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Everything Wrong With the Modern Diet (And Why Ancestral Eating Matters)
How Modern Life Has Pulled Us Away from Natural Living We have come such a long way from the lazy days on the farm. It seems now that the hamster wheel that is our daily life is impossible to get off but we are all searching for a respite, and a rest. Finding the answer could be the key to enabling the ‘slowdown’ and ‘breathe’. The realisation that I can step off the fast pace life, and take a breath without my life falling apart is a massive mind shift. I believe it starts with food. The Human Animal and the Need for Real Food Deeply embedded in our psyche is the animal, who needs natural foods, warmth, and company. For many years we've been pushing this animal away and numbing it down by this fast paced life, grabbing fast food, staying up late working and not resting, all the while thinking that we've “got to keep” going. Daily releasing the fight hormones that keep us running away from the tiger!! Why Returning to an Ancestral Diet Matters Getting back to an ancestral diet, one that is uncluttered with additives, one that is full of whole foods, not packed and processed for longevity on the shelf, is the first key to stepping off the wheel. The Rise of Fast Food and Processed Culture Fast foods have been part of our culture since the 70’s. KFC opened in Auckland in 1971!! And since then the large chains have been providing nutrient deficient foods to NZers!!! That's 50 years to create more disease and more self loathing than we have ever experienced. To undermine the health of an entire species. Easy to buy, mostly affordable and playing into our narrative of ‘not enough time to cook’. Modern Diet-Related Disease in New Zealand We as a nation have been afflicted with more diabetes, heart disease, gut issues, and obesity than any other time in history. We now need CHANGE. The New Movement Toward Whole-Food Living There's a new wave of healthy people, some who are thriving due to experimenting with their own food, some whose health has been so bad that they have found their own way through elimination. The ancestral diet, or getting back to basics, shows that we don't need all the additives and the processing. That we can sustain and nurture ourselves naturally, with locally sourced food its not impossible to regain our health, our birthright to radical aliveness. Are Paleo, Keto and Low-Carb Diets Just Fads? We are all familiar with these abbreviations; paleo, keto, fodmap, and we all know that the atkins diet was all about protein. These diets encourage us to look beyond the food pyramid and beyond the fast food drive through. They have been birthed from a sick and unhealthy population who need answers and a change. But are they just fads? The Truth About the Food Pyramid The food pyramid wants you to think that fads don't last and that you need 5 servings of veg a day, 50% carbs, lean meat, and no saturated fats! FYI the food pyramid is sponsored by Kelloggs, Big Food and Big Pharma!! But they are not fads, they are birthed from people pushing against the standard food narrative. Eating Local and Seasonal for Radical Health Getting back to basics and eating simply and local is a new movement, driven by thinkers who want more than to just exist. I believe it is the way to radical health. I Don't want to eat food that has traveled some distance and I don't want to eat food that is out of season!! Our inner animal wants warm slow cooked in the winter, when fruits are scarce and light meals when fruit is in season. When we can make yogurt from fresh milk and eat freshly slaughtered lamb chops!! Its simple and its simply nourishing. How to Start an Ancestral or Animal-Based Diet Starting is easy, clean out all the packaged food from your pantry, and fridge. Be ruthless! Take all the seed oils and dump them! That's all the processed oils from plants. These are not doing you any good! Remove the sugar. Start reading labels. Don't buy anything that has more than 2 ingredients! Engaging with these guidelines the food choices get interesting!! Meat, eggs, cheese, (dairy if you can) Fish, seasonal fruit. We use salt on our food. We cook in butter or tallow. The Benefits of Nutrient-Dense Animal Foods Nutrient rich foods like these can sustain you, hunger pains go and life feels bigger and more alive. Nutrients from animal foods are 100% bioavailable, this means that the body, when digesting, can use all of the food, it wastes nothing!! Liver is nature's superfood, it is dense in essential vitamins, minerals, fatty acids that keep you sated and thriving. Drinking bone broth everyday provides you with enough collagen to help you recover from exercise, keeps you hair growing lustrously and keeps your skin glowing. Why You Should Try an Animal-Based Ancestral Diet So if you're feeling slow, sluggish, not thriving. If your gut health could be better, if your skin and hair are dull, I suggest you try switching to the Animal based, Ancestral way of eating. Try it for a month and see if you can transform your life.
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What are Healthy Fats?
