First Raw Milk/Dairy Journal (USA)

[KD]

Day 10:

I almost ate the whole piece of cheese (not too large, but about 880 calories worth) and have felt great ever since,

This makes sense. I actually stopped using any salt for a long time, but yesterday when I went for the cheese, I had an almost unquenchable thirst lasting until I went to bed. Keep in mind, I ate a whole $6 block of of the cheese which is around 900 calories. So, I'll start eating little to no cheese (it just tastes amazing and has been giving me very healthy bowel movements, which is interesting regarding something I read about Aajonus stating that raw cheese absorbs toxins or something along those lines).

yeah, I was going to say that ain't no small piece of cheese! probably better to stick to small amounts (at least during your milk trial) if you can whether Aajonus is correct or not. I think he says salted cheese or heated cheese (not that you are eating that) then IS food not a sponge or whatever.

What kind of "poor quality milk" was it that you consumed, KD? Grain fed? What type of cow?

supposedly not grain-fed, but fed on 100% hay with no pasture, kept in a barn never let outside. I actually felt awful going there.

I never read much about the whole Eat Right For Your Type diet, but recently did a bit of reading and saw that blood type B, I think it was, can thrive off of meat and dairy. Whenever I get a chance to check my blood type, I'll do it as I'm really interested. This seems to be the first time where my body is telling me what I am doing is good for me as much as I think it is. I did ok on true Raw Paleo, but now things are just above and beyond..

sure. basically the reason I eat raw butter isn't because I think its utterly fantastic, I just can't get optimal amounts of fresh fat though marrow or fresh back fat and things, and even if I could I would still probably be able to employ it in my diet whether it was eating with fruits or other foods. This week I have no dairy so just ate suet. I like to eat seafood and often there is no other animal fat that goes with seafood. Sounds kind of dumb I guess but for me thats important flexibility. I also get extremely thirsty eating just suet or other frozen fats even when I drink more. I don't get much dryness otherwise like I did years ago, but any kinds can become exacerbated without fresh fats. Of course I wouldn't really be able to tell what differnce it would make until long term yay or nay..but it seems health can considerably increase for me at least for the moment. AS you say perhaps things will change, or i'll go in the opposite direction and eat more dairy and less meat due to my ancestry, who knows.

I tend to buy into some of the other theories around dairy that like eating raw meat or raw fish it can replace specific internal materials that were formed by poor quality similar products. If people didn't have these problems accumulated in the same way, perhaps they could do better on no dairy and even cooking than I can. Or perhaps they will just have more symptoms from those raw foods. There is no way to know for certain that this is true, but I think even some old school raw guys like Van (with meats/fish) and a number or Primal Diet people (of course) have attested to this at least as being possible. I believe you are Swiss correct? i'm Swiss/Eastern European mix. My maternal grandfather was very stickly and my dad always tells me how no one in my family (As Americans anyway) was ever big or strong. so I believe to a certain degree we can fudge our expression, but its important sometimes to acknowledge it.

edit: 'perhaps i am really 'Easter' European, but I believe its Eastern

[Caveman]

Ah, yes, I am Swiss. I'm just a small part Italian, but as far as we can trace back on my father's side of the family, we are just completely Swiss. However, I heard something about a possibility that a very long time ago, one of our ancestors traveled there from the east. Were your grandparents directly from Europe then?

You sure do look "big and strong" to me, haha. That's kind of funny. My father was a real "natural" bodybuilder back in the day. He's a really short guy, but he was huge and had almost no body fat all from a typical, but healthier, Swiss diet. He told me he drank lots of raw milk and other raw dairy and of course ate regular muesli (basically real, raw oatmeal) like most Swiss folk do.

I'm much taller than him, but have also been pretty damn weak all of my life. Whether such things are encoded into our genetics or not, I believe we can always change our lives completely if we wish to do so.

