Just because we don't have to actually pick, gather, milk, hunt or fish for our food doesn't mean that we can walk into a market in a daze and load up the cart without thinking. We have to be as vigilant as if we're out on the savanna scouting for the next meal. We need to be modern hunter-gatherers.
Just like the hunter-gatherer who learned which poisonous mushrooms, plants, seafood and other seemingly edible foods to avoid, if you want to live a long, healthy life, you need to get educated and learn what food products to avoid and what foods to pounce on.
The ultimate goal of the hunt is to bring back organic, real foods that contain the biochemicals that make cells, tissues, hormones, neurotransmitters and so on. In other words, real foods could be (theoretically) picked, gathered, milked, hunted or fished. Processed foods don't contain the biochemicals the human body needs to rebuild, but they do contain toxins; a twofer. You used to be able to hunt the perimeter of the store, but not any more. Now, no matter where you look, you're going to see tantalizing food products conveniently placed within reach -- even in the produce section. Think historically. If it wasn't eaten prior to 150 years ago, it's not good to eat today. This includes soy and products made with soy. Men in particular should avoid soy and flax which both contain phytoestrogens, which tamp down testosterone.
Hunter-gatherers didn't leave a secure camp to procure food without making sure that they were well fed for the taxing hunt ahead of them. Before you go food shopping at the very least have a real food snack so you can think with your head and not with your growling stomach.
Hunter-gatherers had their strategies and knew how much food they needed to survive between hunting/gathering expeditions. Getting your kitchen together requires two steps: Staples and perishables.
Stocking your pantry with staples can take a few shopping excursions. Your list may look like this:
Olive oil
Coconut oil
A variety of vinegars (rice, red wine, balsamic, apple cider)
Prepared mustard
Non-GMO spices (course black pepper, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, ground ginger, dried basil, dried oregano, onion powder, cumin, parsley)
Sea salt
Shoyu (real, naturally fermented soy sauce)
Stevia, raw cane sugar, unpasteurized honey
Grains (brown rice, amaranth, steel cut oats)
Beans and legumes (black beans, lentils, peas)
Tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes
Coconut milk
A variety of nuts to store in the freezer
Green tea and herbal teas
There are no "healthy" mayonnaises on the market today. Once in a while we have to "pick our poisons." (Learning how to make mayo isn't that hard, it just seems hard.)
Once you have your staples, weekly shopping can focus on fresh, perishables. Buy whole foods. Food products with fat removed are highly processed and generally contain sugar and chemicals to replace the "mouth feel" and satisfaction of natural fat.
Think about your week, how much food you need to survive between the meals you plan on eating out. Zero in on proteins, fats, non-starch vegetables, complex carbs and hydration.
Your list may look like this:
Protein
Rib eye steak
Bone-in chicken breasts with skin
Wild caught salmon or other fish/shellfish
Canned tuna fish (not every week)
Small fish like anchovies, herring, and sardines
Pasture raised eggs
Fats/protein/carbs
Peanut and/or almond butter
Raw or organic whole milk and cream
Whole milk yogurt
Cottage cheese
Raw or organic butter
Raw cheese (generally these are imported cheeses)
Avocados
Non-starchy veggies
Lettuce and other veggies for salad
Any green veggie to eat raw, cook, or juice
Mushrooms
Complex carbs
Fruit (Bananas, berries, lemons, apples, grapes, etc.)
Spelt bread, freshly baked whole grain bread, or whole grain tortillas
Starchy veggies (potatoes, yams, carrots, beets, corn)
Trail mix
Hydration
Purified water if you don't own a home purification system
Mineral water such as Pellegrino
Coconut water
Coffee is dehydrating, among other problems. If you drink coffee, buy organic, Swiss-water-decaffeinated.
Prepared foods in gourmet stores that cater to the organically minded can be pricey. Find the prepared foods that best serve you. For example, you may want to take hummus with carrot and cut up bell peppers to work for a snack. Ratatouille or salsa can make a simple roasted chicken a lot more interesting. Having prepared soup in the freezer to defrost on the stove on simmer can be pampering after a long stressful day at work.
When you get home from your hunt, freeze any meats and fish that you aren't going to eat in the next day or two. Animal and fish proteins immediately begin to oxidize in the refrigerator. The goal is to eat fresh food. So only freeze foods for a week, two on the outside.
Today for the first time in the history of human kind we have at our disposal an array of foods that humans have never had. Historically, even monarchies and the ultra-wealthy could not eat the vast variety of foods we commoners now have available to us. Strive to only eat real food, but have fun with it too. Zealotry has no place in a well-balanced life. Dark chocolate has heart benefits, and is always in my cart. Whole Foods offers small bags of home made gourmet potato chips. I don't buy them every week, but they are fun once in a while. Do your best and don't worry about the rest.
