Int'resting comments, thanks (really appreciate the time/consideration that people take/make).
It's strange because I'm sat here replying with a runny nose and a sinus-related headache, which is something that I've not experienced in years since being a raw vegan. Was anyone else immuno-suppressed/weakened while initially transitioning to RAF? I'm wondering how beneficial RAF is, given the initial effects I'm experiencing (heart racing/aching, slow bowel, weakened immunity, dark circles). Conversely, I'm considering that the "cold" symptoms are RAF-related/seasonal detoxification.
On the matter of Shivambu Shastra, I'd drink my own urine throughout the day if it wasn't so unacceptable/inconvenient at my workplace. I tried just a drop in water initially and gradually increased the amount (also tried homeopathic multiple dilutions in the beginning) until I was drinking a full glass. I noticed very pronounced detoxification effects in the first couple of weeks, with a sense of wellbeing thereafter. Urine is filtered blood (plasma ultrafiltrate), so it's mainly well-structured water+salts+urea including the de-fibrinolytic enzyme urokinase, plus possibly some HGH (human growth hormone) from the night's repairs or post-workout (and more, including those substances enumerated previously - so kind).
There is no logical "need" to consume my own blood product, but I simply intuit it whenever it's appropriate. Do you know about the theories of homeopathy/isopathy? Quite int'resting methinks (and a testament to the structure potential of water).
My other question would be - why not recycle these almost haphazardly-dumped urine-dissolved nutrients? Maybe the kidneys are not so discriminate in their electrolyte/fluid balancing, detoxing discretion. What says you?
Typically, all of my water for consumption is distilled/evaporated (like rainwater), carbon-filtered and then remineralised/restructured (with salts and piezoelectric quartz), so I don't consume chlorine in that way, although I use the showers at my workplace after biking there in a morning, so ultimately, I'm bathing in chlorinated water and effectively breathing the outgassed chlorine in the steam. Chlorine impacts the body ecology (which is significant, considering we're more foreign DNA than native DNA), so avoidance is best wherever practicable. Funnily enough, I love to swim but I can't find any natural lakes (or a nearby ocean/cost) where I could swim without "disinfecting" myself!
Previously as a raw vegan, I had no real body odour, even when consuming onions and garlic, so I could've gotten away with showering at home, where I might have a chlorine filter, although as a RAFer, I really have a very pronounced body odour (like sugary fried beefburger+onions!). This is another aspect I wonder about concerning RAF, because before as a raw vegan, I could wear my clothes without constantly having to wash the stink off them all of the time.
I recently went to my local general practitioner (doctor), which is state-funded in England and asked for that 25-dehydroxycholecalciferol test (given the compromise of my tooth enamel), but the result came back as simply "not deficient" instead of a mg/dl reading -very typical covert finding! I've seen the home test kits, but figured it would be appropriate to take 5000IU during the winter, given that my sun exposure is minimal (office worker with rigid work/break schedule, and less-than-understanding management culture - yes, I should leave but the labour market is tricky in my region for IT professionals and I'm currently renovating my house).
Also, I might put forth the incidental fact that I measure out 2ml of F-CLO each day with one of my meals (along with the centrifuge-span raw grass-fed butter oil), as well as maybe a couple of tablespoons of lacto-fermented land-animal liver (rich in the carotenoid vitamin A1/retinol, but not D3/cholecalciferol). I'm speculating that maybe the D3 hit brings some more balance to the land liver, hence affording me the opportunity to have it nicely complemented on a regular basis for facilitating tooth healing.
It's well-established that photosynthesis of vitamin D3 from cholesterol is diminished during the months around the winter solstice (where shadow is longer than top-to-toe), so I find it prudent to address that somehow in the absence of vitamin D-rich food (I don't eat fish eggs or fish at the moment).
I read that lard (rendered pork fat) is rich in vitamin D if the pigs have had great exposure during whichever seasons, so I'd like to ask if anyone secures a fair amount of pork fat for mincing or whatever as a vitamin D source?
Going back to the tooth healing (I've heard a few mention it around here), some of the WAPF-types (like on the comments posted in response to various
www.nourishedmagazine.com.au articles) mention that after consuming a glut of raw milk and bone broths, along with F-CLO+butter oil, their dental fillings literally start popping out, whereby the tooth dentine is remineralising/glazing itself from within.
Has anyone had this experience on any paleo protocol, or is it simply sensationalised story-embroidery? I also read this kind of thing (chipped teeth completely reforming) on raw vegan forums and I couldn't help thinking it was in the foodlement-promoting culture.
Although I insist on wholefood-complexed supplements (foodlements), I tried (in desperation) experimenting supplementation with pharmaceutically-produced vitamin K2 (menaquinone) and it transpired that the dose of each capsule was really high (I think the brand is banned from market now), which seemed to precipitate in cerebral hypoxia (oxygen starvation to the brain tissues) after only a few days of taking it (the dose was 5mg, instead of a more normal 1mg, so I should've taken one per week, or at least emptied and weight-divided the capsule contents). Retrospectively, it was an unusual mindset to engage in that practice, for which I've forgiven myself, but it left me with a slight motor disturbance (tremor) and cognitive insufficiency (brain fog), from which I've not completely recovered. As soon as I realised that my blood coagulation (where K2 is implicated) may have been affected, I administered wholefood B3/niacin (e.g. cayenne pepper), garlic, onion, shivambu shastra, natto, ginkgo etc. to try and get the blood moving. Funnily enough, I visited the emergency room (we call it A&E) and they tested my oxygen saturation, which was 95%, where that's the very bottom end of the scale (ideally should be 99%). The moral of the story is, don't ingest man-made/uncomplexed molecules (that's the 20/20 hindsight!).
