Tuesday 31 July 2018

Gene-Testing Company 23andMe Partnering with “Big Pharma”

Last Wednesday, July 25, genetics-testing company 23andMe announced that they’re partnering with pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline. From 23andMe’s blog (emphasis mine):

I hear regularly from customers that they want to be part of a solution that is improving health care. We all have some disease or health issue that we care about. 23andMe has created a research platform to enable customers to actively participate in research — to not wait for solutions to appear, but for people to come together and make discoveries happen.  By working with GSK, we believe we will accelerate the development of breakthroughs. Our genetic research — powered by millions of customers who have agreed to contribute — combined with GSK’s expertise in drug discovery and development, gives us the best chance for success.

Note the bolded phrase: “powered by millions of customers who have agreed to contribute.” This is technically true. Agreeing to 23andMe’s (typically murky) privacy policy does mean consenting to the company’s use of your genetic data however they see fit, but thus far that usage has been limited to, effectively, pattern analysis. Surely, few, if any, 23andMe customers realized they would be paying a company to then sell their data with the goal of developing new pharmaceutical drugs.

Genetics-testing companies like 23andMe are fairly popular in the Paleo world. In fact, this magazine has been considering publishing a roundup of such companies and services for some time. And while a great deal of good has undeniably come from these services (who doesn’t want to know their genetic heritage, for example, or whether they’re at increased risk for certain cancers, or even their body’s particular rate of caffeine metabolism?), and even from their sharing of genetic data (the recent use of data from GEDMatch to catch the Golden State Killer, for example), something tells me Paleo folks aren’t going to be too happy knowing their genetic data is actively being used to give Big Pharma an edge. Not to mention that, if you’re genetic data is being used in drug testing, you should be being paid for it, not the other way around.

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What People Without Diabetes Need to Know About Blood Sugar Spikes

How bad does your blood sugar control have to get before you have a “disease?” From huge mood/energy swings to...

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Monday 30 July 2018

Equal Consideration: A Modern Hunter’s Investigation of “Animal Liberation”

I am probably the first person in history to pack two boxes of shotgun shells and a copy of Peter Singer’s seminal work on animal equality, Animal Liberation, in the same bag for a road trip, but as a thoughtful hunter and a writer, I thought it important to get to know the philosophy of people who oppose eating meat. To my surprise, I found in Animal Liberation an extremely compelling and logically sound argument in support of animal equality—one which, in many ways, agrees with my own philosophy about how we should interact with animals.

Singer’s primary argument is that it is morally wrong not to consider the suffering of nonhuman animals in the choices we make in our lives. He makes a particularly strong case against animal experimentation and factory farming, in which animals are simply a means to human ends and suffer greatly, sometimes even for trivial benefits to humans. His call for concern over animal suffering has indeed become mainstream since the book was first published in 1975, evidenced in part by the labeling of beauty products as not having been tested on animals and the ongoing movement toward ethically raised animal products.

Singer illuminates for the reader that the same reason why racism and sexism are immoral is also the reason speciesism, “a prejudice or attitude of bias in favor of the interests of members of one’s own species and against those of members of another species,” is immoral. The principle of equality applies to all nonhuman animals in the same way it applies to humans, and does not “depend on intelligence, moral capacity, physical strength, or similar matters of fact.” It is this equal consideration of interests that, in Singer’s view, must define our relationship to other animals, because regardless of their abilities, all animals have an interest in avoiding suffering.

My question, then, is what about the cases in which human beings have a genuine conflict of interest with other species? Singer acknowledges this question in the book, but I think he underestimates the extent to which we are actively in conflict with other animals, and the consequences of truly equal consideration. We compete with wildlife for food, shelter and water. He doesn’t appear to consider things like the fact that when any new development is built, animals are displaced. It seems to me that equal consideration would mean a permanent moratorium on all human developments, because by his line of reasoning, it would be unfair to expel the resident fauna for human expansion.

He cites as an example of conflicting interests the damage that rodents can do to to crops, but fails to comprehend the scale of the conflict, especially from big animals like deer. Wildlife damage to American agriculture is estimated to be $4.5 billion annually. Deer also cause $1.6 billion of losses each year in vehicle collisions. Without hunting, deer in good habitats like farmland can double their population every two years. One of their favorite crops is soybeans. Imagine what would happen to the price of soy-based vegan foods if we suddenly stopped hunting deer.

Singer appeals for us to find nonlethal solutions like birth control for these problems, but even if he’s right about this as something we have an imperative to strive for, what should we do in the meantime? This technology does not exist in a way that is either effective or affordable. Regardless of its possible moral superiority, birth control is not currently a viable solution to the problem of crop degradation and property damage resulting from our genuine conflict of interest with other animals.

There are parts of the book I disagree with outright. For example, Singer claims that humans are the only animals that kill for nonessential reasons and sometimes “torture . . . their fellow animals before putting them to death.” With regard to killing, this assertion is in direct conflict with the well-documented fact that male lions will sometimes kill and eat the former patriarch’s cubs when they take over a pride, or that chimpanzees conduct warfare against neighboring communities. With regard to torture, cats and killer whales are both known to toy with their prey for extended periods of time before killing them. In another section, Singer writes that “killing animals for food (except when necessary for sheer survival) makes us think of them as objects we can use casually for our own nonessential purposes.” While I agree and have witnessed that this can be the case, this correlation is not evidence of causation. I know from personal experience that killing animals for food does not cause objectification in everyone, and that one’s emotional relationship to the act of killing changes over time. In my many years of hunting, I’ve learned that killing animals and taking their suffering into consideration are not mutually exclusive ideas, but the author does not fathom this as a possibility.

 To his credit, Singer acknowledges many of the challenges presented by his argument and shows himself to be much more reasonable than I had assumed he would be based on the self-righteous zeal I’ve seen from some animal rights advocates. As strongly as he feels about reducing animal suffering, he concedes that determining “the wrongness of killing a being is more complicated,” noting the “widely different views about when it is legitimate to kill humans” in cases of capital punishment, euthanasia, and abortion as reasons he can’t come to a conclusive opinion on the matter. He also explains that, while he thinks it is best for us, the environment, and animals for all of humanity to become vegetarians, he “can respect conscientious people who take care to eat only meat that comes from” animals that have lived a “pleasant existence” and are “killed quickly and without pain.”

Like all ethical hunters, I take great pains to ensure that I do not cause unnecessary suffering in my prey. Like Singer, we find the act of wantonly or deliberately causing animals to suffer needlessly to be reprehensible. I love the challenge of pursuit and am often thrilled by its successful conclusion, but I do not take some kind of psychopathic pleasure in the killing itself. I am in complete agreement with Mr. Singer that “if a being suffers there can be no moral justification for refusing to take that suffering into consideration,” but I think we have to make our final choices based on the realities of the world in which we live. It seems to me that he’s right about the fact that all of the planet would benefit if humans became mostly vegetarian, mainly because of the large volume of greenhouse gasses emitted by animal agriculture and the inefficiency of its land use. It takes a lot of land to raise the crops needed to feed our livestock, not to mention the land they require for themselves, and the effect of shifting this land’s use to other crops could be large.

