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Soon they’ll tax all non-sugar, non-grain foods as medicine, too

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

I have never been in better health.

The raging health care debate concerns me because I have seen the rubble of other countries’ health care systems that were created with utter socialism, and saw the underbelly (and saving grace!) of black market medicine.  Government medical care was/is so rationed in these countries, the facilities falling apart, and the prices controlled causing greater scarcity, it literally is a saving grace when the doctors moonlight by coming to your home for a house call.  They can earn an extra buck from their meager government salaries, you get the care you need when you need it.  All very dangerous for both parties involved, in the same way it was dangerous to sell watermelons above the government set price in the Soviet Union.

Life and death medical care paid for underneath the table.  Life sustaining food paid for underneath the table as the shelves in all the stores were bare.  In both cases, it was illegal, in both cases you were an enemy of the State.

I am not a schill for the doctors or the insurance companies nor lacking compassion for the poor amongst us that don’t have access to good medical care, but it concerns me to see such a large sector of the economy, like health care, becoming owned by the government.   I’ve seen this phenomenon in other countries which criminalizes/criminalized private medical care, and that’s why I’m concerned.

Banks and car companies… owned by the government.   More and more Health Care planned, controlled, owned by the government.  We may be on opposite ends of the political spectrum here, to whom it may concern, but we’re on the same side of the barricades when it will come to the rationing of medicine.   Will it come to food, too?

The piece of the pie of the economy that is falling into the hands of the government grows larger, and the remaining pieces under “private sector” control are a result of favors paid to the government by these companies to have tariffs, regulations, and subsidies put in place that benefit these said companies/corporations and squash their competition.  I am not anti-capitalism.  No, far from it.  I’m against corporatism.  I’m against the government giving special uncompetitive measures for certain companies.  There’s a big difference.

So, yes, I’m in the best health of my life.

Though we’re heading toward a collision course of rationed medical care, and drug prices are set to soar despite what may be promised, I’m comforted by the fact that I have my health.  I understand the toast so much more profoundly now, “Here’s to your health.”  Indeed.  I at this point in time don’t require any prescription drugs, and I believe I have reduced the likelihood of the need for prescription drugs in the future.

In addition to eating mostly an evolutionary diet, I provide my children Vitamin D supplementation between 400-1000 IU daily depending on the weather, depending on the level of their snotty noses, depending on whether I remember to and whether it’s in the house.

-With the healthy portions of meat, vegetables and fruit (and dairy products in a few dishes)

-the rare treats

-the near lack of wheat, corn, rice and potatoes

-and total lack of foods with High Fructose Corn Syrup

my kids are some of the strongest and healthiest on the block, and I’m not talking genetics here regarding height, etc.

They hiss and whine and moan, sure, but they’re less of the hissing monkey from Dr. Dan’s post on the lil’ monkey suffering from sugar withdrawals.  They are strong and healthy in the inside.  When I see an obese 6-year-old in the store with her/his mother with a shopping cart full of manufactured foods high in carbohydrates, high in inflammation causing sugar, I understand that both the kid and the mom will likely have a lifetime of prescription drugs to look forward to.

These drugs will be paid for by you and me, the need for these drugs will be caused by the officially approved American diet (with/without junk thrown in to top it off).  The officially approved American diet has seriously been influenced by lobbying from both the ag and drug cartels.  Many of the crops like corn, wheat and sugar (including HFCS) gained their government subsidies thanks to powerful agricultural lobbies.   The subsidies and tariffs that corn, wheat, and sugar enjoy really amount to a tax on non-sugar and non-grain foods, it really should be looked at in that manner.

So, in life, I know there may be some traumatic events, some expensive health care needs, some skinned knees that may require stitching best not done by me, and not cured by extra Vitamin D, but I feel safer as the health care debate rages around me…. until I read that:

MCCAIN WANTS FEDS TO REGULATE VITAMINS, SUPPLEMENTS…

h/t Drudge

In this perverted overly-regulated country, food is now toxic, and drugs and chemicals are safe for ingestion, no matter the harm that results. This inversion should remind us that those who best have the consumers health and safety interests at heart are the consumers themselves. It is big government that has a proven track record of not protecting the public.  And it is big government that is seeking to take away yet another individual freedom, the right to choose one’s own treatment.