Follow Nancy Deville on Twitter: www.twitter.com/nancydeville
I always have a garden and go hunting every season - I know how to butcher what I kill -
I never thought big city life was the way to go - still believe my country life is best -
I have to laugh when I read all these ' how-to ' live natural articles - You can not compare going to the ' store ' to knowing when certain veggies are ripe in the garden - or how to skin a catfish -
Really going back that 150 yr mark means NO olive oil unless you live in the middle east - going to that ' mark ' means knowing how to live on what is ' true ' to where you are .
Organic Food: or as your grandparents called it "food."
2. Almost all the items you list above are fairly expensive. The diet you are designing is for someone with significant means. Obesity and general lack of health are not a significant problem for the wealthy in america, its mostly the lower middle class, working class, and poor classes mre generally who are having major nutritional problems. Telling them to go buy food they cannot afford helps no one.
About the raw milk...can you name a single outbreak of raw milk? I can name a few for pasteurized milk: the 1985 Salmonella outbreak in the midwest that sickened some 200,000 people and led to 18 deaths. In 2008 4 people died in MA from drinking pasteurized milk. In 2006 in CA, there were 1,600+ cases of illnesses from pasteurized milk. Regulators all love pasteurized millk because as long as they can walk up to the point in the production line where the milk has met a certain temperature, they're satisfied that the milk is "clean." But with raw milk, the cows have to be much healthier than "normal" cows, the facilities significanly cleaner, the feed drastically better and all of the equipment cleaned to perfection. This is very difficult/expensive to test, so it's easier to just give the cows terrible feed (usually bits of unusable parts of chickens), from which they are prone to infections so all of the cows are given antibiotics regardless of current health status just as a preventative measure, and the facilities can be as dirty as they want. When I buy raw milk (which tastes like a vanilla milkshake in the Spring), I make sure I've seen the facilities and the cows so I know where it's coming from.
Are you serious with this claim? Because it is scientifically inaccurate in about as many ways as humanly possible. 1. processed foods certainly can, and do, contain the "biochemicals" the human body needs. 2. So called "natural" or "organic" foods, no matter how you define them, also contain "toxins".
So the entire crux of your argument is faulty. Now is it true that, in general, fresh produce is healthier to consume and its nutrients are more bioavailable than "artificial" foods. But certainly this isnt because there are unnamed amorphous "toxins" in processed food or due to processed food being devoid of nutritional worth. Just look at boxed kiddies cereals. I have a box of Reeses PeanutButter Puffs right next to me. There is a laundry list of significant quantities of various vitamins and minerals contained within them on the box. I'm not saying said Puffs are healthier than the same amount of calories worth of fruit, I'm saying your claim that they lack useful "biochemicals" is false.
By processed junk I mean processed junk. Yes, one can find nutritious or semi-nutritious food in the center aisles, which is why I said "LIMIT" the time you spend there.
"the "perimeterÂ" one would result in lacking in several nutrients and weight gain."
Sorry, but I've never found that to be true. But you also have to consider the fact that you're assuming I don't think we should use ANYTHING from the middle aisles, which isn't what I said at all.
"eat less unhealthy foods"
Precisely.
could be interesting to some of us who like to shop the whole store
(hope you don't comment on my writing style : )
I am so sick of people thinking pasta is a no-no. Like every other carbohydrate, enjoy it, but do so in reasonable portions.
I also keep different rices as staple and frequently make delicious risottos.
And soy is a great natural food that contains all the protein of meat without the hormones and pesticides, antibiotics and saturated fat. It has been a staple of Asian diets.
Otherwise, the article is quite interesting.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeinated-drinks/AN01661
His theory was that if Escoffier didn't use it, neither would he--a variant on the "if it wasn't around 150 years ago." If it isn't fresh, it isn't food. If the herbs don't come from your garden, they are second rate. If you don't garden, you deserve what you get. Buy fish only when the boats first come in. Know where your meat was raised. A food mill is your best friend. Most of your plate should be covered with vegetables. A good sauce can make anything tasty. Wine is a gift of the Gods.
No one in my family is either overweight or underfed. We don't spend a small fortune on diet supplements. Our digestive tracts function just fine, thank you, and we seldom even get a cold. On comparing food budgets with neighbors, mine always came in well below everyone else's. Everyone in my husband's immediate family has been treated for cancer--except my husband.
If there is anything which should be completely devoid of political connotation, it is diet. The best way to eliminate the deficit is with a healthy, well educated population.
"If you don't garden, you deserve what you get."
Gardening is a privilege that some cannot afford, due to city limitations, climate, time, etc. (PS I have always gardened, even a small herb garden on a window sill.) But expecting everyone on earth to garden or they "deserve what they get"? Come on.
There are many in the green movement who think everyone living in huge urban centers cheek-by jowl is the answer. It is not. Everyone should live around enough land to provide them with fresh fruits and vegetables, even if it is a community garden.