[Caveman]

Day 12:

Felt good overall, but have been eating much more than usual and experienced some fatigue in the afternoon, although it wasn't as bad as I used to have it. I was trying out some D-Ribose in the last two days because I read it can be great for chronic fatigue. Turns out it seems to give me more of a sugar spike and crash than any other carb has ever given me. I felt great from it at first, and then I felt jittery and weak. I would say I felt more tired than fatigued. It's supposed to not only help with energy production but sleep. This happens with many people, although others still seem to benefit from it. Raw honey would never make me feel like this. If anything, it would affect me only slightly. So, I stopped with the D-Ribose after yesterday. I felt better before taking it.

And again, I have to say, my skin is just better than it has been in at least 6 years. Incredibly soft, smooth and CLEAR. Very happy with this. I still get some blackheads sometimes, but not real acne. There's just lots of scarring from some of the worst years in my life, but this is all behind me.

[Caveman]

Day 13:

A great day!

Only had very minor fatigue for around 2 hours or so in the late afternoon (this is when it almost always hits me, just before night time around 6 PM, and my energy levels return).

No more of that D-Ribose. No supplements besides the herbal testosterone boosters. However, I'll admit I've been eating raw chocolate in the last few days up until now, right along with more fatigue, but I don't know if this is the main cause. No more chocolate. My mom just bought a ton of it along with goji berries, and it has been incredibly tempting, but no more. Also, I haven't had that overwhelming energy and feeling of having possible high blood pressure anymore.

I haven't even touched any raw honey in two days. I don't crave it like I used to.

I have been eating lots and lots of raw dairy. Actually, today I almost only had raw dairy (besides the raw chocolate and egg yolks), but it seems like I had a lot of it. Maybe 4 cups of milk, a good amount of goat's and cow's cheese (but not too much like before), and here's the crazy part. At least half a quart of the almost fresh yellow colostrum. I just kept spooning it out throughout the day. So, in the last two days, I finished a whole bag (a little over a quart) of colostrum. It seems like I ate so much today, but looking back, I think that I just went a little crazy with the colostrum and the raw chocolate was just making me so addicted that I started craving any food and just ate and ate. I did feel better eating basically just one meal a day, so I'll try to work my way back to that and eat less.

Despite eating so much of these foods, I have had absolutely no digestive discomfort. The last time I had digestive discomfort was from combining goji berries and/or honey with anything else or yogurt.

Sleep has been fairly well, but I find myself only being able to sleep around 5 hours maximum and then being in an awake state. If I choose to and manage to fall back asleep, I'll wake up at a normal time (always a little before 7 AM) feeling like I have a hangover.

About my testosterone levels and the supplements I am taking. I have found that certain supplements affect me much more than others. Whenever I feel better in every single way, I was taking horny goat weed and mucuna. The rest of the time, I might feel slight to almost no change.

Skin remains great, however I got a sunburn today after a beautiful day and put some colostrum on my face topically. Feels great.

[Caveman]

Day 14:

Have to keep this one short. Nothing much to report on. Just a bit fatigued in the afternoon. Basically an average day, but I am still working on increasing that standard.

[Ioanna]

do you notice any differences after drinking colostrum compared to milk?

[Caveman]

Day 15:

Good day. Ate a little over 1000 calories in the morning (raw milk, raw cheese, raw colostrum) and then did some weight training around noon. My dad was using my weights and took a few pounds off of the dumbbell I use and I decided to just go with it and try doing more reps with a little less weight than usual. I felt really good all throughout the workout. It didn't feel like I was killing myself or anything, yet my muscles were burning more than usual and seemed a bit more pumped and sore after. So, it was still pretty intense and I felt great all day since training. I'll have to see how this turns out for me if I keep at it. I would always kind of do a little more weight than my muscles could properly handle, if you know what I mean. Proper form can be critical.

I am completely gaining muscle, though. I look a lot more "normal" now than I did just a few weeks/months ago. I was quite skinny. I am very satisfied with this now.

My skin is just amazing for me. I'll get a blackhead or two which tend to go away after a day anyway, but besides that I am clear and have the smoothest skin I've probably ever had.

I actually still haven't been eating any meat. My Slanker's order was supposed to arrive last week, but they were short on some of the meat, so I now have to wait another week or so. Either way, it's fine. I am still feeling better than before starting on raw dairy and have access to plenty of it. Once I start eating meat again, I'll still keep the amounts down to probably around half a pound a day or so and see how it goes from there.
 

