Has Owsley Stanley inspired you to go ZC?
No, it wasn't Owsley Stanley. In fact, I'd never heard of him when I started ZC. I had turned 50 and my vegan lifestly was beginning to really take its toll. I was looking for solutions other than drugs to deal with high blood pressure, rising blood sugar, rising cholesterol, enlarging prostate, loosening teeth, and a waistline that had expanded to 40". My vegan lifestyle was driven by trying to control major migraine headaches, as all the guru's and medical wisdom of the day said it was meat and fat that was the primary cause of all our ills.
Anyway, veganism wasn't working, headaches were as bad as ever (suffered with them for over 40 years) and I needed to find another solution. I ran across Ray Auddett's book, Neanderthin, (around 1999 or 2000) and was surpried to find that Ray was basically suffering from everything that I had and had cured himself through diet. I then found the Beyond Veg web site and got more information. I transistioned to a cooked paleo lifestyle and things got better remarkably quickly.
A few years later ran accross Jeff Purcell's RVAF Yahoo Group right about the time it started. Jeff is an amazing person and did a lot of work, providing links to resources all over the web that were related to RVAF. One of the links was Steffannson's story. I was facinated and wondered if eating only meat was actually possible. I decided to try it and the rest is pretty much history and recounted here in my Journal.
One thing I have learned is that ZC is not the Holy Grail. It is just another dietary protocol with its own benefits and drawbacks. It has worked well for me, but it hasn't solved all my health problems. I still suffer from BPH, hairloss stopped but didn't reverse, and age continues to takes it relentless toll.
Before going total ZC I was eating mostly meat and fat with a small salad or a piece of fruit (one or the other but not both) each day. I got most of the health benefits I enjoy today from eating that way. There were small gains after going ZC but I can't tell you that they wouldn't have happened anyway if I'd just stuck to my orginial protocol. When you've abused your body for 20-30 years with a totally inappropriate lifestyle, it takes many years to reverse the damage and some things are irreversible. When I switched to ZC I was still seeing improvement from the VLC protocol I was following, so my guess is that ZC may have made a small difference but I don't think it is much. Who knows, it may even have delayed things or made no difference at all. All I can say is that I feel good, and hesitate to change what is currently working. I assure you that if I notice problems, I'll change back to VLC in a heartbeat.
One final thought. Many have tried ZC and failed. My ZC protocol is rather strict and I eat a food mixture that most people would not find enjoyable. My food mix contains all parts of the animal as it contains a good bit of all the leftovers that are ground up and sold as pet food. I mix this with regular ground meat. It tastes and smells rather strong. I think my success is found in the variety of organ meats and offal that is in the food I eat and not that it is ZC. Those that try to eat mostly muscle meats even when combined with a few limited organ meats tend not to be successful in the long term. In effect, my mix contains bits and pieces of the whole animal, not just muscle meat and the common organs like kidney, heart, and liver.
Lex
Lex
