Hi, I'm Tynan! I love life and explore its possibilities by ignoring common sense and discovering what is really possible. If you are sick of the Standard 9-5 Lifestyle and want more out of your life, you're in the right place.
EDIT: I have no idea why this post is so popular. People love to read about it and flip out because I said that I am “basically a vegan” even though I used to eat raw fish every couple weeks back when I was a raw foodist. A few things to make clear:
- I really couldn’t care less whether you call me a vegan, omnivore, carnivore, or just a jerk. I’m actually embarrassed to call myself a vegan because most vegans have these insane attachments to labels, and most (not all) of them eat tons of processed junk. If you want an accurate label, go with “someone who eats as healthily as he knows how”.
- I was partially wrong about B12 in this article. We have a 3 year supply which gets recycled well enough that it’s more like a 30 year supply. Topping off once in a while is good enough.
- If you’re still hung up on what I eat, check out this post. I eat strictly vegan with no processed foods (sugar, flour, etc) or bad oils almost all the time. Once or twice a month I eat a small amount of “normal food” because I occasionally find myself in a location where I can’t get the kind of food I like to eat.
I love doing stuff that normal people don’t do. Especially stuff that seems crazy but is actually really good for you. Let’s add another one to the list – eating raw eggs!
Being a raw foodist, the only “meat” I eat is the occasional fish. That basically makes me a vegan. The biggest problem with being a vegan is that you naturally don’t get enough B12.
“But what about the vegan animals?” you might ask. Well, most herbivores actually consume a lot of bugs when eating plants. Those bugs provide the B12. Without B12 you can get depressed lose your energy, or become a hideously deformed troll (just a guess).
I was researching ways to get my B12 without taking a supplement (I’ve never swallowed a pill before in my life), and I found a site about eating raw eggs. It turns out that salmonella bacteria only cause a problem in people with weak immune systems. Why do people have weak immune system? Because they don’t consume enough bacteria.
That’s right… Bacteria (in proper doses) is good for you!
In fact, if you build up a reasonable tolerance to bacteria, you all but eliminate your chances of contracting disease in foreign countries by drinking the water. Thus, the benefits of eating raw eggs is two fold.
I don’t remember why, but you only eat the yolk, and not the sac that holds the yolk. If you start out eating too much, you will get sick (just temporary, not a big deal), so you start off with half a teaspoon for a week, and then a full teaspoon, and then one yolk, and then two yolks. Two yolks gives you the full amount of B12 that you need every day, and more doesn’t really provide any benefit.
Interestingly, the reason that most people eat yolks isn’t for the B12 or the bacteria. They consider these to be side benefits. Most people eat yolks because doing so is apparently excellent for your skin.
Luckily for me, my friend Kristin has a chicken coop and is going to give me some really fresh eggs. Until then I decided to just get the best ones I could from a store.
Tonight was my first try. I cracked the raw egg at my desk, poured the white into a cup and stared down the yolk. All my years of being warned not to eat raw eggs were coming back. I poked into the yolk with a spoon and got a little more than half a teaspoon.
Hesistantly I sipped the yolk. Wow! It’s actually pretty good. It tastes like a custard that isn’t very sweet and is thicker than I expected. After I finished, I found myself wanting to eat the rest of the yolk, but I’ll stick to the recommended amount for a while.
I’m pretty psyched about this new development. A lot of animals eat the raw eggs of other animals, so it stands to reason that I would too. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be chasing down gazelles by next year and eating huge chunks of their flesh with my bare teeth. I mean… I wouldn’t predict it necessarily, but then again who thought I’d be eating raw eggs?
Milo
You’re so wrong. I’ve seen Napoleon Dynamite and that’s not how you eat raw eggs. You’re supposed to crack open about six dozen in a pitcher and chug that goop by the gallon.