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Table Of Contents

Karl Loren's Personal Diary On The Raw Food Diet

After writing this for many days, and coming back to look at it from the top, I find it very tedious! I still keep it up to date because at the BEGINNING of my quest for understanding this diet I would have read any amount of tedious detail, looking for clues on what to expect. So, I don't say this is a fascinating story, just that it is detailed and accurate.

Here it is on Thursday, June 14, 2007, and I am finally bringing this diary up to date. Click here to jump to the place in this page where I've added new stuff. Karl Loren

Top

Saturday, September 16, 2000. Someone whose advice I take very seriously suggested that I might do very well to consider a raw food diet, and gave me information about Aajonus Vonderplanitz!'s Book, We Want To Live. The data I received, informally, was so much aligned with what I already know, and so interesting that I resolved, instantly, to get on this diet. I went out looking for the Book, but couldn't find it in any of several book stores. I found it on the web and there I was able to read the first five Chapters == they are on this web site now. Click here.

That day I started on all raw -- but that day was a day for eating out at restaurants for all my meals. I had a Greet Salad at two different places -- not knowing whether or not it was strictly all raw. What would you guess? Is a black olive raw?
I had been on the Atkins Diet -- no carbohydrates and all protein for about 10 days. I was feeling good and had lost some weight, but I had not gotten into "ketosis" yet. I didn't know if I could suddenly add carbohydrates back into my diet, staying all raw, and continue to lose weight from the 229 that I started at about 10 days earlier.
Sunday was mostly pure, Greek salad for breakfast -- we always go to a restaurant on Sundays. But, as dinner came close, our restaurant choice didn't have much to offer raw, so I "decided" to be a big sinner for one meal.
I had my normal broiled shrimp, rare filet mignon, an extra cup of drawn butter to dip not only the shrimp, but the steak and even the twice-baked potato. I must admit that I also had two Mai Tai's and salad. I didn't eat the garlic bread! Why would I tell you this -- well, it's true, and also I want you to know that you, too, can probably "fall off the wagon" and still get back on.
I had decided to give up tea and coffee on the raw food diet, and also resolved that this aberration of the broiled shrimp and cooked steak would be my last -- that was Sunday, September 17, 2000.
Then we stopped at a store and I bought some non-hormone type frozen hamburger patties. By the time they had thawed I ate my first raw beef in many years. I found it to be delicious. I just sprinkled salt and pepper on it and ate.

Monday, September 18, 2000

Monday I was pure -- Greek Salads? I had two of them for breakfast.
I had a real challenge for dinner because our company sales the week before had been quite high and the reward for all the staff, including myself, was to go to a Spa, and then a fancy Japanese restaurant for dinner. I actually had some difficulty getting across to the waiter and cook that I really did want a raw steak. This one of those "Benyhana" type restaurants where the cook prepares your food in front of you. Fun. So, he put shrimp out to cook (I hadn't ordered shrimp, but others did) and then gave me some == I gave them to my wife. He was confused -- the cook. Finally he understood and pulled out my raw steak, cut it into the usual small hunks and put it on my plate. It was delicious. I also ate the raw bean sprouts.

Tuesday morning my weight had dropped more than one pound from the day before; it was 224 1/4. I was pleased with that progress. I also felt "better."
Tuesday, September 19, 2000. I'm having a raw hamburger patty for breakfast -- it is a ground up rib eye steak. I'm experimenting to see if cheap hamburger tastes just as good as steak when rare?? The steak last night was really good and I suspect that I'll find ground up steak tastes better than cheap hamburger.
Well, no, I didn't. The hamburger actually tasted better == probably because there is more fat? For dinner I had a patty of 1/3 ground turkey and 2/3 ground rib eye -- it was quite good.
It's nice, at least until I learn differently, to eat lots of watermelon and salad.
I realize that it is the grain foods which I will probably never go back to -- those probably always needing cooking.
I'm already starting to figure what I'll do for Thanksgiving -- and my wife is wondering if I'll still be on this diet then?? Probably the hardest part of this diet is all the many people around who think you are weird. That makes me want to lose weight quickly, and get rid of my somatics quickly so I can demonstrate how "right" I was!
Wednesday, September 20 -- I awake feeling great, but the unbelievable thing was the weight -- 222 3/4 pounds -- down more than one pound in one day. I'm thinking, "I ate as much as I wanted all day yesterday. I had meat, watermelon, salad and never felt hungry. When I wanted a snack I ate raw pecans -- delicious."
There was a moment last night when I would have enjoyed popcorn, but I thought, "Oh, it's heated," and skipped it in favor of the nuts.
I've had a great day! All day, only raw meat and raw other stuff and I feel great. I drank some liquid wheat grass and bought bee pollen to see what that was like -- it was great on a salad.
I'll note here that my blood pressure, for several years has been "high" at about 180 over 105. (See Below) Doctors worry about it, but I don't. To please some others, I tried a couple blood pressure drugs. They didn't help. A doctor I trust more than others suggested that should just use garlic and that would be about as good as any of the drugs.

I'll be taking my BP soon, and report it here. 'Twas 174/92. I believe it will come down when I've lost weight and have been on this diet for some months.
Thursday September 21. My copy of "We Want To Live" arrived on Wednesday and I had read some -- including where Aajonus mixes unheated honey with ground meat! I tried that for breakfast, including a large sprinkling of bee pollen. It was delicious. I used a full tablespoon of honey and felt full for many hours.
I didn't lose any weight by Thursday morning, nor even on Friday morning.
Friday, September 22. Continuing on the diet. I took one of our frozen steaks out of the freezer, thawed it and cut it into small strips. I am still trying to figure out if expensive steak tastes better than cheap hamburger. The sliced steak was good, but it is not 300% better tasting than hamburger. I tried a raw egg in the hamburger on Thursday, and didn't care for it -- the egg was not beaten before mixing, and the white of the egg was runny in the meat. The next day, Friday, I had our housekeeper beat the egg first, then blend it in. Still didn't taste that appealing.
I am now reading the book, and read about a banana smoothie! I tried one. Two fertile eggs and one banana, in the blender. I added two ice cubes for more liquid and the cold. It was good. If you wanted something more filling I guess a bit of that unheated honey would be the right item.
Saturday, September 23. I'm feeling great. I've lost another pound, so am at 222 1/4, compared to the start of this process.
But, I FEEL great.
I've had a psoas (muscle) pain in my leg for some years -- tried chiropractic --- some help. Massage helps more, but it's been there. I figured it was aggravated by excessive weight, but perhaps there are toxins in there that add to the pain?

I am convinced that I will get rid of the psoas pain, lose weight and actually start jogging again. That would be a miracle at my present age of 69!
I have a banquet to attend tonight. When it was time to pick my menu, a few weeks ago, I naturally picked prime rib of beef. I've called to change my order to a salad. We'll see how that goes. This will also be a chance (??) to tell a bunch of friends about my diet.
I'm finding that most of my very good friends cannot believe I'm doing this! Nonetheless, they all ate cooked meat and I had a delicious salad.
I am amazed at how "political" I feel about this. Naturally if you are going to make a diet switch this drastic, you have to "believe in it." But, then you start seeing all your friends eating that burnt, dead stuff.
It's like walking in a drug area and watching pushers giving samples of drugs to children -- you want to cry out -- but this is worse because society "knows" that sugar and cooked food is good for you -- and that raw stuff is dangerous.
Well, I now know better, and feel the better for it. I'll try to keep the political stuff down to a minimum here.
My daughter, for instance, works with me every day, and she still can't believe I'm doing this. I ask her, "Have you told your children yet that their grandfather is doing this?" "No," she says.
My business statistics hit a target this last week so I'm taking the whole group out for a spa and banquet on Monday night -- it will be raw! At least for me!
September 24, Sunday, what a bummer. Jean Ross, my wife, and I have eaten at Damons, in Glendale, many, may times -- fantastic steak -- but in the old style of burnt dead meat! I took the trouble of calling to see if they would serve me a raw steak. There was quite a conference -- the manger said "yes" but the steak would have to touch the grill for at least one second. I decided that would be fine.
We got there and they had worried second thoughts. Refused to serve me a steak unless it was cooked at least some.

We walked out.
Found a Japanese restaurant where I had Sashimi -- raw tuna and my very first "raw sweet shrimp." Both quite tasty.

