Lex's Journal

[Nicola]

Hi Lex, in reply to Andrey on the thread "Mental / Emotional / Moral Transition you mentioned the following:

I'm also not "married" to Zero Carb.  If I find that it is creating unforeseen problems in the future, I'll change whatever is necessary to plug the hole.


Have you ever thought what kind of problems (you have had a few a long the way) could force you to alter your form of Zero Carb and which would these steps be?

2 meals a day? Cut out the organs? More fat / Less fat? Cooked food? Cooked meat? Pemmican? Eggs? Fish? Potatoes? Vegetables? Fruit? Fiber? Exercise?

What are your thoughts when people say meat and fat slowes down metabolism?

If you could start all over again how would you eat (knowing what you know now) and how would you feed your children?


Nicola

[PaleoPhil]

I'm not sure what study Phil is referencing, but I've read similar theories in the past and I'm pretty skeptical.  The stuff I read was poorly done and the documentation was practically nonexistent.  All they really had were some "extrapolated" guesses based on subjective comments about "feelings" after eating various foods.

I also have not found this to be true for me.  My cravings for various foods lasted long after intestinal bacteria would would have changed. 

I too would be interested if Phil had something a bit more scientific on the subject.

Lex

The only reason I mentioned the study I had heard reported, was because it seemed to support everything you said, so I didn't think it would be controversial. I'm not particularly interested in defending the study, as it doesn't hold much relevance for me beyond scientific curiosity and further confirmation of the good sense of eating a meat/organ/fat-based diet--which I didn't really need anyway--but if you're interested, here are some links:

Our Germs, Ourselves

A core gut microbiome in obese and lean twins.

I don't recall anything about "feelings" mentioned in the reports on this study.

[PaleoPhil]

Lex, how often do you have to brush your teeth on your raw meat/fat/organ diet?

[lex_rooker]

Lex, how often do you have to brush your teeth on your raw meat/fat/organ diet?

Uh ho, I'm going to get into trouble now.  The truth is that I never brush my teeth anymore.  I just use plain water in a WaterPic in the morning after my shower and that's it.  The WaterPic flushes the gunk out of the gums and from between the teeth.  I've always had calculus build up on my teeth and it doesn't seem to matter if I brush or not, the build up is about the same either way so why bother.

Lex

[lex_rooker]

Hi Lex, in reply to Andrey on the thread "Mental / Emotional / Moral Transition you mentioned the following:

I'm also not "married" to Zero Carb.  If I find that it is creating unforeseen problems in the future, I'll change whatever is necessary to plug the hole.


Have you ever thought what kind of problems (you have had a few a long the way) could force you to alter your form of Zero Carb and which would these steps be?

Well, If I started showing signs of a deficiency disease like Scurvy, or if my blood tests were completely out of line, I'd start to look into what was causing the problem and make whatever changes were necessary.

2 meals a day? Cut out the organs? More fat / Less fat? Cooked food? Cooked meat? Pemmican? Eggs? Fish? Potatoes? Vegetables? Fruit? Fiber? Exercise?

I'd probably stick with the raw meat as I'm eating it today and add a small amount of fruits or vegetables like a small apple OR a small dinner salad each day.  I'm not convinced that we were meant to be zero carb, it's just that it's working so well for me right now that I'm sticking with it.  My guess is that in our natural environment we ate some fruits in the late summer/early fall which caused us to gain weight (similar to every other animal), to prepare us for the winter months when food is scarce.  This would have been seasonal but it could be the carbs are important.  Only time will tell if I develop any diet related problems, but so far all is well.

What are your thoughts when people say meat and fat slowes down metabolism?

I don't worry about stuff like this and never think about it at all.  My weight is stable and close to what it was in my mid 20s, I feel great and that is what counts as far as I'm concerned.  What speed my metabolism is running is irrelevent to me.  I have no way to measure it anyway so who cares.

If you could start all over again how would you eat (knowing what you know now) and how would you feed your children?

I think I'd urge my family to go Very Low Carb followiing Paleo guidelines (no grains, beans, dairy etc).  90% to 95% meat and fat with a small amount (5% to 10%) of fruit and some vegetables.

Lex

[PaleoPhil]

Uh ho, I'm going to get into trouble now.  The truth is that I never brush my teeth anymore.  I just use plain water in a WaterPic in the morning after my shower and that's it.  The WaterPic flushes the gunk out of the gums and from between the teeth.  I've always had calculus build up on my teeth and it doesn't seem to matter if I brush or not, the build up is about the same either way so why bother.

