Hey Gang! It's been a while since I shared a video with you all so I thought I'd share my latest. I announce my just released Eight Inch J ceramic fiber core plans and talk about my secondary air material experiments. I'm currently using a new material for my Pre-Port floor channel, Rolled Alloys RA330, and it's working better than I expected!
I'm going to make this a regular feature, so please let me know if you have any questions or topics you'd like me to go over next time and I'll do my best to cover it. Hope you find the info in this one useful, and as always thanks to all Permies for your support!
nancy sutton wrote:Interesting topic. I just ran across this interview of Jordan Peterson by Joe Rogan (I don't necessarily agree with either of their opinions in other arenas, however).
There is also another interview available with his daughter, Mikhaila.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLF29w6YqXs
It is interesting, isn't it Nancy? It is so backwards to everything we think we know, it takes a while to wrap one's head around it.
As for the Petersons, those two are relative newcomers to this way of eating but I am sooooo glad that they decided to try it and are sharing their experiences. Their experience is that of most folks who give this way of eating an honest 30 day try. It tends to bring about profound positive change. Their stories are both ones of amazing healing and growth, as is mine and many, many others.
If you are out there and wondering how to get well, or better, or reach your best, this is worth a 30 day try. I guarantee you will learn an immense amount about yourself that will help you going forward.
Wes, the brick RMH uses standard red clay brick throughout. You can buy them at Home Depot for $0.44, or check your local craigslist for salvaged bricks which is my preference.
Hey gang, I know I just posted a customer build yesterday, but I got another email today and I know you all are as excited to see new RMHs as I am, so I thought I'd share. It seems there are lots of builds wrapping up as we approach winter and I am having so much fun helping you all with your builds and seeing them come to life.
Check out this great example of the Walker Stoves Brick RMH by Joshua Heyneke:
I just received a lovely email from a customer and I had to share this beautiful work with you all. Check out this gorgeous Tiny Cook Stove! It is so cool to see these coming to life, thanks for all of your support Permies!
Mike, Thomas got it pretty much exactly right. No surprise there! The CFB doesn't hold up too well to abrasion, but it lasts indefinitely in the flame path. I find that I don't beat up my firebox as much as one would expect, these stoves are cool and easy to load so you don't bang wood into them like in a typical box stove. As such, I'm on year three with my core and while there is visible wear in the firebox it still isn't an issue. When it's time to replace, a couple new small cheek boards can be easily inserted into the firebox and I'm good for a few more years.
The performance benefit is worth it to me to deal with a bit of abrasion wear. The firebox is sized such that one could line it with firebrick splits, or your kiln shelf, to eliminate wear issues, but I've found that I don't care for how that performs. It creates poor burns and hot, hard loading conditions. That's a decision that one can make on their own once the stove is built.
As for building the whole core out of Mullite, I suspect performance would suffer. That said, I'm just wrapping up a firebrick version of this core to offer with the Tiny Cook Stove Plans for those who can't or don't want to source ceramic fiber board. The efficiency will suffer a bit, but they are still fantastic cook stoves. So, I suspect you could use the mullite if you preferred. If you do, I'd love to hear your experience.
Ju, the aluminum stoves are just skins over my ceramic board cores, so the core plans basically are the aluminum stoves. I'm happy to help with skin details if you decide to build one. I don't have any package deals at the moment, but I really like the ideas for books and video series you propose. I will work on those! Thanks for the kind words.
Simon, you are right it's a fine line. I suspect that if you build just the stove body with no bench you would have a small cook stove mass heater that would heat your space for 8 hours or so after a burn. Hope that helps.
Bethany!! You just made my day, thank you so much for posting your update. I believe that so many people who are suffering could be helped so much by this and us sharing our experiences is how we can help others, so thank you for being brave enough to share as well! Here's hoping we can inspire curiosity in more people.
Hey Permies! I made video going over my mortar mix I use when building rocket mass heaters and my masonry cook stoves. I share some tips and techniques, talk about Furnace Cement and other alternatives, and share my recipe for a mortar mix that is tried and true. Hope you find it useful, and as always, thank you Permies for letting me share. I hope you are all having a great Fall, getting your harvest put up and wood in the shed! Thanks Permies!!