Still, even if we stopped buying meat in grocery stores, I think we are a long way from removing hunting as a means of effectively managing our conflicts with wildlife, and it would be wasteful not to eat animals we’ve killed in the process. Singer doesn’t acknowledge the existence of the kind of hunting I practice in his book, but I’m convinced that, upon careful consideration, this practice would fall within the range of “conscientious people” whom he can respect for eating meat from animals who’ve lived “free range” lives. I am already committed to cooking only with meat I’ve hunted myself, and while convenience has stopped me from taking the leap to vow never to eat factory-farmed meat when I’m out of the house, Singer has convinced me that most factory farming is immoral.

All in all, Animal Liberation is an exhaustive and well-reasoned piece of philosophy that is worth reading. Whether or not you agree with its conclusions, it will force you, as it forced me, to reconsider your choices as they relate to animal welfare—and I think we can all agree that thoughtful consideration of other beings is a good thing for the world.


References

  1. Conover, MR. Resolving Human-Wildlife Conflicts: The Science of Wildlife Damage Management. Lewis Publishers, 2002.
  2. Stoll, RJ, Parker WP. “Reproductive Performance and Condition of White-Tailed Deer in Ohio.” The Ohio Journal of Science. 86.4 (1986): 164–8.
  3. Singer P. Animal Liberation. HarperCollins, 2002.

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Eggplant, Zucchini and Tomato Bake

You don’t have to care and tend to your own flourishing organic garden to enjoy the copious gifts of summer,...

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Saturday 28 July 2018

Tex-Mex Stuffed Peppers

One can never get tired of stuffed peppers – there are so many incredible ingredients to stuff them with! Peppers...

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How to Pick a Safe Sunscreen

When I go to my masters swim several times per week, many of my fellow athletes, as well as kids and moms who are there to swim at the pool for fun, are dousing themselves in chemicals without really thinking about what they’re doing. How so? Sunscreen.

We know that being safe in the sun isn’t as easy as it used to be. According to experts, the ozone layer is depleted by up to 65 percent, which can allow large amounts of ultraviolet B rays to reach Earth, causing skin cancer, and cataracts in humans and animals. And, with skin cancer being the most common cancer—about 5.4 million basal and squamous cell skin cancers are diagnosed each year—it’s no wonder we’re told to stay the heck out of the sun for too long, and when we’re in it, to cover up from head to toe.

People are listening. The sunscreen market generates $686.2 million in annual revenue and accounts for 59.4 percent of the entire suncare market In the U.S. The problem is, we don’t know exactly what we’re putting all over our skin, on our lips, our ears . . . and on our kids! Sure, we might assume that the tried-and-true brands we’ve loved and used for years are safe and reliable, since they’re familiar and comfortable, but this raises the very same question I often ask when I’m writing about what we’re eating: “Do we really know what’s in it?”

No, we really don’t. Even if we’re reading labels, half the time we’re not  sure what we’re looking for, and we’re trusting words like “natural” or “organic” to confirm our choices are good ones. With sunscreen, most of us aren’t even reading past the SPF number.

Consider the following.

A few years ago, Consumer Reports issued a list of their top four sunscreen lotions and top two sprays, intended to be used by people of all ages. They tested to see if the purported SPF on the labels was accurate, but nothing more. So, for curiosity, I decided to check into it myself, using the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Database,which ranks skincare, sunscreen, makeup, haircare—all of it—on a scale of 1 to 10 for ingredient hazard score (10 being the most dangerous), for known and suspected hazardous ingredients. Four of those top six sunscreens ranked a 7.

Here are the full results.

LOTIONS

  • La Roche-Posay’s Anthelios 60 Melt-In Sunscreen Milk, $36.00. EWG ranks it a 7 (high).
  • Vichy Capital Soleil 50, $28.50. EWG ranks it a 5 (moderate).
  • Coppertone Water Babies SPF 50, $10.50. EWG ranks it a 5 (moderate).
  • Equate Ultra Protection SPF 50, a Walmart brand, $9.00. EWG ranks it a 7 (high).

SPRAYS

  • Banana Boat Sun Comfort Continuous Spray SPF 50+, $11.00. EWG ranks it a 7 (high).
    L’Oreal Quick Dry Sheer Finish 50+, $11.00. EWG ranks it a 7 (high).

By doing a quick search on the Skin Deep Database, anyone can see for themselves that even the most popular, highest-end products contain dangerous chemicals that are dangerous for us.

So how do you choose a safe, effective sunscreen for your family?

Let’s start with some basics—from the EWG’s report “The Trouble With Oxybenzone and Other Sunscreen Chemicals”:

The most common sunscreens on the market contain chemical filters. These products typically include a combination of two to six of these active ingredients: oxybenzone, avobenzone, octisalate, octocrylene, homosalate and octinoxate. Mineral sunscreens use zinc oxide and/or titanium dioxide. A handful of products combine zinc oxide with chemical filters.

Lab studies indicate that some chemical UV filters may mimic hormones or cause skin allergies, which raises important questions about unintended effects on human health from frequent sunscreen application. The most worrisome is oxybenzone, added to nearly 70 percent of the non-mineral sunscreens in EWG’s 2016 sunscreen database.

In addition to oxybenzone, which ranks a dangerous 8 with the EWG and acts like estrogen in the body, alters sperm production in animals, and is associated with endometriosis in women and relatively high rates of skin allergy, you should also be on the lookout for:

Octinoxate (Octylmethoxycinnamate) (EWG ranks this a 6)       

Hormone-like activity; reproductive system; thyroid and behavioral alterations in animal studies; moderate rates of skin allergy.

Homosalate (EWG ranks this a 4)       

Disrupts estrogen, androgen and progesterone and and breaks down into toxic residue in the body.

Of course, even if your sunscreen doesn’t have these three common offenders, don’t assume it’s safe to use. Protect yourself and your family by running through the ingredients one by one using the Skin Deep Database.

Remember, what you put on your body is just as important as what you put in it.


References

  1. “Ozone Depletion.” National Geographic. http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/ozone-depletion-overview/
  2. “Skin Cancer Facts.” American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/sunanduvexposure/skin-cancer-facts.
  3. Harris, A. “Sunscreen Market Presentation.” Prezi. 6 Nov 2012. https://prezi.com/-u8rsry5h57w/sunscreen-market-presentation/
  4. “EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database.” EWG. http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/
  5. “The Trouble With Oxybenzone and Other Sunscreen Chemicals.” EWG. https://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/report/the-trouble-with-sunscreen-chemicals/

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Friday 27 July 2018

Thursday 26 July 2018

15 Paleo Ice Cream Recipes

Ice cream, the beloved childhood dessert, and one adults still swoon over. It’s a frozen treat you can customize for...

