Guess what? The Dietary Guidelines are a joke

so says Adele H. Hite, M.A.T.(Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA), Richard David Feinman, Ph.D.(Department of Cell Biology, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York, USA), Gabriel E. Guzman, Ph.D.(Science Department, Triton College, River Grove, Illinois, USA), Morton Satin, M.Sc.(Salt Institute, Alexandria, Virginia, USA), Pamela A. Schoenfeld, R.D.(Department of Foods and Nutrition, College of Saint Elizabeth, Morristown, New Jersey, USA), Richard J. Wood, Ph.D.(Exercise Science and Sport Studies Department, Springfield College, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA) who published the following paper in the journal Nutrition:

In the face of contradictory evidence: Report of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans Committee

Concerns that were raised with the first dietary recommendations 30 y ago have yet to be adequately addressed. The initial Dietary Goals for Americans (1977) proposed increases in carbohydrate intake and decreases in fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and salt consumption that are carried further in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) Report. Important aspects of these recommendations remain unproven, yet a dietary shift in this direction has already taken place even as overweight/obesity and diabetes have increased. Although appealing to an evidence-based methodology, the DGAC Report demonstrates several critical weaknesses, including use of an incomplete body of relevant science; inaccurately representing, interpreting, or summarizing the literature; and drawing conclusions and/or making recommendations that do not reflect the limitations or controversies in the science. An objective assessment of evidence in the DGAC Report does not suggest a conclusive proscription against low-carbohydrate diets. The DGAC Report does not provide sufficient evidence to conclude that increases in whole grain and fiber and decreases in dietary saturated fat, salt, and animal protein will lead to positive health outcomes. Lack of supporting evidence limits the value of the proposed recommendations as guidance for consumers or as the basis for public health policy. It is time to reexamine how US dietary guidelines are created and ask whether the current process is still appropriate for our needs.

The paper continues with:

The DGAC Report had the opportunity to review and evaluate the emerging science, to distinguish between established principles and ideas that are still areas of research or controversy, and to provide clear, consistent information for Americans. Instead, the 2010 DGAC Report continues to make one-size-fits-all recommendations that are based on evidence that is weak, fragmented, and even contradictory in nature.

In other words the DGAC screwed the pooch and filled the Dietary Guidelines with bad science (if you could even call what was written as "science"). In the Nutrition article, the authors take the DGAC to task like when the DGAC complains that Americans aren’t following the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, which of course call for consuming less fat and more carbohydrates:

Average daily calories from meat, eggs, and nuts have increased by about 20 cal since 1970 as average daily calories from flour and cereal products have increased by nearly 10 times that amount (p. D1-10). In short, the macronutrient content of the diet has shifted in the direction recommended since the 1977 dietary goals.

Total and saturated fat intakes have decreased as a percentage of calories for men, the absolute amount has decreased whereas carbohydrate intake has increased. Notable from the DGAC Report is the absence of any concern that this shift in macronutrient content may be a factor in the increase in overweight /obesity and chronic disease; the proposed recommendations suggest that this trend should not only continue but also become more pronounced.

Towards the end of the paper, the authors present a little history:

It is of interest to consider the opinion of the American Medical Association (AMA) with respect to the first implementation of dietary guidelines. In an editorial, it was stated:

“We believe that it would be inappropriate at this time to adopt proposed national dietary goals as set forth in the Report on Dietary Goals for the United States. The evidence for assuming that benefits to be derived from the adoption of such universal dietary goals as set forth in the Report is not conclusive and there is potential for harmful effects from a radical long-term dietary change as would occur through adoption of the proposed national goals.”

In the three decades since, carbohydrate consumption has increased; overall fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol consumption have decreased to near or below targeted levels; caloric intake remains within recommended levels; and leisure-time physical activity has increased slightly (pp. D1-1, D3-10, B2-3). At the same time, scientific evidence in favor of these recommendations remains inconclusive, and we must consider the possibility that the “potential for harmful effects” has in fact been realized.

In other words, what the public is being told about food and their diet is complete bull and those in power would rather to continue to try and shove BS down our throats instead of saying "You know what, we done goofed up for the past 30 years. Here's what the science is actually showing." I have a sneaking suspicion this is due to the high number of special interests,lobbyists, and subsidies *cough*corn*cough*

Paleo/Primal Bacon Peach Recipes

With the summer bounty of peaches nearly over with, as well as it being National Peach Month, I've thought about some peach-related recipes that are delicious and can be eaten by Paleos and Primals with ease.

