Okay, sorry about the savannah part, but I don't live near an ocean, and my
ancestors came from Northern Russia. I live on the side of a mountain where it
gets minus 10 in the winter. When I truly want to emulate my paleo
ancestors, for the hunting part, I can live off the abundant deer, wild turkey,
rabbits, overhead geese, grouse, squirrel, raccoon, beaver, that hang out all
day long right out the door. Ever eat a wild beaver? No store bought meat I've
run across parallels the amazing amount of delicous fat that drips from a nicely
roasted beaver. Think duck fat on steriods!!!! And the deer has fat pockets
stored just for the taking! The ribs are fantastic. For my climate, I need to
keep warm, so I've long ago dropped the mental paranoia about eating too much
fat. FAT ROCKS! I understand that most folks on this list don't have the
advantage of living off the land, But my advice is if you are going to emulate
the hunter/gatherer diet, you can't apply the "South Beach Diet" menu plan onto
us. Eating copious amounts of fat when you need it is the only way to
survive and maintain Paleo if you plan on doing it for the long haul. Skinless
chicken breast and steamed brocolli is okay once in awhile if its 102 degrees F
outside and you can barely move, but when the cold weather hits, I need to be
ready. Forget salads once its October. Bring out the lamb, baby!! If you can
get grassfed fat, without taking out a second mortgage, then go for
it. Otherwise, there are supermarket options that can work - sardines, canned
Alaskan salmon, hormone free beef ribs(cheaper than organic), unseasoned
nuts, and for southern paleos: avocados, coconuts, to name a few. Walmart
sells Frozen whole Alaskan Salmon fillets for $7.99 for Keta Salmon. I called
to confirm its not farm raised, because the fine print said it was packaged in
China. When I eat the so called healthy "lean meat" version of Paleo, I get
crabby, weak and the cravings start to hit. I become an embarrassment to
hunter/gatherers the world over.. LOL. So, my only advice is to free the mind
from the enormous media schizophrenia about diet, and just check in everyday
with your own intuition. Studies are okay, but looking in the mirror is a better
indicator. As the body cleans out, and you return to normal human eating, the
answers will get clearer. If you need something dense and carby, instead of
beating oneself up about eating a banana or apple, go for it. Slather it
with nut butter, and it will stick to the ribs. Or, try a baked yam, or a
winter squash to get through the hump if fruit doesn't suit you and you find
yourself on the brink of craving something nasty. Why get all in a knot about a
piece of fruit, and then wind up asking for G-d's forgiveness because you've
crashed and burned in the candy aisle? LOL.... For pete sakes, certain hunter
gatherers figured out how to make even trees edible (bamboo, ie). Do what you
have to do to stay as close to being a hunter/gatherer as you can in the modern
world. Enjoy the process! Don't turn the Paleo Diet into a excuse for adding
more stress onto your plate. There's always food available, no matter where you
go. That's thinking like a true forager. Even if you have to eat a can of
sardines in the middle of a bus stop in the Midwest or a bag of nuts to make it
to your next big feed. There's always something we can find. You can pick
dandelion greens off of someones lawn if you had to. The world is abundant, if
you just know where to look. Now, as far as shellfish, I can go to the
supermarket during certain times of the year and pick up Maine fresh shrimp in
late fall. There from cold water, fairly clean. I won't buy southern water
shellfish right now. But I do like northern water scallops. I'm okay with
it. I try not to eat much lake fish, even though its more available to me for
the taking in my bioregion. But if I catch it, I'll eat it. I prefer salt
water fish. I believe in the antiseptic properties of salt, and the ocean is
very forgiving. Cut out the fat line (the dark gray line) in the fish, and you
can get rid of most of the toxic load in fatty fish.
Bottom line, visualize yourself lean and mean, even if you are not, and stop
being squeamish. You're a hunter now. Get used to it! (cave)Man up....
All written in good humor, btw....
Best,
Batsheva
________________________________
From: Sandy Rzetelny <[log in to unmask]>
In a message dated 9/29/2010 9:17:35 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
But enough with the savannahs already, we should also consider "the
waterside hypothesis" that states that early humans fed consistently on
seashells and the like, so probably we overestimate the importance of meat
in paleo diet.
I love shellfish but now am wary of it due to gulf oil spill. Any idea how
much that's available is now contaminated, and how to make sure it's not?
Sandy
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