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Monday 23 July 2018

Paleo Hoisin Shrimp And Mango

If you are familiar with Chinese cuisine, you’ll likely have encountered hoisin sauce at some point in a meal –...

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Creamy Broccoli & Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:

  • 5 cups broccoli florets (about 2 large heads)
  • 1 TBSP ghee or butter
  • 1/2 medium-sized white onion, diced
  • 10 cremini mushrooms, roughly chopped
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 2 cups riced cauliflower
  • 2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
  • 1 cup full-fat coconut milk
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
  • Dash of salt and pepper

The Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a 9×13-inch casserole dish. Set aside.
  2. Place the broccoli in a steamer basket and steam until tender when poked with a fork, 8-10 minutes.
  3. In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt the ghee. Add the onions, mushrooms, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent, 5-7 minutes.
  4. Add the riced cauliflower and sauté for 3 minutes, or until the cauliflower just starts to soften. Remove pan from heat.
  5. In a large mixing bowl, combine the chicken, coconut milk, eggs, and nutritional yeast.  Add a dash of salt and pepper, along with the cooked broccoli mixture. Stir to combine.
  6. Pour the casserole mixture into the prepared baking dish, spreading it evenly. Bake 25-30 minutes, until bubbly and golden brown on top. Let casserole cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.

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Simplifying Life and Nutrition with Radical Boredom

The Paleo diet has gotten a bad rap for being a boring, bland diet that is much too simple for our complex taste buds. In reality, though, it’s simply about stripping down the crap that’s made its way into our diet over the years. Going Paleo allows our bodies to get back to the basics of functioning on real, nutritious food. Interestingly, we can see this concept in our daily lives, as well. Everyone is afraid to simplify their lives, in fear that they will become bored or be perceived as boring. The question is, when did boredom become a negative thing? Why is everyone so fearful of boredom in their diet and life?

Siegfried Kracauer wrote about something he dubbed “radical boredom” in an essay titled Boredom—the idea of completely disconnecting from everyday stimulants. Kracauer argued that it can be valuable to “stay at home, draw the curtains, and surrender oneself to one’s boredom on the sofa.” In doing so, we can dream up unapologetic, enthralling fantasies that allow us to reconnect with the true essence of the human spirit. While being bored tends to make us feel useless and lazy, it just might be one of the most enticing, beneficial situations we can find ourselves in, aside from meditation.

Kracauer was definitely correct in suggesting that taking the time to sit on your sofa or a bench, with your phone silenced and put away, with no music, book, or newspaper, and just letting your mind wander, should be an essential part of your day. Aside from delving into radical boredom on a daily basis, meditation can also help simplify and improve areas of your life. A study conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital revealed that those who meditate are generally calmer and better able to regulate stress, with improved memory. They also found that it took as little as eight weeks to reap the benefits of meditation.

Take a moment to walk outside and look around you—isn’t it amazing all the things you often miss that might spark a new idea or a magical dream? You may start to wonder how you could truly ever be bored again.

Kracauer observed that the world’s stimulants hinder the blossoming of creativity—and that by taking a moment to disconnect and allow the basics of the world to surround you, you can make more space for creativity and connectivity. According to Kracauer, “People today who still have time for boredom and yet are not bored are certainly just as boring as those who never get around to being bored,” said Kracauer. He observed that people “are pushed deeper and deeper into the hustle and bustle until eventually they no longer know where their head is.”

It’s easy to see this when you look around. Everyone has their computer, phone, iPad or Kindle, headphones, and a television all within arm’s reach most of the time. If that’s not overstimulating the senses, what is?

This is similar to the stimulants found in our Standard American Diet and how they affect and interrupt the basics—what is naturally meant to be. Just like our society getting lost in the “hustle and bustle” and “no longer knowing where [its] head is,” our bodies get lost in the roller coaster of hormone-stimulating foods, no longer knowing how they are truly supposed to feel and function.

So how do we use this idea of radical boredom to simplify our lives, both mentally and nutritionally? For starters, skip the grocery aisles laden with sugary, artificial, processed foods, and start feeding your body a Paleo diet. Try removing any additives, processed, packaged foods, and sugars from your diet. Focus on filling your cupboards with foods that are healing, soothing, and nutritious. Allow your body to revel in foods that benefit your hormones and see how it reacts. Then take note of how switching over makes you feel. This is such a good way of connecting and creating a newfound bond with your body.

Then apply that Paleo model to the rest of your life. Just as you stripped down the foods in your diet, remove the noise and distraction from your routine. This means eliminating, as best you can, constant connection with your electronics or whatever else is eating up endless hours in your day.

Now, this isn’t an excuse to skip out on work you need to get done—it’s highly unlikely your boss will go for that idea. We are, however, suggesting that you use the bare minimum electronic stimulation possible. When you’re about to reach for your phone to pass the time, instead allow yourself to embrace that boredom, let your mind wander, and see what it comes up with.

Find somewhere in nature, away from visual pollution, to plop down and take in the elements. What does it smell like? How does it look, sound, and taste? This boredom is your portal to another fascinating, radical world—one created by you.

Applying this idea of “radical boredom” across all planes of your life will be sure to clarify, simplify and reconnect you with not only your body, but also your mind. When you begin by detoxing one area of your life (like your diet), it will be an easy transition into detoxifying other areas. After converting to a healthy Paleo diet, you should find you’re able to think more clearly and have more energy throughout the day. By combining a Paleo approach with radical boredom, you’ll find that your mind has never been clearer.

Starting today, allow yourself to find the beauty in boredom by simply disconnecting.


References

  1. Holzel B, Carmody J, Vangel M, Congleton C, Yerramsetti S, et al. “Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density.” University of Massachusetts; Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. (2010) DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychres s.2010.08.006
  2. Warner M. Pandora’s Lunchbox: How Processed Food Took Over the American Meal. Scribner, 2013.
  3. Kracauer S. The Mass Ornament: Weimar Essays. Harvard University Press, 1963.
  4. Bronson P, Merryman A. “The Creativity Crisis.” Newsweek. July 2010. http://www.newsweek.com/creativity-crisis-74665
  5. Levy D, Wobbrock J, Kaszniak A, Ostergren M. “The Effects of Mindfulness Meditation Training on Multitasking in a High-Stress Information Environment.” Proceedings for Graphics Interface. (2012): 45–52.

