Re: Nutritarian - long

There are many things to consider when one considers "their" ideal diet...

Through an ancestral tree, blood type and endocrine gland expression along with genetic expression, can vary widely from one individual to the next... even between husband and wife these days making the ideal "diet" for one, a neutral or negative diet for the other.

Historically, not more than just a dozen generations or so ago, most men and women were born bred, raised, then married and had children, all within a fairly small geographical area.

For instance, my grandfather and grandmother were just a town apart, as was my mother and father... my wife was born in New York city, and I was Born in Hawaii before it entered statehood... quite a difference where local diet likely varied dramatically.

I like to illustrate a native Inuit who lives on the Inuit traditional diet, (rare if it exists at all any more) and a Yanomamo Indian from South America who live on their traditional diet. Move one of each to the others environment and diet and we would have two very sick (and possibly dead in short order) individuals due to any number of reasons that are reflective of their current adaptive abilities.

While the Inuit eat quite a bit more animal based nutrition than the Yanomamo, the Yanomamo get animal protein as well, however that animal protein is sourced from animals that have a very different "diet" from those animals that the Inuit eat.

Another thing to consider is that the animal protein referred to in the Weston Price works is "pre" industrialization of these cultures. This has a huge impact on results.

I think most people get confused about diet because there are few who can weed out their ancestral backgrounds... most of us being "mutts" regardless of skin color, religious background, etc. any more rather than "pure" breeds (from a pure specific geographical background and ethnicity). This throws a kink in our hunt for the "ideal" diet.

An advantage of this though, theoretically, is a better ability to adapt to variations.

I think the best course of action to take, for anyone is to eat as high quality, local, and in season as possible, with an emphasis on green vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts and then, animal proteins and fats.

Raw is good, however... here is a post that I also posted in another forum...

Where do you live? The reason I ask is that if you choose to go raw, ideally you would eat in season, high quality, local foods primarily. No out of season foods... if the food is "imported", you would want to purchase the foods that were grown in a similar seasonal climate as yours.

This better ensures proper plant mineral ratios and acclimation of the consumer to the seasonal environment.

BTW - this is true of animal proteins too... high quality local... as the foods (indigenous grasses, weeds, leaves, etc.) the animals are raised on also make a large difference.

It is easier to go raw over the spring/summer than through the fall/winter... it was not uncommon for native peoples to do this. Late summer and fall were the "big" hunts for drying meats and such for the long winters. Cooking. like juicing increases nutritional value/absorption... though the enzyme "raw" sales pitch is usually used, this is not a problem if you are healthy... and getting enough minerals in ratio to your fats, proteins and carbohydrates... you then make your own enzymes easily enough.

Problem is. most of us these days are so mineral deficient, we do not do this well any more on our own... enter enzyme supplements and the "raw" movement... not a bad idea, but a gross misunderstanding of the issues.

The trick is to know what foods may be nutritionally improved cooked or soaked (corn - always). Some foods are even better cooked certain ways than in others. example; both baking/broiling and grilling fish can increase nutritional value/availability; boiling/frying not so much.

Cooking is very beneficial, if someone is sick/weak.

Bone and vegetable broths can be so very beneficial, near miraculous as well as raw pastured dairy... this is very old miracle "folk" medicine. Onion soup is a powerful tonic when sick; make it with a strong beef stock/bone broth.

Find a real old (100 years or more) cookbook from your ancestral background... it will not state why they cook things this way or that, or why they use this spice or that, but believe me, the reasons are based upon sound nutritional requirements and are now showing strong scientific proof/backing.

Cooking is especially important if one has weak digestion. This is why most baby foods (during weaning from raw milk - mom's hopefully) are cooked; birds/animals do this too in various ways including predigesting the food for their young.

Even the benefits of a heavy dose of high quality green juices can be wasted on one with weak digestion as the gastric acids are needed to assimilate the alkaline minerals/nutrients.

if you do ever cook, use the juices and fats from the cooking to make your sauces and dressings. I make a kick @$$ salad dressing from cooked chicken broth/fat; you get the nutritional value of the "whole" food as nature intended.

You can scroogle all these ideas and find the supporting Science behind them...