Hey Permies, I thought I'd share my latest video with you all. I go over the secondary air component in a batch box rocket mass heater and talk a bit about materials. Thanks so much for letting me share!
Michael Linville wrote:I’m wondering if it’d work okay to scale this system down to a 4” one. I’m living in the foothills of the Himalayans, and the local stoves all have 4” flues. I would use it (at least for this season) solely for heat and some cooking. I won’t do the mass heater part or even the extra part for warming water. I don’t have a lot of room, and it’ll be freestanding in the middle of the room (I’ll move it at the end of the season). Basically, I’m thinking about building your riser-less core and adding a top to it (granite, concrete, or a big slab of rock). I can get the ceramic fiber panels, and I’ll put a metal casing around the sides and bottom. Do you see any red flags to this? I greatly appreciate your help, and I greatly appreciate you sharing this new system you’ve developed!
Michael, thanks so much for the kind words and interest. I have to admit that I truly do not know the answer to your question. I suspect that it would likely scale down and work wonderfully, although I do only think that of your proposed configuration. I do not think a 4" core would function at all trying to drive mass. However, a simple little cook stove made by capturing the core in a metal skin like my Aluminum Series has a very good chance of functioning acceptably, in my opinion. I think it's worth a try.
Hey Permies! I finally got around to making an update video on the Tiny Cook Stove. The short version is I'm incredibly pleased with this little stove, it's been a wonderful amenity and I am not changing a thing. A lot of you have been asking for an update on my experience living with it, and I finally got around to making a video for you all. I'm greatly enjoying interacting with all of the builders and Permies who are currently building to these plans, so THANK YOU to all of you here, for letting me share and for the amazing support!
Mary, you could use steel or cast iron for the top instead of the glass if you prefer. Max gave you good info on the chimney. My opinion is a good chimney above the roof line is a requirement for acceptable performance in a wood burning heater.
Burra, up to about 16" in length, and under 6" thick are good guidelines for firewood. You can exceed both of those by a bit, but I try to cut to those limits.
Mark, the bells don't need cleanouts in my opinion. Ash will accumulate slowly and it would take a very long time for ash to interfere with performance the way it does in a system of flues. It's easy enough to inspect and clean via lifting the tops. All that said, there no harm in cleanouts if a builder wants to include them.
Bethany! Wonderful to hear you are having such a positive experience. It's amazing how the cravings go away and things just become so simple, isn't it? Thank you so much for the update, your post totally made my day!
Hi Permies, I thought I'd share this lovely review I just received with you all. It sure makes my day to hear from people building these heaters, thanks for letting me share here!
"Building this stove is the best decision I have made as family man and home owner. After purchasing and reading all of the books on rocket stoves / Rocket Mass Heater (RMH) and purchasing and watching the videos of same, I feel the single greatest ROI is the Builder’s Guide for the Tiny Masonry Cook Stove and Heater. Not only are these plans highly detailed, he offers additional videos and email support which I found extremely valuable and motivating.
I am grateful for the RHM videos because it introduced me to Peter Van Den Berg and Matt Walker. Mostly I was impressed with Matt’s ability to simplify and innovate beyond the greatest hindrance of building the heater in the first place, having a big metal drum in the main living area of the home!
In order to sell myself on the concept of the heater, I built my first one outside. After a couple of emails with Matt, I built a half barrel system based on his design and instructions from his YouTube channel. It was a bit more primitive but was a fun project with the family and eye opening experience to see the heater come to life. After the proof of concept, I made plans to build the heater inside my home. I started my build with four half barrels for the bench and was planning to build a Batch Box Rocket / Stove Heater. As an amateur builder and DIY’er I quickly became confused and frustrated of how to make Peter’s design work for my home. Thank the Lord, Matt published his designs around this time and after much consideration we purchased them.
At the time, my greatest concern was the “idea” of less, immediate, radiant heat from the ceramic glass cooktop. But, after completing the build and firing it for the first time, we quickly realized this was not the case.
We are on the metric system and do not have the same standard size of bricks on my market, but Matt did the conversions and was available to answer all of my questions and concerns promptly and proficiently. My build was never slowed down because I did not have the right answer to my question or the information was to complex, quite the opposite.
