I just ate my first steak in 20 years - what should I expect?

[Dorothy]

Eve wrote: I quit vegetarianism after four decades because my body signals were unmistakable.

Wow! LOL - you have me beat sister! 

What were your body signals if you don't mind me asking?

[Dorothy]

klowcarb - do you get your ground grass-fed beef and bison from a particular place that you trust? Do you know that they are grinding it just from one animal? Do you use sauces?

It does sound really simple.

[Dorothy]

Wolf, HIT and Eve, strange that there are fewer cuts of bison. I mean - what do they do with the rest?

I'm going to email the farm in San Antonio and ask them what cuts they have, ask more details on slaughter and feshness and then ask if they can bring some things to the farmer's market next week for me. I got hubbie some bison a couple of weeks ago to cook and he made it very rare and liked it - so that is promising. I'm in Texas - so there are some really good sources here - and therefore maybe I can get a larger variety? I also got him some raw ground beef from a farm that seemed ok and he made himself a very rare hamburger and was purring - so I think I've already been getting him used to the idea.

I've been saying for about half a year now that if he's going to be eating meat he shouldn't eat the crap in restaurants and eat grass-fed made at home because of what I learned when learning about dairy - and then I started buying it for him. He said, "Is this the same woman that told me in our last house that our kitchen was going to be "cruelty free"? I kind of turned purple and blamed it on the fact that we got dogs. He was like - This is just too weird.    Now he's watching me eat steak and knows that I'm dead serious about doing anything I can to improve his diet. Because of it he's now ready to make things, listen to all your advice and even made a lovely sauce for the raw himachi for lunch today.

And........ he was willing to wait the half an hour between the himachi and the salad even!

I read him what y'all say... and I take notes.

Thank you!

[eveheart]

Eve wrote: I quit vegetarianism after four decades because my body signals were unmistakable.

Wow! LOL - you have me beat sister! 

What were your body signals if you don't mind me asking?

My signals were craving meat! This happened when I hit that certain age and many changes were upon me. At first, I was such a purist that I wouldn't cook meat in the house because I didn't want all that grease in the air, so I would sneak through fast-food restaurants and order grilled chicken sandwiches, (chicken being less carnivorous than beef because it's white). From chicken I quickly moved on to beefy burgers. I know this sounds like a drug addict's confession, but I did feel so depraved after so many years of vegetarianism. When I came to terms with meat-eating as a nutritional necessity for me, I was able to buy and cook meat at home, but I still held to meal models that used lean meat sparingly as a side accompaniment to mounds of brown rice and stir-fried veggies, using cooking spray to keep the fat content ultra low. In spite of my proper diet, my health was declining for years. Everything ached. I tried to regain health by going to raw vegan, but I couldn't tolerate that for longer than a few days. Looking back, I think my poison was grains and my craving was for more fat. I eat no grains and a lot of fat now, and I feel so much better.

[PaleoPhil]

Another thing I've noticed is that lower quality meats like supermarket ground buffalo tend to be softer, mushier, more watery and anemic looking, whereas high quality red meats from animals that are fed more grass and less grains tend to be firmer, less watery, and more blood red; and of course there's quite a taste difference.

40 years is one of the longest periods I've heard of a vegetarian or vegan lasting. That's amazing.

[Tsurugi_Oni]

100% GF strip steaks that I've tasted were so minerally that they actually tasted moreso than liver!!!  The first time that I tried it I was absolutely dumbfounded. 

  In comparison grainfed conventional meat is just so bland.  Conventional meat is to Grain-fed what CAFO white chicken breast is to wild goose.  The difference in flavor is unmistakable.

[klowcarb]

klowcarb - do you get your ground grass-fed beef and bison from a particular place that you trust? Do you know that they are grinding it just from one animal? Do you use sauces?

It does sound really simple.

I get the grassfed from Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. No sauces, but I've recently been adding nutrient dense spices like oregano, basil, etc. I don't need them for flavor, but I add them for nutrients. I use sea salt, coconut oil and butter.

[RawZi]

I thought that pan-seared might be easiest for my husband to adjust to, but now I'm not so sure. I mean it was the closest to what he normally ate - yet it was different enough and tough enough that it wasn't exactly appealing to him.

Ground meat from the store - no way! No wonder you had nightmares.

    I only saw the steak was what you ate on this thread before that.  Of course a somewhat SAD dieter would feel more comfortable to go little by little tapering off cooking.  And it's nice you two can do it together.  You're a better "man" than me, Dorothy.  My man thinks it's healthier to sear meat than eat it raw.  He's a near vegan; because he incorporated raw cheese into his diet occasionally lately.  Maybe if I made meals like this one, he'd start eating meat again.

    Yes, from the store aajonus gets from when he's in that area, and he recommends them to clients and friends even if they are miles away.  Since then I hear he says get no meat pre-ground because they grind it all three times and that destroys nutrients.  I had some ground on a fresh machine one time rather than three, and I ate a few pounds in one night, and it made me feel well.  This one was from rather fibrous meat, so they made it edible for me (shank), as chewing on it makes me nauseas.  And no, none of the meat I was ever able to get in my mouth had added ammonia wash/rinse.  I did once try to eat some chicken that shouldn't have had disinfectant, but probably did.  I couldn't eat it and neither would my cats.  Probably many years ago I had a hamburger or bologna that was bleached.       

