On Tue, 1 Sep 1998 08:37:51 -0400, Todd Moody <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>On Mon, 31 Aug 1998, Giles wrote:
>> Folate, a B vitamin, is found in fruit and green leafy vegetables.
> Levels of homocysteine are reduced by folate and some
>of the other B vitamins (B-12 and B-6).
In this example we can see seen how big the impact of insufficient
vitamin supplies is on the several biochemical systems in the body.
In the true (historic) paleolithic nutrition vitamins are beleaved
never to have played an important role, since vitamin supplies are
assumed to have been high above requirements.
In fact is a vitamin a substance that has _always_ been in sufficient
supply in the food -
- otherwise no dependency could have built up.
(the individuums developing a dependency on a vitamin not _always_ in
the food would have had bad chances to reproduce)
This way we can from our vitamin dependencies conclude, which
(kind of) food items must have been _always_ in our anchestral food.
For example our Vitamin C dependency shows us, that fresh plants,
especially fruit, have always been with certainity in our food after maximum
4 months of shortcomeing (4 months is our maximum vitamin c storage).
And this is absolutely shure for all of our anchestors,
because otherwise they would have died of scurvy before reproduceing (us).
A true paleo-food lifestyle has(IMO) the main advantage of beeing a better
vitamin supply because it demandes freshness and less processing.
I think it would be wise to think much more of the other 20 or so
substances we depend on then merely energy and protein,
what
is most discussed.
I think to have discovered that also todays obesity/weight gain comes(mainly)
from bad vitamin supplies in the food. IMO this is so, because any
shortcomeing of any vitamin(or mineral) will cause
an individuum to compensate by eating _more_, and therefore ingesting
more energy.
Weight loss on a paleo-diet comes from the better supply on fromerly
lacking vitamins or minerals which were therefore controlling eating.
What leads to vitamin deficiency is eating of food-stuff that contains
an imbalanced ratio of protein/energy and vitamin contents compared to
paleolithic and older times. Todays main lacking vitamins are known to be:
folic, B1, C, B6, E, essential fats.
Farmed meats and heavy processed or non-organic produced vegetables
are _real_low_ in vitamin contents,
compared to wild and fresh plants (and animals).
My conclusions for paleo-food followers are:
- no farmed meat (better none)
- as much as possible organic and unprocessed/unaltered plants
I note that the much condemned grains (like most seeds)
have _very_ good vitamin contents on almost everything
- except vitamin A and C.
Maybe _this_ is the reason why grain farmers did succeed on the past 10ky.
Btw, I found an online food analyzer at
http://www.ag.uiuc.edu/~food-lab/nat/nat.cgi .
I'm trying to compare various paleolithic-possible food resources
on their nutritional value. For ex almonds, buckwheat, elks, mangos...
I would be happy to hear some ideas on my thoughts.
regards
Amadeus Schmidt
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