What ever you decide, and especially if you go raw, please pay attention to your body; skin, nails, teeth, hair etc. if it improves and stays that way while raw, great, keep it up for as long as you see the improvements... many people can benefit greatly with a raw diet for a period of time (spring-summer is best)... if it gets to a point where you plateau and then begin to start feeling worse, and/or notice hair, teeth, nails, skin issues... try adding in the cooked broths/soups... if it still does not turn around with these, get yourself a bit of good high quality animal protein.

You should invest in a refractometer and learn how to read brix values along with NPN in foods... NPN = bad produce... however this can be ameliorated some by soaking the food in water and a bit (a cap full or two) 3% H2O2.

I have "rarely" (it does happen) seen a 100% raw vegetarian with excellent teeth and gums... of course I believe this is more reflective of the quality of foods eaten than the "raw idea"... getting high quality foods these days is very tough... and then to get them in season and locally tougher... we either grow/raise our own, and know our local farmers, trade sources, etc., or we take our chances armed with at least some knowledge.

I believe that most raw foodist failures are due to either poor quality food, or someone jumping on the raw food band wagon when it is not in their best interests based upon their ancestral history etc.

My suggestions for a sample raw menu would be a big glass of water first thing in the morning, followed an hour or so later by any seasonal produce juicing of your choice... perhaps a piece of fruit (apple mixes with most anything if you are worried about food/juice combining... other fruits, not so much as you can actually decrease food value mixing produce incorrectly; know what you are doing - study), OR, mix in some of the produce fiber waste along with the juice.

Lunch would be a huge salad with any of your concentrated proteins and fats... seeds. nuts, oils, etc., perhaps even some dried fruit like cranberries, raisins, etc.

Night would be cold raw soups and such; can make the cold soups with a juicer and food processor... low protein.

So you do not get too bored, mix it up and get a few raw food cook books... but, like I stated, local, in season foods. Have a field day with the in season fruits when they are available... get extra and stretch the season out (a bit - no more than a month or so) by freezing or drying them.

One thing you do not want to do if you stay raw and live in a cold winter climate is to eat tropical fruits in the fall/winter/early spring... you will never get, or feel warm... mineral balance is not correct in tropical fruits for cold weather.

end post...

I think we make a big mistake by not studying our traditional ancestral diets, taking into account where we currently live, and our current environmental conditions... polluted city? polluted rural farm land?

I think we also make mistakes, by reading this book or that and believing in it based on a "modern" study due to all the complicated variables, the conclusions could be grossly in error.

I like to read and look at the work from about 200 years ago, up through the Preston works, and then into the 70's and 80's. I especially enjoy reading 1800's traditional diets that include the consumption of specific foods based upon gender (one better for man, another better for woman) AND then when food choices were also dependent upon whether a woman was pre-pregnancy (some cultures prepared a woman for pregnancy with emphasis on nutrient dense dietary practices), pregnant and then nursing... fascinating reads.

All too often, in reading recent/current "dietary" works, there is NO mention and/or emphasis on "food" quality...

Weston Price's works illustrated the importance of food quality... whether one saw it or not. His work also illustrated the genetic (changes) degradation in a single generation due to dietary (food quality) change and a move towards more refined grains, etc.

Sure some of these books may push organic and free range... but these words have been bastardized and grossly misused (along with others) and there is a wide "quality" variation in their meanings.

I "like" the idea of a nutritarian, and believe this is what I am and strive for, albeit, I will always cook some foods (I am about 60 - 80% raw on any given day) and eat some animal protein, especially during the colder months, if I can get it.

Nutritarian should be an effort everyone should strive for, regardless of their dietary preferences for cooked foods and/or animal protein.

Not everyone is cut out to be a "raw" vegetarian... nor is everyone cut out to be primarily a meat/fat eater as an Inuit. There are an infinitesimal number of "healthy" variations for people between the two based on environment and ancestral background.

Your path may be "raw" nutritarian/vegetarian... however, looking back in recent history, this would be the rare person indeed. This is not to say that many people would not benefit from a "cleansing" period of time where they followed a nutritarian/vegetarian diet... kind of like a periodic fasting.

If we ate with the seasons, WITHOUT, the grocery stores, we would find ourselves naturally cycling through these dietary changes without even thinking about it.

These discussions would be moot... and that is my point. Most of these authors have been thoroughly confused through the micro-management of their ideas and miss the much larger forest.

One does not want to "hunt" (respect for nature) during calving and nursing/weaning seasons... but then this is usually when the "fruits" of the earth are in full bloom... if you catch my drift.

grz-

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