Monday, September 25, 2000

Monday, September 25. The staff of my Company, Vibrant Life, were all celebrating a very successful previous sales week -- so I took them to a spa and then to a Korean Restaurant. I ate deliciously -- raw Yellow Tail (Sashimi), raw beef, raw chicken and raw ostrich at the Korean Restaurant -- where they bring the raw meats for you to cook yourself, on the grill in the center of the table. My goodness it was all delicious. Dessert was fresh strawberries in thick cream.
I've now read about 1/3 of AAjonus's book, and greatly enjoy it.
Tuesday, September 26, 2000. What a glorious day. I weigh 1/4 pound less than the previous day, despite all that food the night before. I had a delicious, raw steak for breakfast, fruit for lunch, and will have another steak for dinner -- raw.
I am really enjoying this diet -- don't see any reason for ever getting off of it!
Wednesday, September 27, 2000. I had four fertile eggs blended with a banana for breakfast, and a raw filet for lunch.
I met another friend who has been on this diet for some while -- and had never told me. I had a haircut today and told my stylist -- she can't believe I would eat this way.
I guess you learn, early in this experience, to be very careful about to whom you talk on this subject. It seems arouse strong emotions -- usually negative.
Jean Ross, my wife, is leaving for a couple weeks, so we decided to go out to a restaurant to eat dinner. I just assumed that I could get a large, good salad there, but, alas!, they had nothing like that on the menu.
So, I took a chance and bargained with the waiter, and manager, to get a filet mignon raw. They wouldn't give me a raw steak, but they promised to cook it to "bloody rare" which is 30 seconds per side. I ate it, but not again. It WAS cold in the middle, but the steak still tasted cooked -- not anywhere near as good as true raw. So, I needed to learn this lesson -- and did.

Thursday, September 28, 2000. I had hoped that I could achieve relief from some of my body aches very quickly on this diet. I had been taking about 20 grams of MSM per day and it just eliminated the pain in my hip joints -- actually the psoas muscle pain. So, I had gone for about three days without taking ANY MSM. Well, the pains returned, so I've concluded that the natural diet may solve that problem, but not this quickly. I've started back taking MSM now, 10 grams last night and 10 grams, so far the morning of Thursday.
Raw Steak for breakfast -- thought I was so hungry I could eat two! But, after one steak I had to put the other back for another meal.
Friday, September 29, 2000. A nice little breakthrough today. My weight is under 220. It hasn't been there for a very long time. I am eating all I want and suffer never any feeling of hunger or insufficiency.
Yesterday was a "pure" day. I had steak for breakfast and dinner, and a rather small salad for lunch.
But, a bit of encouragement! I'm reading "We Want To Live," and yesterday discovered that Aajonus doesn't recommend salt or pepper. I had been dousing my raw steak with LOTS of salt and pepper. So, last night it was mostly plain, and today it will be all plain.
And, yesterday I also realized how much he recommends raw butter, and I do love it, but it is illegal in all states? I've been trying to find it and can't.
I've found a few things that I "question" about Aajonus' diet, for instance where he says you don't need to drink much water. I've felt that people should drink lots of water. I don't discard his advice, but I'm going to take my own counsel on that.
We'll see how the day goes.

Saturday, September 29, 2000. Another great day. I had a "smoothie" for breakfast -- banana, mango, four large fertile eggs, ice cubes, extra water, a tablespoon of unheated honey. It was so filling that I wasn't hungry for lunch. I ate a large pile of ground beef, anyway, and then an enormous salad for dinner. I discovered that the store-bought dressings are worth using, so made my own oil and vinegar from cold-pressed olive oil and raw, unheated apple cider vinegar, with a bit of fresh garlic.
I must say that I am never hungry on this diet and feel that I can eat anything I want! And who would want a potato chip?
Sunday, September 30, 2000. A awake feeling great! It wasn't too long ago that I would wake up feeling pain and tiredness. That is so much gone that I can't even remember it.
My weight is not dropping rapidly, but it is now at 218 1/2 and I'm pleased with that.
Friends called me to join them for a Sunday Brunch. Fortunately she is Japanese and we are going to the New Otani Hotel in Los Angeles. I'll be able to get raw fish there.
Is this the same Karl Loren of a month ago?
I found out the secret to chicken. Put thin slices in a container, cover with lemon juice and marinate. I'll have that for breakfast so I won't be so hungry at that expensive Japanese restaurant.
And, big news, yesterday I found a source for raw milk and raw butter. I'll be picking up my supplies at the once-per-week market, and add raw butter to my daily diet starting next Wednesday.

Life is really very cherry!
Well? I drank that raw milk, then had a drink made with four eggs, raw milk, honey, bee pollen and bananas -- it tasted great, but I felt "clogged" for several hours after -- and have decided to go very slow on the milk. In fact, I won't drink any more until I just try again -- but I'm going to buy that raw butter on Wednesday.

Monday, October 1, 2000

Monday, October 1, 2000. Feel great -- very productive day, raw all the way.
Tuesday, October 2, 2000. Feel great today. But the weight is still hovering at 219 -- no loss in a few days. My blood pressure continues high, at 198/109 this morning. (See below)I've had this high BP for several years, have tried a few drugs and didn't like the effect, so my solution is to "not worry." But, I have every confidence that losing weight and staying on this diet will bring that down.
Raw steak for breakfast, heaping salad for lunch and raw Ahi Tuna for dinner -- then to listen to Gore and Bush.
Wednesday, October 4, 2000. Got my raw butter today, and has my normal all raw food. Raw tuna for breakfast, salad for lunch and raw steak for dinner.

Thursday, October 5, 2000. One wonders. I was sleepy last night at 7:45 PM, so I went to bed. I woke up a couple times but just got out of bed at 7:00 AM. I understood that on this diet you might go through periods of wanting more than an usual amount of sleep, and other periods when you just to work all night! I have no problem with accepting what my body tells me now -- that was one of the clues I got about this diet -- that when you were "in the groove" you could trust your body. I presume that means that you have broken through at least some of the aberrated cravings for sensation. I have zero interest in ice cream now!
So, my weight was down a pound from yesterday -- to 218. I can usually tell before I weigh myself -- I just feel a bit smaller. My blood pressure has always varied tremendously, so I'm not surprised, this morning, to find it at 175/96, pulse 75. (See Below) I'll develop a theory and understanding of BP on this course I'm taking, I know. It will be EITHER that my BP comes down to "normal" or that "normal" is not normal! I have that much confidence in the diet.
Yesterday I got my first supply of raw butter -- two pounds. Also, I got a new batch fertile eggs, this time resolving to NOT refrigerator them -- I leave them out on the kitchen counter. I also got some raw goat yogurt, not heated, and a few other raw natural foods at the co-op I've learned about. Every week he is open on Wednesdays. He can never get enough supplies, and has to limit customers to only one or two items. Every week he runs out -- there was no raw cream left when I got there 1 1/2 hours after he opened.

This morning? I'm really looking forward to breakfast. I just got confirmed for me that Aajonus uses raw, unheated fats for about 50% to 60% of his daily calories. It's had to find that much raw, unheated fat around! Raw butter is the item of choice. So, this morning I have 1/4 pound of raw butter, sitting out overnight to be very soft, to mix in with four of those fertile raw eggs, a batch of ice cubes (to make it cool), a large spoonful of honey, bee pollen and a bit of raw milk. One banana finishes the drink. I think this will "stay with me" for the whole day, but I'll have a salad at a Thursday luncheon I go to every week, and a raw steak for dinner.
This is still a novel and exciting experience for me.
I noticed this morning that my sense of smell is much more keen than it had been.
Well, later in the day I found I had stomach gas -- probably the stuff for breakfast. I was going to discontinue this mix, but read more of Aajonus' material about the need for high fat intake, so I've put out 3/4 pound of raw butter for my tomorrow breakfast -- but no banana -- just eggs and honey and ice cubes.
I've now read many more pages of Aajonus' stuff and am fascinated.
Friday, October 6, 2000, I was disappointed at being 2 pounds heavier! Also, BP was still high. The weight? Possibly the salad from yesterday? Caesar Salad with store dressing?

The breakfast today was great! I wasn't sure, but I know now how good a "drink" tastes made of mostly butter and raw eggs. I used 1/2 pound of raw (soft) butter, with four fertile eggs and about one tablespoon of unheated honey -- no fruit or other flavoring. It was delicious. Yesterday the same drink, but with less butter and lots of bee pollen, didn't taste as good at all. This was like drinking liquid butter -- very smooth, very good.
Steak for lunch and raw yellow tail tuna for dinner.
Well, the dogs got most of the yellow tail. It had a slight fishy taste and I don't like fishy taste. The Ahi Tuna was much more expensive, but also much better tasting -- basically no taste.
Saturday, October 7, 2000. I had another of those "liquid butter" drinks! Marvelous! 1/2 pound of butter, four fertile eggs, one half of a not-very-ripe mango, 10 ice cubes (to provide more quantity, make it less thick) and a gob of honey. Now, two hours later, I can still taste the taste.
My weight was down half a pound. I've always felt that weight, on any given morning, could be influenced very much by the completeness of a bowel movement. Almost every night I drink a large quantity of "Cal-Mag" and another full cup of magnesium -- both of these come in powders, mixed with boiling water, cooled with an ice cube, and drunk to provide relaxing to the muscles, and also to make the stool very loose. One day soon I'm going to quit using these -- as I think of them as unnecessary crutches.

