I have alopecia , its effected every part of my body resulting in loss of every hair on my body and head . I had a wonderful full head of hair . even as far as losing my eyebrows and eye lashes . Was wondering if a diet of raw liver be of benefit .

Paul

A raw diet for dogs, based on meat, is the best thing in the world for them. For what it’s worth, I really advise you ween them off the “dog food,” flaxseed, and rice entirely. “Dog food,” even the most greenwashed, groovy, “scientific” brands I’ve seen in the States, use filthy, tortured factory farmed meat. Any animal lover (or decent person) should boycott that industry. Also, cans are lined with bisphenol A. Pasture-fed animal foods are very high in omega-3 (the major selling point for flax) and that omega-3 is far more bioavailable than what you find in flax, which may not be bioavailable at all. As for the ecology and politics of eating locally, you’re more likely to have a friendly local cow or goat farmer than flaxseed farmer (and flaxseed is just another soil-killing monocrop, while responsible pastoralism protects and builds topsoil). Plus, wolves definitely don’t eat flaxseed or rice. Granted, they don’t eat everything I feed my dogs either…

For four or five months, I have fed my two dogs (a six year old cocker spaniel and a now eleven month old german shepherd-beagle mutt) a diet of almost entirely raw food. The cocker is leaner, fitter, shinier, softer, more energetic, has better breath, and her chronic eye and ear infections are fewer and far less severe. The puppy immediately started on a major new growth spurt, her previously dandruffy, coarse, dull coat turned unbelievably glossy and soft with no dandruff, and she is frankly the strongest dog I have ever seen, tall and lean and incredibly happy. They even smell good, in a doggy way! The puppy survived, inexplicably, a horrifying hit from a car. She recovered in almost no time, and I do think her diet was a factor in that.

The dogs’ diet is based, in order from most to least, on the following (the specific make-up of each meal varies considerably, except that meat is always by far the main ingredient):

Beef heart, tongue, or other muscle meat (sometimes lamb leg)
Beef liver (occasionally lamb liver or kidneys)
Lacto-fermented rolled oats (just oats soaked in water and left at room temperature for a few days… they’ll start smelling pleasantly sour. Once you feel like you don’t want them to ferment any further, just refrigerate them)
Beef suet
Beef soup bones
Eggs, with mashed up shells (yolk and shell only for my cocker… the albumen is harder to digest, but the puppy does fine with it)
Raw milk, cream, yoghurt, kefir, buttermilk, cheese rinds
Whole fresh sardines (gills removed)
Carrot or apple, shaved

It’s nice that organ meat and animal fat are often very cheap compared to lean muscle meat, in a complete reversal of how these parts were valued by indigenous peoples.

All the animal foods I use are pasture raised on small local farms, and I think this makes all the difference (nutritionally, as well as everything else). The fish is caught wild with small nets by a local fisherman. The plant foods are local and permaculture grown, except the oats which are just “organic.” I’d like to get the dogs off the oats since they cannot be had locally and sustainably, but they do seem to be a healthful part of the diet and are very cheap!

I tried giving them some saurkraut, but it made them farty. They didn’t much like the kidneys, and I had to mash them up with other yummier things for the pups to be willing to eat them. Everything else they love. And the bones have the added bonus of keeping them busy for a long time (including during dinner parties).

The success of the dogs on this diet persuaded me to try raw liver… not the tastiest thing in the world, but the “high” is undeniable. I’ve never eaten anything that made me feel so good. An almost palatable option is to douse thinly sliced raw liver in truffle oil, which complements the flavor, to the extent that it can be complemented. This morning I blended some raw liver with kombucha, fresh turmeric, and a bit of olive oil. Yuck. But, also, wow…

This is the article that convinced me to switch them over, and I’ve been honing the diet ever since: http://www.westonaprice.org/healthissues/feeding_pets.html

And a great article from the same site on raw liver and other favored “dishes” of the indigenous of “North America”:
http://www.westonaprice.org/traditional_diets/native_americans.html

Joanne, thanks for a great blog! You’re doing great work promoting genuinely healthy foods! Also, I’m impressed that you responded to the abusive poster in February and were so calm and collected in your response.

