Raw Paleo Diet for more than 1 year; Eczema Detox?

[alvinkim92910]

Hello,

I'm new to this forum. My name is Alvin and I'm 21 years old. Korean.

I had eczema since  birth. I used to take everything the doctor prescribed to me; the antibiotic pills, benydryl, steroid creams, basically and literally everything recommended on the internet, etc. Until one day, I began having some very frightening and torturous flare ups. Desperation to improve my health led me to search for natural ways to cure this curse.

I eventually came to find out about the Raw Primal Diet. I've been eating raw grass fed beef, raw grass fed milk and butter, and occasionally wild caught fish and free range chicken (no supplements) since November 2012.


First of all, I want to start off with saying that I have experienced outstanding, remarkable healing through this diet. Being on this diet for the first few months, my body posture would change it's shape from a kyphotic, C- posture, to a healthy and confident S- posture. I would be be able to 'feel' things better as if the nerves that were once weak and dead had been revived or more sensitive than before. Not just my physical sensitivity but also my psychic sensitivity has improved. For all my life I've been living in severe anxiety and low self-esteem and not able to make decisions on my own, but now I've become a totally confident, intuitional, and grounded person. 

Although there has been some obvious improvement in my health following the RPD, I've been experiencing some very serious and painful detox. I would have serious dry, cracked skin literally all over my body. In the beginning of the diet, it was so bad that my skin was weeping with pus and blood. When I looked in the mirror, I thought I looked like a dead person and at that time, I really thought that I might actually die from the diet. My skin was so dry and itchy, whenever I scratch it I would have flakes all over my room... Looking at my room filled with flakes literally everywhere that I had been, would make me think about not wanting to live any more. But then, I still endured it for a few-several months hoping that my eczema would go away after the detox - and I would slowly see the detoxing lessen.

It has now been a year and 2 months since starting the RPD. I am starting to doubt that this is even detox; although my health did get somewhat better from the diet. Before I had dry and cracked, bleeding skin all over my body, but now I mostly have it on my face and neck and forearms and crotch and chest. The severity of the dryness is less than it was when I first began.

Currently, I have been drinking raw grass fed milk and eating raw grass fed butter for the past few weeks because I heard that the Raw Milk Diet worked in curing the incurable diseases in some people. I still have these so called, "detox symptoms", the dry skin covering my scalp face and neck - as if I have an entire mask of dried skin on those areas.

Should I be eating or doing something else?
Do certain foods help with certain illnesses?
How long does detox for eczema usually take after being on an SAD for 20 years?
Has anyone ever had severe dry skin and had it cured?

If so, could you give some tips on what to do?

[eveheart]

I tried raw dairy products for a few days with uncomfortable symptoms before deciding that my symptoms were not detox. I read that others on this forum avoid dairy for the same reason. I tried milk from cows and goats, neither were successful and caused weakness, diarrhea, and didn't help eczema and psoriasis. You might try raw paleo - but not primal - and make sure you are getting a good source of fat.

In my personal experience, I have seen various symptoms of real detox, such as skin blisters and foul feces for a few days, but I don't believe that detox should last for as long as you describe. Detox should be a "crisis" that you get over and feel well afterwards.

You will learn much by experimenting and seeing how your body responds, but be assured that others have had the same problems with dairy "detox" that was probably dairy sensitivity.

Another clue is that your ancestral diet would not have contained dairy.

Best wishes for your recovery.

[Iguana]

Welcome, Alvinkim !

Looks like you have an uncontrolled detox, which is something bound to happen with raw diets not regulated by the instinct. Those symptoms are probably due to dairy too. Have a look at the instincto section on this forum and I would also suggest an attentive reading of GCB's book.
http://www.rawpaleodietforum.com/instinctoanopsology/who-has-read-gc-burger%27s-first-book/

Cheers
François

[TylerDurden]

I used to have very dry, inflamed skin. It turned out that cooked foods and raw dairy caused this issue.

I would strongly advise you cut out all raw dairy for 6 months to see if things improve. Raw dairy causes the most problems for people trying  a raw animal foods diet. Certainly, a  100% raw dairy diet is a very bad idea as it can cause  magnesium-deficiency and copper-deficiency, among other issues.

Many people also report speeding up their health-recovery if they added in raw organ-meats from grassfed or wild sources. Try raw  marrow, raw heart, raw liver, raw kidney, raw tongue etc.

Avoid the free-range chicken unless you are sure it has been pastured properly.

[goodsamaritan]

You need to CHANGE your current diet and explore new variants and new foods.
What you are doing now is no longer working.
You might be having imbalances, and deficiencies, you need greens maybe, other meats and not what you have right now.  Maybe do fastings. Do liver flushes, coffee enemas, see a healer. Look at infections, explore your environment, etc.

[alvinkim92910]

Thank you eveheart, Iguana, and Tyler

I do think this might be an 'uncontrolled detox' now that you mention it.
I think I'm doing okay with raw milk because I salivate when I think of it.
Although I don't salivate over the raw butter at all, I don't think I'm having any digestive issues with it either.