Also, amazing, Aajonus feels strongly that a person doing well on this diet does NOT need to take any vitamins! You can imagine how I might regard that -- since my whole career, for more than 15 years, is based on researching and selling vitamin formulas of my own design. I got a personal message from Aajonus commenting about my vitamin formula. As I told him, "I'm willing to accept your position on this, but I want to do the research personally -- research that will convince me that I can do without the more than 100 tablets and capsules I take every day."
Well, one of the things I have been taking is MSM -- Methyl Sulfonyl Methane. I have arthritis pains, mostly in my right hand. I had been taking 20 grams per day of the MSM and that solved the pain. Sometimes I would forget to take it -- and sometimes I might even go a couple days of forgetting -- then the arthritis pain would hit me.
I would be reminded that I'm still mortal, and need my pills!
Well, it has now been two+ days without MSM! I have a bit of stiffness in a couple fingers, but I'm testing. I suspect that, eventually, I will conclude that when you have been on this diet for some time, faithfully, you won't need any vitamins! That would be very interesting.
That, in turn, prompts me to find ways of remaining honest in giving the best advice I know how to give, but also continuing to sell vitamins and make a living.
I've resolved that, for now, by assuming that even when I point people to my diet pages, many of them will not be ready to do it, and for them I assume that vitamins will continue to be a necessary method of improving their health.
So, I'm content with continuing to sell vitamins while advocating a diet that will, ultimately, put me out of business.

I'll have a big salad for lunch and a raw steak for dinner.
I've said it in other places, but I "recognized it" again today. Most of my life I viewed "eating" as a social occasion, where I would join my wife, or friends, and have a very pleasant event, including very pleasant taste sensations.
It dawns on me that I have more to do in life than enjoy food and that my GREATEST pleasures are NOT rooted in either food or sex, but in what I call "higher level" games. Not to elaborate here, but those better games certainly include getting myself into a higher state of mental and spiritual awareness, and helping others do the same. If the body, and its cravings for sensation stop you from achieving higher levels of awareness (as I believe they do), then my crusade to help people with their diets has a great goal -- to help them, also, achieve mental and spiritual awareness -- of themselves, and of God!
Sunday, October 8, 2000. Nothing unusual. I stayed on my diet and felt great. When I look back a few months, there is no comparison. I am far more energetic and productive. I have far fewer aches and pains. Life is very good!

Monday, October 9, 2000

OK. But, I ran out of butter almost and had less than I wanted of the liquid butter drink. I won't be able to get more butter until Wednesday, and may not be able to get as much as I am willing to buy. Monday morning my weight was down to 218.

Tuesday, October 10, 2000. Well, I fell off the wagon!
Last night, Monday night, my entire Vibrant Life staff celebrated yet another week of very high sales. I had set a contest to reach a particular sales goal for the week. We exceeded that goal on Friday, October 6th. The reward for all of us, as it has been before, was to go to a spa for 2 1/2 hours (saunas, pool, cold plunge, relaxing) and then to a Korean restaurant where they bring the raw meats to the table, and you have a grill in the center of the table to cook your own stuff. I've eaten there several times and really like the place. And, the last time I went I was eating only raw and had, for the first time, raw ostrich and raw yellow tail.
So, last night I had RAW: beef, pork, ostrich, chicken and beef rib (meat with the bone removed). They were great, and I didn't fall off the wagon there.
But, I do still happen to like beer -- not frequently, but at such a restaurant, Kirin (Japanese) beer seems a necessity. So, I drank two large bottles of the stuff! The sensations from the entire meal were wonderful.
I also ate Kim chi and salads, bean sprouts, broccoli, all raw or fermented.
But, like the last time I went, I had a dessert of (raw) strawberries in whipping cream (but not raw cream, and probably sweetened).
I write in this diary mostly for my own record, but also for the stray person who might be interested. Being aware that I am doing research on a diet that I may want to endorse and urge on my fellows, I have also the purpose to be honest in how I've done it, and to learn from my own experience.

There is no question that I still enjoy food sensations -- I just happen to enjoy, also, the wonderful feeling of good health that has come along with this diet -- and that good health feeling is enough to keep me away from drowning in the sensations of cooked stuff or sugar.
So, did I learn from last night?
This morning I am two pounds heavier! And, I don't feel as "clear" as I usually do when I awake.
Of course the weight gain is not nice.
So, I have to conclude that beer may not be worth drinking for the effects it causes.
The meat?
They are mostly marinated at this restaurant, and I don't know how they do that.
Also, I know that at least the ostrich had been frozen previously, and perhaps some of the other meat?? Pork? My first time with raw pork, but it was highly seasoned and I'll bet those seasonings were not all that good for me. It did taste good, though.
So, my tentative conclusion is that I may go to that restaurant again, but no beer, no cream/berries, and probably I'll concentrate on the beef and chicken, not the other meats. I think, now, that the beer was the biggest sin -- about two quarts! Wow!
Today I use up my last little supply or raw butter. I'm also out of fertile eggs, but I'll still drink the butter/egg/honey for breakfast and have all raw the rest of the day.

Wednesday, October 18, 2000

October 18, 2000. I've been busy, and haven't kept up my daily entries here, but I figured that it was time to make my entries less detailed anyway, and to write about only the highlights and changes.

I've been very pleased, continuously, with my energy level. I'm certainly staying on the diet with no trouble.
My weight has not changed. That doesn't concern me, but I DO expect to lose weight at some point.
Raw Butter has suddenly become hard to get. I drove, today, 55 miles, round trip, 2 hours, just to get two pounds of raw butter. When I heard, a few days ago, that the supply would be very restricted, I asked what fat alternative there might be. I have now tried it -- getting trimmings off the fat at the butcher, choosing now only a butcher who carries organic beef (Coleman Beef) and then having that fat ground like hamburger. It can be used pretty much like butter, and I mixed it today with four fertile eggs, raw cream, ice cubes, honey, bananas -- and blended it for a drink.
I've also had a couple personal messages from Aajonus recently. I offered my home for one of his bi-monthly potluck suppers -- and he has accepted. So, in either January, or March, 2001, the potluck will be in my home. You can attend if you are interested. You would need to read all of Aajonus' book, We Want To Live, and bring enough raw food for four portions. I'll let you know the date when it is settled.
I now have a supply of these books to sell, at $29.95 plus shipping. Call (800) 225-2308 to order.
I'm moving toward the "position" that even within the raw food diet there is a desire for the sensation of "variety" of tastes. I view that as a mild aberration, and feel that I can arrive at the point where I have no concern for the "taste" even among the choices of raw meat and raw food. I see the most rational diet being composed of just the nutrients that your body needs (and they might vary from time to time, or person to person), so that once you find that exact diet formula, you won't need to go looking for different cuts of meat, or different forms of food -- that variety is NOT necessary for a healthy body.
Within the variety of raw meat tastes, my favorite right now is chicken marinated in lemon juice. The texture and taste are great.

I don't seem to do well on salads. They are about the only thing I can eat when I have a mandatory restaurant meal -- I enjoy the salad, but some hours later I haven't retained the high energy level I do when I eat only protein.
I've found a new brand of honey that really fits my specifications well -- not heated, not filtered, nothing except let the honey be removed from the comb by a centrifuge. It is fairly solid in the jar and has about double the amount of enzymes as any other honey.
This means that I get my pleasures from a different spectrum of life -- including, certainly, success in my business activities.

I had an interesting experience today. I live high in the hills, with a beautiful view of the San Fernando Valley. My wife, Jean Ross, and I live in an area where we have coyotes walking past our front door and our back yard every night -- and deer walking down the street and coming into our yard.
I had heard complaints from my wife, and from neighbors, that the deer ate the roses. Well, I never saw that and we have so many rose bushes that it seemed to me that we always had fresh roses in the house.

We also have a large bird feeder in the back. I holds 25 pounds of bird seeds, and often will be emptied in just a few days. The bird feeder is on a pole stuck in the ground just 18" from the backyard fence.
Yesterday as my daughter looked out the back picture window, onto the back yard, she saw a deer eating our roses! He has a five point horn (each side) so that's a pretty big deer. He was IN BETWEEN the bird feeder and the fence -- stuck in that 18" space, gently poking his nose through the bars of the fence and nibbling the rose blossoms and buds.

We stud not 12 feet from him, dogs all growling and eager to go out and defend the territory, but he just kept eating.
I believe my wife now when she says that virtually ALL our roses are eaten by the visiting deer.
The point of this?
Well, I think that the desire for sensation in the deer leads him to eat exactly the right foods for him, at the time he needs it.
To eat JUST the rose blossom, or bud, must mean that there is something in that flower that is needed in the deer's diet -- something he doesn't get from grass or other food sources. After all he has to come close to a house, where dogs bark, and poke his nose THROUGH a fence to reach a rose bush, and then even put himself into a tight spot -- just to eat a rose flower.
I don't know what is in the rose that the deer needs and I don't think the deer "thinks" about it the way I might, but I do know that deer like roses.
So, as I've suggested, man's instinctive desire to satisfy his cravings based on sensation seems to work not very well for man, but the similar desire for sensation must be leading the deer to eat what he eats.
Well Done! Deer!