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Sunday 22 July 2018

Sweet Chili And Ginger Ribs

This beguiling chili-ginger sauce is almost a spicy barbecue, or Paleo hoisin sauce. Similar ingredients, totally unique flavors, yet all...

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Saturday 21 July 2018

Low-Histamine Food List

Histamine sensitivity is tricky to diagnose, because the symptoms are often very vague, and not obviously connected to any particular...

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Friday 20 July 2018

BBQ Chicken And Bacon Skewers

BBQ and bacon… We couldn’t resist the first batch of barbecue chicken and bacon skewers, so we had to make...

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Thursday 19 July 2018

Tuesday 17 July 2018

How to Set up an Anti-Inflammatory Paleo Diet for Gut Healing

Chronic inflammation is generally bad news for all kinds of reasons, but if you’re having digestive symptoms like bloating, constipation,...

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Pork and Vegetable Coconut Stir-Fry

Heat up your wok and get your chop sticks ready, cause this meal is begging to be made right now!...

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Caffeinated Flank Steak

Serves 3
Cook Time: 8 to 12 minutes
Prep Time: 10 minutes (plus 2 hours to marinate)

Ingredients

  • 1-1/2 lb flank steak
  • 2 TBSP olive oil
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 TBSP ground dark-roast coffee
  • 1 tsp cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp maple sugar
  • 1/4 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon

The Method

  1. Rub the steak with the olive oil, then sprinkle evenly with the salt and pepper.
  2. In a small bowl, combine the coffee, cocoa powder, maple sugar, cumin, coriander, ginger, and cinnamon. Rub the spice mixture on both sides of the flank steak. Place in an airtight container and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours, or overnight.
  3. Adjust the oven racks so that the steak will be about 6 inches from the heat source. Preheat the broiler for 10 minutes.
  4. Place a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet (you can line the baking sheet with foil, if desired, to help with cleanup later on). Set the marinated flank steak on top of the rack and broil for 4-6 minutes per side, depending on your taste preference.
  5. Remove the steak from the broiler and place the meat on a cutting board to rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Slice against the grain, and serve.

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Monday 16 July 2018

Three Rules for Happiness

Immanuel Kant, the 19th-century German philosopher responsible for the categorical imperative and for writing one of the thickest texts in both size and comprehension of all time, Critique of Pure Reason, has also been cited for one of the simplest prescriptions for happiness:

“Rules for happiness: something to do, someone to love, something to hope for.”

Often, we chase happiness as the result of some great measurement we attain, like a dollar amount in the bank, a job title, great recognition or perhaps the more obscure idea of freedom. Some might even just say, “I am happy when I am having fun.”

But is this right? Let’s take a look at the power of Kant’s simple quote and its application in an ancestral approach to life.

1. Something to Do

“May your hands always be busy. May your feet always be swift.” —Bob Dylan

Without a mission, a purpose, something to wake up and point toward each day, the vacuum of emptiness becomes like a black hole, and your happiness will get sucked into it. Choose something—preferably something you care about, something you can do for years to come and something that makes the world a better place. This is the way to daily meaning and to a deep happiness.

From an ancestral perspective:

As simple as chopping wood and carrying water sounds, it is this kind of basic task that gives us focus and purpose. Our ancestors found happiness in being able to carry out basic survival tasks without finding their lives in jeopardy. To set up shelter, get food, and move safely to areas of natural abundance demanded most of their time. There was little in the way of contrived existence. Just about everything had a purpose, and all action was geared toward these things. Happiness was reinforced by taking care of survival needs.

The take-home:

Embrace simple but natural tasks, like setting up your house nicely, making home-cooked meals, walking the neighbourhood, and maintaining balance in your life. Choose other tasks that occupy you in meaningful ways, whether they be art, music, exercise, or study. The more you create, the happier you’ll be. This underlies what makes us human. Our creative abilities are far more advanced than those of the other animals with whom we share the planet. The act of creation itself is one of the most fulfilling and happiness-producing levers available to us.

2. Someone to Love

“No man is an island” —John Donne

You don’t have to marry, but you should find deep, soulful love: a love that will ground you and give you flight. Whether it be your partner, your kids, a family member, or a friend, let love into your life. I’m fortunate enough to have all of these in my life, but my kids can pretty well fill all three aspects of happiness. They certainly give me things to do; I love them, and I hope for their future all the time!

Love is not a finite resource, and that’s why we should give more of it. It’ll come back to you with just as much quantity. Both the giving and receiving will offer more happiness than almost anything else.

From an ancestral perspective:

Our ancestors lived as tribes. Their survival and fortune depended on working together and on communal health. This made each member of the tribe care for each other and invest in each other. They also spent a lot of time together and appreciated each member for their contributions. The connections ran deep, and happiness was found in the health of the tribe.

The take-home:

Today, we might not live as a tribe—or at least not one larger than a family—but we can still work together as a family and strive to connect with our community. Obviously, you are not going to love your mailman or grocer as much as your wife and kids, but you can appreciate all the members of your community as integral parts of the whole. You can be friendly, get to know others and respect their role in your lives, however subtle.

When it comes to your close relationships, you can be vigilant about taking people for granted, and make that extra effort to celebrate them and show that you care. Perhaps the most intense happiness possible for a human is to be with someone where there is mutual appreciation, real connection, and consequently, love.

3. Something to Hope For

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.

We need a glimmering light in the distance. Something to keep us going no matter how negative the world is. We need hope! Often, hope is the only thing there is to hold on to.

From an ancestral perspective:

If you think there is uncertainty today, imagine what it was like thousands of years ago. Without all the advances in technology, medicine, communication, and knowledge, people had so many more reasons to feel like they had no control of their lives, no understanding of what they could do, and nothing to maintain hope. Yet our ancestors continued on, through droughts and storms, through predatory attacks and impassable geographic constraints. They survived, multiplied and advanced over the ages to make our existence possible. They had to maintain hope, or we would not be around. When things were darkest, it was their hope and nothing else that brought them enough happiness to try for another day.

The take-home:

Today, the world is full of amazing opportunities, tools, support networks, and information. Needless to say, there is also great despair, negativity, and turmoil. While today’s issues may be different from those that existed millennia back, this era is no more daunting or dark. We still have hope.

No matter what life throws at you, your understanding that you have another day to try, to build, to connect, to search, to meet, to communicate, should be enough to keep a flame of hope alight. As long as you have that flame of light, it can grow to a fire of joy. There have been many stories in modern times of people who realistically should have lost hope—people like Nelson Mandela, Victor Frankl, and Helen Keller. They didn’t, and neither should you. Their hope and your hope are the greatest fortress to persevere against all odds and come out of despair with a deeper happiness than could be found without adversity.