David in NYC

A raw diet for dogs, based on meat, is the best thing in the world for them. For what it’s worth, I really advise you ween them off the “dog food,” flaxseed, and rice entirely. “Dog food,” even the most greenwashed, groovy, “scientific” brands I’ve seen in the States, use filthy, tortured factory farmed meat. Any animal lover (or decent person) should boycott that industry. Also, cans are lined with bisphenol A. Pasture-fed animal foods are very high in omega-3 (the major selling point for flax) and that omega-3 is far more bioavailable than what you find in flax, which may not be bioavailable at all. As for the ecology and politics of eating locally, you’re more likely to have a friendly local cow or goat farmer than flaxseed farmer (and flaxseed is just another soil-killing monocrop, while responsible pastoralism protects and builds topsoil). Plus, wolves definitely don’t eat flaxseed or rice. Granted, they don’t eat everything I feed my dogs either…

For four or five months, I have fed my two dogs (a six year old cocker spaniel and a now eleven month old german shepherd-beagle mutt) a diet of almost entirely raw food. The cocker is leaner, fitter, shinier, softer, more energetic, has better breath, and her chronic eye and ear infections are fewer and far less severe. The puppy immediately started on a major new growth spurt, her previously dandruffy, coarse, dull coat turned unbelievably glossy and soft with no dandruff, and she is frankly the strongest dog I have ever seen, tall and lean and incredibly happy. They even smell good, in a doggy way! The puppy survived, inexplicably, a horrifying hit from a car. She recovered in almost no time, and I do think her diet was a factor in that.

The dogs’ diet is based, in order from most to least, on the following (the specific make-up of each meal varies considerably, except that meat is always by far the main ingredient):

Beef heart, tongue, or other muscle meat (sometimes lamb leg)
Beef liver (occasionally lamb liver or kidneys)
Lacto-fermented rolled oats (just oats soaked in water and left at room temperature for a few days… they’ll start smelling pleasantly sour. Once you feel like you don’t want them to ferment any further, just refrigerate them)
Beef suet
Beef soup bones
Eggs, with mashed up shells (yolk and shell only for my cocker… the albumen is harder to digest, but the puppy does fine with it)
Raw milk, cream, yoghurt, kefir, buttermilk, cheese rinds
Whole fresh sardines (gills removed)
Carrot or apple, shaved

It’s nice that organ meat and animal fat are often very cheap compared to lean muscle meat, in a complete reversal of how these parts were valued by indigenous peoples.

All the animal foods I use are pasture raised on small local farms, and I think this makes all the difference (nutritionally, as well as everything else). The fish is caught wild with small nets by a local fisherman. The plant foods are local and permaculture grown, except the oats which are just “organic.” I’d like to get the dogs off the oats since they cannot be had locally and sustainably, but they do seem to be a healthful part of the diet and are very cheap!

I tried giving them some saurkraut, but it made them farty. They didn’t much like the kidneys, and I had to mash them up with other yummier things for the pups to be willing to eat them. Everything else they love. And the bones have the added bonus of keeping them busy for a long time (including during dinner parties).

The success of the dogs on this diet persuaded me to try raw liver… not the tastiest thing in the world, but the “high” is undeniable. I’ve never eaten anything that made me feel so good. An almost palatable option is to douse thinly sliced raw liver in truffle oil, which complements the flavor, to the extent that it can be complemented. This morning I blended some raw liver with kombucha, fresh turmeric, and a bit of olive oil. Yuck. But, also, wow…

This is the article that convinced me to switch them over, and I’ve been honing the diet ever since: http://www.westonaprice.org/healthissues/feeding_pets.html

And a great article from the same site on raw liver and other favored “dishes” of the indigenous of “North America”:
http://www.westonaprice.org/traditional_diets/native_americans.html

Joanne, thanks for a great blog! You’re doing great work promoting genuinely healthy foods! Also, I’m impressed that you responded to the abusive poster in February and were so calm and collected in your response.

David in NYC

It’s also worth nothing that my dog is an english bulldog, and about 12 years old. Bulldogs typically only live to 10 years old or so, and my dog (Tyler) is super healthy and active. It’s all about the diet/exercise!

I’m also interested in eating raw liver. I talked to the meat guy at my local Whole Foods, which is also their “flagship” store in Austin, TX, and he said freezing should do the trick, but that he is planning on feeding fresh pureed, raw calf liver from one of our local organic, grass-fed cow farms for his newborn. I think I’m going to freeze it and see how that works, then contact the local farm about getting some fresh liver from them directly, and eating it raw.

Laboratory conditions are not living conditions, and even double-blind tests are flawed, mostly in length of time and not considering the true lifestyle factors of the patients when they’re not in the lab, ie. thoughts, breathing, drinking, eating, exercising and sleeping well. Show me a study that addresses all those things, and not the isolated testing of nutrients under conditions that never occur in life.