I know when there is a problem with digestion because I had been severely constipated and had diarrheoa for more than several years!

Miraculously, ever since I started eating raw meats and raw milk my digestive issues just disappeared. It was truly something I could never have imagined of because I suffered from digestive problems for so many long years from being on a SAD, frozen, processed, junk food diet that I began to think it was normal. Now my bowels come ,out very comfortably well and the color of my bowels are light golden brown.

I am suffering through this 'detox' (not even sure if it is detox) but I do not have any digestive problems... I really don't know if I should or should not continue consuming raw dairy.

 I think I might stop after I'm done with my 2 gallons of raw milk and 2lbs of raw butter in the fridge. I was considering stopping the raw dairy before I bought all this yesterday, but then I told myself maybe I should try this raw milk diet for one more week. So I think I might stop just to test if the detox symptoms would go away and then I will post the results here and let you guys know if it gets better or not.

I actually took a hot shower the other day and scrubbed my skin a bit too hard. That did definitely make my skin irritated and drier. Before I took that shower, I didn't take a shower for about a week or maybe even more. Through out that week or so without showering, I kind of felt my dry skin slowly peeling off or rejuvenating. I was hoping the hot shower. This time I should definitely wait longer for another shower.

Tyler what kinds of raw foods do you eat?
Once I'm finished with the raw dairy, I'm going to add some variety in my diet.
I'm gonna need some suggestions from you because you had similar problems as I did

[alvinkim92910]

You need to CHANGE your current diet and explore new variants and new foods.
What you are doing now is no longer working.
You might be having imbalances, and deficiencies, you need greens maybe, other meats and not what you have right now.  Maybe do fastings. Doliver flushes, coffee enemas, see a healer. Look at infections, explore your environment, etc.

Hi GS,
I do think that my raw milk diet might not be working anymore. I'm actually planning on cutting it off entirely once I'm done with this batch.

I've done fasting before for 14 days, done a liver flush once, and I've tried a couple enemas with the single-use ones they sell at target.  I saw an energy healer but then it costs 65 dollars a session and although I do think it is effective, I feel that the healer wasn't working his magic to his full potential in order for me to keep coming back so I stopped doing that.

I don't want to do enemas because I don't think it's natural.
I might consider doing a fast or a liver flush in the near future.
I will post my results of it when that time comes.

[TylerDurden]

I used to eat a lot of raw seafood in the form of raw oysters, raw mussels and raw lobsters. I also used to eat a lot of raw, 100% grassfed beef and relevant organ-meats as well. Nowadays, I am only able to access very high quality raw wild game, such as moufflon and wild boar, and have very limited access to raw organ-meats.

[alvinkim92910]

Can you tell me what you were doing or eating at the time your skin got healed?

[cherimoya_kid]

I would cut the dairy out for at least a month, probably 3 or 4 months, and see if that helps.

I have similar skin problems. but to a lesser degree, and vitamin D is the single best thing for them.  Eating enough animal fat (and avoiding many carbs) is also very helpful.

[TylerDurden]

I was eating a variety of raw organ-meats(tongue, liver, kidney, heart, and , to a lesser extent, liver) plus a LOT of raw seafood, especially raw shellfish like raw oysters, raw mussels and raw scallops. Most of my health-problems disappeared over a 4 month period once I cut out all raw dairy from my diet.

[alvinkim92910]

Hello everyone,

I just received my order from Northstar bison. (It was supposed to come by last Thursday, but due to an error I had to call the receptionist about it and she had my order 'next day shipped' on Monday)

Anyways, I ate some bison thymus, one bison adrenal, one bison testicle, and some slices of bison spleen -all raw.

I feel light headed. It might be because I ate one whole adrenal when supposedly I'm supposed to eat only tiny bits of it because of its' overly-dense contained nutrition.

I find that these offals have a weird smell. The smell reminds me of the smell I smelt when I was dissecting a pig in high school science class. Is this common? Or could it be due to the processing or cleaning?

In what ways are organ meats supposed to improve one's health? i.e. smoother hair, more vitality, stronger nails, etc.

I just cut the beef tongue open and I swear, it smells like that pig in science class..
Is this okay to eat? Should I stop buying from Northstar? I don't have access to farm fresh, free ranged, organic, pasture fed meats here. Except for the decent Sprouts' grass fed beef, which doesn't taste very good to me when raw.

[van]

 I buy from North Star too.  Only once has my thymus smelled off,, and I let them know of it.   You should as soon as you get your order, take it out of the plastic and rinse well under cold water, and hang from fridge or place in colanders with holes for draining and aeration.  And yes, the adrenal is Potent, small amounts only.   I have never eaten a bunch of different organs at one time, just liver, heart, thymus, pancreas and once adrenals.   

[TylerDurden]

Raw (grassfed) organ-meats have a much richer taste so take longer to get used to when switching over to a raw animal foods diet. Raw wild game has an even richer taste and takes a bit longer than that. Once one reaches that taste=adjustment phase, though, one generally prefers their taste to regular raw muiscle-meats from grassfed animals.

