Try this...

[sven]

Go to your fridge get a piece of red meat, preferrably lean top round red steak/london broil/top sirloin(whatever kind of lean red meat), put a piece in your mouth and chew it like a piece of gum.  Gradually swallow all the soft pieces of tissue but keep chewing the remainder.  Keep chewing. Keep chewing. eventually when all the red parts of the original piece is gone there will be a white stringy hard piece of whatever.   

my question is what the hell is this?  Fat, protein? neither? some kind of connective tissue?  is this digestible or at all utilized by the body?

[Paleo Donk]

Connective tissue I believe. I have nearly choked to death on that stuff many times. Some pieces of meat seem to have quite an absurd amount and in fact I have chewed some of that stuff for over 30 minutes and it doesn't seem to be easier to swallow. What I do though is hold one end of the wad in my mouth and pull the other side with my hands and some of the strands will break loose to small enough pieces that I can swallow. I've now realized the struggle with this tissue is not really worth it and will spit it out and throw it away, though it does make for everlasting gum if you happen to miss it.

[OnyxPoet]

thats something i have been wondering myself, among other things. Is fat even possible to eat if its raw or is it incredibly easy to choke on it? My ratio is 70% fat from cals, 27% protein and 3% carbs so i need fat for my energy but as a newbie to this diet i've only ever seen it soft when its cooked. Not to mention it seems tkin would be damn near impossible to eat although it has alot of the nutrients, especially fish skin.

However i dont mean to pirate this thread so i'll make my own for that lol, but in relativity to the posters question, is it indeed fat? if so ... is my diet even Possible with raw meat if it cant be chewed or swallowed without cooking?

[sven]

I sure hope you're right Paleodonk.  If it is connective tissue, when we eat it can the body use it?  if we throw it away are we missing out on any protein??

[ForTheHunt]

I sure hope you're right Paleodonk.  If it is connective tissue, when we eat it can the body use it?  if we throw it away are we missing out on any protein??

My guess is that connective tissue is not utilized and is the bulk of our feces

[miles]

thats something i have been wondering myself, among other things. Is fat even possible to eat if its raw or is it incredibly easy to choke on it? My ratio is 70% fat from cals, 27% protein and 3% carbs so i need fat for my energy but as a newbie to this diet i've only ever seen it soft when its cooked. Not to mention it seems tkin would be damn near impossible to eat although it has alot of the nutrients, especially fish skin.

However i dont mean to pirate this thread so i'll make my own for that lol, but in relativity to the posters question, is it indeed fat? if so ... is my diet even Possible with raw meat if it cant be chewed or swallowed without cooking?

ofc it's not fat...

[Hannibal]

My guess is that connective tissue is not utilized

It's utilized by our body.

[djr_81]

It's utilized by our body.

Agreed. It might not all be used if you're eating a ton of really gristly/stringy meat but most of it does seem to be broken down and used from my experience.

[klowcarb]

Connective tissue or gristle, and I love it!

[sven]

Primarily protein?

[Savage]

Primarily protein?

RZC gum.

Collagen is the main protein of connective tissue in animals and the most abundant protein in mammals, making up about 25% of the total protein content. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connective_tissue

I keep on chewing that stuff and then just swallow it when it doesn't have any more flavor in it.

[sven]

looks like we shouldn't throw it away

[King Salmon]

Is that the stuff that causes certain cuts to look "marbelized" or whatever that term is?

[djr_81]

Is that the stuff that causes certain cuts to look "marbelized" or whatever that term is?

Most of that is intra-muscular fat. Some is connective tissue though.

[sabertooth]

I used to chew a big wad of the stuff like gum when I first started this diet.

 I think it has to be rich in minerals?(connective tissue)

I would chew until my jaw would cramp, and my jowls beefed up considerably during the first 3 months

Eventually I lost interest and quit chewwing so much.