What will be regulated next?  Taxed directly and “taxed” by an expensive regulatory process.   The cost of these extra regulations will be borne by the consumer because it will be more expensive for the manufacturers to comply with these regulations.  Will Vitamin D become available only by prescription?

In addition to Vitamin D and fish oil daily, I intermittently take various antioxidants, Branch Chain Amino Acids, and some other stuff.  From great sites out there and mentors like Arthur De Vany, from Peter’s Hyperlipid, to Stephen’s Whole Health Source, from Sisson’s Mark’s Daily Apple to the Eades’ sites and books, I have crafted together a rather good diet, understanding of fat, and a weekly supplement schedule that factors in when I take certain supplements based on my work out schedule, sleep schedule, when I plan to fast (usually just once a week on Friday night, btw), when I plan to break the fast.

I can tell you that my mitochondrial mass is the largest it’s ever been.  How’s that for a pick up line!?  Hey baby, I’ve got big mitochondria, what’s your sign?  See, I’m a believer in the mitochondrial free radical theory of aging, which along with a lot of other issues out there, fuses rather well a lot of studies on aging and what I’ve read from Peter’s Hyperlipid about toxicity and the peroxidation of lipids.  1) paleo/evolutionary diet is enough, 2) paleo/evolutionary diet with workouts better, 3) diet, workouts, and supplements pretty darn good.

However, if you’re eating junk, your workouts won’t be as beneficial, and your supplements won’t be a panacea for all of your resulting metabolic woes.  There is no ultimate panacea other than living your life by the way.

Based on the biochemistry and physiology research of Dr. Feinstein, Dr. Volek, and many others, I get it.  I may not be able to regurgitate it yet as coherently as a 1-st year biology or chemistry major, but I get it.  The paleo diet has worked wonders, the weekly strength workout with a sprint session thrown in once every 2-3 weeks are improving my health daily.  The supplements though, well, that’s been the paleo icing on the cake.

The diet alone I could live with.  I’ve worked out all my life, but I’m working out more smartly, and my goals are for improving my immune system, not for mass for mass’ sake.  I don’t necessarily want to “get big.”  The supplements are just that, supplementing what I’m doing, the time outside in the sunshine and the shade, just living life.  Too much measuring, too much analyzing of all of this can drive you batty.  Again, live and be respectful toward others, even those people who haven’t quite come to terms with Sat Fat.

Except for the egregious SAD propagandists who are wed to their points of view because of their financial stakes, the laymen like you and I, the doctors, researchers, we’ll all likely be more receptive to changing our views with a kind word rather than a shout.  Just about every well known name in this paleo community used to be one of those SAD zombies, and I would assume they were converted by a voice of reason, not by smugness.

So, as I was saying.  I have never been in better health.  I’m thankful that I know better, which resulted in this better health.  I’m thankful I have the means to afford healthy real food, which really is about the same cost as a crappy carb-filled diet, if you know how to shop.  How long that will be the case, I don’t know.  I’m thankful that I’m working out to improve my immune system, not out of pure vanity’s sake.

When I see a person in the gym that’s fat, skinny, weak, or shy, I’m always very thoughtful in welcoming that person into a new world.  A new world of metabolic health with lean muscle mass (h/t De Vany) and not the world that may have mocked them previously.  A bodybuilding Hans and Frans world that probably prevented them from checking out lifting weights because they were embarrassed by their weakness, ignorance or looks.  I’m thankful that in the paleo community there are voices of reason that may teach me new ideas about nutrition and health, and I’m thankful that I’m receptive to these new ideas.

I’m thankful that I have the choice to supplement, to top off my chances in this life for maintained health.  Why?  To live life.

IF health care is controlled, IF supplements are controlled, IF non-sugar, non-grain foods are squeezed out and become more expensive in comparison to subsidized high-carbohydrate monocultural crops of annual grasses, will the things in my life that I’m thankful for be diminished?

I have never been in better health.  

Posted in EF-De Vany reference, Granary, Medicine | 1 Comment »

Wolves Among Dogs: 1055 and all that

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

1066 and all that is a quasi-satirical look at English history—-a Dummies’ Guide before there were Dummies’ Guides—in a short hand, breezy iteration.  I haven’t read it, but I like the idea of it, and plan, one of these days, on picking it up.  But if you’re a careful reader, you’ve noticed that the title of this post isn’t 1066 at all—it’s 1055.

