AboutRawPalaeoGuy Expertise I can answer most questions on Raw Animal Food Diets such as the Primal Diet, an organic, raw-meat-based diet and a number of similiar all-raw or partially raw Paleolithic diets, such as the Instincto, Weston-Price, Neanderthin, Paleo and Stefansson Diets. Can also offer advice on
how to resist social pressure to eat cooked foods etc. For further info on Raw-Animal-Food diets, feel free to browse through this website:-
http://www.rawpaleodiet.com/
Experience I have been 8 years on a 99%+ raw version of the Palaeolithic Diet and experienced numerous health benefits as a result, being fully recovered from my previous symptoms from my cooked-food days. My own individualised raw, paleolithic diet routine is mostly based on Aajonus Vonderplanitz's Primal Diet(ie 99% raw, usage of "high-meat",no processed supplements, using primarily naturally-reared, organic or wild sources of raw foods) but, for personal reasons, I have also been, to some extent, influenced by ideas from:- Instincto(ie:- taste/instinct,no raw dairy/no raw veggie juice), Weston-Price(eg: preferring grassfed meat to grainfed meat, incorporating a wide variety of raw organ-meats into my diet along with the usual muscle-meats, and Vilhjalmur Stefansson(high-fat diet, pretty high proportion of (raw) animal food), but also eating some raw carbohydrates such as raw organic/wild fruit/veg/honeycomb etc.). I'm also a firm believer in the feast-and-famine idea (ie Intermittent Fasting) as regards boosting one's energy levels, and giving my body a rest from constant digestion.
Organizations Rawpaleodiet Community(Comprising rawpaleoforum , rawpaleodiet yahoo group and the rawpaleodiet.com website among others).
Publications Allexperts and Rawpaleodiet.com
Education/Credentials BA(German) 3rd; No nutritional qualification(I don't believe in standard(misguided) nutritonist doctrine, so I don't feel the need).
Question Hi Geoff,
Let me inquire about some RAF issues. I'm always bothered with the meats variety on this diet. I know you say it is very important for a long-term success but I'd like to get more specific information on the point. Is it possible to provide variety with only lamb and beef organs available? I'm interested in this because other meats (pork and fowl) are considerably inferior in terms of quality to those mentioned above. Do you think alternating different organs from one animal may help the situation? Or should I step down to eating doubtful overpriced chicken and prefrozen fish from nowhere land?
And yes, is it necessary to eat varied fruits as well? What about fruit and fruit combining? I mean, should one eat different fruits separately?
After switching to offal eating should one from time to time consume muscle meats or fowl? Or it is better to stick to the organs provided one have constant supply and maintains it's appetite?
Finally, what about possible veal problems you mentioned recently? Is it equally not good enough if grown organically on pastures? Would you be so kind to more accurately examine this question...
frank acknowledgment,
Yuriy
Answer Well, I only know of one person (who happens to be on my rawpaleodiet) group who's maintained a limited, unvaried raw diet for a long time(he's the one who just eats a mix of (grass-fed) meat from beef, and a mix of grassfed(beef?) organ-meats normally sold as pet-food), and nothing else except water.
Most RPDers, however, like a bit of variety, now and then. In my own case, I'm pretty sure I could never have maintained this diet for long, without extra items such as raw oysters etc. - this is more a question of taste, than nutrients. Early on in this diet, I did try eating just one or two types of food(eg:- raw ox liver) for weeks at a time, and I've generally found that my appetite became greatly reduced, after a while, and I had to then force myself to continue eating the same old stuff - until I managed to reintroduce some variety in my foods, after which everything was fine, again.
Since you're planning on eating a wide variety of organ-meats from 2 different animals, rather than just individual foods, that's not so much of an issue for you, and you may be fine with it. You'll just have to experiment to see if it works for you, via alternating organ-meats etc..
I would strongly suggest, however, that you keep on looking around for different kinds of (high-quality) meat - you'd be surprised what sources of (cheap) foods you might discover, if you look around for long enough. In the meantime, I would suggest that you eat the occasional deepfrozen (non-farmed) fish or raw chicken , once a month(?) or every 6 weeks,(if you can afford it), just in case.
Re Fruits:- It's not necessary to eat a wide variety of fruits. Just make do with what you have, that'll be fine. I personally wouldn't be worried about combining different fruits together with each other, though - I've had no problems with that - though, usually, I eat them separately for practical reasons. There is, however, an acid-alkali theory which some RPDers believe in(not me), that suggests that acid-forming fruits(ie blueberries/currants/plums/prunes/cranberries) should perhaps not be eaten at the same time as acid-forming fruits(ie all other fruits).
Re just eating organ-meats:- I would strongly advise you to eat a substantial proportion of msucle-meats as well. Not even I would dream of eating only raw organ-meats. That way, even if you're only eating from 2 different kinds of animals, you'll be getting a certain amount of variety. The cheapest muscle-meats will be fine- you don't have to eat the highly expensive fillet-steak(which is usually too lean, anyway).
There's another reason to eat muscle-meats. If, as I suspect, things like raw marrow and suet are rather difficult for you to get hold of, you'll need some extra source of raw animal fat, other than beef-tongue(I've never heard of a farmer who can supply lambs' tongues). And muscle-meat will usually come with some extra white fat on it.(Though some idiot butchers in some Western countries have a habit of cutting the fat off before they bring it to the customer).
Re veal:- My concern with veal is that it's almost always intensively-farmed on dodgy soy/grains or formula-milk etc., in appallingly confined conditions. I've never heard of veal being raised on pasture(no grains) in organic conditions, but if so, that would be fine (Incidentally, the worst kind of veal is the one which is much whiter and paler in colour, as this is a sign that it's from an animal that's been caged indoors for most of its life):- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veal
Best to usually go, instead, for beef-meat from adult animals - they're generally only slaughtered at 24-30 months(for grassfed cattle) (or 18 months for intensively-farmed grain-fed cattle)- and, after 24-30 months, the meat will have the rquired nutrients you need.