[djr_81]

Welcome to the forum Dorothy. It sounds like you're following a very sensible course with how you're transitioning into eating meat (and raw). It sounds like your husband is making progress as well. With a good head on your shoulders I'm sure you'll do fine.

I eat a diet of ground (single pass I think; it's still very coarse) grass-fed/finished meat and suet from a semi-local farmer here in New York. I buy the ground meat as I'me eating at least 2 pounds a day and at $5 a pound it's about the limits of what I can afford for myself. I throw some organs in here and there if I've got a hankering. I do treat myself to the occasional treat of brisket (tasty, tasty fat cap on those  ) but have to be conscious about not spending too much.
One of the best parts for me in the beginning was visiting the farm and seeing just how contented the animals are. A lot of people are disconnected with the food chain but eating meat and animals not suffering do not need to be mutually exclusive.

I did not come to this way of eating by way of ideals nor recovery from deficiencies. I started raw as I was backed into a corner with my food allergies and things just kept getting bleaker and bleaker. That said I've been eating RAF for 2 years now and I have never felt healthier in my life. I wish you and your husband the same fortune with it.

[Dorothy]

Thank you Dan. 

I have had to stop eating meat other than fish with my husband as of now because he wants to go more slowly and continue to cook his meats less and less over time and have me get him better meats instead of jumping right into raw meats. Having been a raw foodist for so long I find that eating of the meat cooked has had a some negative affects on me that I can't afford right now. When he gets to the point where he feels comfortable eating all raw I will try it again with him. I have gotten him used to raw eggs and dairy and fish over the course of the last year - so there is a foundation and trust. He's getting used to the idea slowly in his own way.

I wanted to ask you about your allergies Dan. What kinds of allergies do you have? My husband suffers horribly from allergies and if I could find others who have been helped with allergies to pollens and such that would help me a great deal in making this whole thing more appealing to him. I have gotten him raw local honey - but it doesn't help all that much.

[PaleoPhil]

I was diagnosed with a gazillion allergies, including external sources like pollens, pet dander, and so on, and I had chronic sinus congestion and post nasal drip. I was given allergy shots for many years. "Hay fever"-type symptoms were particularly bad in the summer and I thought I would have to live with them the rest of my life. Several weeks after I cut gluten grains, pasteurized dairy, legumes, sweeteners, cooked tubers and nightshades out of my diet and cut down on my intake of dried fruits, fruit juices and fruit smoothies, my allergies disappeared. It was totally unexpected for me, but welcome.

Interestingly, I seem to handle certain plant carbs relatively OK (just minor negative symptoms or none at all): roots like carrots and parsnips, organic and wild berries, and raw fermented honey (not standard raw honey).

[Dorothy]

Nice! Thanks Phil. Have you re-introduced any of that list one at a time to see if eating them made your seasonal allergies start up again by any chance?

[PaleoPhil]

Yes, I can eat limited amounts of some of them with little problems, but the more I eat, the more the symptoms return. I appear to have a more sensitive immune system than most people. Some people are even more sensitive than me, like the woman who owns the "Paleo Approved" company. Robb Wolf, the Paleo diet expert, said that if she eats sweet potato her feet get swollen badly (if I eat too much of them I get mild swelling and pain in the feet and lower legs) and even grain-fed meats bother her (I don't notice significant negative symptoms from them raw, but they don't taste as good and I don't get as much positive effect from them as I do from 100% grass-fed meats).

[djr_81]

I wanted to ask you about your allergies Dan. What kinds of allergies do you have? My husband suffers horribly from allergies and if I could find others who have been helped with allergies to pollens and such that would help me a great deal in making this whole thing more appealing to him. I have gotten him raw local honey - but it doesn't help all that much.

Both environmental and food based.
I have particular issues with pet dander, mold, and dust environmentally. I used to have really bad seasonal allergies to pollen but this has been greatly diminished since going RAF.
On the food front it really runs the gamut. The last blood testing that was done (and which I can attest is fairly accurate with how my body reacts to the foods) showed positive allergic responses to many fruits and vegetables, all nuts tested, all grains/cereals tested, all shellfish tested, and some fish I think. Also had a bunch of herbs identified. I'm so sensitive to corn in particular that I have issues with meat from an animal with it in it's diet (even so far as deer who forage off of farms when corn is in season will effect me). The only time I have issues with my food is when I "cheat" with fresh fruit or vegetables (I have Candida which flares if I ingest too many carbs hence my diet which is very low carb).

[Dorothy]

Thank y'all so much for your experiences with allergies!

I can't help but to wonder if I can do well on most whole food diets simply because I don't have food allergies. (Or maybe allergies just to the chemicals in non-whole foods?) So many diets could be effective just because of what people cut out of their diet that is bad for them specifically I would venture to guess - perhaps more than the benefit of what they are actually eating.

Hubbie is so allergic generally that I'm sure he has lots of food allergies. Probably it would be a good thing to get him tested. How are these tests done? Would you mind educating me some on this please???

[PaleoPhil]

I had IgG and IgA antibody blood tests to foods done by a naturopath, though they only partially matched up with what foods produce symptoms in me. I scored high on a lot of foods, whereas my father, who also had it done, only scored high on a few. They do a blood draw and then send it to a lab that does the tests.