This was a very fun and, more importantly, rewarding build. We have been firing the heater for less than a week and the performance only continues to exceed, our very high, expectations as the masonry continues to dries out from the building process. On the first day of firing, the instant radiant heat was more than enough power to heat my 150 square meter home, while snowing outside, from 18C to 22C after three loads of dry seasoned wood. We have thermostats in every room and for us, I can say the temperature difference is less than half a degree Celsius. For example, the heater is in the living room and the bedrooms and kitchen stay consistently between 20.5C and 23C. But, the temperature/degree is not the same comfort of other heating systems, there is simply no comparison of the comfort from head to toe.
After using an electric cooktop for the last 10 years, we were blown away with how quickly our first few meals reached the boiling point on the cooktop. A large pot of water comes to a rolling boil in a minimum amount of time on top of where the fire exits the core and meets the cooktop. And if you need to lower the temperature, move the pot to a different location. We were able to master the heating zones for cooking before the first charge of wood had finished its combustion cycle.
Having now built both a RMH with a barrel, and the Tiny Masonry Cook Stove Heater I can confidently say the cook stove meets all of our goals. Plus, we are not bothered with the smell of hot metal when the fire is raging inside. We already find ourselves cooking more home meals on the cooktop since we all jump at the chance to be closer. Honestly, we have not had a good reason to use our conventional cooktop since we started firing our new heater. It now serves all of our cooking needs for a growing family.
Overall, we love this new feature in our home. Even though we don’t have cushions on the bench, yet, they are still the first choice to eat, sit or nap on as the comfort of the heat brings inexpressible joy to the occupants. Surprisingly, we find ourselves opening the windows more often for fresh air, not because we feel we need it, but since the heater holds and radiates heat so well, there is not a drastic change in room temperature after leaving a door or window open for 10 minutes. The same can be said after a long cold night of not firing to heater too, once the masonry is heated it holds a solid temperature and the decrease is gradual, half a degree over several hours no matter how many times you open the door on a freezing cold day.
So from everyone in my Family, THANK YOU Matt Walker for working through 5+ iterations to reach your high standards of quality and expectations of heater you are willing to offer and promote others to build in their home. We truly appreciate your efforts and have already invited all of our friends who were interested in the build and concept to come and experience how wonderful this heater in our home is, especially after not having fired it for 8 - 10+ hours. It is just amazing to us that everyone walks around with a tiny Smart phone / computer in their hand or pocket, but still most homes in Europe are heating their homes with wood at only 35% efficiency. Really appreciate your efforts to help us break the mold and build our own heater that no longer produces pollutants out of our chimney and into the air we are breathing in our front yard.
Thanks so much for the thoughtful comments you two! Bethany, I'm so glad to hear you are giving it a try, here's hoping it's as profoundly positive for you as it has been for me. Xisca, I don't drink any water starting about 30 minutes before eating and I wait for about an hour afterwards.
Hi Permies! Many of you have been asking for a full plan set for a Batch Rocket Mass Heater along the lines of my Brick Rocket Mass Heater Plans. I've finally dug in and got the full Plan Set and Builder's Guide finished up this week, and it's now available! I'm excited about this plan set, the heater is a small-ish, simple brick build built around my ceramic fiber batch core based on Peter van den Berg's brilliant Batch Rocket core design. Using my easy door and hardware methods allows for a build even a first time builder can easily complete with a minimum of tools and skills required. Hopefully this meets the needs and wishes of many of you who have been looking for simple batch rocket plans. Thanks so much as always for allowing me to share my work here, I greatly appreciate all the kind support and interest from all of you Permies!
Got another great testimonial from a customer today. These totally make my week.
"All I have to compare it to is years and years of conventional wood stove burning, the little j tube I built last winter, and what is on the internet. It's at least 5 times more efficient than last years j tube and much more sturdy (structurally stable). The j tube literally crumbled apart during disassembly because of the different amounts of product in each layer and different amounts of heat exposure. Wood stoves require an unlimited amount of wood and somewhere to keep it which just isn't practical living in the city like I do. In real world application, it's a wet cold here in Portland and my place is poorly insulated against it. I have an electric furnace and while I can turn it up and stand in front of it, it isn't able to drive out the cold wet air that permeates everything right down to your bones. But your stove has no problem driving out the cold wet air. So it's not only warm in here, it's dry. That was my primary reason for building it and here are some of the criteria; it had to have a small foot print which it does, it had to be fuel efficient which it is, it had to produce very little pollution and it gets A+ in that. And finally, it needed to a decent cookstove which it is. And the icing on top is that this stove can be reproduced if and when I move. What's more, it's a great little project that requires very few tools and is quite fun to build. I used a jig saw, drill, portable cutoff saw, tin snips, screwdriver, hammer, and miscellaneous mortar tools. I just youtube how to cut bricks, which is really simple and easy. After it was all said and done, getting your stove plans which is already designed and tested is way cheaper and easier than starting from scratch which I know all about.
