A VEGAN-turned-carnivore has defended not feeding her two-year-old son any vegetables, but serving him raw brains for dinner. Gloria Zasso, 30, from Munich, Germany, converted to vegetarianism when she was 12, and later became a vegan before turning only eat meat for “health reasons”. Everything changed for Gloria, who has a two-year-old Isaac with her […]
A VEGAN-turned-carnivore has defended not feeding her two-year-old son any vegetables, but serving him raw brains for dinner.
Gloria Zasso, 30, from Munich, Germany, converted to vegetarianism when she was 12, and later became a vegan before turning only eat meat for “health reasons”.
Everything changed for Gloria, who has a two-year-old Isaac with her IT consultant husband Thomas, also 30, after her son was born.
In 2017, she suddenly developed rheumatoid arthritis – an autoimmune disease, causing pain and stiffness in the joints – which left her hands and feet in agony.
She said: “The condition came out of nowhere and was incredibly painful, to the extent that I often couldn’t walk, brush my teeth or lift my newborn son up, which made me feel horrible.”
Doctors offered to put her on a course of immune suppressant drugs – but stay-at-home-mum Gloria was determined to treat herself naturally.
After conducting her own research, she arrived at the theory that it could be her eating regime that was to blame, owing to a deficiency in certain nutrients contained in animal products.
She said: “I did lots of research and decided I would give eating meat another go. Even though the idea made me feel disgusted, I was in so much pain I’d try anything.”
Slowly reintroducing herself to animal products in August 2017, Gloria started supplementing her diet with eggs, dairy and bone broths – a move which she said immediately saw a slight improvement in her health.
In September 2018 Gloria decided to incorporate meat back into her diet, starting by eating a portion of raw liver.
She said: “The first time I did it, I really had to force it down and hold my nose while I ate it – but after that I began to feel better.
“The thought of eating a steak made me feel like vomiting but I knew I had to try everything to get better, so I went for it.”
Then a month later, while searching the internet, she came across the “raw carnivore” diet.
She explained: “It didn’t sound particularly pleasant, but I wasn’t eating meat for pleasure anyway, so I thought I might as well try it.”
Now, still refusing to take prescribed medication, she eats raw steak or raw offal for breakfast, followed by a cooked meat dish such as slow cooked lamb shoulder for dinner.
She also feeds her husband and toddler the same gory diet of steak, organs and bone marrow that she now swears by and doesn’t feed him any vegetables at all – although he does occasionally eat fruit.
Gloria aid: “Now, Isaac and Thomas eat almost the same as I do, and they seem to both enjoy it.
“Of course, I get a lot of criticism from people I know, and people on social media, particularly with regards to Isaac, telling me that it’s irresponsible not to give a child vegetables.
“As a mother, you are always questioning your choices, and I do worry about what he eats – but so far he is healthy and active, and you have to listen to what the body is telling you.”
The beef steak, kidney, liver, heart and lamb brain – which she buys from local butchers – do not come cheap, and Gloria as she only eats responsibly sourced food.
“I am still against the mistreatment of animals, but I don’t hold the philosophy still that we shouldn’t eat animals at all,” she said.
“I make sure that everything we consume has been treated well and killed humanely, and on top of that try to eat ‘nose to tail’ so that there is as little wastage as possible. And I’m at peace with that.”
She continued: “I still don’t love the taste of eating meat – I still see it as a kind of medicine, but one day it might be one I enjoy.
“I feel so much better now. I can live my life again and am able to function, which for a while I could not.”
Daniel O’Shaughnessy, a nutritionist for The Naked Nutritionist clinic in Harley Street, London, warned of the risks of eating raw meat.
He said: “In a diet such as this there is no fibre which is not considered healthy at all, especially for a child in early days of development.
“Children need nutrients from plants to thrive and grow and ward off deficiencies.
“I would not recommend this diet be mimicked if someone is suffering pain from rheumatoid arthritis. I would suggest someone seeks advice from a health professional before changing their diet to support a diagnosis.”
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