Tom Barber <[log in to unmask]> writes:

> Not long ago there was a brief discussion about paleo lighting - the daily
> rhythms of humans.
>
> I was wondering if there is any information about human seasonal rhythm (but
> not SAD), especially relating to the body's requiring different foods at
> different times of the year.

I have the feeling that eating seasonally (which probably few of us
do, because of the readily available produce year-round in
supermarkets) is a very delicately-balanced thing.  If we had no other
choice, then it would be very natural to us to eat food when it is
available in our areas and we would reap the benefits of it, even if
we didn't know what they were.

So I have no scientific evidence of the body requiring different foods
at different times of the year, but if one thinks about it, seasonal
eating could have the following benefits:  eating greens in the early
spring would naturally detox the body after a winter of eating meat,
eating fruit when it is ripe would provide needed water during hot
days, eating starchy roots in the fall would store up fat for the
winter.  And eating meat during the cold winter (for those of us who
have really cold winters) would provide the concentrated food energy
needed to keep body heat. The wild animals from your own climate would
also have stored up body fat appropriate to the temperatures you would
experience so their fat when eaten would be what your body would need
to survive.


I live in a climate with a very short growing season-- 3 months of the
year-- so really very little of conventional produce grows here
without the plants being started in greenhouses (even broccoli).  It has always
fascinated me to learn how native peoples lived in this climate--
clearly they ate mostly meat most of the year.

Since reading Lights Out I have been curious if it would make sense,
the seasonal grain consumption.  Probably not with the hybridized
grains that are dependent on technology for reproduction.

-J