1055?  What the heck?  Why, as we all know, Harald Hardrada and William the Bastard hadn’t even decided to tag team Harald Godwinson at that point!

800px-harold_dead_bayeux_tapestry

Where did all these dang Vikings come from?

Now, I’ve always loved history, and as I get older and read more, I’m continually amazed, to my consternation, at the gaping holes in my knowledge.  This is one of those good news/bad news situations, as its always a pleasure to read more history and find out new things.  I think George Santayana said something about ignoring the lessons of history only means you’re going to repeat them.  I think Karl Marx said something about history repeating, first as tragedy and then as farce.  I think William Faulkner said something about the past not only not being over, but not even being the past.  Didn’t they?

santayana-3karl-marx424px-william_faulkner_01_kmj

History does what again?

Recently, I’ve been reading more history, again.  I read me some historical fiction, I do me some wiki-wanders.  (If you want to think of the internet in a positive way, tell yourself it’s an electronic Library of Alexandria.)  As a Westerner, as a child of the Anglo-Celtic migration, I tend to see history through the lens of my tribe.  Isn’t that natural?  I am a product of my time, yes, and of my place, yes, but I am also heir to the history of my peoples, my clan, my tribe, my line, going back to the beginning.

As a product of where and when and who I am from, I know, of course, about 1066.  1066 was a big year in the story of the British Isles, the year William the Conqueror, well, conquered England, the year of the Norman Invasion.  1066 was a pivot point for England, a paradigm shift, the substitution of a new mythology for the old mythology.  (One, of course, of many such shifts—-history, she is always on the move, even if we don’t notice.)  The Normans sailed over from France and seized England, and things were never the same.  Of course, the Normans weren’t really French, or they were just barely French—they were the sons of Norsemen who had seized the coast of France and settled themselves there.

O Lord, deliver us from the fury of the Northmen!

As big a year as 1066 was, however, it wasn’t the only year in the 11th century that was a pretty big deal.  1055 was another very big year.  You could make a good faith argument that 1055 was as important a year as 1066 was, maybe even bigger.

You see, in 1055 the Seljuk Turks seized the Caliphate of Baghdad.

This was big.  This was important.  This changed everything.  The Seljuk Turks, you see, didn’t come from Turkey.  The Seljuk Turks came out of Central Asia.  Ah!  Central Asia.  The cauldron of nations.  Central Asia, the heartland of the world.  The geographical pivot of history.    The Seljuk Turks, you see, were Tartars.

Or Tatars.  But not ‘taters.

414px-bronson_1973

Someone give this man a bow!

The Tartars came out of Central Asia like a whirlwind, like a hurricane, like a storm.  They came out of Central Asia like a thunderbolt.  That’s pretty much what tribes from Central Asia did, for a long, long span of human history.  The job description for a tribe from Central Asia could be summed up as “Go conquer those settled peoples, kill them, and take their stuff.”  This is kind of like the job description for a tribe from Scandinavia, only with more horses and less ships.

The Seljuk Turks weren’t the first tribe to come howling out of the wilderness with fire and sword, we’ve got records of that happening pretty much as far back as we’ve got records.  The Huns, anyone?  The Scythians?   Well, yes, but we’re talking about the Seljuks.  Pushing West from the Oghuz Yabgu state—coincidentally centered around Lake Issyk-Kul —the Seljuk Turks took over Persia, and then captured Baghdad in 1055.  At that time, the population of Baghdad was over one million souls—maybe twice that.  Baghdad was huge, not merely in size, not merely in population, but in importance.  It was the center of the Muslim world.  The Islamic world, up to that point, had been pretty much an Arab affair.

And Toghrul Beg, leader of the Seljuks, grandson of the Seljuk himself, took it.  Oh, he didn’t take it for himself, mind you.  He “restored order and constitutional government” (to coin a phrase) on behalf of the Abbasid caliph.  Then the Abbasid caliphate began to learn one of the old, old lessons about using barbarians to help you fight your enemies.  The Romans, a few centuries earlier,  had learned this lesson as well.  The long and the short of it is this: the Abbasid caliphate became less Abbasid, and more Turkic, at about that time.  Funny how that works.

