beginnings

We are so terribly muddled. Pulled every which way by food system producers, pharmaceutical companies, FDA Incompetence, Dieticiens, Holistic Health Practitioners, Ayervedic Gurus, Vegans, Freegans, Veggies, Carnivores, Omnivores...where does it end?  The steady stream of contrary information is enough to give a healthy person metabolic syndrome. 

There is no map, no clarity, no rationale, no theory to follow. What should we be eating? Some terrific work has been done on the subject, by Michael Pollan, the slow food people, and my fellow brooklynites who prophetically call us to the table for some grub

I have spent the last few years crawling, inch by inch toward some basic principles:

1. Get down to the ground. Victus Terra means literally: Food of the Earth. The food chain that was handed to us before the industrialization of food was the culmination of millions of years of development. Since the Neolithic Revolutions our minds and bodies have changed dramatically. Our populations have exploded, our bodies have grown, our minds have expanded into ever more abstract environments; science, mathematics, philosophy, music, visual art, political organization, all are products of the Neolithic Revolutions. The return to the diverse and healthy diets of our most recent ancestors is a necessity, particularly as our improved hygiene, a problem throughout the history of human diets, has become a less pressing concern. There are some who still adhere to the old ways: fresh farmed fruits and vegetables; pastured and grass fed Steer; naturally raised livestock; un-pastuerized dairy.  The return to these foods provides a full and balanced diet that is free of supplements, processed ingredients,  and industrial tinkering.  Additionally we can take an ethical high ground in terms of local farming, sustainability, and animal mistreatment. The problem with eating this way is obvious: the cost is high.  Many will state that the cost is prohibitively high, but as with anything else in this massive marketplace, it is all about choices.

2. Cook EVERYTHING! Steam, Sauté bake, roast...whatever, just cook your food. I won't get too far into it now, but the Raw Food diet scares me a bit. Many people associate the benefits they discover on the Raw Diet with the Diet itself. They contrast their relative gains in health with their previous unhealthy processed diet. But it is the abandonment of the processed foods that is allowing for better health, NOT the raw diet. (more on this later).

3. Eat Oysters. Raw. O, the beauty of contradictions. More on this later also.

4. Possibly the most imoportant: when you eat, Eat. Sit down, breath for a good 30 seconds before eating. Eat slowly. Chew, alot. Savor. Other then the air we breath, food is our fundemental source of life. The number and amount of nutrients we take in is directly related to our peace of mind while eating. Give your body the calm and deliberate state it needs to properly digest.

that's all for now...be well.