Sunday, October 29, 2000

Well, a lot has happened and I've been neglecting this diary!
The biggest news is that when I started this diet I was taking about 100 tablets and capsules of my own vitamin formulas per day. Among that intake were about four heaping teaspoons of MSM every day -- handling my arthritic pains, and particularly a muscle (the psoas muscle) that gave me a lot of pain. I had read in Aajonus' book that he doesn't take ANY vitamins, and didn't think you needed them except for emergency usage.
I didn't stop taking my "regular vitamins" but I did quit taking the MSM. I had been feeling fantastic when I started the diet -- and gradually I started to feel pain all the time, and lost that high level of energy that I had had.
So, yesterday, for the first time in more than four weeks, I started back taking MSM -- five heaping teaspoons yesterday, Saturday, and again starting today, Sunday.
Yesterday the MSM had not yet taken effect -- this alone is interesting research for me -- I have wanted to have the personal experience in seeing how fast MSM would work.

But this morning, about 24 hours after my first return to MSM, I suddenly have more energy and less pain.
I conclude from this that it may be wise to stay on whatever vitamins you are taking when you go onto the raw food diet -- perhaps later, perhaps even after some years -- it will be OK to reduce or eliminate the vitamins.
I've realized lately that I am very much in the research phase of this project -- I am anxious to see what happens to me on this diet -- and to be able to tell others.
The other big thing is that my raw butter supply just gave out!
I had forgotten that cows can only give milk when they are "lactating." That is, a cow has to get pregnant, have a calf, and be nursing that calf to give milk. Then, they take away the calf, but keep milking the cow in order to keep getting milk. So, milk cows are normally given a "rest" once a year. They are "dried up" (I don't know how they do that.) and stop giving milk, then they are impregnated again (I guess), and somehow the milk starts coming again?? This is fascinating that such a basic fact of life I don't know about.
In any event my source for raw butter didn't have ANY last time I went for some.
I broke down and bought some organic, sweet butter, but not raw. I gave up using the raw animal fat in my drink -- I just didn't care for the taste. So, for several days I've had my "butter drink" make with regular (but organic, non-salted) butter. It tastes great, but I'm disappointed I can't buy more of the type of food I really want.
I've played around with the ingredients and have pretty much arrived at a consistent formula:
One third of a pound of butter! I leave that out in a cupboard so it is soft.
Five fertile eggs, never refrigerated, raw of course.
Two gobs of unheated honey (I may reduce this)
About 10 ice cubes

A couple tablespoons of bee pollen
In the blender and make a drink. It tastes and feels like drinking liquid butter. The high fat content makes for a very long-lasting feeling of fullness.
I'm also reading a book that provides some needed insight into metabolism, by Dr. McBride, and I'm reminded that it is only FAT that gives you a feeling of fullness. People who eat a vegetarian diet never really achieve that feeling of "satiety."
I'm now having TWO of these drinks per day -- that's 10 eggs per day, plus about 2/3 pound of butter per day. Dr. McBride suggests that you need to take a small amount of carbohydrate along with a very high protein/fat diet -- the carbohydrate should be enough to keep you out of ketosis. My honey jar shows that one tablespoon is about 35 grams of carbohydrate and he suggests 90 per day. I'm now getting more than that, so I'm going to reduce the honey.
Why?
Because, next subject, I'm disappointed that I'm not losing weight.
My drink had been including a whole mango until I learned that so much carbohydrate, along with the fat, would add weight.
So, I cut out the mango -- and promptly lost a couple pounds. But, I'm at 223, and had been as low as 218 some weeks ago. This is still better than 229 when I started.

So, I believe that my carbs are still too high and today I'll make that drink with less honey == see how that works.
I drink two of these drinks, and then have one piece of raw meat for my third meal.
I am aiming to get down to a very "boring" pattern of food -- with little or no variety. Yesterday and today my raw meat will be raw chicken, but I'm still having raw steak sometimes.
So, I have not deviated from this diet now for about five weeks and am still pleased with it -- but the returning pains (from lack of MSM) and the small weight gain (from mangos?) and some reduction in the high-energy (apparently also related to the pain, and the lack of MSM) were discouraging.
I want to keep my research "sharp," to be sensitive to whatever it takes to make constant progress toward a state of health that I recognize as better. To me that means, currently, less weight and more energy.
I still commend this diet to you!

Wednesday, November 1, 2000

My weight loss has started again. I had heard that on this diet you might go through periods (detoxing) where you just felt tired. I felt that way for the past two weeks, and didn't recognize it as "normal." I actually got discouraged. My weight was creeping back up!
I have a photo of myself, taking in September 2000 -- so it is very current. Some people find it hard to believe I'm 69. Sometimes I think I'm older!
I decided that the mango in my butter drink was too much carbohydrates for me and eliminated it -- so that the ONLY carbohydrates I've now been getting for several days is a single heaping teaspoon of honey in my butter drink -- and yesterday I had only one of those drinks.
So, today I have gotten back down to 220 -- about 2 pounds less than a couple days ago.
Also, for two days, I'm back to the pleasantly high level of energy. So, whether it was a natural detox going on? or too many carbohydrates? I have started again to lose weight and feel more energy.
I noticed something. Over the years we have fed our two dogs the usual canned dog foods, and they enjoy that. But, since I've been on this diet every time I sit down to eat some raw meat them come begging. They might often beg at the dinner table, but not all the time. Now, I can count on it -- every time I sit with a plate of raw meat they both come begging.

I give them pieces of my raw meat -- they take it very quickly and always want more. It is interesting that if you enter "raw meat" into a search engine, you will find many web sites, but virtually ALL of them are on one side or the other of the "controversy" about feeding your dogs raw meat. Many vets recommend strongly against raw meat for dogs! I can't understand that -- the dog, certainly more than humans, has no social stigma about eat "RAW" stuff!
I am convinced that the dogs do very well. They even eat the marinated (very lemon tasting) chicken that I frequently have.
Confession? My wife is away! I miss her. We talk every day. I said that when she comes home (soon) I might be willing to "celebrate" by going to a fancy restaurant for "burnt" steak and mashed potatoes. I don't know if I will, but I know that if I have that temptation, you might too.
My daughter usually eats breakfast with me -- that's Maia Mulvena who works in my Company. For a while she would have a protein drink (with raw eggs) but she has never been willing to eat raw meat. I love her anyway! Lately, I guess, she has not been so eager to sit and eat anything while I drink my "butter drink." Today she had fried eggs and toast and sat with me as I ate!
I tell you! The smell of that toast, those eggs! that fried butter! Almost enough to make a grown man cry! I am certainly not immune to that "desire for sensation" that I write about. Her breakfast surely smelled great.
But, if I can live through a few more of these events, perhaps I'll be cured of that need for sensation?
Sunday, November 5, 2000. Not much new. I've added one more daily exercise to my routine. I have also increased the number of repetitions. I do about 5 or 10 minutes of bouncing on the mini-trampoline, then 150 repetitions on a "Cardioglide" (like a rowing machine), then 100 sit-ups with an "Ab Roller" and now, newly added, about 10 minutes of "stretch" with a pulley/resistance device.

My weight still does not go down -- I think I've figured it out. IF (and that's a big IF) I limit my carbohydrates to about 50 grams per day I seem to lose weight -- but I snack during the day on raw pecans, and eat organic grapes now and then. These extra carbs seem to tip the balance towards weight gain.
My "normal" diet now is my "Butter Drink" made with 1/3 pound of butter (I don't refrigerate it, so it stays soft), 4 or 5 fertile eggs (not refrigerated) a large tablespoon of unheated honey, bee pollen, ice cubes -- all in the blender. It is quite good. I get about two of those every day -- so that means I eating a full 10 eggs and 2/3 pound of butter per day! Then, for my third meal I have about 4 ounces or raw steak.
Incidentally, when I started this my two dogs weren't very interested in raw meat. Their normal diet over the 15+ years we have had the oldest has been "normal" dog food -- all processed and cooked. NOW they SMELL the raw meat as soon as it comes out of the package and are barking and begging. They eat it very eagerly. They still eat the processed stuff, but they are getting pieces of raw steak every day too.
Of course, there has been no coffee, tea, milk -- nor any sugar, no junk foods, no grains of any type for more than 5 weeks.