The Seljuks took Baghdad, and took power, and then they all lived happily ever after.  That’s how fairy tales end, right?  Oh wait, I forgot, this isn’t a fairy tale, this is history.  Because taking Baghdad was just the start.  Once they had Baghdad, they started looking around for other sheep to shear, and they saw Constantinople.  Although the Seljuks never succeeded in sacking Constantinople, they did trim down the edges of the Byzantine Empire pretty good, especially under Alp Arslan at the battle of Manzikert.  And they didn’t live happily ever after, or at least not all of them did.  Because just as the Seljuks had moved West and taken over, other tribes coming out of the cauldron of nations, the womb of nations, Central Asia, began to do the same thing.

alp-arslan

You talkin’ to me, Frank?

The stories of those tribes, the Osmanli Turks, Temujin, Tamerlane, like the stories of the tribes before the Seljuks—-your Huns, your Alans, your Scythians—are stories for another time.  But there is a reason these stories fascinate me, and a reason I write about them here at the Paleo Garden.  All of these tribes that came out of Central Asia were pastoral nomads.  Since agriculture includes the domestication and cultivation of animals, we can’t call these tribes truly “paleo,” but there’s now way to deny that they were primal as all get out.  They were free range humans, they were wolves among dogs.  They lived off of animals—-meat, milk, airag.

nomadic-herder-baolidao-ayin1-ga800px-canis_lupus_265b

For a thousand years, the settled peoples of the world had no answer to the riddle posed by these nomads.

Check out Uncle Lew’s other columns in his series Wolves Among Dogs, here in The Paleo Garden.  

Posted in Uncle Lew, Wolves Among Dogs | No Comments »

Worst Olympic Athletes Ever

Friday, February 19th, 2010

John Belushi: Little Chocolate Donuts

worst-olympic-athletes-ever

Food of Olympic Champions: FAIL

So funny, so sad.   

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Zach does guest post At Darwin’s Table (part II)

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

Here’s part II of my guest post At Darwin’s Table.  Part I of my guest post may be found here.

Thanks to Dan again for his gracious offer to let a couple of contributers here share our paleo success stories at his site.  

Posted in EF-De Vany reference, Transformation, Uncle Lew | No Comments »

Zach does guest post At Darwin’s Table

Monday, February 15th, 2010

I began practicing Evolutionary Fitness in September 2008.  Shortly thereafter I stumbled across a site called At Darwin’s Table anchored by a fellow that had just started eating a paleo diet a month or so before me.  Not only was it fantastic that he offered interesting insight given his biology background, but since he was a couple of months in front of me on the paleo path, there were many times when he provided me the context of what was to come next on my journey.

When Dan and I struck up a correspondence and he inquired whether I would be interested in sharing my point of view of how I navigated my paleo path, I very much indeed appreciated his consideration.

Here’s Zach’s guest post At Darwin’s Table (Part I).  

Posted in EF-De Vany reference, Transformation | No Comments »

The Paleo Post has been updated

Sunday, February 14th, 2010

The Paleo Post may be found in the left column of the main page of The Paleo Garden.  In our latest snapshot we include the beauty that is Lorette’s latest bio piece on the great Edith Piaf.  I remember the first time I heard her voice, the beautiful sadness of her melody stuck with me for days as if I had bruised my heart muscle.  If you’ve never heard her voice before, listen here (youtube video below):

Ok, on to lighter topics…  Thanks Mr. Moore for the shout out for The Paleo Garden on your great blog Livin’ La Vida Low Carb.  Karen, thank you very much for mentioning The Paleo Garden regarding your Primal Life’s Journey.

I recommend reading an interesting study published on Nutrition and Metabolism Society regarding African American children and the role of high carbohydrate on their health.  If you guessed that the highcarb/lowfat nonhuman diet isn’t good for these (and ALL!) children, you’d be right!  OK… Michelle Obama, here’s your chance to cite a great study now that you’ve started your campaign to address obesity run amok amongst America’s children.  Read Fred’s plea while you’re at, you will benefit from it.  The paleo diet indeed should really make a deep cultural/spiritual impression in the African American community, after all, it’s really an African diet to some degree that we’re following.