[Caveman]

do you notice any differences after drinking colostrum compared to milk?

Not that I could tell. I know it had no negative effect, though. I think all this raw dairy, especially the colostrum, seems to have been healing me in one way or another..

[Caveman]

Day 16:

Feeling even better. I think I finally slept over 5 hours last night. It should have been at least 7 hours straight, if I can remember correctly. Usually, I would wake up at least once around 2 to 3 AM and then try to sleep again and will usually be successful and feel totally hungover when I get up.

I had about a quart of raw milk (includes quite a lot of cream), 8 oz. (1/2 lb.) of raw cheese, and about 8 egg yolks. I finished the colostrum yesterday.

Much more energy today right along with more sex drive..

I am basically eating one meal from noon to 4 PM again. I feel better this way.

[Caveman]

Day 20:

Yes, I haven't been updating daily. There hasn't been anything new until now, really. I have been doing good.

The only problem I have encountered now is..

Crazy constipation from too much raw cheese. I really need to cut this stuff out. It makes me feel good in every way.. except the fact that it's been catching up with me now and have had a few really tough visits in the bathroom. There was even just a small amount of very bright blood in the stool and the stool is very pale. If I ever eat cheese again, it'll be in extremely small amounts. When starting to eat raw cheese over a week ago, it actually helped me achieve very healthy bowel movements for a few days. However, this completely depends on how much I eat, and I have a very hard time controlling my intake. When I keep up a steady high intake of this stuff, it's no good. I've managed to get through it, though, and like I said, the cheese and constipation from it had no other or negative effect on my symptoms.

I'm really starting to miss eating meat. I've been without meat for at least two weeks now, I believe.

My mother ordered a 5 lb. bag of goji berries.. and I gave in.

Again, it's hard for me to control how much I eat of anything, usually regardless of whether it is a carbohydrate or not. I must have eaten about 1000 calories worth of this. Dammit, I know it's ridiculous, but sometimes I can't control myself. I snacked on them all throughout the day and have had surprisingly steady and great energy levels the whole time. I feel pleasantly sleepy now, but not at all fatigued. I read goji berries have a lot of tryptophan, maybe this can help me further with sleep and relaxation, although sleep has improved a huge amount already, considering I went from almost no sleep at all to basically a minimum of 5-6 hours a night now. On a side note, I read that berries can help with growth hormone and testosterone boosting. Since these berries also have a high amount of fiber, maybe it'll help clean this cheese out of me just a bit. I have taken a pretty strong stand against high fiber intake ever since my dreadful experience with high fiber diets, but I must remember there were many things at play, especially hormones, so I think there needs to be good moderation with fiber, just as with anything. Anyway, I'll see how I feel tomorrow and decide whether I should stick to a moderate consumption or none at all..

If I do well with these goji berries, I might be encouraged to try a little bit of some other fruits and see how they affect me sometime. Like I've said a few days back, I lost any craving for honey or sugars/carbohydrates in general. I think this could be from the milk, as it really is somewhat of a "complete food" when it comes to the nutrients. Since milk has small amounts of sugar in it, it could be giving me just enough of what my body wants/needs..

The only carbohydrates I've had recently has been from the milk, until now with these damn goji berries again, haha. I am feeling great, though.

I also wanted to just talk about this before I end this post. Everything has improved a lot for me health-wise (even though sometimes off and on, depending on the day), since starting raw dairy and testosterone boosting herbal supplements 20 days ago. I've been thinking a lot. Maybe all of these health improvements lie mostly, or even only, in the boosting of my testosterone levels/balancing of my hormones in general through the use of these herbal supplements. The improvements I noticed when starting RAF nearly 3 months ago could have been due to the hormonal effect which the food had on my body. Lots of thoughts about that, but I am grateful things are much better.

[laterade]

Day 20:
Crazy constipation from too much raw cheese.