My wife, Jean Ross, has been away for almost this entire diet. We talk on the phone at least once every day, and often two or three times. As I've written, she is not willing to consider this diet for herself, and as I've written one of the biggest problems someone on this diet will have is the "social problem."
A great deal of our social life revolves around eating and many of our celebrations are in restaurants -- where they will not serve raw meat. So, as I talk over with Jean what we will do to celebrate her return, we think of the "old ways" and big fancy dinners -- I'm ready to deviate from this diet, completely, in order to have one of those old fun experiences with my wife. It isn't that I will be thinking a big heavy (cooked) meal is good, or good for me, it is the desire to share an experience with the one I love. If I have this situation, you probably will too!
My present consideration is that such a big cooked meal will certainly taste good, but that I'll know it was harmful for me, but consider that one bad meal in a long period is not bad enough to outweigh the sharing with her.
But, it would still be better if she would join me in this diet and we could then look for something else we could share, not eating, that would be healthy and memorable.

November 16, 2000

It's been several days. There have been some changes in my diet, and my considerations about the diet.
I had been eating one or two "butter drinks" every day, with raw steak for the other meal(s).
But, the butter drink (perhaps it is the honey in it?) has left me feeling a bit lethargic during the day, so for the last two days I had no butter drink, two hunks of raw steak and yesterday a big salad. But, I've been adding grapes and raw nuts to this mix. I don't feel so lethargic on this, but I'm also not losing any weight -- I suspect the grapes and nuts are the problem.
So, I keep experimenting -- but always raw.
Thanksgiving is coming up -- has given me much to think about, and I'll put these thoughts into the main article on diet -- social pressures have a great deal to do with diet. As I've said, my wife doesn't share at all in this diet and I'm going to my son's home for Thanksgiving dinner. He and his family don't share in this diet either. So, I'll be the "only one" eating in this strange way on this special occasion. That is tough to do for anyone!
If you are a pot smoker, for instance, and all your friends are pot smokers, you will feel very much out of place in the Woman's Christian Temperance Society. The reverse is true, obviously.
If you with your American values were to try to live in an African village of cannibals, you could hardly find it "right" to kill and eat your enemies. What is right for them is not right for you. You would have a hard time "fitting in" that group.
So, we are a society of cooked meat eaters! We are a society of sugar eaters. When you deviate THIS much from such a basic behavior, you will not fit in.
Even if you suppress your disgust at others eating cooked stuff, you feel it. Even when they are polite to you, they consider you weird.
I don't know what the solution for this is, but I am obviously looking for it.

This desire to be with people who are "like you" certainly explains why Catholics marry Catholics, usually, and why it is a big deal when it doesn't happen. That is not so rigid today as it used to be, so it's a safe example to use here.
When I was young it was a real deviant behavior for a black person and a white person to marry -- still not "normal" but more accepted.
In this same way, I suppose, we will arrive at a social acceptance of "raw food eaters."
I have "put up with" my wife's smoking for more than 30 years. I don't like her smoking, but I knew she smoked when I married her, and it has never been a 'test' for love.
But, as you consider getting onto this diet I think you had better realize that you will have to make social adjustments that may be uncomfortable.
I posed some questions for Aajonus recently and will paste in below my questions and my answers -- interesting!

From Aajonus (in black) (Karl's words in blue)
Hi, Karl,

I've been using organic sweet butter. My "butter drink" is 1/3 pound butter, 4 or 5 raw fertile eggs, tablespoon of unheated honey, ice cubes, bee pollen -- quite good.Just how harmful might it be to use this non-raw butter?

Many lipid peroxides are in pasteurized butter. Better to eat coconut cream and more eggs.

How hard should I work to find raw butter

[XXX name deleted] should be getting another supplier within the next 30days.

Is non-raw butter "bad enough" to warrant skipping it in favor of the ground up animal fat??

Yes, it is not very good for our needs.

Next, I am doing very well with the "butter drink" and raw steak -- not much variety and no temptation to jump off that wagon -- but I have a contest in my business == when the sales meet some target I reward the staff (that's only 3 or 4 persons, depending on if my wife is here) with a spa (sauna, etc.) and a Korean restaurant where they bring raw meat to the table for us to cook. We are going there this next Tuesday night. I have no trouble eating all the meat raw: ostrich, pork, chicken, lamb, beef, tuna -- mostly marinated of course. But these are nice social occasions so I drink beer and eat Kim chi also. I figure that if I do this once or twice every three weeks is could be considered an "allowable sin." Just how harmful is it to go off the diet this way -- beer mostly. The Kim chi and salads are not regular for me, but at least they are raw. Comments?

Ask this question at the Potluck. [This is a potluck that I'm attending Sunday.]

I look forward to attending your speech on Saturday, and attending the Primal Potluck on Sunday -- and hosting your dinner next year (let me know when). Karl Loren

healthfully, aajonus

Monday, November 20, 2000

Monday, November 20, 2000. I attended the potluck dinner yesterday, Sunday, hosted by friends of Aajonus, and attended by about 60 people, mostly all on the Aajonus diet. Aajonus was there and answered questions for about two hours, including mine.
I had already resolved to stop eating the sweet, organic (but non-raw) butter, and had tried a new "drink" made with five eggs, three very ripe avocados, honey, coconut milk and ice cubes blended. I drank about half, but didn't care for that combination much.

I have never just swallowed a raw egg in my life, even though I know that Aajonus recommends that. So, after listening to Aajonus on Sunday afternoon I came home, broke two of my fertile eggs into a small glass and just swallowed them. It was not hard at all!
I was amazed -- very little taste and the texture was NOT unpleasant.
So, this morning, Monday, I had three raw eggs that way -- all in a glass, and just "drank" them down in a couple swallows. I will be doing much more of that now that I know how easy it is.
I learned a great deal at the potluck and am even more comfortable with this diet.
I have not much reported on how much pain I've been in for several weeks -- I just didn't think it was being caused by the diet. I now do!
So, it should be reported in full -- because I think you may experience similar events.
For several years one particular muscle in my leg has caused a great deal of pain. The muscle has the fancy name of "psoas." it is the muscle that attaches at the lower back and this muscle, unlike most other muscles, passes THROUGH the body, through the area of the groin, and comes out on the inside surfaces of the legs. It is this muscle that you use to lift your leg upwards.
When this muscle is strained, or harmed, you have trouble with certain motions, including, for instance, getting into or out of a car. You put one leg in the car and you are there, standing with your legs in a peculiar arrangement -- it had been very painful for me to do that for some years.

Massage is helpful, and chiropractic is helpful, but I still had the problem.
It is NOT a problem that you experience much except when you put your body in these particular positions.
After a few weeks on this diet, all raw meat, I found that I was starting to have constant pain no matter what position the body was in -- pain in the lower back, hip joints -- it seemed similar to the "psoas" pain, but it was constant, not just in certain positions.
At the same time, and I didn't connect the two, I was feeling very tired by the middle of the afternoon! I found myself wanting to go to bed very early in the evening.
Many nights I was in bed before 8 PM, and once or twice even before 6 PM. I had no fever no symptom other than being tired and having pain in those hip areas.
I would usually awaken at, say, 11 PM and get up to work for a couple hours (internet research and writing), then back to bed, sometimes up again at 4 AM to work a while, and then back to sleep for a few more hours.
But, just lying in bed has been painful -- there seems to be no position in which I can stay for long.
Now I welcome all this as an unusual detoxification.
It is the fact that for 69 years I have been putting toxic foods into my body, and now for 9 weeks I'm finally putting some honest food in there. All those stored toxins will take many years to be removed and all during that time I can expect to go through these "healing crises!"
That may be enough to turn you off completely from this diet, but on the "other side" has to be a degree of health and vitality that would not exist otherwise.
I commend this diet to you -- and continue with relish!
Thursday, November 23, 2000, Thanksgiving Day. Yes, I'll be jumping completely off my diet in order to match the social reality in my family. So, yes, cooked turkey, etc., and I'll enjoy it for the moment. I've already written about how social pressures can prevent someone from getting on this diet.

I have now quit drinking any water except bottled water with natural carbonation. That's what Aajonus recommends and I am generally expecting to follow ALL of his concept unless I find something I disagree with.
My hip and joint pain is greatly diminished. I now wonder if it was caused exactly by the several weeks I was eating non-raw butter. I remarked above that I was no longer able to buy raw butter for a while, and got sweet (no salt) organic butter instead. I was eating as much as 2/3 pound per day of this for more than two weeks. It now seems that the inception of my joint pains was date-coincident with the eating of non-raw butter! I quit the non-raw butter several days ago and added whole raw eggs just a few days ago. My hip and joint pain is much reduced, and I suspect that getting off that non-raw butter, and adding whole raw eggs (just swallow them whole!) is the explanation.

