Hello from NJ

[Dima]

Hello everyone,

My name is Dima. I am 29/m living in NJ. I went cooked paleo about two years ago and saw great benefits - was able to get off my GERD meds. I switched to cooked ZC sometime this year; saw great results in the beginning, but it quickly became a struggle. I naturally gravitated to RZC in the recent weeks and the information from this forum was most helpful! Transitioning to raw meats, fish, organs was surprisingly easy. My main goals are to heal mild depression, anxiety, ADD and the chronic fatigue which I've had for most of my life.  All the positive lifestyle changes I've done in the recent years (diet, exercise, etc) have yet to yield any positive results with the above problems. I'm also curious to see what my athletic performance will be on RZC.



Cheers,

Dima

[TylerDurden]

Welcome to the forum!  Out of curiosity, do you have  a food-intolerance towards plant foods?

[Dima]

Hello Tyler,

I wouldn't say I have an intolerance to plant foods, however I do feel some discomfort when eating fruit and veggies. I do not experience anything like that when eating animal foods only.

[SteakNchop]

Hello Tyler,

I wouldn't say I have an intolerance to plant foods, however I do feel some discomfort when eating fruit and veggies. I do not experience anything like that when eating animal foods only.

Have you always experienced discomfort from eating plant foods? Many ZCers lose the ability to digest plant foods after going ZC.

[Dima]

I have always experienced that discomfort, but I was not aware of it until the elimination of plant food.

[yuli]

I have always experienced that discomfort, but I was not aware of it until the elimination of plant food.

Have you experimented with raw dairy, fermented dairy, fermented cabbage, fungi and sea vegetables?

oh...I am not talking of the magic mushrooms but there are a few medicinal fungi that you may wanna try.

Finally have you tried cod liver oil, for omega3 and vit D, or another similar supplement?

Also when healing mild depression, anxiety one should also consider the environment they live in and how they interact therein.

[laterade]

LOL Yuli... all this talk of psychedelics lately makes me want to experiment. 

Hello Dima, It sounds like we have much in common! I did away with GERD also. My hyperactivity (I refuse to call it ADD), anxiety, depression, and fatigue are all dissolving thanks to this way of eating. I hope you love eating raw meat as much as I do!

[Dima]

Have you experimented with raw dairy, fermented dairy, fermented cabbage, fungi and sea vegetables?

oh...I am not talking of the magic mushrooms but there are a few medicinal fungi that you may wanna try.

Finally have you tried cod liver oil, for omega3 and vit D, or another similar supplement?

Also when healing mild depression, anxiety one should also consider the environment they live in and how they interact therein.

Never got my hands on raw dairy, but ate plenty of fermented food without any observable benefit. Currently taking cod liver oil, but I found that canned cod liver is a MUCH more plentiful source of omega 3, vitamins A and D. And it is much less expensive that fermented cod liver oil. The only downside, of course, is that canned cod liver is cooked and has salt in it. Working on making enviromental changes and that's always the hardest part.

[Dima]

LOL Yuli... all this talk of psychedelics lately makes me want to experiment. 

Hello Dima, It sounds like we have much in common! I did away with GERD also. My hyperactivity (I refuse to call it ADD), anxiety, depression, and fatigue are all dissolving thanks to this way of eating. I hope you love eating raw meat as much as I do!

Thanks, actup90. Your results sound encouraging. I love eating raw meat!

[TylerDurden]

Never got my hands on raw dairy, but ate plenty of fermented food without any observable benefit. Currently taking cod liver oil, but I found that canned cod liver is a MUCH more plentiful source of omega 3, vitamins A and D. And it is much less expensive that fermented cod liver oil. The only downside, of course, is that canned cod liver is cooked and has salt in it. Working on making enviromental changes and that's always the hardest part.

  Canned foods have always been very heavily pre-cooked, so are seriously lacking in nutrients.

[yuli]

careful with the canned cod livers, I had one that was obviously spoiled and it made my mom sick, the oil is safer, even though its processed as well to some degree...they are salted and have a heavy taste, you may eat a spoiled canned cod liver and wont know till later

[goodsamaritan]

Hi Dima,  hope you enjoy and make new friends!

[Dima]

  Canned foods have always been very heavily pre-cooked, so are seriously lacking in nutrients.

