Friday, March 13, 2009

Choosing an Intelligent Diet...

Breakfast: More greens today; I'd forgotten about my pristine carrot top greens, so I combined a cup of that with a few handfuls of organic baby spinach, a banana, a gala apple, 1 1/2 cup of frozen strawberries + blueberries, some cayenne, some cacao, lemon.

Lunch: Large salad with soaked sun-dried tomatoes, ripe tomatoes, avocado, olive oil.

100 g of cashews. A frozen strawberry dessert.

Did some more reading about the true benefits of eating predominantly raw. I think the evolving Ideal is to grow your own garden consisting of a variety of greens and vegetables and fruit trees, maybe raise some goats and chickens, have some good friends and you're set. From Choosing an Intelligent, Combined Raw Food/Cooked Food Diet:

"Optimal foraging" in the modern supermarket? Cooking proves to be useful for modern hunter-gatherers (and as we have said, would presumably also have been so for prehistoric hunter-gatherers once they had developed the level of acumen necessary to utilize fire) so as to enhance chances of survival. However, nowadays in the twentieth century, with all sorts of imported foods widely available, it may be that cooking loses its importance. On the other hand, the range of foods available in our supermarkets and health-food stores is implicitly intended to be sufficient for people using a stove, but might not be adequate for those who don't, since many of the tubers (i.e., potatoes) and vegetables (turnips, kale, etc.) are barely edible raw; and modern, highly bred fruits are excessively high in sugar compared to their wild counterparts.

So, raw-fooders end up with a diet which differs considerably from what they would be able to obtain under natural conditions (assuming this term has any meaning for humans that all could agree on). So even if "optimal foraging theory" doesn't apply anymore here, cooking and accepting a (very mild) natural toxin load (like solanine from potatoes) might help achieve a more balanced diet and the net result could be positive, as we shall see.

No "perfect" food or set of foods enabling avoidance of all toxins. While it certainly makes sense to limit the consumption of foods that are inedible raw--all other things being equal (an important condition, because sometimes they aren't)--the presence of natural toxins shouldn't be a deterrent, unless they are present in hazardous levels. There is no perfect food. One role of the liver is to eliminate the toxic constituents in order to be able to utilize food sources for nutrients even if they are accompanied by some level of antinutrients or toxins, and the nutrients would be difficult to come by otherwise.

a frozen smoothie a day keeps the surprise factor at bay

Idealism vs. real-world practicalities.

Some of the reasons why all-raw diets can be impractical to implement include:


Raw diets often lack nutritional variety under modern conditions because of the relatively narrow range of palatable (raw) foods available in today's supermarkets, which can lead to boredom and/or deficiencies. Despite the fact that modern supermarkets give us foods from all over the world, they are often insipid and tasteless varieties that stand shipping/storage well, but may be unappetizing or otherwise unattractive or inedible to someone as concerned about quality food as a raw-foodist.

Sacrifices in other important areas of one's life. One can attempt to avoid the problem of insipid supermarket produce by seeking out sources of tastier, higher-quality organic or farmers' market foods, or participating in CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture cooperatives), for example, where one works on the farm in exchange for a take of the food. However, these avenues take more time or money than some people have, and may also force one's life to become more centered around getting food than they would like, and create social isolation from others not "into" the same thing. (Others, of course, enjoy all this.)

Social isolation can be a particular problem if one insists on eating all-raw all the time: bringing your own food to parties, or declining invitations to restaurants or family get-togethers can have a negative impact on your social life.

Excessive mental preoccupation.



=)
I thought Focus was a good thing...

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