Saturday, November 25, 2000

Saturday, November 25, 2000. Well! I've learned a very interesting and valuable lesson! I had attended the Primal Potluck dinner last Sunday and heard Aajonus talk and answer questions. I asked the question described above about deliberately getting off the raw diet for some special occasion. Here are the results!
I went to my son's home for Thanksgiving dinner. I ate all the stuff that most American families eat! There were two types of cheese dip with Fritos, then dinner with turkey, both white and dark meat, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, ambrosia salad, green beans in a casserole with onions and mushroom soup, jelled cranberry, rolls, sparkling apple cider, stuffing and then pumpkin pie for dessert.

Fortunately by the time of the pie I was already feeling so bad from the meal that I had no interest in the coffee or the ice cream!
I had expected to "enjoy" the taste sensations of the food. The first important learning experience for me was that these taste sensations were NOT exciting enough to make me want to repeat this experience.
I did not eat more than I have in the past at a Thanksgiving dinner -- but less. I did have two helpings of turkey, and beans, but didn't feel that I "overate." But, near the end of the meal I realized that I felt very different than when I eat raw steak. It was NOT a sick feeling, but it was definitely an uncomfortable feeling I don't have when eating raw.
Within ten minutes after finishing the meal, before the pie, I realized that I would not want to do this again!
I found that to be an amazing "success" for the raw food diet -- to come to the realization that I might have shifted my considerations, and responses to food, so that cooked fancy meals no longer held any temptation for me.
The pie finished me. I felt "logy" or "groggy" and couldn't wait to get home where I could quickly swallow some raw eggs to help.

As I write this I am just started into my research on enzymes and am startled at the information about the damage done to our bodies by eating food where the enzymes have been destroyed by heat.
Thanksgiving was, for me, a chance to renew my pledge to myself to stay on this raw food diet.
The day or so before Thanksgiving I had seemed to have much less of my constant hip, joint, leg aches. The day after? Those pains returned with a vengeance! The next day, Friday, I was more tired than usual, and in more pain. It is a marvel to consider that I could experience pain in my lower back, hip joints, just because I ate cooked food. Perhaps there will be many who would say that these are not at all related.
I think they are!
Today, Saturday, after a strict Friday diet of all raw, and very few carbohydrates, I'm feeling almost back to where I was the day before Thanksgiving.
I had asked Aajonus what might happen because of going off the diet for one meal. I think I now know!
I had been looking forward to the social pleasure of a fancy meal with my wife. She has been away for several weeks. We talk every day on the phone and since she is NOT on this diet, I had decided that I would get off the diet so that she and I could share a fancy meal.
Reluctantly I have to conclude that it will be more painful to get off this diet than any compensating pleasure from sharing the same food.
Today, Saturday, I'll aim at having probably 5 or 6 raw eggs, swallowed whole. I'll be eating a large piece of rib-eye steak, and lots of raw cheese. I have added juiced celery juice too.
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My exercise regime has intensified. Yesterday I did 200 sit-ups! That's more than I have done for many years. I do those every morning, some stretching exercises, some jumping on the trampoline, and a "Cardioglide" (bicycle) for 150 repetitions. Aajonus doesn't exercise at all, and has a very fit figure, but I see exercise as speeding my detoxification process as well as improving my muscles, so I will continue.

Blood Pressure

Saturday, 25 November 2000. I checked my blood pressure after doing three of my four morning exercises. My pulse rate would normally be high after these exercises, and it was, at 92.
But the blood pressure, first reading, was 172/83! That is an amazing change from the last time I took my pressure (above). I waited several seconds and took it again. The pulse had dropped to 89 in less than one minute. The BP was 182/83. As I have understood BP the lower figure is generally more critical than the upper figure. It is too soon to tell, but it could be that I am, after many years of much higher readings, approaching what is considered more normal.

December 1, 2000
Friday, December 1, 2000. I have arrived at one of my goals -- almost a standard pattern of food. Recall that I feel that "desire for variety" is not logical, so I have been aiming at getting a combination of items that I am satisfied with. I still have to determine whether it is the RIGHT combination, but a very satisfying combination now is:

Three or four raw eggs, swallowed whole
At least once during the day, or twice, about 6 ounces of raw rib eye steak (the dogs get some of it). (Incidentally my 16-year old dog has mostly had processed dog food, but loves the raw meat and I am sure it is better for him -- the young dog also loves the raw meat)
Raw cheese -- perhaps 2/3 pound during two meals
Raw nuts -- either filberts or pecans -- perhaps 100 or so
Purple grapes -- about one pound per day
Perrier Water (naturally carbonated) More than one quart per day
Celery (with onion, green pepper, other odds and ends) juiced in the juicer -- about one quart total
Vitamins and MSM (I am not stopping these)
December 2, 2000. Well! I have jumped completely off the diet in a way that you might also!
My wife, Jean Ross, has been away for some weeks, and as she returned we were both looking forward to a "celebration." What is very often seen as a celebration is a dinner "out," where, of course, there is no such thing as raw food.
I know that I was going to do it, just as I described above for Thanksgiving.
We went to the fancy restaurant tonight: wine, Dungeness Crab cakes, shrimp, salad, bread, lobster and banana praline cream Brule! Coffee too!
I didn't even feel bad after it and would probably do it again. I can't say I didn't enjoy it, but my devotion to the raw food diet is still there. My wife has no willingness to do this diet, and while she sits with me at dinner, eating cooked stuff, while I eat raw, I still feel the need to accommodate her interest in a "dinner out" where I share her realities.
I just want you to know that "it happens."
I don't brag about this, and neither do I apologize about it -- it just "happens." It may well happen to you. Probably the important thing is to recognize that it is a deviation from "normal" and that you are simply acknowledging other (higher?) importances than even health itself in your life.
Probably less than 5% of the people who are even interested in "good diet" will read all of my recommendations, and only a few of them will give it a try! So, as long as you recognize that you are in a very tiny minority when you are on this diet, you will probably accept the inevitability of deviating from the diet for various reasons.
I regularly receive messages from many people with "news" items, and just tonight got an Associated Press news item that the government will soon be requiring warning labels on eggs -- saying that they must be refrigerated and should be cooked so that the yolks are firm!
I, of course, advocate storing your eggs at room temperature (my current supply of eggs have been in a cupboard for about 10 days -- room temperature) and swallowing them raw and whole.
I am terribly impressed, more and more, with the suppressive intention, with somewhat hidden true sources, to force you, deliberately, to consume food that is harmful to your health. It takes more and more ingenuity to find food that is truly health -- raw butter and raw milk being already hard to get, and raw meat not legal to be served in most restaurants. Now eggs to be sold with a warning label!
It may well get worse before it gets better.
You WILL have to work hard to get on and stay on this diet!

Saturday, December 2, 2000: My wife, Jean Ross, had been away for several weeks and when she returned we both knew that we would be wanting to "go out" to a nice restaurant for a "nice" dinner. I had already resolved that I would eat cooked food. I did!
So, we went to a Ritz Carlton Hotel for lobster, wine and sugar-filled dessert.
And so I confess my transgression. It was very enjoyable. I have never been an "alcoholic" but I suppose that an alcoholic who joins AA and hasn't drunk alcohol for many years would still say, "I would enjoy the taste and sensation of alcohol!"
So, I suspect that the sensation of "fancy foods" will always be appealing. I know that I have very little desire for cooked food, but also know that if I do eat it, it will taste good!
So, I actually didn't feel over-stuffed and things went well the next day. That day, Sunday, as the dinner hour approached, I again compromised and went out for steak and shrimp, with baked potato, etc. I even had a Mai Tai! It was good, but, again, I would now only do this for social reasons, not because I wanted that food.
To finish the trilogy, the next evening, Monday, was the celebration of very high sales for Vibrant Life. I've reported this in the past -- I set targets at the beginning of the week and when we reach the target the Company treats all the staff (all four of us!) to a "hot springs spa" and Korean Restaurant dinner.
I've written about this same Korean restaurant before -- they serve any of many raw meats to the table where you cook it yourself.
The Steak Tartar there is really good, and of course, raw. So, I had two orders of that, plus helpings of raw pork, raw beef, raw ostrich and lets of Kim chi. Also, my usual fresh fruit in sweetened whip cream for desert, and a couple large beers!
For whatever reason it appears that these three days of sinful eating did not harm much. I gained less than 2 pounds and felt the same as previously.
But, that "previous" has been a large amount of constant pain, so let's talk about that.
I realize, now, that within a few days after no longer being able to get raw butter, I continued with the sweet (non salt) organic butter, but this is not raw. So, for some while I was drinking my "butter drink" every day.
Then, I asked Aajonus about this and he warned me to stay away from the non-raw butter. I did quit eating that butter immediately.