I feel you on that, it clots inside of you and becomes a literal pain in the ass.
The only way I could continue to eat dairy is if I added in cooked veggies/wild rice, problem solved.
Yes, I tried raw veggies but that stuff is too rough and I feel as if I get nothing out of them.

Day 20:
I've been without meat for at least two weeks now, I believe.

   I would be missing meat also!
Dairy is wonderful but at least a pound of red meat or wild fish a day is essential, for me anyway.
Goji berries grow wild here, but they simply do not suffice. 

[Caveman]

Day 23:

Interesting. I've been eating lots of goji berries throughout the mornings, most of them soaked in some spring water, for the last 3 days.

Every day, I've had very steady energy levels. I had absolutely no crash. I would barely get any sugar besides from the milk before this, as I stopped craving raw honey completely a few weeks ago.

I used to feel like I needed the raw honey to get energy, but it wasn't always reliable for energy and also caused some digestive problems. i do feel like I would crash from the honey sometimes.

Honestly, the goji berries made me feel wonderful in every way, just not so much in digestion. I definitely ate a very large amount, though, so this is a big reason as well as not waiting long enough to completely digest them before going on to my other foods. It hasn't been very bad, just nonstop gas sometimes, and despite that, I felt absolutely no fatigue. The berries also really helped clean me out, even with all that cheese in there.

If I remember correctly, there is a study out there showing that goji berries can increase testosterone levels somewhat and help with human growth hormone production.

My skin is still just about perfect to me. Really feeling great.

[TylerDurden]

There seem to be 3 fruits that many rawists rave about.:- durian, cassia fistula and goji berries. I don't understand the interest in them, but maybe I will try them this year, if I can find them.

[Caveman]

Day 24:

Ok, once again something I need to cut out..

I'd been eating real sauerkraut bought from a farmer in the last two days and today. Sometimes my mind is such a mess. I've had such horrible experiences with certain foods in the past two years, mainly causing cystic acne. All foods which are very acidic always led to horrible, huge breakouts of cysts along my jawline. This included any citrus fruits, even apples, and recently realized also acidic cultured/fermented foods like kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut..

I'm all into experimenting with different foods, as you should know by now, and sometimes it takes a few tries to realize what's good for me and what's not.

I would always read about the digestive and overall health benefits of fermented foods and gave all these kinds of probiotic foods many different tries in the past few years. I always found that these foods had the opposite effect of helping digestion in any way. These foods would always just fill my body with gas to sometimes a painful level. I also read about the possible hormonal benefits from eating cruciferous vegetables, as to somewhat help keep estrogen levels down.

After these three days on sauerkraut again, every day I seem to have been able to tolerate eating less and less food. What I mean, is, there seems to be less room in my body for food as the sauerkraut takes up lots of space and causes lots of gas for me. In the afternoon, even hours after eating, I was struck with a tiredness that was all too familiar to me from my days of very poor health. Even later, I became quite itchy in some areas, especially along the jawline of my face. After some scratching, I found that there was a cyst forming, as I just get engulfed in stress.

I was able to calm down and stop touching the spot. No more mirrors or any touching of my face for the night. My time with severe cystic acne over two years ago has not only scarred me physically, but emotionally, so whenever I find some kind of spot, a door to deep depression and deadly stress is opened. Keep in mind, the last time that happened from food was months ago, before I started my journey with RAF. It's tough, but I've learned many ways to manage my stress that I've been able to apply now. I'll see what comes of this in the next few days, but for now I have to completely forget about my skin.

No more sauerkraut. I am sure many can have a great benefit from it, including some of you on here, but this absolutely not for me. It seems like it is even directly causing me stress as it sits in my stomach, like short bursts of stomach pain with very negative emotions out of nowhere. As for the amount I was eating, I did eat a little more of it today than I did in the other last two days, but this is still no good for me. I hope this did not cause any kind of damage to my intestines, which is what could have happened when I used to eat these foods in mass amounts, believing they were healing me.

Sauerkraut aside, sleep, energy and skin have all been quite great. I need to keep positive, no matter what. No stress.