Lex

Aha! Caught ya!    One of the interesting facts about Stone Agers is that their dental remains show very low rates of caries despite not having tooth brushes or dental floss to clean their teeth and gums with. They likely used twigs and perhaps leaves or hide rags. My own calculus builds up mainly where my teeth are malaligned, so I think proper alignment had a lot to do with it. I do notice that I have less white crud on my teeth and gums the closer to zero carb I go, my teeth are whiter, my gums less inflamed, and an exposed root is no longer painful.

[akaikumo]

I suspect the dental improvements and not needing to brush have to do with the fact most bacteria feed off of carbs--if you're not eating them, there's nothing for them to feed off of, which means they don't multiply and don't create acid that destroys your teeth.

I'm looking forward to that improvement--I have horrible demineralization from drinking 3 sodas a day for about 4 years. 

[PaleoPhil]

I still brush, but then I'm still eating some carbs. I do plan to try mostly raw, near-zero carb soon though, once it's convenient, since I do seem to do very well on meat and fat and my ability to digest fat is improving. I've noticed that raw meat is tasting better to me and now when I start to eat beef jerky or raw meat my mouth starts salivating an amazing amount. Makes me feel like a wolf.    The biggest problem will likely be the social turn-off factor. My girlfriend gets disgusted just from my mention of eating raw meat.

[wodgina]

Lex, so you eat raw meat, don't exercise and now your telling us you don't brush or floss...


Phil, it took me about a year or two more to digest fat properly...zero carb was the key I feel for me the first couple of months zero carb were tough though with my body/gut flora/fauna adapting. Once you get past that your fine.

[lex_rooker]

Lex, so you eat raw meat, don't exercise and now your telling us you don't brush or floss...

Tis true.  Don't tell my dentist.  He's convinced that my improved dental health is from finally following his advice to brush and floss twice a day.  I just don't have the heart to tell him the truth.

Phil, it took me about a year or two more to digest fat properly...zero carb was the key I feel for me the first couple of months zero carb were tough though with my body/gut flora/fauna adapting. Once you get past that your fine.

My experience is the same.  It takes far longer than 8 weeks to fully adapt to a major dietary change like Zero Carb.   I'd say it took me 18 to 24 months before everything was stable once I went ZC.  People who try ZC and fail because they haven't overcome all their problems in 6 to 8 weeks just don't understand that this is not an overnight thing.  It truly does require a long term commitment in addition to the total change in lifestyle with the attendant social issues.  Well worth it as far as I'm concerned, but others may feel differently.

Lex

Lex

[Satya]

I feel like anyone that cannot go at least 6 months on a carb-free diet would not have survive during the Paleolithic, when plant foods were scarcer due to colder global climate. 

Lex, have you or anyone ever noticed strange reactions to plant foods on rare occasion when you consume them?  I am finding that my tongue gets swollen parts and it feels like its burned when I eat vegetables.  I had a social event last night where I ate 1/3 cup of carrots, turnip and daikon radish cooked.  This morning, I suffer the mouth reaction.  This is obviously an allergic reaction, so I feel like I can now avoid such situations in the future by saying I am allergic.  But it's really weird, and I am wondering if anyone else has experience with it.

[lex_rooker]

Lex, have you or anyone ever noticed strange reactions to plant foods on rare occasion when you consume them?  I am finding that my tongue gets swollen parts and it feels like its burned when I eat vegetables.  I had a social event last night where I ate 1/3 cup of carrots, turnip and daikon radish cooked.  This morning, I suffer the mouth reaction.  This is obviously an allergic reaction, so I feel like I can now avoid such situations in the future by saying I am allergic.  But it's really weird, and I am wondering if anyone else has experience with it.

I never eat any plant material now so I really don't know if I would have any sort of reaction.  I can't recall any other significant reaction in the past other than the horrible experince with edema from eat from the breakfast buffets while on vacation.  That wasn't plant material related but there sure was something in the eggs/bacon/sausage that my body just didn't like.

Lex

[JaX]

I don't worry about stuff like this and never think about it at all.  My weight is stable and close to what it was in my mid 20s, I feel great and that is what counts as far as I'm concerned.  What speed my metabolism is running is irrelevent to me.  I have no way to measure it anyway so who cares.

You can take your temperature each morning for a few days after you wake up while you still lie in bed. Then find the average.