So you should feel good about this one Matt, Yeah, there's always somebody out there that can screw it up but for the most part, your average person who is into these kinds of projects will really enjoy building it and be surprised by how well they work. "
Thanks for the great comments all! Dale, clearances depend on which face of the stove, but the backside can be 4" from combustibles. The sides and front are heating areas and should have at least 12" clearance from combustibles. Non-combustibles only need airspace so there is no direct thermal coupling.
As for the wood use, while it is interesting I find it useless. Pauls "1/2 cord" statements are a great example. We don't get the details of how he lives, time spent in the house, what one considers comfortable, home construction, weather, fuel type and condition, and on and on. I believe these are worse than useless as indicators of performance as they can deceive people who only grasp the basics and thus cause much misunderstanding and false expectations. The Tiny Cook runs at better than 85% efficiency, which is better than almost any wood fired heater you can purchase. These stoves are at the top of the food chain regarding efficiency, regardless of how little or much wood one uses.
For example, it's 85° in here right now. If I was trying to impress with wood use I'd put on a sweater. Hope that helps.
In other news, I broke the heck out of my website being a rookie and the cart is currently broken! Stand by gang, I've recruited someone smarter than me to try to fix my divots.
John, no worries man! Thanks so much for coming back with some details. I suspected it was probably from an older stand alone, and I greatly appreciate you detailing that. The ones I like and have had success with are from modern electric radiant four burner models. The glass is a Schott product, like the glass in box stove fronts, called Ceram or something along those lines depending on where you are. They usually are labelled as such in a corner of the top. I recently speculated that perhaps induction tops were not up to the heat, but someone on the Rocket Stove forum let me know they had one from an induction stove that had the same labeling, so I will assume that you can find these on both radiant and induction stoves.
Thanks again for the further info. We should let people know that the place to find glass is on a full size modern stove, not a stand alone hob or anything using older unmarked glass. The ones I have salvaged have been probably 90's era at the oldest.
Dale, my Full Masonry Cook Stove has one of these over the oven which is a true bell. It works great for holding large pots of water warm. Last year my little shack was unfinished and freezing and I kept big pots of water on top for more mass.
Kathleen, the Full Cook Stove footprint is roughly 55" x 35". The Tiny Cook Stove footprint is roughly 43" x 40".
As for heat and cooking in summer, well, I suppose it depends. You can cook with the stove top using the bypass and thus not heat the brick, so it's not impossible. That said, lighting a fire every time you cook when you don't need it for warmth will get tiresome, thus my electric range as well. These days I'm in a smaller space and keep a single portable electric burner on the counter top to cook with when I don't want to light a fire. Hope that helps.
You are correct Kathleen, I should have been more clear. They are susceptible to being overloaded. In their original configuration in a metal stove they have very little support so can flex under load and, yes, weight can break them. In my stoves I always have multiple points of support underneath. The tops ride on brick dividers that are designed such that they have no span greater than 10" or so. I feel confident loading them heavily when designed this way.
No concern at all in my opinion. I've been using these with full heat for years in many builds, and keep in mind these are from UL listed stoves that have a 220v 1800w+ coil directly underneath them, insulated below with ceramic fiber. You can put a 5 gallon soup pot full of cold water on one set on high and there is no risk. If these could break from thermal shock at temperatures we can reach with wood fire they would never pass UL certification. Our fires are far less stress than the normal use they are designed to see, in my opinion. I've never heard of one breaking from thermal shock, or even breaking at all other than the one lone post with no details. I can only assume the top was compromised prior, or perhaps was not of the same origin or material. They would not be in households all over the country if they were not deemed safe for extreme heat and large thermal variances across their surface. Nothing at all to worry about in my opinion.
