On Migraines, Diarrhea and Overcooked Meat

One of the most challenging things about being on an all beef diet is finding quality beef. It doesn’t seem like it would be that difficult, but I’m writing this after consuming local, grass fed beef from a farm up the road that has left me with a pounding migraine and a feeling like I want to vomit to be rid of the queasiness.

I bought about 7 pounds of grass fed beef from Aldi and spent the entire week having diarrhea. Coincidence? Maybe, then again, the sheer sight of that beef makes me feel sick, so I’m thinking maybe not.

Then there’s the hoards of grass fed beef I bought from a vendor at the local farm market that has such a gamey smell to every cut of beef that it was really off-putting. It didn’t taste great, and I’ve spent way too much of my life chewing that tough meat. It’s hard enough to be on an all beef diet without the sickening strange game smell and tough sinewy chunks that ram wads of meat strands between your molars. Yeah, this is my life. Dental floss is my best friend.

So far really, the Simple Truth Organic grass fed beef from Kroger has been the most dependable, likeable, non-sickening beef. It is the bulk staple of my diet, but at my local grocery the varieties are only ground beef and expensive ribeyes. I have read online from several zero-carbers that ground beef can disagree with overly sensitive guts due to the mixed up bacteria and that other cuts are preferable, but really if one is committed to grass fed there’s simply no way to afford not incorporating regular rounds of ground beef on a musician’s salary. Besides, ground beef provides a respite from the jaw ramming chewing on other cuts!

I have had some cuts of beef from local vendors that were enjoyable enough and where I felt good afterwards, but they didn’t provide enough fat, and then there were some cuts which simply to my palette are lacking without marinading or spicing. For example, it’s possible the short ribs I made would have been scrumptious marinated, but I just didn’t enjoy that cut of beef alone.

So far ribeyes are the most satisfying because they provide a nice portion of fat and let’s face it, they’re simply mouth watering. Ribeyes seem to be the cut of choice for most Carnivores, but again for me it’s too pricey to eat every day.

In addition to the repulsion I’ve experienced taste wise or in my bowels to several different brands of meat, there’s my own handicap of failing to cook the meat to an edible capacity again and again. I’m really struggling to not overcook! It seems the meat goes from raw and bloody to a cardboard block in one minute flat! But truly this is just the fact that I need to devote my focus to the task at hand and not wander off. That all being said, few meals I would finish and think, “Wow, that was truly scrumptious.” Too often it’s like, “Man, I’m glad that’s done.”

One such meal however was on my birthday. I went out to eat at a local restaurant in the little beach town Salvo in the Outer Banks, NC, and I ordered a big, fat prime rib. To date, that has been the most epic meal I have had on my beef diet. I dream about that prime rib.

Most times I’m just happy to have a neutral experience. I would love to find a local vendor where I enjoy every bite and so I will continue to try different farms. Luckily where I live in Virginia gives me many options for exploration. My new m.o. is to buy only one or two pieces so that I don’t end up with a weeks worth of meat that smells or tastes weird, or worse.

One day while vacationing, my friend walks into the room, wrinkles up her nose and says, “Eww, there’s something wrong with that meat!” I guess it’s not just me.

So here’s to a week without diarrhea, migraines, nausea, relentless chewing and off putting smells! Setting the bar low! All joking aside, all beef eating is not easy, but I am still convinced that for the time being it is totally worth it.