[alvinkim92910]

How much do you eat in one sitting? I feel like my hunger doesn't get satisfied when eating raw meats, so I keep taking a couple bites every 20 to 30 minutes.

 I can't tell whether if I'm getting full or not, as I do when eating cooked foods.

Could this mean that I shouldn't be on a RPD?

[TylerDurden]

I vary my food-intake considerably. On occasions, I have eaten a whole kilo at one sitting , other times I have just eaten one mouthful for a meal.

It is strange that you are not getting a sense of fullness. Perhaps you could add  raw sauerkraut to get that sense of fullness more easily.

[goodsamaritan]

I have a rule for myself with raw foods.  If it tastes bad, I don't eat it.  When I started with raw animal foods I shopped around and taste and tasted and ate what tasted good.  Stay away from those that taste bad.  Some kind of instincto there.

Shop around and taste around.

[alvinkim92910]

I might try making some homemade raw sauerkraut in the future.
I learned that it is very convenient to make and only has two ingredients: chopped up organic, fresh, raw cabbage & celtic sea salt (DIY Sauerkraut~2 Ingredients! on how to make)

As for now, I have tried some raw and rare cooked gf beef liver and gf beef heart.

The liver was very sweet but also had a farm manure-like taste -I didn't find it very appetizing but at the same time it wasn't very bad. Eating it raw is not necessarily a chore, but I tell myself I must eat it for my health. Eating it cooked rare is much more enjoyable than eating it raw.

I have the tongue dry aging in room temperature in front of my window. I placed it on top of a layer of foil and covered it - but not wrapped -with another sheet of foil so the meat can have some air. The tongue tastes somewhat good, but not really mouth-watering.

I found that the gf beef heart tasted so, very delicious with good texture and absorbs very easily. I ate some raw and some slightly cooked, and they both tasted absolutely wonderful! Grass-fed beef heart is now going to be a staple food for me.

I must be enjoying the beef heart very well because I problems with my heart. I've heard somewhere that eating a certain organ of an animal will help improve the same organ of your own. So I guess that's why I absorb and digest it so well.

I wish I had access to more organ meats... Like the lungs and brain - they said they outlawed thyroid because it was out-working the pharmaceutical drugs (Eating RAW bison testicles VEGANS DONT WATCH this PALEO delicacy! CHN #19). There are so many people with thyroid problems! - me and my mother being one of them. It really makes me wonder what the future holds for us...

[van]

try hanging one pound pieces of the liver from hooks in fridge to let it age for a week or more. It becomes a completely different 'animal',, very tasty then.  It's the only way Iike eating it. 

[eveheart]

I hang meat for a while in the fridge, too, using stainless steel hooks. I learned about it here on this forum.

I watched the videos you posted. In the sauerkraut one, my comment is that you can make smaller batches (perhaps in glass canning jars) a lot easier. The long fermentation period is necessary if you are going to keep the sauerkraut for many months, say until next year's cabbage harvest. However, if you're going to make and eat, a shorter ferment followed by a few days or a week in the fridge makes kraut with all the right flavor and benefits. For variety, you can add other shredded vegetables like onion, carrot, cauliflower, radish, etc.

Moving on to the raw guy's video, I would caution about "washing down" your food. The idea is that digestion is a long process that starts in the mouth, so chew your food (or at least notice the flavor), and then let your stomach and  intestines have a go at it. There is useful information when your mouth or nose rejects a food, so don't try to fool your body by making it taste like something else or wash away a disagreeable flavor. There is something completely normal about eating the parts of an animal, and a lot of the "ick" factor comes from our modern society's separation from hunting and slaughtering the meat it eats. I like to imagine myself a paleolithic person, and that helps with my 21st-century ideas about certain foods being weird or wrong.

[alvinkim92910]

I agree with you, eveheart, on how we should taste the foods instead of just swallowing them.

I believe that foods would digest better if we chew and taste the foods so it would have more open surface for the stomach acid to cover. And also it would make eating less of a 'chore'. 

[alvinkim92910]

Hey Van,

Do you think it would be alright if I dry age the liver on foil in room temperature instead of hanging it in the fridge?

I'm renting a room and I only have a mini refrigerator in my room and there isn't enough room.

[van]

I don't know,  I wouldn't use foil, at least a stainless strainer, if not simply rig up a box with dowel to hang from. Best to have air on all sides, and aluminum isn't great.    But I don't know what room temp will do.  I am interested to hear how it turns out.    It will drip, so you'll need a bowl or plate underneath. 

[sabertooth]

I place a window fan face up with a dehydrator rack setting on top, to lay my aging meat on. The constant air flow keeps it from rotting and stinking up the house. I will lay a chunk of liver on the drying rack for 24 hours or so.

[van]

Sabertooth, I'd love to see a picture of that set up, and hopefully a close up of the meat after drying?  Sounds like a great idea.