Fixate on your hopes. Repeat them at the outset of each day. Write them down, and don’t let others discourage you. Fortify your hopes by surrounding yourself with people and environments that make these hopes seem more attainable.

As you go forward, you will encounter hard days, frustration, loss, disappointment, and sadness—but remember the rules of happiness and their simplicity, along with our ancestors’ ways of navigating in the world, and go forward with your head held high by creating and connecting.

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30 Keto Breakfast Recipe Ideas

We’ve all heard breakfast is the most important meal of the day. That is true in the sense you want...

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Saturday 14 July 2018

Friday 13 July 2018

Thursday 12 July 2018

Wednesday 11 July 2018

Resetting the Brain’s Pleasure Centers: A Frequently Overlooked Benefit of Eating a Healthy Diet

Many people who’ve long been accustomed to a westernized, highly processed diet are hesitant to a adopt a real-food diet, in part because they anticipate lower hedonic value in such food (in taste, texture, and mouthfeel). Essentially they prioritize the powerful, but short-lived, pleasure they derive from consuming highly processed foods over the more permanent benefits they would accrue from a healthy diet. This isn’t surprising, given that we’re hard-wired to function this way;1 yet if we give healthy eating a chance, we often find that junk food cravings wither or even completely disappear, and with them much mental stress and agony.

Most health-seekers are aware of the above phenomenon, either consciously or unconsciously; however, the processed-food crowd may have trouble imagining such a transformation..

The purpose of this article is not to persuade anyone to give up highly processed foods, but rather to demonstrate that junk-food cravings are not an unavoidable part of the human experience—and that the cost of ditching such foods is smaller than it may appear.

Why We Like Calorically Dense, Sugary Foods

In the wild environments in which we humans evolved, calorically dense foods were difficult to obtain. Highly processed foods were nowhere to be found, honey was only seasonally available in certain parts of the world, and game animals were a lot leaner than the livestock we raise for our animal protein today.7

Given that foods rich in sugar, salt, and/or fat (rare during our hunter-gatherer days) provided us with precious sources of potent energy, it’s not surprising that we evolved an innate desire and preference for such foods. We love sugary and fatty foods because they helped fuel the evolution of our species, giving us the vigor to hunt, evade predators, migrate, and reproduce in tough environments—as well as to grow bigger, more powerful brains than our primate cousins.

Our problem is that, today, calorically dense foods are ubiquitous. Our primal ancestors didn’t get fat or sick if they gave in to their cravings for sugar, salt, or fat, since their access to those nutrients was very limited. Therefore, there has never been any reason for natural selection to curb our desire for energy-dense foods, despite the fact that their frequent consumption (in the case of highly processed items) exerts some obvious fitness costs. Among other effects, it adversely affects libido, mental functioning, and immunity.5, 10, 11

Yet once again, junk-food cravings are not an inevitable challenge of human life. Indeed, only very recently were most processed, salty, and sugary foods available in the modern supermarket even developed.

We’re hardwired to like natural, non-toxic foods that are fairly high in calories; however, we’re not doomed to go around constantly craving junk food. If you regularly crave chocolate, chips, or similar foods, you might want to investigate further. Perhaps it’s chronic stress, hormonal imbalance, nutrient deficiencies…or else habituation to these foods’ overstimulating flavors, in which case a period of avoidance might lessen their call. Here’s why:

Why Junk Food is Addictive

Chocolate, doughnuts, potato chips, and other similar junk foods are hyper-palatable versions of the most calorically dense foods that featured in ancestral human diets. They bear some resemblance to honey, nuts, tubers, and certain types of animal-source foods; however, they are unique in that they combine extremely high concentrations of sugar, salt, and fat in specific ratios designed (by corporations) to overstimulate the most primal parts of our brains.

The consumption of junk food, studies suggest, elicits similar responses in the brain as drug use.2, 4 It elevates the production of dopamine and other hormones that cause pleasurable feelings, a response that’s rooted in our evolutionary past.

A 2013 review paper posited that “sugar and sweet reward can not only substitute to addictive drugs, like cocaine, but can even be more rewarding and attractive…possibly reflecting past selective evolutionary pressures for seeking and taking foods high in sugar and calories.”2 More recent research highlights the effect of intermittent access to sweets on these results, but heightened neurochemical response is still an important factor to consider in food choice.

Obviously, a bar of chocolate is not going to give you the same rush that cocaine will; however, it will without a doubt “light up” the pleasure centers of your brain. Not only that, but the consumption of junk food has a very different impact on the gut microbiota from that of the consumption of real, whole food.6, 8, 11, 13 This can largely explain why junk foods are so addictive, as well as why a lot of people report that they rarely or never crave junk food if they adhere to a healthy diet over time.

The types of microbes that proliferate following the consumption of highly processed foods are capable of inducing cravings for more of such foods in their host,3, 9, 12 in order to satisfy their own preferences for certain nutrient substrates. The host, however, is not going to do well on such a diet. Conversely, the consumption of healthy food can help nudge the microbial community towards a species composition that is incompatible with a junk foods diet.

You, including your microbiota, truly are what you eat.

Key Takeaways

A lot of people are resistant to adopting an unprocessed, real-food diet because they are extremely fond of certain types of processed foods. They regularly crave chocolate, cookies, ice cream, and/or other highly processed foods and find the thought of ceasing or restricting their intake of those foods almost unbearable. What they may not realize is that junk-food cravings tend to become markedly less severe over time as one adopts a healthy diet. Sometimes, they disappear almost completely, along with mental stress around food choice (“I want doughnuts, but they’re unhealthy, so I’ll avoid them”) and the dietary restrictions that typically accompany them. This is because the switch from a processed, nutrient-poor diet to a nutrient-dense diet can help re-calibrate the pleasure-and-reward mechanisms at work in the brain, as well as reconfigure the gut microbiota into a healthier state.


References:

1 Wolf, Robb. Wired to Eat: Turn Off Cravings, Rewire Your Appetite for Weight Loss, and Determine the Foods That Work for You. New York: 1st ed., Harmony, 2017.

2 Ahmed SH, Guillem K, Vandaele Y. “Sugar Addiction: Pushing the Drug-Sugar Analogy to the Limit.” Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care 16.4 (Jul 2013): 434-9.

3 Alcock J, Maley CC, Aktipis CA. “Is Eating Behavior Manipulated by the Gastrointestinal Microbiota? Evolutionary Pressures and Potential Mechanisms.” Bioessays 36.10 (Oct 2014): 940-9.

4 Alonso-Alonso M, Woods SC, Pelchat M, Grigson PS, Stice E, Farooqi S, Khoo CS, Mattes RD, Beauchamp GK. “Food Reward System: Current Perspectives and Future Research Needs.” Nutr Rev 73.5 (May 2015): 296-307.