First up: a Peach Salad w/ Bacon, Walnuts, and Gorgonzola

Thoughts on renewing my wedding vows

My wife wants to do a big, elaborate thing for out 10th anniversary, i.e. she wants to renew our vows. I’m cool with this. I mean, we didn’t have a great big wedding to begin with… actually, we didn’t even have a small wedding. It was my wife and I, standing in a roadside gazebo (which was overlooking a very awesome little town by the name of Eureka Springs). We loved it, at least until my wife’s aunt got married with a large, comparatively, ceremony which got my wife a bit jealous. I have a sneaking suspicion she really wants to outdo that, which wouldn’t be very hard, not by just a little but by a lot. And not to be all “Look at us, we did it even bigger and better!”, but just because it is a thing that name girls dream about as theygrow up and my wife has become much more “girly”, in a feminine sense, over the past few years.Case in point, her favorite color is now pink. And not just any pink, but a darker hot pink. She even asked me to buy her high-heel shoes the other day, though they were still the mary jane style, but still! This is not the woman that I fell in love with and married, she has changed from being tomboyish and uncaring, to being girly and wanting to look pretty (dont get me wrong, I am NOT complaining!).

While in her mind, pretty flowers, everyone all dressed nice, and being outside on a beautiful piece of land is her idea of an awesome ceremony, I’m thinking a bit differently. See, I would love to do a theme ceremony: preferably superhero, supervillian, steampunk, or a mixed theme of pure, unadulterated awesome-ness! Further proving my point on how awesome she is, she would love it too! Although, her fears of how our respective families might think of such an idea cause her to say it would be cool in theory, but in application it is more of an “why dont you help me pick out some nice floral arrangements and lace” sort of thing.

Paleo Ice Cream, Lactose-Free

So I've tried the banana ice cream method and it rather failed for me, and I am rather non-picky when it comes to cold treats.

My wife then tried to make ice cream in our old-style ice cream maker with coconut milk for me, since I am lactose intolerant. Didn't work. In fact, the coconut milk caused it to freeze up around the sides way too fast, forcing us to try to make it set up in the freezer. Turned out to be more like ice, without the cream. I ate it, because I wasn't going to waste it, but I wouldn't ask my wife to make it again. Also, no one else would even touch the stuff.

I've tried the ice cream from the stores that are lactose-free, but it seems my body cannot be fooled, so there goes that option (as does using the lactose-free pills).

Strangely, while just a nibble of lactose will send me to hell for the next few hours, I can eat butter from the stick all day long, safely. Well, beyond the fact that the taste would cause me to upchuck rather early on.

Luckily, I hit upon the following recipe that I tried and even my wife thought was the same consistency and flavor as ice cream, just not quite sweet enough for her while I thought it was perfect.

What is your gaming (player/GM) style?

Due to other threads on different gaming forums, I have been curious about this: What is your play/GM style?

For myself…its hard to say. I started roleplaying with free form V:tM so I have a special place for that in my heart, and I believe that it still influences my playing/GMing style today. In that game, interaction was between character and character, between character and public NPC’s (public in that anyone could control said NPC), and much less common, between character and owned NPC (such as bodyguards and whatnot). Because of this, I tend to thrive in games where NPC’s are just a small aspect of the game.

The next aspect of gaming I had was that of Palladium Fantasy, my first foray into gaming at a tabletop instead of over the internet. I loved it and as such, fantasy gaming is my favorite by far. This game also cemented my idea of NPC’s being of little importance, with the exception of perhaps one or two NPC’s that are part of the characters group.

So in regards to NPC’s, I feel they should either be part of the group or should fade into black the moment they are no longer being spoken to and whatnot (this is not to mean that said shopkeeper is not alerting the authorities or whomever that you are in town after taking your money, but that should be done inside the GM’s head).

The PF game also gave me something that I really liked: Specifics. I like specifics being there in games that I play and run. I find it refreshing to know not only that my character can summon a fireball out of thin air and throw it at someone, but also know how hot said fireball is in real-world terms and what it can and cannot burn through. However, due to that game and others that I have played over the years, I really hate it when the specifics get in the way of having fun and taking time away from the game.