My Slanker's order just arrived. I'll be adding meat and suet back into my diet, slowly, for two weeks now. Then, I'm off to Switzerland, where I should be able to maintain a diet of grass-fed meats, eggs and raw dairy, although most likely not in such abundance as I have it here, as prices and availability will vary.. maybe it'll be good for me. I've kind of missed eating meat lately, but I hope things continue to go well with it back in my diet again, as it's been a few weeks and definitely don't feel a complete need for it.

Looks like they were out of liver.. damn.. 

[laterade]

Some problems I can imagine with the sour kraut...
1.They used too much salt, I use very little.
2.Green cabbage is a clotter, I always mix purple cabbage in which is supposed to have the opposite effect.
3.The kraut may not be for you at this time or ever! Sorry to hear that, I love the kraut.

[Caveman]

Right..

I absolutely love kraut as well. Actually, I love all fermented foods, especially yogurt, which gives me even worse gas to the point where it gets very painful.

I am wondering, though, if it's possible that high meat would also not be good for me in any way.

I've always wanted to try real high meat.. I guess I can make partially high meat for maybe 12 to 13 days starting tomorrow and see what that does for me. I am very curious as to what specific bacteria are formed and what their byproducts are with high meat. Maybe it's all of that lactic acid that's really no good for me.

[laterade]

Maybe it's all of that lactic acid that's really no good for me.

Ever tried clabber(really sour milk)? that will tell you if lactic acid is good for you or not.

I am wondering, though, if it's possible that high meat would also not be good for me in any way.

There is only one way to find out, I think it is very different than sour kraut and yogurt. The smell is unmatched, but I like it.

{addition} Then again, sometimes it does taste like cheese.
Be aware! High meat has female deterrent qualities.

[actionhero]

When I have raw cheese I always eat it with either raw eggs or raw salmon, never alone. It's very easy to overeat the stuff. I think most problems from raw dairy come from excessive intake of it. It was never meant to be available in such an abundance as we enjoy today. The reason lots of raw cheese can be constipating is mainly because it's the concentrated essence of liters of raw milk so your body slows down digestion to extract all the nutrients from it. I have found it's best to consume it in small amounts with a fresh fat source. It's a powerful food and should be respected just like high meat.

[Caveman]

Ever tried clabber(really sour milk)? that will tell you if lactic acid is good for you or not.
There is only one way to find out, I think it is very different than sour kraut and yogurt. The smell is unmatched, but I like it.

{addition} Then again, sometimes it does taste like cheese.
Be aware! High meat has female deterrent qualities.

No, I have not..

I just prepared half of a jar with meat this morning and will save it for at least a week and check on it regularly.

Female deterrent qualities? Sounds just like what I need.. I can't keep my girlfriend off of me! Haha. I don't really shower and only brush and floss at night, yet, she has never said anything about me smelling..

[Caveman]

Day 25:

Mmm.. meat..

I didn't sleep nearly as well as I usually would lately. It may still be from all that sauerkraut. I kind of felt hungover all day, not exactly fatigue, more tired. Maybe things will improve once again now without sauerkraut.

I had no more than a pound of delicious, juicy, grass-fed beef today, with a small handful (somewhere between 50 and 100 grams?) of suet. I put at least half a pound of the meat in a jar (half filled) to try and make some slightly high meat.

The meat totally calms my digestion in a way, whether that's in a good way or not. Much less gas, but the recent gas and digestive upset has mainly been due to goji berries and sauerkraut, both of which I'm basically done with (only a small amount of goji berries now until I run out).

I've been stressing just a little about my skin, as I felt some sore spots..

Looking forward to getting some good sleep tonight.

[Caveman]

Day 26:

Slept great.. until 5 AM. Then, I forced myself, like usual, to go back to sleep until after 7 AM. This makes me feel hungover and pretty shitty mentally, especially concentration, but not too bad. This feeling tends to mainly go away around noon. I am going to work on this and either go to bed later or actually get up and out of bed when I truly awaken.

I did my second workout of the week at noon, adding much more squats in there. My body definitely looks much better, kind of like it's finally developing like it should have in the past few years. Bigger muscles and better posture. My bloated belly is just still covering my lower abdominal muscles completely, but I know I've gained quite some muscle. More facial hair is popping up. Sex drive has improved just a little bit, yet I can't even make use of it, if you know what I mean.. so in that way, my testosterone levels appear to still be incredibly low.

