Hi Chad, great read - thanks for this, the articles you reference and perspectives you bring. James Nestor talks about shrinking jaws in his book Breath, which was my first foray into the ill effects of modern diets - its seems so obvious now!
I heard this podcast by Dr. Mark Mattson at Johns Hopkins Univ and he seemed to suggest that edible plants actually don’t have antioxidants themselves but rather mildly toxic compounds that illicit antioxidative effects - meaning its your body that is producing antioxidants, and not the plants. I found this very exciting, to realize that stimuli is everything, with exercise, heat stress, cold exposure all resulting in the activation of antioxidant pathways. Have you explored this? If not, I think it would an interesting topic bringing together perspectives on human-plant coevolution and aspects from your recent articles on fermentation and food processing. Here is the podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/foundmyfitness/id818198322?i=1000532944125 see show notes for timestamps - but id recommend gobbling up the whole thing!
One point in reference to homeopathy being bogus, it actually worked for me. I suffered from near debilitating allergies and in 4-6 months of what seemed like sugar bubbles my incidents went down from 3-4X/week to 1X every few weeks. I have thought about what the mechanism is, but it seems beyond rational thinking. Placebo? But then I was merely “open” to what certainly shouldn’t be considered “medicine”. I personally stay open to all possibilities - even some of things antivaxers say. I know its messy and charged topic.
Great article, even though I have hoped for more hints to get out of our current mess. I am happy that you brought up Weston Price, as promised. I am also a victim of having a too small jaw. I had a tooth clamp for four years to widen my jaw. My wisdom teeth were all removed. I see the same problem arising in my children. Did you have a look into the cookbooks released by the Weston Price Foundation? I am on the fence of buying them for quite some time as I am not sure whether the recepies would be useful for Germany.
I confess I haven't read Nourishing Traditions, I've only skimmed it a few times and read the reviews on Goodreads, which are interesting. Based on them my impression is that the recipes are very much like the ones in ELaH--a lot of soaked and fermented main recipes that are used to make other dishes, an emphasis on offal and animal fats, etc. It seems like it would be a lot of work to cook this way, though. For example, this reviewer writes:
"As for the recipes, I hate how in order to make one you have to make another one (or more) first. I don't have time to make my own yogurt and grind my own wheat and spelt in order to make pizza dough, which, of course, I have to top with tomato sauce (made by me, and ideally containing bone broth as an ingredient). Or make my own whey in which to ferment fruits/vegetables. Some of the recipes are intriguing and I understand the value of meal planning but doing so at this level is ridiculous, I must say. A lot of them require special ingredients that must be ordered from elsewhere (piima, kefir, kombucha, kelp, etc) which is more than a little bit of a hassle. And with varying fermentation times, a cold spell this week could upset the meal plans two weeks from now."
These types of labor-intensive methods seem best suited to households, especially where one person can commit to housekeeping full time, which is why I'm pessimistic about this knowledge being able to fix dietary problems on a societal level, but maybe it can help some people (which is why I write about it). I think the Paleo Diet might be easier for most people to follow.
I think some of this information is seeping through to the general public. I noticed this article this week on the BBC site: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-62646817 It's about a company making flour from mushrooms and cauliflower instead of wheat: "Foods containing refined carbs [like white flour] are leading drivers of chronic illnesses, including diabetes and heart disease," says Ms Ruiz.
Thanks for the reply. I have some friends who are also looking for healthier eating methods. They also complained that it is time consuming to prepare healthy meals (e.g. grinding grain by yourself). Unfortunately, I currently don´t see an alternative to putting more time into meal preparation to eat more healthily.
It is really tragic, but it would require a huge effort to change our current way of life, where the path of least resistance is appealing enough to avoid any changes. As it is against big business interests to sell processed food, any campaign to promote time consuming and more healthy meal preparation would also face fierce resistance.
Yeah I agree with the sentiment, it takes a huge amount of time to pre-prepare foods to this level. This is what my family in the Philippines are trying to do but we don’t have day jobs so can dedicate a lot of time to fermenting our foods and making vinegars etc. I’ve come across a similar thing with feeding our animals (mostly poultry). Using fossil fuel grown and transported grains to feed the chickens is so easy (though rapidly getting more expensive). I try to prepare some foods for them (mostly bananas we don’t get around to eating and cooking up cassava or pumpkin for them) but this takes up so much of my time that I can’t make time for other things.
I think the thing to do is slowly introduce one thing at a time and make it a habit. For instance yogurt. Do a big batch, 3 or 4 liters of milk if you have the fridge space. Make it a habit every 2 weeks or so. Make it in the evening, leave it overnight or more, and then when you get home put it in the fridge.