That's a cool idea Dale! The stove tops are opaque, you can see the glow when the fire is blasting right on it, but I'm not sure you'd get any light from them.
Here's a new video on how to control temps on the stove top. Thanks for letting me share, as always!
Thanks for the interest you two. The tops are easily sourced at scrap places, and here I often find them in the back of the used household item resale places, like Habitat for Humanity retail store and some of the building material recyclers where they sell old windows and such. The bad stoves go out back and they have to pay to scrap them, so they typically will give them to you, or close enough. I paid $5 for most of mine. They can be easily cut free of the frame by cutting the adhesive around the perimeter and working up with a putty knife, carefully. Sometimes they have a few dabs of adhesive throughout the field as well, so you might need to get underneath it to work it free.
Dale, they will work great on a grill. I appreciate the offer, but I don't collect them and can find them when I need them easily enough. They are really common trash items, since people don't recognize the value. I imagine they are the most expensive component of stove construction for the manufacturer.
Yes Dale, I believe you would gain much from insulation. Mass in the firebox robs heat from the dying fire and cools the coals at the worst times, startup and end of burn. Insulation means quicker to a clean burn and far less black chunks left over after a fire.
Thanks for the comments you two. Julia, thank you for the confirmation.
Xisca, my belief is that we change our biome out completely, but there is still a biome. It just becomes that of a carnivore rather than an omnivore. Due to this, I would expect adaptation to be a two way street, and certainly it may take a few instances of reintroducing foods to truly identify how they are being handled by the individual. My feeling is that people who continue to include RS or fiber at all out of concern for this are not doing themselves any favors, and will never know how they truly would feel if truly adapted to ZC. I also know that some folks go from ZC back to carbs and believe they are compromised in their carb eating ability. I certainly believe we are all different, and I won't invalidate their experience, but my feeling is if carbs just make you feel awful after a bit of trying, that's probably a reason to not eat them rather than blame the way of eating that makes you feel better. As I related, there are some long term ZC folks who seem to be able to add in carbs at whim with no serious consequences. My feeling is that if you experience consequences from carbs, they probably have never been good for you but the impact was muted in the noise of a mixed diet.
As for T2D and blood glucose, it's pretty well confirmed these days that too much protein does not cause blood sugar spikes in most. There are again some outliers, but my opinion is it is a function of continuing to eat something that is inflammatory to that individual and thus causing the inflammation based hormone reaction to occur. In most cases where I have come across people who feel that is a concern, the concern usually came before the data. In my experience, because I did it too, that leads to making choices based on those motivations rather than listening to how we feel. They often will limit protein and pack in the fat, or eat butter or oils, and I know that eating that way drives me into inflammation. Again, some do find or believe that high protein=BG spikes, but for the VAST majority of T2D on ZC, of which there are countless, they find they finally have the BG numbers they have chased their whole life, regardless of F/P ratios. I do believe adaptation is an issue, and that's why I say the belief comes first, because people will eat according to this belief and set themselves up to fail. That's simply my opinion based on observation, but Twitter is full of T2D ZC'ers posting daily BG readings and they are as a group ecstatic about the improvements. I can think of one person who holds the belief you state and I see this person struggle often. I think it's us overthinking our bodies natural ability to regulate if given a chance, which I think is what got us into this whole mess in the first place.
Hope that helps, thanks so much for the dialog and comments my friends!
Hi everyone! Wow, what a great response. Thanks to all for the thoughtful comments and dialog, it's been great to read all of your thoughts and I appreciate the open minded approach you all share.
Maureen, these videos are also available as podcasts on Itunes and Google Play if that format works better for you. There are links in the videos, or you can find them here:
Episode 4 is up! In this one I cover what I eat in a day, what I've eaten over the past year of eating only animal sourced foods, and what one might expect during adaptation. I ramble as I do, talk about salt, coffee, and lots more. I also cry a little bit because I appreciate your support so much and I'm sorta sensitive! :) Thanks for letting me share and for being so open and kind!
