Thanks dale, I've not heard of it either. Will look into that.


Camarda,

I haven't gone towards any particular diet. My thoughts are to only consume things that I could make myself with say the land sea and air, a fire and a pan. (I've not defined the principles of it either really, so just made that definition up now as it seems to fit.)

So salt is allowed as it is produced by boiling seawater and parma ham is allowed because it is only ham and salt. Bacon would not be allowed because it has whatever preservatives in it that need to be created in a laboratory, I guess bacon did not used to contain this stuff but I have not found any locally yet that doesn't.

This is not too dissimilar a diet to the one I was brought up on at home, I'd never eaten processed food until I ate fish fingers at a friends house. So I've only had 2 years twice where I haven't eaten a 'clean' diet like this. Except this is a little stricter. Plus, my favourite treats are things like olives, sun-blushed tomatoes, cured meats, homous, pate, etc., not cake, or sweets or anything with pastry. So I don't really feel any desire to eat things that are not included.

I'm also very interested in what the food I'm eating ate. If the food I'm eating ate shit and poison, I don't want to eat it.

Apart from that I am trying to eat foods with stacks of vitamins and minerals in them.


I have never partaken in the sugary snack fests at work, I avoid sugary stuff when my toothbrush is not close to hand. Always been pretty gay about my teeth, never had to have any dental repair work done though.


I haven't read about paleo, saw you mentioned it in a Facebook status a bit back. I'd suspect palaeolithic man ate grain though, if that is what it is about. Will check it out.


Peace,

kowalski

That comment is bang on the money. Hope people pay attention to it.

Took me a lot of crappy health, a long time, lots of reading, and trial and error, to "give in" to the simplicity of nature regarding food - which it seems like you have a natural instinct for.

Salt and fat were prized by our ancestors, the avoidance of them today is an effect of wider dietary issues and therefore becomes actually unhealthy in the context of a chemical free natural diet.

Grains incidentally, if you are interested, have very little nutritional merit and are an aggro to get any nutrition from naturally (husky dusty little seeds)...etc. They are essentially a certain type of grass that would not grow in the way we have propagated it so ubiquitously, so grains are tied into agriculture. Grains still go back thousands of years though, obviously, hence some people can tolerate the gluten and blood sugar effects, better than others as evolution has had a bit of a chance to adapt.

They reckon the reason grains became popular is because they contain Opioids which are obviously addictive and stimulate the nervous system...otherwise, why would anybody be motivated to bother farming such a nutritionally barren plant?

I forget the name of the book I got the grain info from, I'll dig it out later and post a link.

PS

I did a little reading since my last post and it seems we've been eating grain for quite a while longer than we have been farming, it is just that evidence if grain in the diet is hard to come by as it does not leave many traces. However, pestle and mortar tools have been found with grain residue from over 100,000 years ago.

Also, we've been farming way longer than people realise. If you look up the Potbelly Hill archaeological dig, they have evidence of agriculture from 10,000 years ago.


I also read, this morning, that the definitions of grain, seed, nut and bean are not real distinctions in the natural world. They're all seeds really and I know that there is one seed which is the most nutritionally complete single food source known in the world for humans. Hemp.

The main grain I like is oats. They have something in them that actually makes you happy, hence 'he's not getting his oats' (possibly because of an opioid from what you are saying, PS). I'm not bothered about wheat.

I'm not particularly attached to eating grain, so will read more about the composition and health benefits of seeds.


I cooked without adding salt for about 5 years, I use very little now. The main thing I have it for is boiled eggs.


Peace,

kowalski

I must admit I am a little biased against grains/nuts/seeds and dairy....so take my comments as you see fit as regards them.

The name of the game is listening to your body and finding your own subjective mix that works for you, which is what your previous comment implies you naturally do. I'd trust that, don't analyse yourself out of it overly.

The trouble with most food discussion is that people seek what is objectively "correct" for everyone and it becomes an ego thing, and then a pointless argument about people should do this and that, which I've gotten into as well int he past. It's all subjective, or at least, individually objective.

My bias is mainly because through my own trial and error, I have been able to isolate what seems to work for me, and what doesn't. Nuts will tend to aggravate my gut, wheat will tend to mess with my blood sugar and mood, and dairy I'm reasonably sure I have an intolerance to as it seems to create toxicity effects. So I tend to tar related things with the same brush, when some seeds I might be OK with for all I know.

