>Kirk, Welcome to the list. I am Peter and live in Santa Monica, CA. A
>vegetarian for many years, I have been on a raw, vegan diet since last
>Summer. I will be helping to moderate this list, which is going through
>some restructuring and soon will be back to normal. I found your post
>very interesting and have a few questions for you.
I wasn't around for the "normal" list so am quite curious to see what goes
on.In answering your questions, I will be honest, but know full well that
animal foods are anthema to most vegans. Please know that I have no
intention of grossing anyone out or convincing anyone of the value of
animal foods. Nevertheless, my experience is my experience...(subscribers,
don't bother reading further if you are "against" animal foods)
>Q: Do you feel any
>improvement in your health, when you are eating instinctively rather
>than just eating 'regular' raw foods?
Everything one hears about eating a raw diet (feel lighter, more body
integrity, more energy, etc.) versus a cooked diet, has been true for me
when I eat foods singly (instinctively). Both my wife and I "go round in
circles" where we mix and mix more, an pretty soon we're having salads
every night and they get less and less atractive so we make them more
complicated (culminating in the addition of onions, dulse, etc. to liven
the salad up), until we go back to simple insticto meals and feel much
purer. For me mixing is addicting to a degree. The puzzler is why/how I end
up drifting from instincto to salads? Hope to get to the bottom of this
after a time. But, in answer to your question, yes, very definately a
noticable improvement in the way I feel when not mixing. I also think that
besides muddying the metabolism to a degree, mixing prevents deeper
detoxing. Thus while eating instincto I feel better, I am also more likely
to detox (pretty minor after all these years but clearly detox).
>Q: How soon after beginning to
>eat instinctively, did you start eating meat?
>Q: Are you, in your
>opinion, any healthier from eating it? Q: Did you begin to crave it, or
>did you start eating it, because you thought it might be good for you?
Three weeks or so. I started with NO INTENTION of eating raw meat or
seafood, but experienced such a calm after a few weeks raw vegan that I
simply became curious as to the taste of animal foods. We went to a sushi
bar and ordered sashimi, most of which was denatured, but my first taste of
tuna, though very mildy flavored when fresh, was something. I felt
metabolic dominoes falling down throughout my organism, VERY pleasantly so.
Soon, as I did with fruits veggies honies and nuts, I experimented with any
instincto-quality animal foods could find. It is very hard to find good
meat in the states, but Coleman beef and lamb provided great pleasure.
Oysters, many fillets of ocean fish, (esp. atlantic mackeral!!!), and
walleye roe all provided VERY pleasurable meals over time. I know its
almost impossible to beleive that it isn't totally repulsive to eat these
things (and beleive me I was a tad nervous upon the venture) but when lamb
or mackeral simply melts away in a fatty/sweet glory only hinted at by, say
fried bacon in the cooked arena, you immedeately lose any inhibition. You
could care es about all the fears you had only a moment before the
mouthful. Only when the taste change comes are you reminded of how you
thought it would taste. The taste changes are so clear and the pleasure so
high (if you need the food) that you know at once as an organism-as-whole
that there is nothing wrong with the food. You are in nature's hands, even
with bone marrow and organ meat.
I'm not sure one can crave raw meat/seafood until one's body has
experienced it. I saw, and see, not reason for a philosophical distinction
btwn animal and plant foods. Indeed, I'm not sure I have any philosophical
concerns about anything anymore. Philosophy is like white noise static.
I was curious. Thats how I got over the hump of animal foods.
>Q: When you periodically eat more meat or fish like in Peru, is that
>because there is nothing better available to you, or do you find that
>need more of it under certain conditions and if so, what are they?
Its basically a supply issue. Given a source of good meat/seafood we will
eat quite a bit (40% of calories). Even in Thailand, we would've ate
meat/seafood had it been available. "Nothing better available" means
different things to different people. To me it it a matter of flavor.
Better flavor is better (as long as its raw of course). So if sea urchin
roe is collectable and tastes good, I eat my fill. Same with cherry
tomatos, cherimoyas, etc.
>Q: How much of your meat do you catch or kill yourself?
Very little. We had a raw-fed pig raised for us in Peru by a friend and I
learned how to slaughter by participating in it. I hope to one day raise,
gather, fish and hunt for most all of my food, but it isn't in the cards
right now. Hunting holds great attraction for me. Indeed, when I see
wildebeast on a science documentary I have a two-fold reaction: I am awed
by its absolute beauty and I want to kill/eat it. In a way, its the same as
with a ripe melon: I want the beauty to be a part of me. Its really not a
two-fold reaction but one reaction, deeply-seated.
>Q: Do you ever
>eat your meat fermented, and if so how advanced is it?
Fermented? The word puzzles me in relation to meat. Good meat/fish will age
pleasurably. In front of a fan the outside of a fish fillet or chunk (or
jerky-like strip) of meat will dry to a crust; the inside will soften and
increase in flavor as the result of enzymes in much the same way a banana
ripens (diff enzymes of course). If meat/fish is tasting good, it tastes
better aged. If it is not tasting good, it tastes worse aged. More
pronounced taste change too. Usually, the meat'fish will be eaten with in a
few days at room temperature. You can slow the process down by hanging in a
fridge but we usually don't bother unless we have a big supply.
>Q: Over a year
>what percentage of your calories are from animal origin?
A guess: 20% over all the years. Some years as high as 40%. Depends on SUPPLY.
>Q: Do you have
>any qualms about eating meat, ethically or ecologically?
Ethically: none. Ecologically: heaps. Note that I am not about to eat
commercial meat. You and me both don't eat factory farmed animals. Neither
would I eat endangered wild animals. Seafoods are interesting. The tastiest
fish IMO are mackeral, herring, etc. which are often used to make
industrial products including fish meal fertilizers and chicken feed.
Getting them fresh is TOUGH. Salmon, swordfish, yellowtail, are
irresistable to us if available, but must be wild, not farmed. Copper river
King salmon in June is among the finest foods on the planet. Salmon does
give me qualms, yes. And so does using electricity to clean my clothes.
>Q: If you do
>not eat insects, is it because you do not crave them, or do you believe
>that it is your psychological conditioning that is preventing you from
>eating them?
Many insects smell very unattractive. I am always curious to taste any
insects found on fruits and veggies, though they usually have little
flavor. We enjoy bee larvae IMMENSELY. Tastes like waffles(homeycomb) with
butter(larvae) and syrup(honey). I have tasted some grasshoppers in France,
where they mess with the diet and produce different flavors. Some people
rave about them. But I only eat bee larvae on a regular basis (a dozen
times a year).
I assume you asked the question because you assumed I would be in a quandry
about the inconsistancy of eating meat but not insects. I would pose this
tongue-in-cheek reasoning to you: Early tree-dwelling primates evolved on a
primarily insectivore diet. In theory, insects should taste better than
fruit since our predecesors have been eating them longer. Let's say that
the highest form of diet isn't fruitarian but insectarian. Fruit came into
the picture too late for it to be a natural food for humans. Shame, and
gross, on the people who eat fruit.
Now this is nonsense, but if you substitute fruit for insects and animal
foods for fruit, you get the natural hygiene argumaent for vegetarianism.
Well, Peter, I answered you staight and only hope that you weren't simply
goading me with your questions, but that you were sincerely cruious.
Cheers,
Kirt
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