Barnes developed a unique diagnostic test for thyroid function that became known as the "Barnes Basal Temperature Test". This test is performed by placing a thermometer in the armpit for 10 minutes immediately upon waking.[15] A measurement of 97.8 °F (36.6 °C) or below was considered by him to be highly indicative of hypothyroidism, especially when hypothyroid symptoms are present. A reading over 98.2 °F (36.8 °C) was indicative of hyperthyroidism, unless a patient had advanced arthritis, which Barnes claimed would falsely elevate the temperature due to muscle contractions.

It would be very interesting if you could test that and report it here since you are one of the few truly raw zero carbers. Not that the reading necessarily means anything for a RP.

[lex_rooker]

You can take your temperature each morning for a few days after you wake up while you still lie in bed. Then find the average.

It would be very interesting if you could test that and report it here since you are one of the few truly raw zero carbers. Not that the reading necessarily means anything for a RP.

This idea presents an interesting conundrum.  The rate of metabolism may have a direct influence on body temperature, but the inverse is also true - body temperature will drive metabolism.  If I raise my body's temperature by immersion in a hot bath for example, this will cause an increase in metabolism - even when all other parameters are the same. So, without keeping mean radiant temperature, air temperature, humidity, and body covering (clothes and blankets) the same, how could measuring body temperature tell us much that is meaningful about metabolism. 

Also, let's say I did measure my temperature and plot it daily, what does this tell me about my metabolism.  Without a true objective measurement of metabolism (oxygen consumption for example) to plot in conjunction with the temperature change, how will I know if the temperature is truly correlating with metabolism, and I still don't know whether temperature is driving metabolism or metabolism is driving temperature or to what extent.

Seems a bit chicken and eggish to me with little in useful information to be gained other than my average morning temperature upon awakening, and this information in and of itself doesn't seem overly useful.

Lex

[Nicola]

Lex don't you notice a sweet taste in your mouth? When I drink water, ride my bicycle, go swimming and even when it's time to eat I have this sweet taste in my mouth. I know when I ate other meats than beef and fat this taste changed according to the kind of meat and fat I ate (horse meat was way to sweet after a time).

You also explained once that food is a liquid in the small intestines so if you eat just meat and fat this liquid moves threw to the big intestines and now comes what my mother told me: "your stools are the result of your diet/life style" and my father "I would feel uncomfortable (I think he was referring to no roughage/fiber) on meat and fat. Well last year I can remember that on most days I had a real lot of liquid (when I say a lot, then that's what I mean) coming out of me (always when I was doing things like running, rebounding) and this year I have very little stools (some more loose than others (water or fat could play a role) and am wondering what this has to do with putting on a little weight? Why would the bowls empty themselves out for over a year and then slow down? Did you experience any thing like this - you mentioned your bowls being in a good state; was this after taking something to clean them up?

Like when you experience difficult situations and try to make up a picture to understand them and this picture changes as the situation subsides/changes only to wait till the "unknown" comes back - if it doesn't my next thought is "is this normal" or "was the other normal". Your messages, thoughts, pictures have always been a grate help to get mind back into perspective.

As I move threw life I constantly have to adjust - drinking water can sometimes be in the way and not seem right; it's kind of a stomach - brain feeling!

Nicola

[William]

You also explained once that food is a liquid in the small intestines so if you eat just meat and fat this liquid moves threw to the big intestines

And in the large intestine the water is normally extracted from the contents of the large bowel and returned to the bloodstream in a healthy body.

William

[lex_rooker]

Nicola,
I guess I'm a bit less sensitive to taste than you are.  I never noticed any taste in my mouth other than what I'm eating, when I'm eating it.

It took about 2 years for my bowels to fully adjust to my all meat diet.   Now after several years they are pretty consistent - firm and well formed - but will change if I really gorge on fat.  When I over do the fat, say 85% of calories or more, then my stools will be soft and pasty rather than firm.

I don't take any supplements, remedies, or cleansers of anykind, and haven't for over 10 years now.  I just eat a consistent diet of red meat with about 70% of calories from fat and over time everything has adjusted on it's own.

Lex

[PaleoPhil]

Thanks much for all the info and help you've provided, Lex. A fairly conventional Paleo diet in which I ate only foods OK'd by both NeanderThin and The Paleo Diet (except that I ate more fatty meats and eggs than The Paleo Diet recommended) produced incredible improvements for me some years ago, but then I had been gradually experiencing some return of symptoms. I eliminated questionable foods like nightshades, winter squashes, sugary juices and the occasional cola drink cheat and that helped significantly, but figured I needed to also increase my healthy animal fat and raw meat consumption further and cut back further on carbs. Your and Del Fuego's posts inspired me to get going on that and the additional improvements have been dramatic.