By the way, the natural smell of a woman beats perfume, check that out (read it on the Paleo Post, and/or yeah really check it out!).  Happy Valentine’s Day.  Until next time.  

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Uncle Lew does guest post At Darwin’s Table

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

Dr. Dan asked if I’d submit a guest post to At Darwin’s Table, and after I picked myself up off the floor, I most immediately agreed.  I’ve been reading Dan’s posts for almost a year now, and have always enjoyed and profited from them, so it’s very flattering to be given the opportunity to blather on some.

Click here to read Uncle Lew’s guest post At Darwin’s Table.  

Posted in Transformation, Uncle Lew | No Comments »

10 Evolutionary Living Women (plus two more)

Friday, February 12th, 2010

A few weeks ago I put together a list of evolutionary living sites to commemorate the New Year. I noticed that it was a party of men without an evolutionary woman in the company. I humbly admit that it’s probably my bias at times to start with sites written by males, sites that sometimes have articles that are uniquely written for a male audience. I say SOMETIMES because of course, for example, on Sisson’s site (and on the others, TOO!) you’ll find a wealth of information now matter what your gender, weight, experience, knowledge… it’s all useful.

In honor of upcoming Valentine’s Day, here’s a good rundown of some great sites anchored by ladies coming from various backgrounds: scientists, health experts, authors, artists, professionals, and culinary geniuses.

There are many female authors and sites anchored by females in this evolutionary living world that I follow. And not to make the same mistake I did in compiling my list from a “male point of view”, though the below sites have great content SOMETIMES more geared toward a female readership, their messages are indeed universal, and I’ve learned quite a bit from them.

This below list I would wholeheartedly recommend to my daughter or son, sister or brother, man or woman. So, here’s my primer list of Evolutionary Living Women.

Cassandra Forsythe of Female Fitness and Nutrition Scientist

cf-book

In addition to her work with the rockstar Dr. Jeff Volek, Cassandra is a rockstar in her own right with the publication of Perfect Body Diet: The Ultimate Weight Loss and Workout Plan to Drop Stubborn Pounds and Get Fit for Life! and The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess. If my daughters ever get any guff about women not being able to do math, not being able to be an astronaut or not understanding muscle, probably one of the first women that I’ll offer up as a role model to dispel them of such a notion will be Cassandra. Please see this write up of her that we’ve previously done in The Paleo Garden.

Sally Fallon of the Weston A. Price Foundation

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Sally is the president of the influential Weston A. Price Foundation, read her bio there.  She’s the  author of such books as Eat Fat, Lose Fat and Nourishing Traditions.  She was paleo before paleo was cool (to paraphrase the Donny and Marie song), and is the keeper of the torch that Dr. Price lit after visiting the hunters and gatherers from whom we learn so much in our evolutionary living community.  To read Sally’s work is a delight, to listen to Sally speak on the subject is an inspiration.

Lierre Keith, author of The Vegetarian Myth

lierretree

Lierre burst out on the paleo scene in 2009 with the release of her book The Vegetarian Myth. There are points in this book that are made in which scales will fall from your eyes whether you’re reading this as a paleo adherent or simply as a concerned citizen about the environment. Her book was noticed by Eades, Mark Sisson and Richard at Free the Animal. Lorette Luzajic, who has a lot in common with Lierre, also read the book and loved it. I wouldn’t be surprised if you hear more about Lierre’s work from Lorette.  Lierre’s respect and compassion for the intentions of vegetarianism makes her points that much more poignant, and I hope her message more capable of being received (or at least contemplated) by vegetarians and evolutionary living adherents alike.

Lorette C. Luzajic, author, writer and artist and awesome contributor to The Paleo Garden

lorette

Good segue from Lierre to Lorette. We’re really lucky to have had Lorette’s presence here in the garden. She has numerous accomplishments in literature, art, biography, gourmet and commentary under her belt, and a number of current projects going on to suit her various interests. One of her landmark pieces in the paleo world is I’m A Natural Born Killer written for Gremolata. For a great interview of Lorette, check out Fitness Spotlight, part I and part II. Lorette is one to watch, she’s ascending, and it’s been great here in the garden to watch her fly. Check out her work in The Paleo Garden, and if you’re interested in what’s she’s capable of professionally go here.