Thanks for all the great comments and interest everybody! It's so exciting for me to see these coming to life, and I just got a lovely email I would like to share here. This is the text from a very nice customer who has completed his build. It's built using the Tiny Cook Stove Plans with modifications to the body to allow him to build this into his existing fireplace. I think it's a lovely solution and the side bell could be a roasting oven if one desired. This made my whole month, and I just had to share!
"Last night I finally got a fire in it and your design is fantastic. Only took about 2 fires to figure out the draw and how not to smoke the place out on start up. Really keeps the place warm using very little wood. When I move back to the country, I'm going to build this style again with the oven. Thanks again Matt. Really love your design. "
"Your design was very easy to build. The hard part was deciding what to put around it. The black front is actually the drawer from the stove. In fact the core is encased with the donor stove parts. The door was made with the stainless steel parts of the donor stove. And I got the stove for free off of craigslist. The donor stove oven box (which could be used as the core surround), came wrapped in a ceramic fiber blanket which I used as gasket material and it provides an excellent seal around the top and wherever else one might need it. I would encourage others to follow your plans for the door because it's a great place to start and saves a great deal of time. I got the door window glass off of eBay and the seller will cut it to whatever size you want. Cost about $22. The latch idea is the bomb. This was the first time I ever worked with laying bricks and would encourage others to lay it out dry first. Youtube how to cut bricks with a hammer and big chisel. It's really fast and easy to do. I got the chisel from harbor freight for about $10. As you can probably tell, I didn't cut the glass top though I could have. It just seemed to work better for me to leave it uncut for this application.
Yes! I'm thrilled with the finished product and it looks and works great.
Thanks again Matt and if there is anything I can do to help other folks, just let me know"
I did put my dogs on a carnivore diet shortly after going that way myself. I couldn't rationalize feeding them carbs after learning what I have. They all show improved health right along with me, I feel bad for feeding them what I did for so long.
Xisca, I meant that I always commented to Paul and Jocelyn that I was most impressed with Pauls' belief in himself. As he likes to say, "I am awesome." I struggled with that for a long time, not liking myself much, so I always looked up to him regarding loving one's self.
No raw yet for me Xisca. I do love raw fish, but even though I eat a lot of red meat, I am not really a huge fan of the raw or rare taste. I cook my steaks so that they are ruined by most standards. I just like them better that way.
You are just awesome Xisca. I appreciate your understanding. The Vagus was my favorite study topic when I was starting to connect my depression to my gut issues. As for the rest, I am finally healing and despite feeling like an alien I finally, finally, finally really love who I am. Jocelyn can attest to my constant wonder at Paul's advanced skills in this area, and it's far and away the feature of his I admire most. I am finally learning how to do it, I am healing for sure. Yes, these online communities are amazing, and I am so thankful every day for this. I think the healing I have done these last few weeks as I share and get support have been the most profound of my journey thus far, and it's all thanks to people like you and all who participate here. Thank you Permies!
There's no waiting list Xisca, this health issue has had me push away everyone that I cared about. I'm in the ForeverAlone category, and have been for over a decade now. Seems hopeless with how strange I am. My singles profile reads like a list of reasons not to date me! Short, old, broke, lives in a shack, no bathroom, no shower, no cell phone, no facebook, no social life, eats no plants, doesn't believe in current science.....I could go on and on. I've come a long way though, that's the last step in my healing process and I'm slowly getting there.
This is not a pity post, I find it sorta funny to be so strange that I can't find anyone in real life to relate to. I move through my small town like an alien.
Xisca, I am absolutely open, but I believe I will never eat plants again. My opinion is there is no benefit, unless I can't find meat. You can be sure that I am paying VERY close attention, as is my doctor. I have gone through quite a few changes in the formulation of my diet over the last year, and I'm sure it will continue to change over time. At the moment I'm pretty much beef only because I feel best on that. I do feel that eggs and fish are valuable additions and I have been eating them regularly throughout this past year, just not at the moment. I ran out of fish, but my buddy stopped by over the holidays after cleaning out his freezer and blessed me with 60lbs of wild Alaskan halibut and salmon, so I'm heading for a fish phase! My chickens aren't laying and I try not to purchase much food from the store, a hold out from my days as an avid gardener eating mostly plants. I do buy the occasional dozen just to make sure my E, A and EPA/DHA are covered, among others.