Now on my second day eating meat again. Feeling really weird lately. My skin has broken out in a few spots and I get really stressed about it at times. Things were going so great overall in the last few weeks, since starting raw dairy and the herbal testosterone boosters. Taking a step back like this really stresses me, because it just makes the puzzle a little harder for me. I really started feeling like shit from the sauerkraut which I consumed throughout 2 to 3 days, but I cut that out two days ago. Goji berries didn't give me a problem in any way, but I'm out now anyway, so no more of those. The only other real thing I changed is adding meat back into my diet. Maybe it was more-so the lack of meat which had improved many things for me during the recent weeks.

The one benefit, if that's what it is, I get from meat is that it somewhat calms my digestion. Almost no gas. when I was on only dairy and eggs, gas wasn't a problem either, it's just that the addition of Goji berries started causing lots of gas, and once I got some meat in there as well, it kind of eliminated it. I am hoping this isn't a bad thing..

I'm seriously thinking about not eating meat anymore, if that's what is best for me. Maybe I just don't need it. I get plenty of nutrients from dairy and eggs and have felt great eating only that during the time I only had access to those foods.

[Tysilleyhelath]

I just joined this group today and can't believe how much your story sounds just like mine! I was a raw vegetarian for 3 years, (the two kids I had around that time now have teeth issues). I started having serious deterioration in my gum line and decided to see what was out there. It's frustrating because when I was raw I felt great and my skin looked great, but then my teeth started deteriorating and hurting. I thought adding raw milk was the answer, but it didn't seem to help my teeth. I didn't actually notice much of a difference except it may have actually made me break out a little. Before I went raw I had pretty bad acne and dark circles under my eyes. I always had rashes and lots of allergies when I was younger, which my mom figured regular amounts of antibiotics would clear it right up. When I was a teenager my skin seemed to clear up, although yeast infections were common. However, after my first child my skin started having problems with acne and rashes again. I thought I had found the answer with the raw diet, after all you should be able to get all the fat you need from avocados! That was a joke. Sadly, it's hard to know if the diet is exactly right for you or not. The first 2 years it seemed everything was perfect. Then my teeth started hurting and my digestive tract sounds just like yours, completely out of whack. I'm constipated most of the time and tired all the time.  I thought I should try Weston Price, since my friend had been telling me about him for years. I added raw yogurt, sauerkraut and good broth and meat all from grass fed cows and my skin looks 10 times worse then even a month ago. Everyone told me broth was very healing to the intestines and I need good probiotics for my bowels, however should it be causing this much tiredness, depression, and PIMPLES! Then I have people tell me that my intestines are so bad that it's just clearing out the "bad" bacteria and my skin is just showing a detox effect from it. I just don't know. Well, that's not true, I only know not to eat grains and that sprouted bread still has phytic acid in it.

I joined this group because I read The Recipe for Living Without Disease, however still have not gotten up the nerve to eat any raw meat or fat, except for the ordering of coconut oil. I do know that any grass fed butter or cheese makes me break out immediately.  My husband absolutely forbids me to do the high meat. He doesn't want me to do the raw meat, however knows I am desperate.  I have been reading through everyone's posts about raw milk and believe that some people have ancestors that drank it and therefore have a more positive reaction to it. I don't really have a negative reaction to the raw milk, but can't do anything else; butter, cheese, or yogurt without reacting. Seeing your post about reacting to the yogurt was gratifying because I have a chiropractor that keeps telling me that I should only be consuming milk if it is cultured. While I do make Kefir, I only use a small amount of it in smoothies. I'm kind of at a loss of what is good for me and what is not, I just am done with the breakouts and feeling tired.  It seems if you put everyone's opinions together all foods would both be bad and good, whether cooked or raw. I'd like to find more things to eat besides only a couple of ideas, I'm afraid after a couple years my body will develop an allergy to it, which is why I want to eat foods in season. Also, have you tried muscle testing your food to see if it's good for your body? It's not foolproof, but can be helpful. Most of the time I don't listen to it because I'm always listening to everyone else about what is healthy, but it's worth a try. I also wanted to ask if the meat is still considered raw if you soak it in a brine and then cold smoke it. I cannot get myself to take a bite of just raw meat, so I thought smoking it first might give it a better flavor.  Also, has anyone found anything besides high meat that heals constipation? Also, remember that drinking raw milk, just like everything else, is a seasonal thing. In the winter people in general would eat more meat and less milk because the cow/goat/sheep didn't have any to give. I think nothing is good 100% of the time and our bodies likes to take breaks from foods, that's why the earth only grows apples in the fall and oranges in the winter. If we're going to eat them, this is when we should eat them. Sorry, had to throw that in there because I kept thinking about it while reading posts, but no one seemed to post anything about it. I'm anxiously awaiting more posts about how the raw milk and meat are going for you.
Sorry for posting here, I was just amazed at how similar the food problems were.