THEN, within about a week, I guess, I started into a period of constantly feeling tired and having pain in my hip/back. I didn't connect this onset of this pain with the cessation of butter, but I realized that I was not getting much fat into my daily diet. A couple days I had large amounts of avocado, but I haven't found another source of raw fat that I can eat with any willingness.
This pain and tiredness came on rather gradually and only NOW when I look back do I realize that it was soon AFTER I greatly reduced the fat in my diet that the pain and tiredness came back.
That night I actually dreamed about going back to my butter drink!
So, on Wednesday, December 6th, I still didn't have any raw butter, but I had still the organic sweet butter and I had a butter drink with 1/3 pound of butter, 5 raw eggs, a banana, and bee pollen.
(I think my bee pollen must be rancid?? The drink doesn't taste as good as I remember.)
I drank most of it, and found that I had much less pain and tiredness all day.
Late in the day I hadn't yet eaten any meat, so decided to just drink a couple more raw eggs, then for dinner I had my normal raw steak.
I went to bed with so much less pain that I couldn't believe it.

Thursday, December 7, 2000

I've had a nice breakthrough in understanding from the last few days.
Today I woke up feeling less pain and feeling better than for several weeks.
After some of my exercises, I took my blood pressure. I was quite pleased. It was 160/80, with the pulse at 92. Those are better figures than I've had for a long time! I think it is the diet and the exercise causing this change.
I am convinced, now, that the fat made the difference. My butter drink this morning still tasted a big "odd," and my next drink I will omit the bee pollen.
I am obviously still in my research phase on this diet -- looking for the right combination of the right foods that will speed along any detox that needs to take place, but also to minimize any pain and tiredness.
I'm now about to leave for my Thursday Optimist Club luncheon -- where I always eat the same old Greek Salad. I haven't felt that it was all that good for me, but at least it is raw and I hope not too bad!
My conclusion from the past several weeks is that raw meat will probably not provide enough protein, and that 5 or more raw eggs per day is an easy way to get that protein into the body.
I commend this diet to you, and your own research results!

Tuesday, January 9, 2001

Tuesday, January 9, 2001. The last time I added anything to this page was December 7, 2000.
A great deal has happened since then. Fortunately, during that time I kept some very detailed notes on my diet and condition, and even though these notes were not done daily, they were fairly detailed.
So, I now paste those in below, with the dates of the various notes shown.
December 18, 2000. I had someone whose opinion I value ask me, gently to check in with a good doctor about what was going on in my diet and life. I agreed.
That doctor had no disagreement with the raw diet, but did feel that it was not OK to be in fairly constant pain. He suggested that there was probably an imbalance in minerals, or a deficiency in B Vitamins. He also took a hair sample for a hair analysis. He felt that my many years on chelation therapy may have so much removed the heavy metals that now the therapy might be removing the lighter, more valuable, minerals.
He has other patients who are or have been on this diet.
He disagrees with the notion that you can do without vitamins on this diet. I do too.
He suggested that I return to taking the Clarks Minerals that I had been taking for many years. Aajonus doesn't think highly of Clarks. My own supply so often tastes "bad" that I actually took it for a few days, and then quit again in favor of more traditional sources of trace minerals.

I left the doctor's office, came home and immediately swallowed quite a bit of Clarks Minerals. Probably 5 ounces, about noon. I felt pretty good that morning, anyway, but I started feeling better quickly. The tiredness has mostly gone. I drank more during the day, and am continuing.
There are still some achys, but less than a few days ago.
The biggest change is the absence of feeling very tired. It still hurts to walk, and when I get up from sitting. No pain while sitting, as before.
Saturday and Sunday I ate mostly cooked food, a party and out with my wife, but I’m back on the raw diet for now.
Aajonus had told me that Udo’s cold-pressed oil was not good, but I’ve decided, now that I disagree with Aajonus on something like mineral imbalance, that I might also disagree about Udo’s Oil. I would still prefer to have raw butter, but in its absence I’ll revert to drinking Udo’s Oil. (In fact I just don't like the taste and have not used it more than a few days.)
December 22, 2000. I decided that the pain in the hips, back and groin I was having needed something new to handle it and went back to the chiropractor who had been working on this same area many months ago.
I had a remarkable improvement after one visit yesterday.
Several years ago I started having difficulty that, at the time, I simply described as pain in the groin. I came to learn that it was a problem with the psoas muscle, and started learning about it. (The psoas muscle is the muscle you use to lift your leg upwards.)
My long-time chiropractor told me about it, but either didn’t want to, or didn’t know how to handle it – he suggested that deep massage into the psoas muscle was needed. The massage is into the groin area and tends to be quite painful.
I found a masseuse who did well for that, but it was still not as good as I wanted. I would have, for instance, difficulty getting into a car. I would have to “lift my leg” with my hands and arms to get it inside the car – it was that motion of lifting the leg from a side position that was hard.

I then met a new chiropractor, asked her, and she told me she could help.
I started a series of twice-weekly adjustments with her, probably in about October 1999. There was some traditional “adjustment” but mostly massage and manipulation of the legs – me pushing against her resistance, and her stretching the legs and joints. She also showed me some exercises that would help. I did well on her treatments, but did not do the exercises very regularly.
I then decided to move this process over to a regular masseuse, and for a few weeks was doing both. I liked the massages better and discontinued the chiropractic visits. The massages also avoided the usual pain of the chiropractic stretches, yet worked as well. The massages seemed to work completely – and I went for about 2 hours of massage every week, for several months.
Then I heard of the raw meat diet, decided to get on it. As I recall, as long as I was on the raw diet, and getting the massages, I had no return of psoas problem or pain.
The massages were rather expensive and the situation with the masseuse changed, so I discontinued the massages in September 2000.
I now figure that the pains probably returned with the cessation of massage, but they also coincided with Aajonus’ prediction of pain and tiredness from the diet and I assumed the diet was the cause of the pain. The pain was also in a slightly different place.
I have NOT gotten rid of the pain with the changes recommended by Dr. Denk – minerals and Vitamin B1 – although there may not have yet been enough time.
I got back onto cooked food, but really found that I would have preferred to stay on raw. After eating anything cooked I can detect a “difference” in my stomach and how I “feel” about the food in my body. When I eat raw I never feel stuffed and don’t experience any unusual stomach sensation. When I eat cooked, now, I can feel the difference. I much prefer the feeling of my body after a raw meal.
During these last several months I have only missed one day of for-me intensive exercise. Unfortunately I have never done the exercises the chiropractor urged me to do – they are mostly stretching, while sitting on the floor, stretching the legs and hip joints.
In any event, after feeling as good as I have for some time on Thursday, AM, December 21, and still not feeling much like working, and finding the pain greatly increased in the mid-day (as it usually has) I decided to go back to the chiropractor, and had a treatment at 4:30 PM Thursday, December 21.
I have had the biggest one-day improvement that I can recall during this long period of a couple years. On a scale of one to ten, with ten being zero pain, I am about at 7 where I had been at 2 for a long time – lots of pain when I walked or moved.
She did what she had done before. Massage of the back, manipulation of the legs, hip joints, some traditional DC adjustment, and showed me, again, the exercises I should do.
She commented that my hip joints and that area were more tight than she recalled from my previous visits. Some of those “stretches” hurt like the dickens, but I could feel an immediate increase in “openness” and flow in the hip/back area.
She also commented that her understanding of nutrition included that a high amount of protein and/or fat would increase inflammation – I presume where it had a tendency to exist. I suspect that Aajonus would say that is true about cooked protein and fat, but not raw.
I’m now planning to see her weekly, with the next visit on December 27^th.
I will inquire of my masseuse as to whether she is ready to take me back as a regular client, and add that in, perhaps only one hour per week.
I am planning to now get back on the raw diet.
I decided to review my diet data, including Adelle Davis. I have one of Adelle’s books and have started reading. I continue to work on this as one of my major research projects since I have already published 3000 pages on diet on my web and have lots more to do – so my research is for personal application as well as for publication.
December 26, 2000. I decided that the pain and tiredness needed more attention and went back to a chiropractor who had been treating my "psoas" muscle pain several months earlier.

On December 24^th, but woke up in such pain and tiredness that I didn’t even do my exercises – first time in many months to miss them.
I cannot account for the change. The day before was our family Christmas dinner and that seemed without a source of such a change. I ate cooked food, but not much and felt OK, but tired during the day. But, the pain in the hip area was back Sunday morning – in volume.
I didn’t even dress all day, and spent some further hours in bed.
I had about 12 egg yolks, ½ pound of (non-raw) butter, milk, honey for breakfast, and raw steak later, with cheese, nuts and grapes for other meals.
I did try one new thing – I took a soaking bath in hot water with about 1 pound of MSM. That left me feeling very relaxed, with the pain much less. My blood pressure after this soak was lower than it has been for years – 151/64, and was again quite low today. I can only ascribe the lower blood pressure to exercise and the raw diet.
I managed to be reasonably productive after that – went to bed at 9:30 PM.
But this morning I have again awakened with pain in the same area, and being tired. Too tired, again, to do my exercises. I took another soaking hot tub, this time 2.2 pounds of MSM, and again felt relaxed.
I am puzzled by this. After the chiropractic adjustment I felt better than for many months. The chiropractor remarked that the adjustment was aggressive and that I might be “tender.” That is all I can conclude, that the adjustment and manipulation of the hip area were so aggressive that my relief was temporary.
I am taking the minerals and extra B Vitamins the doctor suggested, but I don’t sense them making any difference.
I did NOT have my usual cal mag on Saturday or Sunday nights -=- and should get that back in.

