New to Raw Paleo, in search of health

[Rob]

Hi,

I have been in search of better health for a couple of years. I have tried the raw vegan thing, and it did reverse my onset of type 2 diabetes, and got me off all my meds (many, many meds) except the last half of a blood pressure pill, but left me exhausted after only 9 months to a year. Green smoothies were the cornerstone of my meal plans. I also lost 75 pounds during that time.

I am now trying to lose the rest of the weight (gained 25 back over the last year and a half) as well as continue to seek improved health. I have been diagnosed with adrenal fatigue. My naturopath told me to start eating read meat immediately oupon that diagnosis, so I looked into eating it raw.

I am probably about 75% raw whole foods now, including raw grass fed pastured beef and elk, and have been for about a year. During this year I have struggled keeping my diet clean from processed junk, thus the weight gain and the other 25% of my diet. My work and life was very high stress, and this didn't help the adrenal issue.

I found this site after buying Aajonus Vonderplanitz' books, and reading about his claims about avoiding frozen meat. My only affordable meat option is to by sides of beef cryo-packed, flash frozen at the slaughterhouse. I was glad to see at least one member here is having success with frozen meats.

My goals are to heal the adrenal fatigue, and lose about 100 pounds of excess fat, and I look forward to learning from this new community and appreciate any pointers towards both weight loss and adrenal fatigue stories and advice here. I have a lot of searching and reading to do, and am looking forward to the crash course in figuring out what I might do to find what works for me.

[TylerDurden]

OK, first off, for real improvements, it's generally claimed that one needs to eat 85% raw in the healing stage. Once you're healthy, you can re-add in more cooked if you want to(not a good idea as the body over time adapts to raw and is less able to handle cooked foods).More to the point, in articles on adrenal fatigue/burnout, they routinely recommend eating foods as little processed as possible, so the more raw you have in the diet the better.


Secondly, avoid raw dairy like the plague.My own adrenal fatigue/burnout issues only started to disappear once I cut out absolutely ALL raw dairy of any kind. Raw dairy is the number 1 unhealthy food on a raw diet, given multiple reports online.

You could also try Dr Ron's freeze-dried adrenals (or if you can get hold of them, raw adrenals from grassfed farms).

While fasting is generally frowned upon by adrenal-fatigue-related sites, I actually found that I thrived on intermittent fasting(1 large meal a day in this case, with the occasional whole-day fast thrown in here and there). I don't recommend it as such, as it's usually a bad idea for people with your condition. but you could try it once you're  much better.


One excellent food to eat is high-meat. It really helps improve mental alertness, energy-levels/improves mood etc.

[Rob]

Thanks for the feedback. I am moving back to a committed 100% raw whole foods meat centric diet. I have about 40 pounds left from my last side of beef, and have another side coming in a couple months.  I guess the local butcher will have to fill in in between. At least grass fed is easy to come by here. I will be sure to get the adrenals from the new animal, my farmer and slaughterhouse are very accommodating. Maybe the local butcher can get them for me as well. Any advice how to consume the adrenals? Quantity/frequency?

My processed and junk foods are largely in the form of delivered salads I get delivered for lunch at work. These typically have cooked deli meats and store bought dressings. I have also been known to fall into sugar spirals when traveling. The extra stress, and the fact that I sleep poorly away from home really leads me to sugary lattes, which sets me off. I know it is bad, but sometimes you need to perform for a job. I am making it a point to avoid this trap over the next year at all costs. The only reason I eat this cooked/processed food at all is because I am too tired to plan food to bring to work most nights and mornings. I am making it a point to end that cycle as well. I do prefer the raw food, it makes me feel better, tastes better, and is cheaper.

I am currently taking pregnenolone and dhea supplements for the adrenal fatigue, and am curious about the Dr. Ron's stuff and getting the adrenals from a local butcher. Is this something I should discuss with my naturoppath, or is it just food? I've read some conflicting opinions of the hormone drops, and would be into the idea of replacing them with food, but I do want the support of someone to monitor my health while I do it, so any info I can bring to my Naturopath is appreciated.

High meat is an experiment I am willing to try. We'll see how that goes. And I am glad to avoid the raw dairy. Dairy is not my friend in general.

[TylerDurden]

I have consumed lots of dr ron's adrenal pills at one time and it didn't do me any harm, so I'm sure one can view it as just food.