Interestingly, just months after I cut out nightshades Dr. Cordain reported research results from his team that implicated tomatoes and potatoes--both nightshades--in leaky gut syndrome and autoimmune disease. It's looking more and more like nightshades are not Paleo and raw meats/organs/fats and insects were probably the foundation of the Paleo diet.

[Nicola]

Lex, been as you are healthy now have you ever tryed just eating meat and fat to appetite - no fix numbers? You may eat more or less. Perhaps riding to your shop or even going for a cool swimm before eating makes a difference in your body/mind relationship. Some journals are interesting when people connect physical activity as well as other aspects in life and going from there - trusting yourself!

Nicola

[lex_rooker]

PaleoPhil,
Glad I have helped in some small way.  I agree that most plant foods are probably not our best choices.  I do believe that we did eat some fruits on a seasonal basis, but the overall amount would have been a very small part of our diet.  I'm still Zero Carb and doing well so I'll stick with this for the forseeable future.

Nicola,
I always eat until completely satisfied.  I do measure out my food, but sometimes I don't finish it, and other times I'll go back for more.  It all depends on my activity level and the percentage of fat in my mix.  I'd say that my intake varies from 1 3/4 lbs to 3 lbs.

Lex 

[lex_rooker]

I went to the Dermatologist today for a checkup.  Since my late 30's I've suffered from precancerous lesions on my face, shoulders, upper back, neck, etc.  The dermatologists seemed to feel that such an early occurrence of this problem (most people get it in their 60's) was due to the radiation treatments I received for cystic acne when I was a teenager.

I've gone every 6 months or so for many years and each time they usually find about a dozen or so scaly patches that need to be frozen off with liquid nitrogen.  I usually come out the the dermatologist's office with little patches of frost bite all over my upper body, and they take a couple of weeks to scab over and heal.

About 3 years ago, after starting the Zero Carb phase of my dietary adventure, my visits to the dermatologist took a decided turn for the better.  They started finding fewer and fewer spots to freeze off.  About 2 years ago one session they didn't find anything, and 6 months later they only found one. 

This was my first visit in about 18 months and I was prepared for the worst.  I stripped down to my shorts and they went over me with a fine tooth comb.  Didn't find a thing - not one lesion or scaly patch.  They commented that I was in terrific shape and they wished all their other patients would take as good care of themselves as I do.

People often ask me if I've noticed improvement in my skin.  I usually hesitate to say much as I'm almost 60 so comparing my skin with someone who's decades younger is not very usefull.  In this case, I have the stamp of approval from Greene Dermatology Clinic, and they say my skin is in amazing condition for my age.

What was also interesting was that one of the doctors commented on the fact that for my age my body had very little fat, and muscle tone was more like someone 20 to 30 years younger.  He wanted to know what my fitness routine was.  It blew him away when I told him I didn't have one - never went to the gym or did any exercise other than walk to the market or post office on occasion. ( no, I didn't tell him about my diet.  They have all these charts around the office pushing fruits and veggies so you get all those antioxidants to keep you in good health.  I've found when I mention that the plant stuff doesn't work but raw meat does, their eyes glaze over and they tune out - so I no longer bother)

So there you have it. 

Lex

[Raw Rob]

That is awesome Lex, and very motivating to hear about. I'm zero-carb now too and feel so much better in regards to my skin and my insides.

[wodgina]

That's great news. If raw all meat does that to your skin imagine whats going on on the inside.

Good work on not bringing up you diet, waste of time. I would be curious to see how you would go doing weights but you seem to busy with retirement!

[goodsamaritan]

Awesome testimonial.
Keep em coming Lex.
Teach them dermatologists to learn real healing.

[lex_rooker]

Thanks to all for the encouraging comments.

Andrew, I've never really done the weight lifting thing.  It always seemed to me to be a lot like moving a pile of rocks from one place to another and then back again.  In fact, even less useful in that the way the muscles are used in weight lifting, it often creates an imbalance between muscle pairs and significant injuries result from just doing everyday tasks like mowing the lawn or taking out the trash. 

I once had a guy working for me that was a major gym rat.  He was in his early 30s and looked beautiful - sculpted and cut.  We had occasion to reorganize our office which required moving desks and filing cabinets around.  I figured it would be no problem with someone so muscular.  Well, on the second desk he pulled a muscle in his back and that was all she wrote.  He was off from work for 2 weeks recovering.  Those six-pack abs looked fabulous, but were rather useless when it came to doing anything useful.  Us 98 lb weaklings and overweight out of shape slobs ended up doing the work without further incident.

Lex