5 Campbell AW. “Autoimmunity and the Gut.” Autoimmune Dis 2014 (2014): 152428.

6 David LA, Maurice CF, Carmody RN, Gootenberg DB, Button JE, Wolfe BE, Ling AV, Sloan Devlin AS, Varma Y, Fischbach MA, Biddinger SB, Dutton RJ, Turnbaugh PJ. “Diet Rapidly and Reproducibly Alters the Human Gut Microbiome.” Nature 505.7484 (23 Jan 2014): 559-63.   

7 Davidson B, Maciver J, Lessard E, Connors K. “Meat Lipid Profiles: A Comparison of Meat from Domesticated and Wild Southern African Animals.” In Vivo 25.2 (Mar-Apr 2011): 197-202.

8 Desai MS, Seekatz AM, Koropatkin NM, Kamada N, Hickey CA, Wolter M, Pudlo NA, Kitamoto S, Terrapon N, Muller A, Young VB, Henrissat B, Wilmes P, Stappenbeck TS, Nunez G, Martens EC. “A Dietary Fiber-Deprived Gut Microbiota Degrades the Colonic Mucus Barrier and Enhances Pathogen Susceptibility.” Cell 167.5 (17 Nov 2016): 1339-53.e21.

9 Fetissov SO. “Role of the Gut Microbiota in Host Appetite Control: Bacterial Growth to Animal Feeding Behaviour.” Nat Rev Endocrinol 13.1 (Jan 2017): 11-25.

10 Gómez-Pinilla F. “Brain Foods: The Effects of Nutrients on Brain Function.” Nat Rev Neurosci 9.7 (Jul 2008): 568-78.  

11 Myles IA. “Fast Food Fever: Reviewing the Impacts of the Western Diet on Immunity.” Nutr J 13 (17 Jun 2014): 61.

12 Norris V, Molina F, Gewirtz AT. “Hypothesis: Bacteria Control Host Appetites.” J Bacteriol 195 (2013): 411-6.

13 Voreades N, Kozil A, Weir TL. “Diet and the Development of the Human Intestinal Microbiome.” Front Microbiol 5 (22 Sep 2014): 494.

 

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Country Style Chicken And Mushrooms

Chicken and mushrooms are an absolute wonderful match – take for example creamy mushroom and spinach chicken (we believe the...

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Monday 9 July 2018

Butternut Squash Curry

This is a simple and delicious dish that’s full of flavor and texture. Best served with fresh coriander on a bed of cauliflower rice.

Serves 4
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 40-50 min

Ingredients

  • 2 tsp coconut oil
  • 1 cup chopped yellow onion
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 small chile pepper, finely chopped
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 2 tsp turmeric
  • 1-1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp curry powder
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 2 cups cubed butternut squash
  • 2 cups chopped tomatoes
  • 2 cups water
  • Chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish

The Method

  1. In a large saucepan, heat the coconut oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and chile. Sauté for 2-3 minutes, or until onions are translucent.
  2. Add the paprika, turmeric, cumin, curry, and salt. Stir to combine.
  3. Add the butternut squash and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5-7 minutes, or until squash has browned lightly. Add additional coconut oil to the pan, if needed.
  4. Add the tomatoes and water. Stir to combine. Cook, uncovered, for about 40 minutes or until the squash is fork-tender. Be sure to stir the soup occasionally.
  5. Serve bowls of soup topped with chopped cilantro.

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Quenching the Flashes, Keeping the Fire Stoked: Are Post-Menopausal Hormones Wise for Paleo Women?

From conventional gynecologists to women’s health experts in the Paleo community, the word tends to be the same: A woman after menopause should try to avoid hormone therapy. If absolutely necessary, she should take the least amount of hormones for the least amount of time possible. Two lines of argument attempt justify that caution, but let’s see if they hold water. Because if you ask most women who are taking bioidentical hormone therapy, they want to know it’s safe—and they want to keep taking it!

First, it has been argued that, “respecting evolution,” we know that Paleolithic women didn’t have post-menopausal hormone therapy and they were “fine,” so why should we need this therapy? While there is some evidence that cultural milieu has an effect on the severity of hormone symptoms, we are each faced with the cultural milieu in which we find ourselves. I am not moving to Japan (where there are fewer menopausal symptoms) or going back in time to hunt mastodons. In my cultural milieu, menopausal symptoms abound.

Women suffer from hot flashes for 10 or more years, disrupting sleep and thereby wreaking havoc on mood and mental clarity. Osteoporosis affects both women and men. Vaginal dryness from lowered hormone levels causes discomfort during sex, and for some women, discomfort just walking and sitting! Not to mention, those same lowered hormone levels raise a woman’s risk of urinary incontinence and infections, which can lead to courses of antibiotics or possibly sepsis if not properly diagnosed.

More importantly when it comes to the Paleo community, let’s talk about what it means to respect evolution. It makes a lot of sense, in terms of evolution and selective advantage, for women to forego the physiologically costly process of reproduction when they pass a certain age. I am more valuable as a grandmother and more likely to be a liability to my “tribe” should I become pregnant after the age of 50. Once a person, male or female, is no longer capable of promoting the survival of the species, we are past the concern of evolution, which is all about reproduction and species survival.

So it behooves me personally, and the species generally, for me to be as healthy as possible after menopause, even if I take some twists and turns that aren’t exactly Paleo—such as reading articles on the Paleo Magazine website and taking bioidentical hormones, for as long as they are helpful. In my personal and professional opinion, that would be for the duration—for life.

The other arguments buys into the hype surrounding the 2002 Women’s Health Initiative study. This huge study caused mass media headlines when it was interrupted because of an increased risk of breast cancer in the women taking the experimental protocol. Of interest, there was also an increased risk of stroke and heart disease, but the women on the protocol also had less colon cancer and osteoporosis.

In the WHI study, the treatment intervention was a combination drug that included Premarin (estrogen from pregnant horses, quite unlike the human estrogen estradiol) and Provera (a synthetic progestin that shares only one physiological effect with progesterone, the human hormone). I would agree that this is a deadly combination; a woman taking PremPro or Provera alone is at increased risk for depression and breast cancer. Just say no!

But I like to say that WHI is the gift that keeps on giving: There has been a wealth of calculations made from the original data, and new research inspired by the questions raised by the WHI data. The truth, when you look at the whole story, is a bit different.