Girl Gone Primal

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Girl Gone Primal is amazing. I think it’s the premiere website in the primal world to see what’s cooking. Recipes are explained with expert detail, yet simply in an unintimidating way. She’s the paleo Julia Childs in the sense that you really feel like YOU CAN cook all of the amazing dishes that are so beautifully described and photographed on this site. In addition, there’s very good perspective on Intermittent Fasting and other tools in the paleo toolbox. Girl Gone Primal should be one of your RSS feeds, PERIOD.

Primal Mama

The header for this site says it all “You can’t have primal kids, if you’re not a primal mama.” If you want more information on how to be primal in a world of nonstop commuting and HFCS-laden juice boxes, Primal Mama is the site to check out. What’s encouraging here is that there’s no bravado about the information. If this hardworking lady may do it, it’s inspiring indeed that you are capable, too. And in the end, she shows you that it’s easier than you think!

Yummy Gatherer

YG is a great resource for the woman (and man!) on the go. YG keeps it fun, keeps it real, keeps it going. If you’re a busy professional interested in maintaining a balance between a paleo lifestyle and yet still living life without the restrictiveness that sometimes unfortunately is felt when looking at this lifestyle with the wrong perspective, YG offers great tips to keep it real. Great recipes for a person on the go, or for entertaining a party are featured here.

This Primal Life

primal-logo

This Primal Life rounds out some of the premiere sites out there to help you navigate your way in the kitchen and in the supermarket to indeed lead a primal life. Before you go to the grocery store, check out the archives here, and pick something to try.

Melissa Urban, Crossfit trainer

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Melissa is a Crossfit rockstar. This is her new site, but check out these videos for a confirmation that she’ll smoke 95% of you. The Whole 9 Life blog is one of the best ones out there that combine good Crossfit info with a paleo perspective for the paleo adherent or the hardcore Crossfit enthusiast (or the occasional CF dabbler like me). This site is done rather nicely, the services very well explained. We wish continued success to this fitness entrepreneur, her business colleagues and her clients.

Katie Goes Primal

Katie Goes Primal has just recently gone primal. From what I could gather from her writings she’s been on a primal journey for a few months now and doing CrossFit for about a year. Already, it seems, she’s learned quite a bit judging by her writings, in good physical and mental health, and is out there inspiring other women and men to go primal by sharing her experiences. I would recommend this site to someone just beginning to contemplate changing their direction from the horrid standard American diet and chronic debilitating cardio to a paleo diet and high intensity exercise. Plus, a tip of the hat to her and her crew for reading The Paleo Garden! Thank you, and good luck.

One more, props to Melissa who’s been living evolutionarily for awhile but just rolling out Hunter Gather Love, and it’s quite the debut.

And another.  Karen De Coster is a voluntaryist, individualist, and libertarian vigilante.  I’ve been reading her work much for many years more than my time since “going paleo.”  Here’s a great post summing up her Primal Life.

This is just a sampling of the growing paleo remnant out there. If you have any others please do share them in the comments.  

Posted in Evolutionary Women | 14 Comments »

Huntington’s Disease: Drugs & Wheat or No Wheat?

Monday, February 8th, 2010

A couple of months ago I remember reading on Dr. Cordain’s website his answer to a question about Huntington’s Disease.   It’s the first question/answer on this link.

Listening to NPR this evening as I packed up around the house (I’m moving soon),  I heard this piece regarding a new drug treatment for Huntington’s.  My oh my, what a different story.  No mention of wheat.  A mention of mitochondria without really going into detail, and a very accurate statement regarding how this disease shares various symptoms with other autoimmune diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

If you have read Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes, he reviews quite well how the high levels of insulin may be the cause for Alzheimer’s given how an enzyme is too engaged with breaking down insulin rather than cleaning up the proteins that gather in the brain and are involved in the onset of Alzheimer’s.  Essentially, there’s not enough of this enzyme to clean up both the excessive levels of insulin and these proteins.