I have a 2-hour massage scheduled for Wednesday, and another chiropractic adjustment later in the day – and now figure that all that I have been trying has not changed the condition, so far, and that the massage and continued chiropractic are the only things I can think of now to try.
January 1, 2001 Puzzle!
Several days ago, with generally consistent pain and being nonproductive, I had my first chiropractic treatment of the type I used 14 months ago for the psoas pain; I felt one of the biggest improvements in a long time, and reported it.
Then, after that report, I realized that the gain did not last. There was probably some improvement that continued, but the good condition mostly relapsed.
Then I had another chiropractic treatment from my “regular chiropractor” and that was helpful in getting rid of neck pains. He does some of the same type of manipulations that the other chiropractor does, but no massage and not as aggressive.
Then another of the new series of chiropractic treatments, with some relief, but no big change. She had been urging me to do some stretch positions at home and I had to report to her that they were so painful I had done very little of them.
My massage scheduled for that same day was postponed. I got it last Thursday, and that was a bigger improvement than anything to date – it lasted over to Friday morning when I felt as good as I have in quite some time.
This massage achieves more of a relief feeling than the chiropractor – the chiropractor treatment seems to NOT have an immediate result, but it becomes apparent and is not dramatic even if good. The massage results in a relief during the massage.
I can see now, however, that the massage relief doesn't last.
But, within about 24 hours that relapsed also, so that on Saturday I was again not interested in working.
I decided to take much larger amounts of calcium, and got some Calcium Citrate with magnesium. The pain I had on Saturday morning seemed to be handled in almost minutes – and within a few hours I was feeling great.
I ate out cooked before a party, full meat and shrimp – it was good, and I was completely out of pain.
At the party when some pains returned, particularly in the neck, I swallowed some calcium capsules I had in my pocket and pain would leave in minutes.
I thought I had found a miracle. It was almost the same as the massage relief, but not quite.

I can now differentiate between a dramatic reduction in a “sense of pain” and a reduction in actual pain. The massage gives a complete relief, both the sense and the actual. The massage also added in a “state” of satisfaction and comfort. The calcium seemed to handle both the sense of pain and much of the actual pain, but there is no higher state of feeling connected with the calcium.
Sunday morning I felt great. I even did a full set of exercises == something I had not done for several days – even when I felt good – not good enough to do the exercises. I figured, then, that the calcium was the complete answer. I had probably taken about 6 to 10 grams of Cal/Mag Citric Acid calcium in the previous 18 hours.
But, as the day continued, by mid-day, the old pains were back. Tired too, and now diarrhea!
Sunday is a hard day to stay on my raw diet since my wife doesn’t share it and we always eat out at restaurants on those days. I ate raw for some breakfast, then salad, and bread for dinner (to soak up stomach gas and upset).
I tried taking lots more calcium – about 1 gram at a time – every hour, but now the large amounts of magnesium (probably) caused more diarrhea, and by the end of the day I was tired and in pain. Even though I had the pains back, the old “sense of pain” was much less than previously.
I bought some new calcium, without magnesium, and at least the diarrhea has stopped. I feel better right now than I had 10 days ago, so there seems to be some progress. I feel better now (8 PM Sunday) than earlier in the day and assume the new calcium is proving effective.
I am now aiming at continuing the non-Magnesium calcium, mixing it with Cal/Mag Citric capsules, getting another chiropractic on Tuesday, and another massage on Thursday.
I had expected something more rapid, but my overall conclusion is that the situation is getting better.
Now, at 9 AM, Monday, I have no diarrhea and little pain. I don’t have the “high” of after the massage, but the pain is much less. The pain is there when I try to stoop, or pull my legs into the car. I feel better, by far, than 10 days ago.

January 4, 2001
A bit discouraged currently.
It is quite clear now that calcium is a part of a solution to my pain.
I continue to achieve change with calcium.
But, I have had several days of trying to figure out which calcium to use, and to balance between calcium WITH magnesium (which causes diarrhea) and calcium WITHOUT magnesium (which causes constipation).
I’m not getting that balance very well recently, and as a consequence have painful bowl movements, and even some slight bleeding. This makes me apprehensive to go to the toilet, and eager to change my diet in any way that might reduce this problem.
I still “believe in” the raw diet, but have eaten lots of cooked foods lately, sometimes just to be sociable with my wife, other times in hopes that it will solve the diarrhea problem.
I am using Calcium Gluconate (without magnesium), Calcium Citrate (with Magnesium), Calcium Citrate (without Magnesium), Calcium Carbonate (without Magnesium) and my own personal calcium formula that includes magnesium. I usually also take Cal-Mag as a drink at night.
I have had several instances of experiencing considerable pain, take an (uncounted) number of tablets and capsules of various calcium, and within less than 30 minutes the pain is mostly gone. So, I know that calcium can be effective for this situation.
The calcium doesn’t make me feel “good,” but it seems to eliminate the bad feeling.
I had a chiropractic treatment yesterday, Wednesday, and she continues to tell me that my muscles are very tight – and we are making some progress, I suppose. I don’t, any more, feel “much better” after an adjustment, as I have after a massage.

I have a massage scheduled for later today and currently put more hope in the benefits there than from calcium or chiropractic.
In general my life, other than the anxiety about being productive on my job, seems very smooth. I enjoy my work. My business is doing well. It seems strange that the only area of my life that is in turmoil relates to "change of diet".
Before, when my wife was away I never missed a day of exercises and while there was pain, it was not as extreme as it has been more recently. I have exercised only once in more than 7 days – just too uncomfortable in the morning. When my wife returned from her long visit, I had all those social pressures to eat cooked.
I have a new method of judging my condition. I generally have to get up once or twice nightly, to use the toilet and to take the dogs outside. When I wake up I am either in considerable pain, or not. Last night, at the 2:30 AM awakening, I was in pain (I had taken calcium at about 11 PM after waking up then, and after having gone to bed about 9 PM, taking calcium). So, I took more calcium. Then, at 5:30 AM, when I awoke again, there was practically no pain. Now, at 8:45 AM, after working at my computer for 3 hours, I am relatively pain-free.
But, I look at the problems during the night and conclude that “probably” I am not very productive this morning.
Friday, January 6, 2001
Quite a new awareness Friday, January 6! From something I was told was true, and now, only, decide IS true.
I had expected a massage on Thursday, January 5, but it was postponed. That day I was in terrible pain, loads of calcium weren’t helping – nothing was helping. This pain included the localized muscle pain, but much more debilitating was the over-all body sensation of low-level pain – my attention stuck on it constantly.
The massage was rescheduled for Friday, January 6. So, Friday morning I decided to eat cooked eggs – wondering if, perhaps, maybe, this raw food causing detox, causing pain was a valid concept. As of Tuesday, January 9, this observation seems confirmed!
Although I had accepted that as a working hypothesis, I didn’t yet have any understanding of the mechanism, and it appears that I am too much a researcher to accept without test such an idea.

So, I didn’t notice it, but by noon, time of the massage, Friday, January 6, after cooked eggs for breakfast, I was feeling pretty good.
The massage was quite poor – the masseuse had had many problems, illnesses in her family, spent some time in jail the day before because of an unpaid speeding ticket, etc., so even though I got one hour of mediocre massage instead of the two scheduled, I was disappointed, said so. She was in a moody mood, and said, “I quit.” So, the massage ended abruptly and I won’t be going back to her.
I mention this because I never expected the interrupted and poor massage to cause the type of nice change I had previously experienced.
We had guests for dinner that night, Friday, and I ate cooked meat, potato, drank wine, even pie, and felt very good. No calcium!
Saturday morning I felt wonderful! No calcium, but all cooked food the day before.
So, was the feeling good from the poor massage, from the cooked food (or the wine??)?
I decided to test this with more raw eggs on Saturday morning, January 7. I was really feeling great, no pains (and no calcium to explain the absence of pain). About 2 hours after eating 12 raw egg yolks, raw milk, mango, honey – blend – I started feeling achy and tired.
I had to conclude that there is a truly valid mechanism at work here – that raw food (at least raw egg yolks) DOES cause pain – presumably through the detoxification mechanism. I still don’t understand that, but I accept it.
So, I had cooked meat sandwich for late lunch, then went out for a movie, popcorn, and some soup later.
Sunday, January 8, I had what used to be a normal cooked omelet, toast, jelly, coffee, potatoes, then a sauna and massage. During the sauna I could bend over and touch the floor with no pain. I realize that is just a heat re