For example, if the GM says that the fireball burns through a certain substance, for me that is all that I need to know, that the GM said it does. I could care less if the rules state that this is impossible, maybe that section of the wall is weakened or a difference substance altogether made to look like it was something else. So when someone begins to argue the point, that’s the moment the game immersion ends for me, which I really hate.

I guess this means that I gravitate towards crunchy systems that is very rules light when actually in use (probably why I like Tri-Stat dX and Savage Worlds: Explorers Edition so well).

I am not big on romance in games that I play/GM, unless it is between my wife and I, in which case I feel it is rather insignificant to the story and game.

As far as purpose of a game, a grand scheme of things, I can go either way. I am fine with tv show-like game sessions where each week is something new to take care of. I am also fine with having a need to save the world. I am not into political games, precisely because they cause NPC’s to become rather invasive and in-your-face, which is not where I want them. To me, the game is about the characters and their interaction with each other.

Why some people want a game with other players but prefer to interact with NPC’s instead of doing what they want, which is obviously playing a game that consists of just themselves and the GM (1-1 type of gaming), is beyond my comprehension (not to say that that type of gaming cannot be fun, I have done this in the past and have had a great time, but if you are joining a group, then the game is about the group, not your character and some NPC).

I like long, epic storylines but I feel that I am not very good at implementing them as a GM. I tend to play characters who are rogues/thieves/scoundrels who think outside of the box and would prefer to come up with a unique and off-the-wall approach to solving any problem than to take the easier route, so my riddles and plot-lines tend to be about the same. Meaning my players often have a hard time figuring it out, so I downplay it and… well, I get bored (course, I’ve not done something like that since I ran a game with a crunchy system for combat and resolution, so I think I could do better now).

tl:dr

I like to play/GM games that are a chrunchy in character creation and have real-world examples, but want the system to be nearly invisible during gameplay. NPC’s should know their place: Either be part of the group (only 1 or 2, max) or interact only when interacted with. Players should play as part of the group, not desire one-on-one time with the GM all the time. Games should be full of political intrigue. I am very much so a “Why yes, you can do that.” as a GM, but I also like skill/stat checks when appropriate.

So, what about you? What is your style of playing/GMing?

The Future of Food

Excellent documentary that I hope everyone watches. It scares me to be in the dark about genetically modified foods, in regards to if I am consuming them or not. It is also terribly frightening to know that our food supply is controlled by businesses, not farmers. I fear that this will be the cause of our Apocalypse: Not Zombies or Robot Overlords, but Food Control.

The Future of Food Free Documentary from Deborah Koons Garcia on Vimeo.

THE FUTURE OF FOOD is a feature length documentary that offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled grocery store shelves for the past decade

Game Night with my Kids: Wushu Actual Play

My kids have been begging me to run  one of the roleplaying games that their mother and I play, and after they did their chores and homework, we sat down to make some characters for the setting of their choice. They chose the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender for the setting, loving the idea of being able to control the elements and i chose Wushu for the system. I am been interested in Wushu for the past year or so, but have yet to find a game or players to test it out on. Lucky for me, my kids would be willing to even suffer through the hours long combats that the Palladium system enjoys (that last bit was sarcasm, if you didn't notice).

Going with the basic 5/4/3 for attributes a 1 weakness, here is the cast of characters:

Game Review for Spycraft 2.0

My game review from RPG.net:

Spycraft 2.0. I was asked by one of the players in my gamimg group if I would purchase and check this game out due to his desire to possibly run a game with it in a few weeks and felt that there were a few aspects of its rules that I would like. So I did what any good friend would do, I purchased it on that recommendation alone. When the .pdf download was finally finished, and I opened it up, I was shocked to see the amount of pages that this game had: 497. I was not excepting this game to be so large, I was expecting something with a hundred or so pages to get through the rules and setting stuff. Mind you, I had never even heard of Spycraft before this point and still did not know what type of system it would use. I’m a good friend, what can I say?

Farmer's Market and Card-Readers

We have a very small Farmer's Market in our little town every Friday, which consisted of only 6-7 stalls. At least, there are only that many when I show up, which is first thing in the morning due to when my job lets out. I am sure that there are more as the day progresses. This morning I only had a few bucks on me and picked up 2 dozen eggs for $1.50 a dozen. Can't beat that price for farm-fresh, organic, free-range eggs. The strawberries that the woman was selling, $1.50 a pint for quarter-sized berries, looked wonderful, but I had not the cash on me and it made me stop and think.