I am of the opinion as well, but I found a paper (link below) which demonstrates that fresh and canned cod liver have similar nutritional value.

http://jn.nutrition.org/content/38/4/489.full.pdf

[Dima]

careful with the canned cod livers, I had one that was obviously spoiled and it made my mom sick, the oil is safer, even though its processed as well to some degree...they are salted and have a heavy taste, you may eat a spoiled canned cod liver and wont know till later

I've read about problems with Russian made canned cod liver, so I buy Norwegian. The taste is heavenly and it doesn't seem to have as much salt in it.

[yuli]

I've read about problems with Russian made canned cod liver, so I buy Norwegian. The taste is heavenly and it doesn't seem to have as much salt in it.

Yeah it was the Russian brand that was spoiled...

[laterade]

Has anyone had any experience with "Carlson" cod liver oil?

[Dima]

Yeah, I tried it. I cannot comment on it's effectiveness though. It was inexpensive and had a pleasant taste. The Blue Ice fermented cod liver oil is considered the gold standard though.

[TylerDurden]

I am of the opinion as well, but I found a paper (link below) which demonstrates that fresh and canned cod liver have similar nutritional value.

http://jn.nutrition.org/content/38/4/489.full.pdf

That study was very vague, with some of the analysis focusing only on fresh cod liver, not canned cod liver. Here is more details re loss of vitamins via cooking or canning:-

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=61


Vitamin D may not be that much affected, given the 1st study you cited, but other nutrients such as vitamin C etc. routinely get lowered as a result.

[Dima]

I forgot to include the other two links I had:

http://www.foodcomp.dk/v7/fcdb_details.asp?FoodId=0314
http://www.greenpasture.org/retail/?t=products&a=test-data

I did an apples-to-apples comparison based on the above data and the assumption that cod liver oil has the same density as whale oil. The table below lists the nutrients for 0.925g (1ml) of fermented cod liver oil (FCLO) and an equal amount of canned liver.
       
                  FCLO      Canned Liver
Vit A (ug)     687            47.18
Vit D (ug)     27.5           0.925
O-3  (mg)     282            0.105

So the canned product is worthless compared to the oil. I'm wondering why the study came up with such wildly different results. Also, I question the necessity of taking cod liver oil for someone who eats mammal liver and ocean fish. Wouldn't the same benefits be obtained by eating those foods?

[yuli]

... Also, I question the necessity of taking cod liver oil for someone who eats mammal liver and ocean fish. Wouldn't the same benefits be obtained by eating those foods?

Its not at all necessary if you are eating wild fatty fish (like wild salmon) and livers of grass-fed healthy (close to wild or wild) animals. Unfortunately I like the convenience of eating farmed meat thats often supplemented with some grains, I can't always get fresh good liver and don't have time, and there isn't always fresh wild fish at a good price. Also sometimes I just want to eat red muscle meat, I don't want livers or fish. In this case a spoon of cod oil with my hay+grain deer works just as well. Its all about convenience and what you can get, if you can get super quality meats every day then you prolly don't need it. And in the winter, it gives you a vitamin D boost which surely all people can use, or most of them.

[turkish]

Dima,
 where in NJ are you? I am in princeton area, just curious where you get your supplies for grassfed meat and raw dairy from?
 I am still in the process for finding a supply of fresh grassfed meat (unfrozen). I get my raw dairy from Penn. but i dont take much dairy, just recently started kefir - i will see how it goes.

[Dima]

Hello Turkish,

I live in Highland Park. I can't provide a source for raw dairy, as I don't consume it. Here are some ideas for unfrozen grass-fed meat:

1) Shoprite sells Australian grass-fed ribeyes. They go on sale quite often for $3.99-$4.99 per pound. The label on the package says the meat is grassfed. I was unable to confirm that with the importer, but it exhibits all signs of grass-fed: it's pretty lean and on occasion even has yellow fat. Ask the butcher if you don't see it on the shelf, they're always helpful. Oh, the brand name is Nature's Reserve.

Shoprite also sells domestically produced organic grassfed steaks and ground beef under the Nature's Harvest Organic brand. As with the above, I wasn't able to confirm their production technique, but it looks like the real deal.

2) WholeFoods on Route 1 by you sells grass-fed beef. They also sells Icelandic and New Zeland lamb, which I believe grass-fed too.

3) There is a halal butcher shop on Route 27 in Somerset. They sell lamb, goat, and a variety of organs. Always fresh. I believe goat is grass-fed, but I've yet to confirm it.

[Dima]

Confirmed the Whole Foods lamb to be grass-fed. According to their rep, the Icelandic and New Zealand lamb are both grass-fed and grass-finished.

[turkish]

Dima,
 THanks.