Expert: RawPalaeoGuy - 5/22/2007

Question
What do you think about enzyme supplements along with a raw paleo diet?  What about probiotic supplements? Fermented veggies?  i am having a psychological block towards "high meat".

Answer
I have a rather dim view of such supplements(ie enzyme-tablets and probiotic supplements) as I used them in my Raw Vegan/Fruitarian days and they had only a very small effect, as compared to the more natural alternatives I used later on, such as "high-meat" etc. The trouble with probiotic supplements is that they actually have very small numbers of bacteria per pill, as compared to "high-meat" - plus the fact that the stomach-acids tend to kill 99%+ of the bacteria that come with any food you eat, means that you get very little benefit, in the end. With "high-meat", this vulnerability to stomach-acid is much less of an issue, as it's so teeming with bacteria, by comparison.


"EM"-products are an alternative  possibility to "high-meat, if you can't handle the latter. "EM" have an extremely limited  variety of bacterial species, as  compared to "high-meat", are difficult to prepare(you need to test the PH value quite often, store at a specific temperature etc.), and are quite expensive, if you use them continuously, over a long period. Here's a standard info-page on the subject:-

http://www.eminfo.info/


As for fermented veggies, that (probably) wouldn't be a suitable alternative, IMO. Certainly fermented grains are a definite no-no as they still contain enough phytic acid and other harmful antinutrients.There's also been some talk in the various Yahoo raw, paleolithic diet groups on how the concentrated amines in fermented veg might be the cause behind certain side-effects that some people complain about when eating the stuff. All I can say is that on the few occasions when I've tried the fermented veg, it didn't have the sort of positive effect I've come to automatically expect from "high-meat", even in large amounts.

As a short-term  measure, it's probably not the end of the world to take artificial supplements - especially if one is chronically deficient in some nutrient. However, there are a number of recent studies which indicate a higher risk of mortality for those who take certain artificial vitamin supplements over a very long period, and the evidence for other artificial supplements indicates that they are mostly ineffective, with minor symptoms such as increased urination as a side-effect. So best to go for more natural alternatives, in the long-term, as they have no harmful side-effects and are more effective.

Like you, I also had a psychological block with eating "high-meat", at the start of the diet. The best way to get used to it is to just start with fresh, raw meat and eat it within a couple of days of purchase - then, after every few weeks or so, you leave it out for half a day longer than you're used to, each time, until you get used to eating (some) kinds of raw-meat that have been left out for 10 days in the fridge or more(at not too cold a temperature-setting)). In my own case, I've grown to rather like eating raw kidney, heart or tongue that's been left open in the fridge for a week or ten days or more - I therefore tend to use them mainly for making high-meat(especialy ox-heart). While some past cultures in history(eg:- Eskimos and the Chinese) have gone for "high-meat" in the form of  aged raw eggs, aged raw fish or aged raw muscle-meats, I personally prefer to stick to aged,raw organ-meats as I find them a lot more bearable in taste.

You might also consider trying only very tiny slivers of "high-meat" at a time, bolting it down without chewing,  and then chasing down each slice, immediately afterwards, with a large gulp of mineral-water. I don't need to do this any more, but it was a rather useful trick in the first few days.("High-meat" is so full of bacteria that it is self-digesting so you don't need to chew it, anyway).