[laterade]

Meat soaked in brine and or smoked would not be considered raw in my opinion. Not to say you shouldn't eat it. I recommend making gourmet traditional raw dishes when starting to eat raw meat. This is what I did as the idea of eating raw meat made my throat close up. Now I eat a kilo a day without flavoring.
Perhaps you should post something in the welcoming place, this thread is for discussing caveman's diary.

[Caveman]

I just joined this group today and can't believe how much your story sounds just like mine! I was a raw vegetarian for 3 years, (the two kids I had around that time now have teeth issues). I started having serious deterioration in my gum line and decided to see what was out there. It's frustrating because when I was raw I felt great and my skin looked great, but then my teeth started deteriorating and hurting. I thought adding raw milk was the answer, but it didn't seem to help my teeth. I didn't actually notice much of a difference except it may have actually made me break out a little. Before I went raw I had pretty bad acne and dark circles under my eyes. I always had rashes and lots of allergies when I was younger, which my mom figured regular amounts of antibiotics would clear it right up. When I was a teenager my skin seemed to clear up, although yeast infections were common. However, after my first child my skin started having problems with acne and rashes again. I thought I had found the answer with the raw diet, after all you should be able to get all the fat you need from avocados! That was a joke. Sadly, it's hard to know if the diet is exactly right for you or not. The first 2 years it seemed everything was perfect. Then my teeth started hurting and my digestive tract sounds just like yours, completely out of whack. I'm constipated most of the time and tired all the time.  I thought I should try Weston Price, since my friend had been telling me about him for years. I added raw yogurt, sauerkraut and good broth and meat all from grass fed cows and my skin looks 10 times worse then even a month ago. Everyone told me broth was very healing to the intestines and I need good probiotics for my bowels, however should it be causing this much tiredness, depression, and PIMPLES! Then I have people tell me that my intestines are so bad that it's just clearing out the "bad" bacteria and my skin is just showing a detox effect from it. I just don't know. Well, that's not true, I only know not to eat grains and that sprouted bread still has phytic acid in it.

