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 Hey RPG, i know that freezing is a big no no on the raw paleo diet. However,
what about flash freezing? Let me post a brief definition of what flash
freezing is.
"Flash-freezing is an accelerated process in which fish are frozen immediately
after they’re harvested. It uses ultra-low temperatures to freeze fish solid in a
matter of seconds. In fact, flash-freezing allows fish to be caught, processed,
and frozen solid in a matter of hours, not days. By minimizing the timeframe
between harvest and production, flash-freezing “captures” the salmon at its
peak of perfection. At Vital Choice, we hold our flash-frozen fish at a
constant -10° F, and then pack it in dry ice before shipping."
I just recently got in touch with my local organic store and they told me that
they can make special orders for organ meats but I was told that the meats
are always flash frozen.
Answer Most commercial freezing involves "quick-freezing/flash-freezing". Freezing meat quickly is less harmful to the meat than just leaving meat to freeze gradually in the freezer-compartment at home, but it still isn't a perfect process.
According to standard food-science studies, the process of freezing slightly damages the structure of the enzymes in the food - also, damage to the cell-walls is caused by the expanding ice-crystals which form in the process, resulting in a slight loss of vitamin and mineral-content and some dehydration, once the meat is thawed. Also, once thawed, the meat tends to age at a much faster rate than if it hadn't been frozen, and the meat will end up being less tasty, by comparison - (flash-frozen meat, apparently, takes longer to age, once thawed, than meat that's been only slowly frozen).
Generally speaking, freezing isn't the end of the world, and many RPDers have to compromise and get the flash-frozen alternative if genuinely fresh, raw meat is unavailable, at times. I'm no exception - for practical reasons, I have to buy, each month, a month's supply of prefrozen raw marrow and suet - I'm not too bothered by this, as I've found, along with other RPDers, that raw animal fats are much less affected by the process of freezing, by comparison to protein or carbs. However, I make sure that my other foods are not prefrozen.
Anyway, my advice would be to opt for the flash-frozen alternative, for now, but to always keep a lookout for (equally-priced) nonfrozen alternative - visit local farmers' markets, browse online websites for grass-fed meat farmers to see if they'll deliver nonfrozen meat, by request etc.