It’s a terrible thing our jobs take us away from doing these healthier things. But if you can make yogurt or chicken stock every weekend consistently, you are doing really really well. Gradually you’ll find a way to streamline the process and maybe add another ferment to your household like kefir. It is really hard though and takes time
Just including wild foods can already have such a beneficial effect, especially for children. When I still lived in Germany, I regularly ate Löwenzahn, Breitwegerich, Spitzwegerich and Sauerampfer (and plenty of wild berries: Sauerkirschen, Hollunder, Preiselbeeren, Schlehen, etc.), but at the time I wasn't that interested in foraging for wild foods yet so I never actively learned more about wild edible plants. Looking back, I wish I would have eaten more of that stuff as a child and teenager. But teaching your kids about wild edible plants and their health benefits (if you didn't already do that) might have positive effects - as a kid I loved being able to just pluck things from the ground and stuff them in my mouth, I always felt like a real cavemen doing that. This practice seems to awaken some primordial instinct that everyone can enjoy, although many wild foods don't taste that delicious.
Soft foods are more of a problem. Like you, I had (and still have) plenty of dental problems (wisdom teeth removed, cavities filled, root canals, etc.), and I blame the sad fact that most German food is incredibly soft. The only foods I remember as being a bit more chewy were free-range chicken and pasture-raised sheep my grandparents kept and slaughtered themselves.
As I always say, the only way forward is to go back.
I gather and then try to cultivate wild foods in my backyard. Yeah, they don't taste all that good unless you are used to them and I remain less than wholly enthusiastic after having this hobby for decades. Some areas are better than others. I live in Maine, meh, just OK for foraging but CA was the jackpot. Not only wild but runaway industrial agriculture crops in most empty lots. Used Elpel's books to start and like this one a lot. Botany in a Day and no it didn't teach me anything in a day but over couple years it helped a lot. http://www.wildflowers-and-weeds.com/Plant_Identification/Botany_in_a_Day_Download.htm
David, the idea of gathering wild foods sounds good. We already do this with Blackberries as the children really enjoy them. We also have made butter with wild garlic and dandelion marmelade, both very delicious. I will extend this practice in the future.
Hi Chad, great read - thanks for this, the articles you reference and perspectives you bring. James Nestor talks about shrinking jaws in his book Breath, which was my first foray into the ill effects of modern diets - its seems so obvious now!
I heard this podcast by Dr. Mark Mattson at Johns Hopkins Univ and he seemed to suggest that edible plants actually don’t have antioxidants themselves but rather mildly toxic compounds that illicit antioxidative effects - meaning its your body that is producing antioxidants, and not the plants. I found this very exciting, to realize that stimuli is everything, with exercise, heat stress, cold exposure all resulting in the activation of antioxidant pathways. Have you explored this? If not, I think it would an interesting topic bringing together perspectives on human-plant coevolution and aspects from your recent articles on fermentation and food processing. Here is the podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/foundmyfitness/id818198322?i=1000532944125 see show notes for timestamps - but id recommend gobbling up the whole thing!
One point in reference to homeopathy being bogus, it actually worked for me. I suffered from near debilitating allergies and in 4-6 months of what seemed like sugar bubbles my incidents went down from 3-4X/week to 1X every few weeks. I have thought about what the mechanism is, but it seems beyond rational thinking. Placebo? But then I was merely “open” to what certainly shouldn’t be considered “medicine”. I personally stay open to all possibilities - even some of things antivaxers say. I know its messy and charged topic.
Your posts on this theme have crystallized for me that my current primary ambition should be to relocate my family somewhere closer to a Whole Foods.
Hey Chad you've written 'on' instead of 'one' when talking about how we've committed a hipcrime. Just wanted you to know.
I keep meaning to fix that, thanks!
Great article, even though I have hoped for more hints to get out of our current mess. I am happy that you brought up Weston Price, as promised. I am also a victim of having a too small jaw. I had a tooth clamp for four years to widen my jaw. My wisdom teeth were all removed. I see the same problem arising in my children. Did you have a look into the cookbooks released by the Weston Price Foundation? I am on the fence of buying them for quite some time as I am not sure whether the recepies would be useful for Germany.
I confess I haven't read Nourishing Traditions, I've only skimmed it a few times and read the reviews on Goodreads, which are interesting. Based on them my impression is that the recipes are very much like the ones in ELaH--a lot of soaked and fermented main recipes that are used to make other dishes, an emphasis on offal and animal fats, etc. It seems like it would be a lot of work to cook this way, though. For example, this reviewer writes:
"As for the recipes, I hate how in order to make one you have to make another one (or more) first. I don't have time to make my own yogurt and grind my own wheat and spelt in order to make pizza dough, which, of course, I have to top with tomato sauce (made by me, and ideally containing bone broth as an ingredient). Or make my own whey in which to ferment fruits/vegetables. Some of the recipes are intriguing and I understand the value of meal planning but doing so at this level is ridiculous, I must say. A lot of them require special ingredients that must be ordered from elsewhere (piima, kefir, kombucha, kelp, etc) which is more than a little bit of a hassle. And with varying fermentation times, a cold spell this week could upset the meal plans two weeks from now."