The Perils of Vegetable and Seed Oils Reprinted with thanks from Ancestral Health: The Debate: Sugar vs Polyunsaturated Oils The debate continues as to which is worse for your health—sugar or polyunsaturated oils. Here is Alex Fergus’s takedown of vegetable and seed oils, and generally foods with higher levels of polyunsaturated fats. ”PUFA's: The Worst Thing For Your Health That You Eat Everyday” https://www.alexfergus.com/.../pufa-s-the-worst-thing-for... Ranking the Biological Safety of Fats What I found most useful is his chart ranking the biological safety of fats. This morning I’ve already had some cacao butter (100% chocolate), ghee (clarified grassfed butter) and beef tallow (grassfed). Among other benefits, each of these is predominant in the saturated fat stearic acid (C18:0), which signals mitochondrial fusion, which makes mitochondria larger and more efficient, producing less free radical damage than when burning carbohydrates. The effect peaks 3 hours after eating, so I have some when I get up to be in peak metabolic readiness for my morning aerobic activity, such as cycling, kayaking or running. The DHA Question: The Polyunsaturated Fat Conundrum Of course the eternal conundrum regarding polyunsaturated fats always is DHA, which has important benefits in terms of biophysics and biology. The best natural sources of DHA are cold-water marine animal fats and grass-fed ruminant fat. The problem with DHA or fish oil supplements is that DHA is highly oxidisable once outside the cell (or the source is overcooked). Why bother with DHA? There are numerous performative advantages to DHA, especially with regard to cognition, brain resilience and transport of the fat in blood triglycerides into cells for fat-burning (important for the heart muscle). DHA Biophysics and Quantum Properties DHA biophysics is highly conserved in evolution and the biochemistry has evolved to exploit quantum effects of DHA, with it’s highly symmetric structure with short-length bonds that enable quantum effects and even molecular memory. The fundamental principles of reality as a complex adaptive system result in a hierarchy of layers of complexity, generally the progression of layers from physics to chemistry, to biology, to ecology, to society. The unique quantum properties of DHA enable the biology layer to bypass chemistry to exploit the biophysics of DHA to derive quantum benefits from a layer below the chemistry layer on top of which biology generally operates. Quantum effects, in essence, enable optimization problems to be solved using features of physics that operate faster than the speed of light. Quantum Computing Comparison: Understanding Complexity For example, an ordinary computer effectively tops out at problems of polynomial time-and-space complexity, such as problems that require n to the power 3 computational power. A quantum computer can solve problems of NP-complete or perhaps even exponential complexity, such as problems of order 3 to the power n. DHA is the clutch that engages this higher gear of biophysics capacity in ways evolved to enhance our biology. - Murray Braithwaite
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Are Collagen Supplements Helpful for Arthritis?
Article reproduced from arthritis.org You’ve read the hype, gelatin, collagen supplements, even bone broth will ease your arthritis. But can collagen supplements or bone broth really help your arthritis? What is Collagen? Collagen is the most abundant protein in the animal kingdom. There are 16 types of collagen, but nearly all the collagen in your body is type I, II or III. Types I and III are found in your skin, tendons, organs and bone. Type II collagen is found in your cartilage – and hence, its link to arthritis. Collagen is made of amino acids (the building blocks of protein). The idea behind taking these supplements is that your body will use the amino acids to protect and rebuild your joint cartilage. Types of Collagen Supplements There are three types of collagen supplements: gelatin, hydrolyzed and undenatured. Gelatin and hydrolyzed collagen have been broken down from large proteins to smaller bits. When collagen is boiled for a long time (as in bone broth), it gets broken down into gelatin. Collagen can be further “predigested” into its basic amino acids and is called collagen hydrolysate, hydrolyzed gelatin, collagen peptides, or hydrolyzed collagen. Undenatured collagen is not broken into smaller proteins or amino acids. Undenatured type II collagen (UC-II) is not intended to be used by your body as a collagen re-builder. In a process called oral tolerance, very small doses of UC-II are taken to train your body’s immune system to stop attacking its own collagen, explains Kimberly Sanders, ND, Assistant Professor of Clinical Sciences at the University of Bridgeport College of Naturopathic Medicine. Do They Work? From a dietary perspective, your body can’t tell whether you ate a hydrolyzed collagen supplement, a piece of chicken, or some black beans. They’re all sources of protein, and once your digestive system has broken them down into amino acids, they are indistinguishable. So why bother with collagen supplements? Dr. Sanders says the “predigested” collagen supplements make the amino acids more easily available to your tissues. And, she explains, “When you take hydrolyzed collagen, you’re getting a boost of the specific amino acids that are rich in collagen.” But, she agrees, amino acids are amino acids and it doesn’t ultimately matter where they come from. The results of hydrolyzed collagen supplements research have been mixed. Some small studies, including a 2017 review article published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, have shown that people taking collagen supplements do experience pain relief. Other studies have found no benefit. No studies have found that