As for the adaptation, yes Xisca, very astute. I did start with five or so small meals a day. Actually, the first week, I was only able to eat maybe 1lb of beef a day and even fasted for a few days when beef sounded unpalatable. Then I went to multiple small meals, and over time I have naturally gravitated to two meals fairly close together. I believe it takes a while for our hormones, hunger signals, satiety, and nutrition to reset and come back online after a lifetime of carb addiction, but over time most find that they prefer to eat large meals in a small window. Similar to most other carnivores in the natural world. As for acid, Salt raises stomach acid (chloride) and in the beginning I was salting liberally, and felt it was necessary. I also supplemented Mg and K for the first few months. I now do not supplement at all, no spices or salt outside of what is in the meat. After experimenting with some, lots, a little, none, at various stages and multiple times each, I feel that I feel best without added salt or supps. I have extensive food logs and journals over the last few years, although now that I'm out of the woods I'm letting all of that slide. I promise to continue to be vigilant though. The fatigue I was experiencing throughout 2015-16 is a great indicator that I am in trouble, so I perk up when my energy goes flat. That's one of my main flags.
Nicole, I am under the belief that I am a Crohn's sufferer. In the video I share that I suffered from bloody diarrhea and deep depression my whole life, among other symptoms. I was strict SCD for almost a year and made great improvements, but I was not able to fully heal until I dropped all plants. This is a common story from AI sufferers who go ZC. It does take a few weeks/month to adapt, and no one is immune. My theory is a large part of that adaptation is the biome trying hard to stay alive, so it makes life miserable for the first week or two for some during this period. This is one reason why changing from one extreme to another over a short time can keep things from ever stabilizing.
Xisca! Thank you! Wonderful info. I just had blood work that shows calcium and got a full Iron panel. I'll have to revisit to see if I have copper info in there. I'm hoping to do some hair testing in the coming year to get some more assurance. At this point, all the bloods I have been testing are improving and ideal on this way of eating. My Doctor is ecstatic.
I don't eat organ meats, and I grill a lot of the fat out of my meat so I am eating very high protein, and while it's high fat in the context of a diet with plants, it's not terribly high, and low in the LCHF context. I do eat about 4lbs of beef a day at this point, so the sheer volume of meat means high nutritional inputs, outside of what we might assume at first blush.
There are many things about this way of eating that are counter intuitive, and lots of preconceived notions about how one "must" eat high fat, or "must" eat organ meats, and so on. The reality is that each of us still need to listen and tune the diet to what works for us. I tried to follow those "rules" in the first months and made myself ill. I do believe that my Crohn's or whatever it is may have compromised my ability to process fats, but for whatever reason I feel far better if I eat the way I do.
That's why I'm sharing my story. If one simply reads the comments in this thread, we can see that many people have stated their beliefs as absolutes of nutrition. "Essential carbs," too much protein causes obesity and diabetes, Complex carbs are very healthy and necessary, this diet won't work for gout sufferers, etc. These are all false in my opinion, keep in mind all of that info is gleaned in the context of a diet including carbs. Regarding gout, every sufferer who I've heard of who has gone ZC has experienced profound relief, despite the belief that it may exacerbate it. Current studies point to fructose as the main driver of gout, but as I said, I don't put much faith in nutritional studies. I don't know why it works, I only know that it does for many.
My point of view is we know very little about all meat diets as they have never been studied barring Stefansson's Bellevue Experiment, but we apply all sorts of beliefs to the thought of it. So, again, I'm sharing this to counter all of that stuff we "know", and hopefully help some people become aware of a possibility they have never considered, because it sounds nuts and goes against everything we think we know. The results speak for themselves in my opinion, not just in me but in the vast majority of people who attempt this in good faith. Looking at carnivore humans is fairly convincing. As a group we are amazingly healthy, fit, and thriving. Just look at any long term human carnivore, I believe that the health of these individuals is undeniable. That's what I am basing most of my faith on, my improving health and that of my peers.
I certainly hope I can help dispel these myths and helps someone find their health and thrive the way I am. I'll continue to share my story, and I appreciate the continued support and dialog. Thanks Permies!
Here's a couple of my latest pics, I can't deny I'm thriving like I NEVER have before. At 48 years old I'm stronger, more flexible, less joint pain, capable of more work, etc, than I was throughout my 20s and 30s.
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