I got a private note from one of the members of this forum and was asked to respond to some questions. I thought others might be interested and so I asked permission to post to my Journal.
I'll do my best to answer your questions, but remember that anything I say is just my opinion. What I do and think are based on my experience and observations, but it really is nothing more than my attempt at answering the same questions that you struggle with.
1. Do you believe raw meat and fat is any better or even ideal for
the body? Does cooking make food "healthy"? Why do animals stay
healthy with raw meat and humans "need" to cook meat?
Yes, I have come to believe, that for me, fatty meat should make up the majority of my diet. I'm not convinced that humans "need" cooked meat, but I'm not overly concerned with some cooking. I do eat most of my meat raw, but several times per month I do enjoy a steak cooked rare - for me it is a treat. I also believe that our paleo ancestors probably ate some carbs but they would have been very limited. I expect that they ate fruit when it was in season and this would have caused them to gain weight in the late summer and early fall in preparation for winter. I believe that they probably only ate green plants as "medicine" when they became ill as most wild green plants contain chemicals that can help with pain (as an example the common willow is the source for aspirin), as a poultice for drawing out infections, etc.
I avoid all grains, beans, potatoes and other sources of starch and most dairy with the exception of butter, as I don't believe these are foods we are designed to eat. I really don't believe butter is a food our ancestors would have eaten, but I think it is a better source of fat than oils from plants and it is available everywhere including restaurants when eating out and I need more fat than is available on the meat being served.
2. Should I eat Argentine beef (grass fed they have a longer life)
or French/Swiss (grain fed; they have a short life)?
I prefer grassfed meats as this is the natural food for the animal. Grain is not a normal food for beef, bison, elk, or deer and since I'm trying to eat what I think is my natural diet, the foods I eat should have eaten their natural diet as well. I do eat grainfed meat when eating out several times per month but this is usually only 3 or 4 meals total and should make little difference. It's what we do everyday that has the most impact on our health. If I only had grain fed meats available then I would eat them and add some Omega3 back into my diet in the form of fish oil.
I eat mostly red meat from grass-fed animals (bison, deer, beef, etc) as I believe that it is the saturated fat in these animals that our bodies need. I'm not wild about lamb, chicken, duck, turkey, or pork though I will eat them on occasion. I seldom eat fish - maybe 1 or 2 times per year. When I eat these it is usually at family gatherings and they are fully cooked (Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving, etc). I only eat small amounts and often eat my normal ration of raw beef before going to the family gathering and then eating a small portion of cooked meat, salad, and fruit to be polite.
3. Is this causing a double ditox (raw food + plus this water)? It is
not just like water that you drink so could you have a look at this
and tell me what you feel about it?
I really don't believe in long term detox. I followed the diet gurus for many years and my health just got worse and worse as I ate a totally vegan diet. The gurus kept telling me that my declining health was detox - what nonsense. Our bodies do have to adapt each time we make a major change to our diet and this might make us feel ill, but this should be over in just a few weeks. Any illness that seems to be caused by the diet change that continues for the long term or gets worse rather than better over time is not detox. There is some other problem that is the root cause and it should be looked into very carefully as there is clearly something amiss.
Here's what I believe: Our diet has a major impact on our health. If we eat a poor diet then our health will suffer. We will get degenerative diseases like diabetes, colitis, Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. If we change our habits soon enough then the body will recover over time. If we wait too long then it is possible that permanent damage was done and we will not be fully restored to health - though our health will improve to the best level it can. As an example of this I had the beginnings of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, balding, and an enlarged prostate. Every one of these problems has improved but not everything is "cured". My hair has stopped falling out but what I lost was damaged to the point that it will not return. My prostate has not gotten worse and I've actually been able to reduce the medication that I take, but again, proper diet may have prevented the problem in the first place but now that I have it, diet will not totally cure it. I believe the same is true for cancer and other aggressive diseases. Proper diet can reduce (but not totally eliminate) our chance of getting cancer, but once we have it diet alone will not cure it. There are sound biological reasons for this and it would take a good bit to explain my reasoning. If you are interested I'll be happy to go over it in another note.
4. Why does my brother's girlfriend and many others not do well with
fat (she needs to vomit) and "need" rice/potatoes and vegetables with
lean meat? My mother and father eat this normal diet and claim to be
in best health too.
My experience seems to point to several different things at work here. Our bodies adapt as best as possible to the current environment regardless of whether it is good or bad. Our bodies must make enzymes and chemicals to properly break down the food we eat and it will stop making those enzymes and chemicals that it doesn't need. I know that when I went all-meat it took my body a while to adapt. It had to stop making the digestive chemicals for starch and make new and different ones for fat. I had bouts of diahrea and then constipation as my body adapted to my new way of eating. It took about 8 to 12 weeks before I started feeling really normal again.
There is also the issue of intestinal bacteria. Eating starches like rice/potatoes/bread etc feed huge colonies of yeast, bacteria, and fungus in our intestines. When we stop eating the starchy foods these colonies start to die off and as large amounts of them rapidly decompose they can create toxins (this is true detox). In a person eating a starch based diet, I've read that 80% of their fecal material is really bacteria, yeast, and fungus that have grown and multiplied on the sugars from the starch they eat at each meal. I have no idea if this is true but it makes sense to me. I do know that fecal bulk is much larger when eating starch based diet than when eating a meat/fat based diet and this bulk has to come from somewhere.
Bottom line is that converting from a starch based diet to a meat and fat based diet requires many biological changes to occur. Many of these changes cause bloating, gas, diarrhea, constipation, and a general feeling of low energy. Of course eating starch again would stop the die-off of the intestinal bacteria and stop the body from changing the digestive chemicals and enzymes so you would immediately feel better. This would make you think you "need" the starch and sugars. However, if you stick with the diet change, the body will adapt to the new meat and fat based diet and then you will feel ill if you try to go back to starch. Then you will "need" meat and fat. Hope this makes sense.
When people ask me what I recommend they eat I tell them to make most of their diet (90%) meat and fat and then 10% fresh fruit and vegetables. For the most part try to cut out all grains and starches, simple sugars like honey, dairy (except butter), beans, and vegetable based oils. Don't overdo the fruits and veggies. As an example:
I'd eat 2 meals per day of meat and fat and I'd eat until I was fully satisfied. Then in the evening I'd have a small or medium sized piece of fruit that is in season, or a small glass of wine, or a small salad, maybe 1 cup of raw greens and vegetables like lettuce, celery, spinach, cucumber, tomato, avocado, chard, onions, peppers, etc. Water should be your main drink. I'd eat the meat and fat raw or cooked as rare as possible. I'd choose grassfed meats if available but eat grainfed meats and supplement with about 30 grams (1 oz) per day of fish oil to get the Omega3 fatty acids missing in the grain fed meats if that is all that was available.
Anyway, that's it. Be sensible and do the best you can and be sure to eat a bit of what you enjoy (even if it is the occasional chocolate chip cookie) - just don't over do it.
I know the advice seems out of line with what I'm personally doing but remember that I started the "all-meat-all-the-time" diet just to see what would happen. It has worked out well so I've pretty much stuck with it. I do have a piece of fresh fruit on occasion and have been known to sneak a favorite cookie at the family Christmas gathering. 98% of the time I do my best to stick with my grassfed meat and fat and as a result I feel great.
Lex