The common thread here from my limited readings is wheat, but perhaps for different reasons.  Gliadin from wheat being involved in the onset of Huntington’s and the high carbohydrate content of wheat causing the insulin spike involved in the accumulation of a protein that is involved in the onset of Alzheimer’s.  There appears to be a good amount of “counter-literature” out there that supports the hypothesis that Cordain is working with regarding wheat and Huntington’s.  It’s shocking to me that there hasn’t been a significant study regarding eliminating wheat from the diet of a person afflicted with Huntington’s.

I’m rather busy right now, and will be over the next couple of weeks.   If I had the time, I would write a longer piece attempting to piece together some of the research out there.  My hope is that I’ve put enough key words in here so that if someone is interested in hearing a different viewpoint on all of this, they will be directed on a different path than the one NPR led me down on.  Let’s just say that just about anytime I hear the latest drug research being touted on NPR and other news programs… 9 times out of 10 it’s for a disease that has some sort of connection to the non-human high carbohydrate diet brought to us by the food pyramid.

The real choice on so many diseases that afflict modern humans really comes down to relying on the pills or simply avoiding grains and high amounts of fructose and sugar.

red-pill-blue-pill

But we’re really never even given that choice if we were to only listen to mainstream corporate media outlets (whose advertisements and/or endowment donations are paid by whom?).  I believe that there are some fantastic professionals/researchers out there, putting on their lab coats every day highly motivated to find cures, highly motivated to extend our knowledge, to clarify the science.  Thank you for your work.  I ask you to please consider the picture above and consider whether you may someday ever think it’s worth it to:

to test a hypothesis that eating wheat causes Huntington’s with an experiment that would manipulate whether or not subjects ate wheat.  Thus, NOT eating wheat is the independent variable.  Each subject’s diet would be tested to see if wheat eating had any effect.  Thus, the diet is the dependent variable.  The subjects assigned to NOT eat wheat are in the experimental group, whereas subjects eating wheat are in the control group.

I mean… out of hundreds of thousands of things to eat on the planet, asking subjects to not eat wheat for 6 months doesn’t seem like it would be too controversial or expensive?  Oh, but it is controversial.  A viability study on feeding humanity without wheat and corn would have to be done before this research would ever be funded.  If an environmental organization were truly serious, they would consider funding both the Huntington’s research and this human feeding viability study.  A return to prairies and perennial crops may be what the folks in lab coats will help us achieve, though they may not understand the implications of their research at the time.  

Posted in Granary, Medicine | No Comments »

Paleo Dog, Paleo Vet

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

A friend of mine recently wrote me about her dog.  Below is an edited account of a recent meeting that she had with her dog’s vet:

“You might be interested in this- yesterday I had a 2 hr consult with a vet who practices alternative medicine on animals- some traditional medicine too, of course, but is really into the whole food/nutrition thing as a means of preventing/treating illness.

veterinarian-logo

My sweet dog is not sick (but has had tremendous medical issues in her past- being an abandoned dog left to die after a miserable life of abuse and neglect) but I am worried about her in her old age.  She is 6 now, I ‘ve had her for 4 years- she has recovered fully.  Anyway, this vet was wonderful.   She is really into the whole Paleo thing for dogs- believes we are killing our pets with a high carb high grain content diet that is completely unnatural for them.

She wants me to start feeding my dog raw rabbits- once a week for one meal- as a means of naturally cleaning her teeth so she won’t have to be anesthetized to have  dental done.  Her teeth(well, gums) are really in bad shape and this will lead to heart and kidney disease eventually, which will kill her.  We know this to be true and even ‘regular’ vets agree that cleaning teeth is necessary.  They just want to do it with modern technology and drugs- and I have a big fear of anesthesia. Especially since this dog had stage 4 heartworm disease (should have died from that) and somehow survived with a special ($$$$$$$) treatment for it.  Anyway, suffice to say she has a damaged heart and therefore I am afraid to anesthetize her especially just to clean her teeth.

So the answer is to eat bones and muscle which will naturally clean her teeth and gums.   I am going to do it- although the thought of it repulses me.  But the vet assures me that they come all cut up and skinned (no head or tails) just like grocery store chicken.  She also encourages a very Paleo like diet for animals- so I told her about your experience and your health benefits etc from following the low carb and no grain plan. She agreed completely.