  1. Estrogen on its own, whether human or equine, appears to be neutral or protective against breast cancer. Many factors contribute to breast cancer, and adopting a Paleo lifestyle will confer many protections. Get good sleep, eat a balanced diet, stay active, get outside—these are all important in preventing breast cancer. I would add to the general Paleo routine, in this regard, to eat lots of cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage) and limit yourself to one alcoholic beverage a day.
  2. In terms of heart disease, human estrogen appears safer than equine, in part because it can be applied topically, which eliminates the tendency of oral estrogen to increase blood clots, heart disease and strokes. When you take estrogen as a cream or a transdermal patch, you avoid the hazards of taking estrogen as a pill (which is another reason birth control pills shouldn’t be used for post-menopausal HRT).
  3. Studies comparing progestin (Provera from the WHI) to progesterone (the hormone made by women’s ovaries and duplicated in bioidentical progesterone) demonstrate a clear emotional benefit for progesterone over progestin. Furthermore, studies from Europe (we can count those, right?) show a neutral or protective effect on the risk of breast cancer!
  4. Estrogen receptors in the brain respond only to estradiol (the bioidentical human hormone, different from Premarin), yielding at least two effects. Estradiol works as an antidepressant in the brain and seems to have a role in scavenging the amyloid beta protein that leads to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Women have higher rates of AD than men do, presumably due to their suddenly lowered estrogen levels. Men’s estrogen levels usually go up in later life, parallel to their beer belly; very fit Paleo men might want to check that they have at least a bare minimum estrogen level, as estrogen is key to maintaining strong bones, for both men and women.

Bioidentical hormone therapy can provide the perfect situation for a great interactive relationship between patient and doctor. When I prescribe hormones to a woman, we make the best guess of the right dose for her, something not predictable based on her size, but more likely based on the health of her liver, which is much harder to assess, as well as her menopausal symptoms. Hormones for a menopausal woman consist of estradiol (with or without estriol) applied to the skin, balanced by oral progesterone (orally to help with sleep), as well as topical testosterone (helps with mood, bone strength and libido) and vaginal estriol.

I feel so strongly about vaginal estriol that I think it should be mandatory for all women in menopause! It’s the best estrogen to maintain the health of the mucous membranes of the genitourinary tract, not only reducing vaginal dryness and discomfort, but improving urinary function on many levels: reducing incontinence, night-time urination, and urinary tract infections.

All the hormones require a doctor’s prescription. Estradiol and progesterone are available through conventional pharmacies; testosterone and estriol must be compounded. (Alternatively, vaginal estradiol is available through conventional pharmacies, but may be inferior to estriol in my experience.)

My patient is the first judge of the accuracy of the dose: How does it feel? Once we find a dose that she feels is right for her, I order blood tests to see if I’m comfortable with the blood levels of the hormones. Too low, and she won’t reap any of the benefits of hormones; too high, and I think she will eventually “feel” the hormones or resume her menstrual cycle. A mismatch between progesterone and estrogen can cause physical discomfort or post-menopausal bleeding. Once she’s happy and the blood tests are good, our work is still not done.

I order a special lab test, a urine panel that evaluates how well her body breaks down the estrogen as it passes through her liver. Liver detoxification of hormones consists of two phases, and both are important. If either phase is sluggish, estrogen metabolites can accumulate and cause a risk to that woman. Sluggish action of the liver can be boosted through proper foods (cruciferous vegetables, leafy greens and organ meats) or supplements (indole-3-carbinol, folate and methyl B12.)

If the process sounds complicated, perhaps it is, but it is not unlike the way I would approach any prescription. If you have scary-high blood pressure, you’re getting a drug today—but we’re also mounting a search to find out why, and then to identify which lifestyle modification will remedy the problem. In the case of menopause, no lifestyle modifications offer the full range of benefits conferred by bioidentical HRT.

What is the natural lifespan we can expect, given that our lives have not been as pristine as we might wish? At some point in our lives, we’ve all eaten too much tofu or cotton candy, swigged water from plastic bottles, and spent too much time online or in traffic lines, all of which lessen the lifespan we would enjoy if our lifestyle were more attuned to our evolutionary legacy. The environmental stresses and toxins alone might suggest we would live shorter lives than our Paleolithic ancestors.

Yet we don’t live in a Paleo world anymore. We live surrounded by a medical system that’s skilled at life-saving interventions. If we live to the age of 60, it’s likely that we will make it to 80, with a little help from our medical friends. I would suggest that for women looking forward to many years after the sunset of their reproductive years, properly prescribed bioidentical therapy can be a boon to both the length and quality of life, and needn’t be parsimoniously reserved only for those with the greatest levels of suffering.

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Garlic And Herb Lamb Chops

If you love garlic, you have landed on the right recipe – and if you adore fresh herbs, well, then...

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Saturday 7 July 2018

Autoimmune Diet Food List

Autoimmune diseases are tricky – for some people, a basic Paleo diet is all the help they need, while for...

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Thursday 5 July 2018

Wednesday 4 July 2018

Beef and Sweet Potato Casserole

If beef and potato casserole sounds like something your Grandma might have made many years ago, perhaps with some carrots,...

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Tuesday 3 July 2018

Cumin-Scented Bison Meatballs with Gingered Beef Broth

Makes 12-15 meatballs

For the meatballs

1 lb ground bison
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
1 large egg
2 TBSP almond flour
1/2 tsp arrowroot starch
2 TBSP chopped cilantro

For the broth

1 TBSP ghee or coconut oil
2 tsp minced garlic
1 TBSP minced fresh ginger
1 tsp minced jalapeño
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms
5 cups beef broth
1 cup water
1 cup thinly sliced cabbage
Chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish

The Method

  1. Make the meatballs: In a medium bowl combine the bison, garlic, ginger, cumin, egg, almond flour, arrowroot starch, and cilantro. Shape into 2-inch meatballs. Place on a tray and set aside.
  2. Make the broth: In a large pot set over medium-high heat, melt the ghee. Add the garlic, ginger, jalapeño, carrots, and mushrooms. Sauté for 3-4 minutes, or until carrots start to soften. Add the broth and water. Bring to a boil. Add the cabbage and the uncooked meatballs to the pot. Cover, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through. Serve bowls of broth with a few meatballs and garnish with the cilantro.

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Monday 2 July 2018

One Meal a Day for Weight Loss: Yes, No, or Maybe?

Limiting your total food intake to just one meal a day (abbreviated OMAD) is the cool new trend in meal...

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A Landscape of Ash and Dust: Morel Hunting in Central Oregon

I mistook it for a pinecone: the pale little mushroom half-buried in the bed of soil and pine needles. I reached for it anyway, just to confirm, and my fingers landed not on charred, crumbling pinecone, but on supple fungus. “I found one!” I shouted, shuffling away the dirt from around the mushroom. I snipped the base of the stalk and held aloft my prize: the morel. The cone was a creamy beige, tapered at the top, a latticework of little honeycombs atop a thin, sturdy, white stem. It was one of only five we found that day, and by far the largest, approximately the size of my thumb. I didn’t mind that we didn’t find many: the hunting was half the fun, and the thrill of finding even one was enough to compel us to keep looking, to step further into the burn area, placing our feet carefully, eyes low, sweeping.

