A WOMAN who eats raw meat and makes cheese with her own spit says ditching junk food has “transformed” her life.
Emily Ciosek, 31, also eats raw chicken and refuses to wash her hair.
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Podcaster Emily Ciosek shared her unique hygiene and dietary habits, including why she doesn’t wash her hairCredit: Emily Ciosek
Emily (@emilys.rootawakening) started eating raw steak in May 2022 after reading about the health benefits and has since consumed up to seven pounds of raw meat per week costing $70.
The businesswoman tends to eat raw chicken, beef, and pork for lunch every day.
Since changing her diet, Emily, who was previously living “a typical American lifestyle,” has found that her mental health, spirituality, digestive system, and skin have improved.
She also makes a lot of her own food products including raw butter and cream cheese made with her own spit as it “tailors the bacteria” to what her body needs.
Emily, who runs a self-development business and hosts a podcast, said: “At 21, I was partying really hard and eating a lot of junk food.
“Around that same time, I started doing yoga as an outlet into spirituality and then it became bigger and bigger.
“Someone recommended Weston Rowe, who was eating raw meat.
“I was following my soul and it told me to eat raw meat.”
She added: “It was so tasty and I loved it, my favorite to eat right now is raw pork chop.
“I go to a local butcher that gets local meat, they treat me so well.
“It’s well handled so they get it directly from the farmer, I love the connection I have with them.
“I sometimes go to Whole Foods too, though.”
Emily did admit that she’s aware of others’ raised eyebrows about her unconventional diet.
“Strangers that don’t know me don’t know what to do about the raw meat thing,” she said.
She continued: “You get told in this society you will die if you eat raw meat.
“People that know me personally put in so much effort to support me, but they’re probably confused about why I’m doing this.
“I went into a practice of me experimenting and realigning with what felt right to me.”
Emily, from Grand Rapids, Michigan, was 22 and living in New York City when her health started to collapse.
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The 31-year-old follows a diet that consists largely of raw meatCredit: Emily Ciosek
“All of a sudden I started to get UTIs, stomach infections, and hair loss off and on in my 20s, and Western medicine was making it worse,” she explained.
“My health was getting worse, and then I found natural medicine.
“I was certified as an Ayurveda health coach in June 2020, it’s an ancient Indian health lifestyle.
“It’s well-known for the different Indian herbs you can take to aid your health.
“It champions cooking from home, and cooking with spices to handle the temperatures in your body.
“It uses different elements to describe different body types and balance out health,” she said.
Emily admits to eating a typical modern Western diet of processed food and frozen dinners from her teens until the age of 20.
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Emily explained that she was motivated to start her raw meat lifestyle when she was in her 20sCredit: Emily Ciosek
But when she got into yoga and spirituality in 2011, she began to experiment with her diet.
At first, she tried the meat-based GAPS diet which is based on bone broth, meat, and fermented foods, and found it “taught her a lot” about what she liked and didn’t like.
She then interviewed Weston Rowe, a well-known raw meat eater, for her podcast Root Awakening in February 2022.
“It was so weird and so interesting. He was such a cool guy but I was really not convinced,” Emily said.
“His outlook is that we actually need bacteria in our bodies and we built up strength in our immunity.
“My curiosity grew and after the GAPS diet, my tastebuds changed. I was craving raw meat,” she continued.
Having tried raw meat for the first time in May 2022, Emily says it’s “the complete opposite of what people think.”
“I remember the first time I had it I was sitting outside and I got a giant thick New York strip and I felt so spiritually connected with food,” she said.
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The podcast host found people online who follow a similar lifestyle to herCredit: Emily Ciosek
Emily, who is single, now follows a lifestyle of raw eating and shares her experiences online in the hope of convincing others.
She also broke down her diet, starting with celery juice for breakfast.
“I don’t drink much water, around one liter maximum per day because I prefer to eat my water through structured water like kombucha,” Emily explained.
“For lunch, I’ll have a charcuterie spread of raw chicken, beef, and pork with fermented sauerkraut, capers, or just plain with some tomatoes or a juicy something,” she added.
Vegetables are few and far between for this carnivore.
“I’ll also have raw cheese and olive oil, with caviar either from salmon or white fish, and I bake chicken skins until they’re crispy, that keeps me full all day,” she said.
For her evening meal, Emily will sometimes have cooked food, like meatballs, but this is rare for her to do.
“I’ll have sweeter stuff, like French toast I make with raw milk.
“I cover it in raw butter and raw honey and raw cream cheese that I make with my spit,” she said.
Alongside her meals, Emily will have supplements including a tablespoon of olive oil daily, and a piece of old raw lamb’s liver, which ferments from the bacteria.
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Emily also produces her own cheese and butter using her spitCredit: Emily Ciosek
One of Emily’s podcast viewers said it “tastes like candy and red wine.”
According to Emily, her family is really supportive of her lifestyle choices.
“I don’t really talk about it. When I’m not house-sitting, I live with my parents,” Emily said.
“They’ll say, ‘You’re really not going to cook that?’
“With both my family and friends I’m really lucky, everyone wants to support me.
“I do allow myself to go out to eat, and I’ll have charcuterie boards or oysters is a good one.
“Sometimes if I go to a place and I don’t see anything I want I just don’t get anything.
“People have left nasty comments online and get angry, I guess people think it’s dangerous,” Emily explained.
Since starting her Instagram, Emily has connected with people who follow the same lifestyle but is careful not to get ”too close as you run the risk of isolating yourself from society.”
She also began experimenting with her haircare routine after suffering from hair loss in her 20s.
“I thought, why am I buying factory-made products when I can use food?” she said.
She revealed that she first tried to wash her hair once a week using just raw eggs.
After one month of her unique hair-washing method, Emily stopped altogether.
“I started talking to other people in the Instagram community who don’t wash their hair,” she recalled.
“So I stopped and at first it was so greasy but then it got thicker and puffy, I enjoy the volume, it’s a freeing process.
“I’ve worn no makeup for three years too, and my skin is better, eyelashes are thicker and I have better self-esteem.
“Natural health saves money, and time, and feels good,” she said.
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The content creator revealed that she hasn’t washed her hair in three monthsCredit: Emily Ciosek