Dog food is full of crap- just like packaged human food.  Lots of cheap grain fillers, especially gluten (which she told me to NEVER feed to an animal) so I am going to take her advice.   Ever since the Chinese gluten in pet food scare of several years ago I have only purchased pet food made in the USA and without gluten or corn in it, mostly buying only organic products.  But I am going to gradually wean her off of all the cereal based stuff except for the ones that have millet barley in them, apparently that is good for dogs.

Anyway, it was a very interesting conversation with her and I just thought you’d be interested to know that (some) vets are on the side of the Paleo diet.  She agreed the whole pet food thing was about cheap product that made max profit, just like human junk food.

BTW- I don’t know if you have a dog or not, but she told me that you should NEVER give a dog a bone that has been cooked.”

What great advice, and a great story.  Wouldn’t it be great if there were more nutritionists and dietitians out there for us humans with the perspective that this vet had on how to care for a dog’s health!?  Of course there is a long story regarding where dogs and wolves came from, but it’s helpful to remember a wolf’s diet probably isn’t too far off from what we should expect our domesticated dogs to thrive on.

It’s very much in the same way that we use the hunter-gatherer diet/lifestyle not as being written on a tablet taken down from the mountain, but as a template to think about how we have eaten, moved, and slept for millions of years.  Perhaps, this is key to understanding why we may get sick if we deviate too far from that “energy in/energy out” human development story.  Here’s an update from my friend:

“I am already seeing a change in my dog after 4 days of just reducing the dry grains.  I’ve got her on about 1/2 dry 1/2 canned (all meat no grain) food.  Her eyes are brighter, she pants less (as she is not as dehydrated- which dry food causes in dogs) and her paws are not as scaly and cracked (also a sign of dehydration).  I haven’t found a place that sells rabbit meat yet, but am looking.  I will give her that twice a month for her teeth.

BTW- you might also want to add a warning to your dog owner friends about MilkBones.  My dog loves them (most dogs do) but was told that they are all sugar and wheat flour- very little “bones” in them, and have the calorie equivalent of a Snickers bar.”

Sometimes it takes a bit of reflection to not instinctively fall back on your conditioned knee-jerk response that echoes:

-you need to COUNT calories,

-you need to CONTROL yourself,

you need to eat 6-11 SERVINGS OF GRAIN.

But living and eating our natural way doesn’t force you to count and control and eat 11 servings of grain, corn, beans, and rice at the expense of restricting vegetables, fruits and meat.

However, conditioned “COUNT, CONTROL & 6-11 SERVINGS OF GRAIN thinking” forms a wall around people’s brains about a foot thick.  So, when we try to pass on the good news about our rediscovered paleo health and don’t get a trumpet of praise as a result, don’t be surprised.  After all, most of the industrialized world is feeding their dogs the equivalent of a snickers bar to clean their teeth and can’t figure out what’s the problem with them when their mouths start rotting!.  It will take some time for people to understand n=1 regarding their own health.  If eating “non-paleo” is making you sick, there’s something wrong.  It doesn’t mean that you’re at fault that the granary approved food pyramid isn’t working for you.  You’re not lazy, or feeble, or weak willed.  It’s not your fault that this low-fat/high sugar/high carb/non-human diet isn’t working for you.  It’s not your fault!

A specialist on CNN, or Oprah or Rachel Ray may tell you all of these new fangled ways to count the number of calories you’re gorging on in the process of eating your 6-11 servings of grain per day…  if you’re one of those people who have high insulin and are gaining weight on this “lowfat/high carb” diet, counting calories and buying your meals in boxes isn’t the answer.  Well, I’ll just say, it wasn’t the answer for me.

Perhaps, though… you could try eating just vegetables, fruit and meat for 4 days?  Change your diet by avoiding grains and sugar for just a week like this dog has done and see what happens?  Or is the wall built with the bricks of COUNT/CONTROL/6-11 SERVINGS OF GRAIN too thick still?  Don’t worry, that’s alright.  Just think about it some more.   We’ll be on this side of the wall waiting for you if you want to climb over and give it a try.

Do any of you have any stories about how your paleo lifestyle influenced one of our canine friends?  Or, perhaps, how one of our canine friends influenced you to find your kairos moment?

Posted in Dogs, Kairos, Paleo Dogs | 8 Comments »

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