How many sales do people like these lose on a daily/weekly/monthly basis due to not having enough cash on hand or check with them?

Game Review for Gunslingers and Gamblers

Yet another RPG.net review that I posted there, and I have to say, i love this game. Especially for any sort of game in the western genre.

Appearance

When you purchase this game, you receive a normal copy of the book with the background on each page which is very evocative of the paper that is used for Wanted posters that you see in Westerns and can even purchase. It works for the game and helps to keep you in the mindset that this is a western game. It also doesn't increase load times from the second copy of the book that you get, which has no background. While I like the mindset that the colored background gives, I much prefer the print version. Not only is it easier to print it, but the black text on a white background is much more crisp and easier to read than black text on a colored background.

Carbing it Up

I was told by another Paleo-er (which, we really need a better term to call one another now that I think about it. Unfortunately, since this lifestyle is still a bit too niche, it might actually do us a disservice though) that:

eating a crapload of carbs (complex) and low fat low pro... every 10 daya or so. Keeps your leptin up.

Now, I have been eating Paleo for the past 4 and a half months, with the only cheating I have done being small, very small, amounts. Even when cheating, I never do it enough in one day to even get down to the 80/20 principle that Mark from MarksDailyApple.com suggests for his followers and readers.

What is leptin? According to wikipedia, leptin is:

Leptin (Greek leptos meaning thin) is a 16 kDa protein hormone that plays a key role in regulating energy intake and energy expenditure, including appetite and metabolism. 

and:

The absence of a leptin (or its receptor) leads to uncontrolled food intake and resulting obesity. Several studies have shown that fasting or following a very-low-calorie diet (VLCD) lowers leptin levels.

Two Paleo/Primal Recipes

I took the both of these from the Fitness magazine, July/August issue from 2009 and modified them to make them more Paleo friendly. Basically because the food porn pictures looked very good. Also due to my wife getting a bit tired of meat lately, so I felt that I could try to spice things up in the kitchen instead of the usual burgers and other grilled meat that I am perfectly okay with eating daily. Especially the berry-mango salsa in the second recipe, I am very interested in trying that.

Game Review for Tri-Stat dX

After writing this review for RPG.net, my wife and I got to talking yesterday in the car. We determined that Tri-Stat dX would not be used with as near of frequency as it is online for our game group if we had a real-life game group. The reasons for this are two fold: Online, Tri-Stat dX brings combats to a quick end making it the system of choice and yet, Tri-Stat dX would more than likely read and play a bit blandly when sitting around a table. There is just not enough going on in Tri-Stat dX too keep up the mental facilities I feel that games like Savage Worlds, Gunslingers and Gamblers, Apocalypse Prevention, Inc, Alpha Omega, and Spirit of the Century bring with them. That is not to say that i would not run or play Tri-Stat dX around a table, but that is why I gave it a 4/4/ score at RPG.net.

On to the review...

Wild Strawberries

One of the benefits to living in the woods is that every once in awhile, we get the opportunity for some authentic hunter-gatherer action!

This is a strawberry.  It is very tiny.  How tiny is it?

This tiny.  Here, it is pictured beside a farm-grown strawberry, purchased from a conventional supermarket.

Here's a closer look at the differences.

I think they're quite lovely, the way nature intended.  Though they get munched down by exploring children far too fast to do anything with!  But that's alright with me.

Next month we should have wild black raspberries.

Verdilak's take on their flavor:

Flavor of the Wild Strawberry: Not sweet at all, but gloriously tart. Not sour enough to make your tongue curl even a slight bit, but a great tarty flavor. If they could get this flavor in the domestic ones, I would become extremely happy.

Flavor of the Domestic Strawberry: Sweeter than the wild strawberry, but when tried one after the other, it is very evident that the Domestic is more filling due to its size but has very little flavor other than the sweetness. The Wild variety is bursting with flavor.

Update of the Feta-Stuffed Celery

Made the Feta-Stuffed Celery today as per the recipe for my kids. My youngest did not want anything to do with them but the other two loved the flavors and ate a few stalks each. My wife decided that they were decent and filling, but not her favorite thing ever. Then again, she isn't all that much of a fan of feta when  it is not in a salad.

Anyways, pictures are now up on the original post since my wife was kind enough to showcase us with her l33t photography skills.