These types of labor-intensive methods seem best suited to households, especially where one person can commit to housekeeping full time, which is why I'm pessimistic about this knowledge being able to fix dietary problems on a societal level, but maybe it can help some people (which is why I write about it). I think the Paleo Diet might be easier for most people to follow.
I think some of this information is seeping through to the general public. I noticed this article this week on the BBC site: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-62646817 It's about a company making flour from mushrooms and cauliflower instead of wheat: "Foods containing refined carbs [like white flour] are leading drivers of chronic illnesses, including diabetes and heart disease," says Ms Ruiz.
Thanks for the reply. I have some friends who are also looking for healthier eating methods. They also complained that it is time consuming to prepare healthy meals (e.g. grinding grain by yourself). Unfortunately, I currently don´t see an alternative to putting more time into meal preparation to eat more healthily.
That's the tragedy isn't it? That being unhealthy is the past of least resistance. It didn't used to be that way.
I wish there would be more awareness of this in discussions of how great modern lifestyles supposedly are.
It is really tragic, but it would require a huge effort to change our current way of life, where the path of least resistance is appealing enough to avoid any changes. As it is against big business interests to sell processed food, any campaign to promote time consuming and more healthy meal preparation would also face fierce resistance.
Yeah I agree with the sentiment, it takes a huge amount of time to pre-prepare foods to this level. This is what my family in the Philippines are trying to do but we don’t have day jobs so can dedicate a lot of time to fermenting our foods and making vinegars etc. I’ve come across a similar thing with feeding our animals (mostly poultry). Using fossil fuel grown and transported grains to feed the chickens is so easy (though rapidly getting more expensive). I try to prepare some foods for them (mostly bananas we don’t get around to eating and cooking up cassava or pumpkin for them) but this takes up so much of my time that I can’t make time for other things.
I think the thing to do is slowly introduce one thing at a time and make it a habit. For instance yogurt. Do a big batch, 3 or 4 liters of milk if you have the fridge space. Make it a habit every 2 weeks or so. Make it in the evening, leave it overnight or more, and then when you get home put it in the fridge.
It’s a terrible thing our jobs take us away from doing these healthier things. But if you can make yogurt or chicken stock every weekend consistently, you are doing really really well. Gradually you’ll find a way to streamline the process and maybe add another ferment to your household like kefir. It is really hard though and takes time
Just including wild foods can already have such a beneficial effect, especially for children. When I still lived in Germany, I regularly ate Löwenzahn, Breitwegerich, Spitzwegerich and Sauerampfer (and plenty of wild berries: Sauerkirschen, Hollunder, Preiselbeeren, Schlehen, etc.), but at the time I wasn't that interested in foraging for wild foods yet so I never actively learned more about wild edible plants. Looking back, I wish I would have eaten more of that stuff as a child and teenager. But teaching your kids about wild edible plants and their health benefits (if you didn't already do that) might have positive effects - as a kid I loved being able to just pluck things from the ground and stuff them in my mouth, I always felt like a real cavemen doing that. This practice seems to awaken some primordial instinct that everyone can enjoy, although many wild foods don't taste that delicious.
Soft foods are more of a problem. Like you, I had (and still have) plenty of dental problems (wisdom teeth removed, cavities filled, root canals, etc.), and I blame the sad fact that most German food is incredibly soft. The only foods I remember as being a bit more chewy were free-range chicken and pasture-raised sheep my grandparents kept and slaughtered themselves.
As I always say, the only way forward is to go back.
I gather and then try to cultivate wild foods in my backyard. Yeah, they don't taste all that good unless you are used to them and I remain less than wholly enthusiastic after having this hobby for decades. Some areas are better than others. I live in Maine, meh, just OK for foraging but CA was the jackpot. Not only wild but runaway industrial agriculture crops in most empty lots. Used Elpel's books to start and like this one a lot. Botany in a Day and no it didn't teach me anything in a day but over couple years it helped a lot. http://www.wildflowers-and-weeds.com/Plant_Identification/Botany_in_a_Day_Download.htm
David, the idea of gathering wild foods sounds good. We already do this with Blackberries as the children really enjoy them. We also have made butter with wild garlic and dandelion marmelade, both very delicious. I will extend this practice in the future.