For instance, today I went to grab a latte from Costa. I started sneezing before I drank it, evidently my immune system knew what was coming just from the smell.

All plants have certain compounds in them that are designed to resist being eaten by predators like us, and to allow the seed to pass through the digestion of a predator undigested to redistribute the plant's offspring in the predator's faeces. I want to use the word "phytogens" to describe these compounds, I'm not sure it's correct and can't be arsed to look up the correct word! Walnuts for example, have a horrid initial taste to me, indicative to me that I will not be able to digest this thing.

PS

I've not had the chance to show my appreciation for this thread, but in all honesty this has possibly had the most positive affect on my life out of everything I have read on this forum. I'm naturally slim so had never really bothered trying to control my diet or eat healthily as it had no correlation to my appearance.

After seeing this thread I decided to do weekly shop based on natural food and as a result have my energy, motivation and positivity levels increase dramatically, I've rediscovered cooking properly and genuinely enjoy the food I'm eating a lot more.

Generally speaking I spend about £10 a week on fruit and veg from the local market.

£15 a week on meat and fish.

and £5 a week on extra bits like granary bread, free range eggs and flavoursome stuff like herbs, oils ect.

Also started replacing my ridiculous amounts of coffee with decaf green tea and drink water as my everyday soft drink.

Hey Breaker,

That is awesome, man. A lot of herbs are powerful healthy foods too, like parsley and garlic. So flavour definitely does not have to be compromised. What is your favourite dish right now? Always good to have an injection of ideas.


The best thing I changed in my diet: No dairy

As I said before, this isn't a big change from the general foods I ate all my life. The main thing is not eating anything that is refined using a process I wouldn't recognise as being able to take place or be replicated easiy in a basic kitchen and no dairy.

We are told from a young age that milk is healthy and to drink milk mainly for calcium and vitamin D. A few months ago I found out that milk does not actually contain calcium or vitamin D (or any of the other nutrient content it is famed for), it is fortified with them. All the good healthy shit is added afterwards. Fuck that.

If you regularly eat shelfish, brassicus (s/p?) vegetables, eggs and livers you will have sufficient calcium and vitamin D etc. and won't need fortified milk.

I now drink organic oat milk (Oatly - available at all good supermarkets). Made from 90% water, 10% oats and a little salt. It is sooo nice. It is creamier than skimmed or semi cows milk, but not as thick in consistency. Has a milky sweetness to it and settles well in my stomach whatever else I have been consuming.

I can't recommend giving up milk enough, just make sure you are back-filling the nutrient gap with good clean foods instead.



I've read a bit more about grains, nuts and seeds since last posting and ... don't know. There are clearly a lot of good things about seed, including nutrients that are hard to find in any foods, but also some bad as PS wrote.

There seems to be general agreement that if you take raw seed and germinate it, then eat it at the point of sprouting you will have none of the toxins and all the nutrient content will have transformed to a more bio-available form. Not sure if I can pull that shit together though, it is a lot of arsing about to germinate seeds all the time.


Peace,

kowalski

i'm still going through an experimental stage to be honest trying new things out and finding what works for me.

Fave new things at the moment include,

Steamed aspargus with lots of butter
Fresh corn the cob
Avacado on salads (I use fresh spinache leaves for all my salads)
fried courgettes, peppers, mushrooms, with lots of ginger and garlic.
Salmon grilled with lemon slices on top
Natural yogart with fresh honey
Honey roasted aubergines
also started using fresh lime juice quite a bit and adding brown rice with some meals aswell which has helped with my energy levels a lot.
Mackrell on toast
Poached eggs

Any nice new healthy ideas are more than welcome

ta

Respect.

Ginger is really good for you, specifically digestion. I read a study recently (I had a friend with food poisoning) which showed that 1 gramme of ginger (IV) was more effective in reducing sickness and nausea after chemotherapy than the leading anti-emetics available, but without all the nasty side-effects. I'm not currently eating ginger, I need to get some in. Good shout.


One of my favourite dishes right now is prawns fried in garlic, chilli and lime, served on lightly pan cooked tomatoes, red onion, sunflower seeds and kale.


Peace,

kowalski