I joined this group because I read The Recipe for Living Without Disease, however still have not gotten up the nerve to eat any raw meat or fat, except for the ordering of coconut oil. I do know that any grass fed butter or cheese makes me break out immediately.  My husband absolutely forbids me to do the high meat. He doesn't want me to do the raw meat, however knows I am desperate.  I have been reading through everyone's posts about raw milk and believe that some people have ancestors that drank it and therefore have a more positive reaction to it. I don't really have a negative reaction to the raw milk, but can't do anything else; butter, cheese, or yogurt without reacting. Seeing your post about reacting to the yogurt was gratifying because I have a chiropractor that keeps telling me that I should only be consuming milk if it is cultured. While I do make Kefir, I only use a small amount of it in smoothies. I'm kind of at a loss of what is good for me and what is not, I just am done with the breakouts and feeling tired.  It seems if you put everyone's opinions together all foods would both be bad and good, whether cooked or raw. I'd like to find more things to eat besides only a couple of ideas, I'm afraid after a couple years my body will develop an allergy to it, which is why I want to eat foods in season. Also, have you tried muscle testing your food to see if it's good for your body? It's not foolproof, but can be helpful. Most of the time I don't listen to it because I'm always listening to everyone else about what is healthy, but it's worth a try. I also wanted to ask if the meat is still considered raw if you soak it in a brine and then cold smoke it. I cannot get myself to take a bite of just raw meat, so I thought smoking it first might give it a better flavor.  Also, has anyone found anything besides high meat that heals constipation? Also, remember that drinking raw milk, just like everything else, is a seasonal thing. In the winter people in general would eat more meat and less milk because the cow/goat/sheep didn't have any to give. I think nothing is good 100% of the time and our bodies likes to take breaks from foods, that's why the earth only grows apples in the fall and oranges in the winter. If we're going to eat them, this is when we should eat them. Sorry, had to throw that in there because I kept thinking about it while reading posts, but no one seemed to post anything about it. I'm anxiously awaiting more posts about how the raw milk and meat are going for you.
Sorry for posting here, I was just amazed at how similar the food problems were.

Welcome! Honestly, the only thing keeping me close to completely clear is only eating raw dairy and raw eggs (at the moment). I'm sorry to hear you don't do so well on it, which is how the majority seems to be affected. My ancestors, as far as I can trace back, have all been from Switzerland, many, if not all, growing up and working on farms with lots of dairy. I'm from Switzerland myself and grew up partially on raw dairy products and raised mainly vegetarian. I am starting to think this may reflect the true diet that I may need to follow in order to heal myself. Everyone is different. I no longer believe in following a certain strict diet which many people just go on, thinking they will heal 100% on it if they follow it completely. Don't get me wrong, though, I love Raw Paleo, especially the people here and the ideas we share. I still do think this is the best diet to get into, just about for everyone. However, we really need to focus on specific foods in this diet. Just because a standard Raw Paleo diet on here seems to consist of beef muscle, fat and organs, maybe some people need to thrive off of different animals. I was doing good on raw meat for a while, but then realized it had been breaking me out and causing other symptoms. It could be the fact that it's beef. Maybe i will try other meats soon, like lamb and more fish, as it is entirely possible that my body, for some reason, cannot handle certain animals. Also, I'm getting a home blood type test done very soon, as it seems that I really fit under the category of the B blood type from the Eat Right For Your Type book. I do think there can be some things to learn from that whole idea, as it has worked for many people and it embraces the fact that every person's body is different. I like to combine as many views on health as possible, but only the ones that are both logical to me and have worked for others in the most sufficient ways. If I find there is some truth to my blood type and what foods I can handle, I will combine this as best as possible with a mainly Raw Paleo/RAF diet. I just must embrace our human diversity and the fact that many people, like me, can not just completely follow a strict diet and expect the results of another person.

Keep trying things, see what makes you feel good. We can't just claim that every symptom we get is "detox". It probably can happen, but from eating real foods, I'm really doubting it should be happening. Everything I thought was detox worsened my condition completely, which went on for a while, because I really believed in the whole idea of cleansing and detox. Sauerkraut and yogurt also made me feel horrible and broke me out like crazy..

Keep going. Know your poisons until you find your medicine..

[Caveman]

Day 30:

I just need to update, in case some people haven't seen my recent posts.

After three days on raw beef again, I stopped it completely. My face was getting very rough, dry and was breaking out like crazy. I was very stressed. Sleep and fatigue worsened.

I believe it's been at least three days without the beef now, again eating only raw dairy and raw egg yolks. Things are improving again. By that, I mean, my skin completely became soft, smooth, less dry, no more breakouts, better sleep, better mood, better energy. So, this is very interesting to me. Either I can't tolerate beef specifically, or I can't tolerate meat in general..

I hope to try other animals sometime soon. I do wonder, though, what the determining factor would be in the case of me not tolerating beef or meat in general. I am guessing it has to do with the proteins.

If my blood test shows that I am type B or AB, I'll be very surprised. This could give me some possible new specific foods to add into my diet that I should be able to tolerate. I'll be receiving the home testing kit within the next few days..