter it into 'bad/toxic' bacteria causing depression. Far fetched but maybe somehow plausible.

4. Gut bacteria is somehow off (theory 2). Your bacteria changed somehow and responds now negatively when not fed the diet you grew up with (standard diet). Similar to withdrawal, your body (mostly bacteria) is putting up a serious fight when you eat foods that are far from what it has consumed for most of your life. Hence why plant based with lots of plant fibers being the furthest from the standard diet would cause you the most grief.

5. Dariorpl's theory/Not directly related to diet. Perhaps how you approach diets is wrong. Maybe you're able to bypass this wrong mindset when you're not thinking about how or what you're eating.
Also, when eating clean food, you're removing a veil of food intoxication. Could be that the depression is linked to you experiencing a heightened and more sober reality.. one without food to numb the harshness. Not sure about this one but sounds somehow plausible