collagen hydrosylates grow or repair cartilage. Studies for UC-II have not been conclusive. A 2016 study published in Nutrition Journal divided 191 people with osteoarthritis into three groups: one group received placebo; one group received UC-II and the third group received chondroitin sulfate supplements. After 180 days of treatment, the UC-II group had better pain, stiffness, and function than the placebo group (and a bit better than the chondroitin group). UC-II studies done on people with rheumatoid arthritis have had mixed results. A 2009 double-blind trial that included more than 500 people with RA found that undenatured collagen improved participants’ pain, morning stiffness, tender joint count and swollen joint count, but not as well as methotrexate. The study, published in Arthritis Research and Therapy, concluded that UC-II is safe and effective in the treatment of RA. “There’s not enough evidence to say that every patient with arthritis would benefit from any collagen supplement. But enough to say it’s promising, and studies should continue,” says Dr. Sanders. What to Look for Although evidence for the use of collagen supplements is unclear, you can be certain they’re not harmful if taken as directed. Some people do, however, complain of stomach upset or diarrhea. Dr. Sanders gives these recommendations for people wanting to give collagen supplements a try: UC-II should be taken in very small doses – usually 20–40 mg per day. Gelatin and hydrolyzed collagen should be taken in higher doses – 10 gm per day. It’s easiest to get this in powder form and blend it into a smoothie or other drink. Be aware that most collagen supplements are derived from animal tissues. If you are vegetarian or vegan, look for supplements labeled as “plant-based collagen builder.” These should have the same amino-acid balance as collagen, but not derived from animal sources. Unlike prescription and over-the-counter medications, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not “approve” dietary supplements like collagen or UC-II for safety and efficacy. Always tell your doctor what you’re taking and look for seals of approval from U.S. Pharmacopeia, ConsumerLab or NSF International to be more sure the products are manufactured properly. Author: Beth Axtell Related Resources Supplement & Herb Guide 9 Supplements for Arthritis 9 Supplements to Avoid Herbs for Arthritis
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Why Does Mainstream Health Advice Often Ignore Meat
Interestingly, I've spent the last few hours searching google, for articles that the average person would want to read about health and diet. I'm not surprised about my findings; so many articles about healthy food, fresh vegetables, grains, and not much about meat and its abilities to maintain a healthy immune system, and metabolic health. Thankfully I have podcasts loaded up on Spotify, for my daily run/walks to fill my mind with the latest research from the people I really rate in this field. Most are functional doctors, some are scientists and others athletes or biohackers who are wanting more from their nutrition, or are not convinced the the health guidelines that have been promoted by our 'institutions' for healthy living. How to Hack Your Way to Better Metabolic Health I thought that I'd share them with you here: If you have been wanting to find out information about how you can hack your way to metabolic health please click these links below, and sign up to their regular podcasts. Dr Paul Mason on Metabolic Health and Immune Function https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lJPjsuftmQ Dr Paul Mason, talks about metabolic health, and the five markers of health or sickness that give us an indication of our ability to fight virus's and longterm sickness like diabetes and heart disease. Paul Saladino on Herd Immunity and Metabolic Resilience https://www.facebook.com/carnivoreMD/videos/582562685939040/UzpfSTEwMDAwMTE5MjQwMjc0MjoyNzgwMTQxNzQyMDM1NTQ1/ Paul Saladino, the carnivoreMD who really gets to question the way the virus shut down has been handled. He also offers some great insight into herd immunity and our Metabolic health. Mental Health, Nutrition and the Carnivore Diet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgL1vlasrxU Ken Berry and Georgia Ede, talking about mental health and nutrition! Both these educated doctors are carnivores and talk about their journey back into health and how important what we put in our mouths determines our metabolic health, and our ability to combat disease. The Role of Ancestral Diet and Organ Meat in Metabolic Health Hopefully you're inspired to read further, and take a good look at your diet, your metabolic health and steps towards a fuller, more expansive healthy life. All these guys, know the value of the ancestral diet and the place that organ meat has in this diet. Freeze-Dried Organ Supplements for Optimal Health Please also head to our shop for free delivery during April and 10% off your first order. Our organs are freeze dried, so they are raw! and all the goodness is retained, so you are getting all the vitamins, minerals and trace elements, peptides and amino acids that you need for optimal health.
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The Benefits of Eating Organ Meats
The standard diet, does not contain any organ meats. In fact, organ meats are demonized for having fat and cholesterol. This is truly a shame, because organ meats from grassfed animals are one of the most nutrient-dense foods available, being packed with vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and other nutrients. Our ancestors knew the value of organ meats. They gave great value to liver, heart, and kidney, and used these foods to support the health of their own organs. We can do the same.
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