​In a landscape of orange and black, a landscape of ash and dust, delicate brown-and-white morels can be hard to spot. But in the fertile, nutrient-rich soil of recent burn sites, or sprinkled among the bases of dead or dying trees, these mushrooms thrive. Morels tend to congregate in huddled groups, meaning that if you find one you can often take just a step or two more and find another, and another. But sometimes you find just one, and have to try your luck another day.

​We owe it to luck and keen eyesight that we even noticed the spot, a recent controlled-burn area, a swath of land dominated by towering Ponderosa pines, all blackened bark and naked limbs. Pale, spindly bushes, stripped of their leaves, huddled in tight clumps. Dead grass sprouted up in bleached-blonde clumps here and there, vivid against the black soil. We came upon the spot after a bend in the road. We drove past the burn site before slowing, making a three-point turn on the deserted road, and going back again.

​I had worn the wrong shoes to be out in the dirt: leopard-print Mary Janes with thin, nubby soles. My feet sank deep into the soft, lush earth. With every step, the shoes’ fabric was getting darker and darker, its pattern more and more obscure, but I focused on where I was placing my feet rather than how dirty they were getting. The excitement, the anticipation, had hit me already. My fingers twitched, my knees bent, ready to lunge. I was ill-prepared in my leopard-print shoes and beige sweater, sleeves pushed to my elbows to keep them from falling, but at least my pants were black: jeans cuffed above my ankles, a better choice. Even so, as I got back in the car and placed the five lonely mushrooms to rest in the back seat, I noticed large swaths of ash and dirt swept across the denim.

​The densely wooded High Desert of Central Oregon is flush with burn sites, sunny, south-facing hillsides, and other morel-friendly habitats. Yet, as many know, morel hunting has quite a community built around it, and morel hunters are not keen to divulge their favorite haunts. Stumbling upon a new burn site was a stroke of good luck. ​I am not generally a mushroom aficionado (read: I hate culinary mushrooms of most kinds) but I was promised that, properly cooked, morels yield a delightfully nutty, rich flavor and a firmer, less chewy texture than the average grocery-store fungus. I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy them. Morels can be quite pricey at your local farmers market, especially since the picking season (early March to early May) is so short. Supply goes fast.​

​Nevertheless, morels’ flavor makes them worth the pursuit. When properly prepared (cooked down a little to neutralize the trace amounts of toxins they carry) they are safe to eat, which makes them a great choice for novice or beginner mushroom-hunters. Morels don’t have many look-alikes to deceive you, either, apart from the “false morels” (members of the Gyromitra family), which also have ribbed caps that, to the inexperienced eye, could be mistaken for the mild-tasting, perfectly edible morel. A common distinction to make between true morels and false morels is that real morel mushrooms have caps consisting of honeycomb-like structures, whereas many members of the Gyromitra family have brain-like, ribbed caps with many wrinkles and folds. With a little research and a discerning eye, one can safely identify and easily distinguish morels from false morels. Even as a very inexperienced mushroom hunter, I was confidently willing to give morel hunting a shot.

​Thus it was that an afternoon drive along the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway, a small portion of the 68-mile route through Central Oregon that along the way yields exceptional views of the majority of the mountains making up the Cascade range and providing outlets to many small natural lakes along the Cascades, turned into a morel hunt. We found only five, the largest one approximately one inch in length, and the smallest only a few centimeters. Hardly enough for a feast, but enough early activity to promise more morels to follow soon. I dropped a pin on the location in Apple Maps, dusted off my hands, and promised to come back more properly equipped.

 

We’d overlooked a few basics in our first, impromptu outing: a knife for separating the mushrooms from their stalks, bags to store the loot, hiking shoes, and bottles of water with which to rinse our hands and toes. The next week my friend and I made sure to pack these items first, nestled next to our picnic lunch. Then we headed along the Scenic Byway again, eyes peeled for other hunting spots while also trained on the growing thunderclouds above. Raindrops raced us down the road.

​It started with a few pitter-patters on the windshield. As we neared where we approximated we’d been before (lacking cell phone service, and thus also the GPS pin I’d saved), heavy rain obscured the road ahead. We missed our turn, just like the first time, backed up, turned around, and pulled onto the service road off the byway. The burned pines, stripped of their needles and greenery, offered no overhead protection. Even as I reached into the backseat, pulled on my rain jacket, and tightened my shoelaces, hail begin to hit, plinking down the windshield and tapping merrily on the roof of the car. ​

​The windows slowly fogged as we waited, eyeing the storm, eyeing the slow-moving clouds, eyeing the ground as the black soil slowly vanished beneath a layer of bright, white pebbles. If there had been morels out there before, there was little chance we’d be able to spot them now, even if we had been brave enough to venture out into the hail. Mother Nature had her own opinions of our morel-picking.

​“Are we trespassing here?” I had asked aloud when first we stopped at the burn site. I (naively, perhaps) assumed that, with the forest service-marked trails and scenic highway around us, this land was open to public use. There were no signs telling us otherwise. The only signage, in fact, were the trees all around us, each one marked as property, to be sold, auctioned off. Smudged white signs tacked into dead trunks advertised all the available trees, to be chopped up and used for who-knows-what—campfire fodder, perhaps? Building supplies?

One tree was singled out as property of the forest, not to be touched. Once upon a time an animal had roosted, nested, or otherwise inhabited the tall, scraggly pine. Another faded sign was tacked into its bark—complete with caricatures of a raccoon, bear, and woodpecker saying, in bubble letters, “This is our home!” It didn’t look like anyone was home that day. The tree could have been long-abandoned, passed over for a more prosperous piece of real estate, one yet untouched by humans. But here the tree would stand, as all around it its neighbors would fall under axe and blade and saw. This tree alone would stand in the forest until pinecones that dropped and burst yielded new, thin, wobbly, green sprouts. Decades more would pass before what was now burned and bare and desolate would again thrive with green and fir and branch.

​Staring up at the blue sky between broken, blackened limbs, I couldn’t help but wonder: What made these morels ours? Who granted us permission not only to use the land, but also to take from it? It was simple, wasn’t it? We’d just gotten there first.

The post A Landscape of Ash and Dust: Morel Hunting in Central Oregon appeared first on Paleo Magazine.



source https://paleomagonline.com/a-landscape-of-ash-and-dust-morel-hunting-in-central-oregon/

Jerk Shrimp With Warm Cabbage Slaw

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of recipes for jerk shrimp – so you know that it has got to...

The post Jerk Shrimp With Warm Cabbage Slaw appeared first on Paleo Leap | Paleo diet Recipes & Tips.



source https://paleoleap.com/jerk-shrimp-warm-cabbage-slaw/

Sunday 1 July 2018