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My body really can't seem to take excess fat, whenever it's not burned in my energy cycle. Once again, I've experienced rapid heart rate and chest ache at an unwelcome time (sometimes, I wake up with it during the night as well). I've heard/read Lex mention that this subsides after months (the cardiovascular system somehow coming to terms with high fat consumption -> fatty blood) but I wonder about the organ/circulatory strain, mainly because it's totally unnatural to have a racing heart at rest.
I was hoping to fast on fluids and herbal teas today, given my seasonal detox symptoms, but frankly, I felt/intuited the need for some substantial nourishment...
So, today, I began my foray into raw pork after buying a pork fillet at my local farm shop (from free-range Tamworth pigs), which I've thinly carved into slices and seared for 15 seconds each side. Usually, if I'm going to try something, which may involve a little cheating (or at least I fancy cheating), I do it on the weekend, so it's psychologically outside the staples (habit-forming) category. I also complemented the dish with some lightly poached egg whites and raw yolks, although cooked egg whites are a re-tangled/coagulated protein, so they're a rarity (still appealing to my umami-love along with the soft yolks though!). Best to be relaxed about things, especially when you're trying something new like raw/semi-raw pork (hence the nod to the traditional cooked English breakfast, albeit without a grilled/chopped tomato etc.). I thoroughly enjoyed the seared pork, so I'll gradually transition that to raw. My favourite farm girl told me that the pork is always very fresh and the animals are extremely healthy with their woodland and open forage, so I'm happy to include that as a raw staple.
On the matter of cheating, I'll also sometimes have a nut milk (very few nuts like macadamia, pecan, hazel) with a cold-brewed (low-caffeine) organic coffee base mixed with raw cocoa+carob and a little cold-pressed local+biodynamic honey (strictly only containing monosaccharides). I'm completely anti-caffeine (typically drink only overnight herbal infusions like nettle, red clover, dandelion leaf etc.), although I occasionally enjoy this beverage as an exceptional non-paleo divergence back into the zeitgeist. Apparently, the theobromine in the cocoa re-balances the metabolic impact of caffeine (they're both xanthines), so with only cold-brewed coffee, the jitter never happens. Like I said, this is an exception, not a staple.
Returning to the weather, it's often rainy/drizzly, cold, windy and grey outside in England, so there's little incentive to even open the curtains, nevermind stepping out during the winter. I'm not afraid of these conditions because I cycle to work in all weather, but given the opportunity of retreating to a warm, sheltered "cave" with lots of nice food/beverages, and the serenity of my own space (I live alone), that is where I dwell. I'm not the type to walk around naked in my house, but my property has very large windows, whereby nosey people are always looking in, so I often keep the blinds/curtains closed. Also, many of my non-paleo but boho friends favour the indoors for self-abuse (smoking, drinking etc.), so that culture prevails (I don't drink, nor do I actively/passively smoke, considering that I only meet them in public places where smoking indoors is prohibited, thankfully!).
Does anyone here from the UK know a good source for healthier, traditional, unpasteurised beer? I have real/pale ale pubs in my locality, as well as international pubs, but I can never identify what's pasteurised/processed or otherwise...(sometimes I'll do the ethanol thing intermittently in social scenarios - like drinking wine on a date, for instance).
Maybe I should volunteer for some humanitarian work in a more equatorial clime, but I'm not a very forceful person when it comes to moving out of my comfort zone (I'm just a homebod!), so catalytic happenings are sometimes the only means for major personal shifts. Notwithstanding, I have a great capacity for introvert activity like exploring the various spiritual dimensions, psychedelic/ethnobotanical shamanism, nutritional experimentation/health activism and engaging my wider communities of friends (like
www.rawpaleoforum.com). Terence McKenna once quoted someone saying "find the others", whereby the Internet provides a means by which we can find those with which we have a true kinship, who we would never otherwise encounter in our daily footwork/headwork (maybe just through literature in the past). If one is a subversive individual (true rebels always walk alone), not necessarily accepting the norms of one's cultural/social nomenclature (e.g. relying on dentists for tooth health!), forum technologies facilitate the nexus for perpetuating one's almost innately-natural course (and giving hindsight). I know that certainly, none of my friends or family are practicing these marginalised, yet effective/self-sufficient lifestyles. Thankfully, I like to dispose of political correctness at each and every opportunity!
What's everyone think about the archaic practice of self-mutilation, as demonstrated by tribal cultures on every continent? I personally have no markings, piercings or insertions (hehe!), plus I've retained my foreskin(!), but I just wondered how everyone reconciled it with early/late paleolithic lifestyle intent...I trust that nobody collects the scalps of their opposing tribesmen! ;-))