Game Review for Alpha Omega

Another review I posted to RPG.net and I gave it a 5 for Style and a 4 for Substance due to a few things that were missing. However, it is an excellent game that I cannot wait to play again.

Disclaimer: While I received the pdf and print copy for free, it was not for me to review them, it was due to a give-a-way that was going on in the rpg.net forums around a year ago.

Bad News about Climate Change

But great news to us Paleo and Primalers!

The concept of ocean acidification is pretty bad, what with its causing harm to shelled organisms. This was going to hurt the shellfish industry.

But it turns out that the amount of protein in plants goes down with increasing atmospheric CO2 ppm. This is because the plants cannot assimilate nitrates as easily (which is our main way of fertilizing, btw). This loss of protein slows plant growth and reduces nutrition content.

Carbon Dioxide Enrichment Inhibits Nitrate Assimilation in Wheat and Arabidopsis

The concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere may double by the end of the 21st century. The response of higher plants to a carbon dioxide doubling often includes a decline in their nitrogen status, but the reasons for this decline have been uncertain. We used five independent methods with wheat and Arabidopsis to show that atmospheric carbon dioxide enrichment inhibited the assimilation of nitrate into organic nitrogen compounds. This inhibition may be largely responsible for carbon dioxide acclimation, the decrease in photosynthesis and growth of plants conducting C3 carbon fixation after long exposures (days to years) to carbon dioxide enrichment. These results suggest that the relative availability of soil ammonium and nitrate to most plants will become increasingly important in determining their productivity as well as their quality as food.

They used ppm's predicted for ~2100 to show this, but also saw harmful effects on crop growth using ppm's similar to what we're going to see in the next 40 years, even assuming some progress on limiting CO2 growth.

This also means that higher CO2 means poison ivy becomes more virulent.

Bacon Fruit Cups

These are perfect for buffets, picnics, and other single-serving, no-utensils eating extravaganzas.

Feta-Stuffed Celery

My wife and kids seem to get tired of meat as a large part of every meal, so I am looking for items that I can make for them that does not have meat, like the following Primal recipe:

6 stalks of celery
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup chopped almonds, toasted
1/4 t. dried dill

Rather simple, clean the celery and cut off the ends as normal. Mix all of the above ingredients with each other, though only use half the almonds. Fill the celery with the mixture and top it with the remaining almonds, sprinkled lightly. Cut into 4 inch pieces and serve.

While this will not be edible by myself due to the fact that dairy and I are incompatable, my wife and kids love dairy and this would make a quick and easy snack for them.

Should have 4g carbs and 3g protein per serving, which is perfect for those of us who are eating this way.

The Art of Smoking... food that is

The modern method of smoking foods evolved from its roots as a process for preserving. Long before refrigeration and chemical preservatives, smoke was used to extend the shelf life of most foods, especially meat. Wood smoke contains many of the chemicals (formaldehyde and acetic acid, among others) that slow the growth of microbes. In addition, the pH level of smoke is a very low 2.5, which is extremely friendly to microbes.

Today, smoking has become much more than an age-old technique for preserving, tenderizing, and adding flavor to food. Smoking has become an institution to festivals, clubs, organizations and above all, competitions. People are smoking cheeses, fruits, nuts, vegetables, salts, and anything else they can get their hands on.

This post, however, is about smoking meats. C'mon, its a Paleo blog, did you expect nothing less?

Meat to Use

The great things about civilization

John Durant from Hunter-Gatherer.com posited the following question to other paleobloggers and I thought I would join in:

Here's the question. If you had to live as part of an actual hunter-gatherer tribe 10,000 to 40,000 years ago, what would you miss the most about the modern world? Culture and technology are likely to be popular answers, so get more specific. If you say music, tell us what bands. If you say the technology, tell us why UNIX stirs your soul. Make it personal. Try to find things that if given the choice between a perfectly healthy hunter-gatherer lifestyle without what you love about modernity and a "healthy" modern lifestyle based on the conventional wisdom, you'd choose modernity.

This question actually is something that I have been thinking about quite a bit over the past few months. When I read about the Hadza in a National Geographic magazine and how they live, it really sparked something within myself and is more than likely a large reason as to why I switched to a Paleo lifestyle so readily. While I think it would do me a world of good to actually live off the land as they do, I also have quite a few hesitations about it.

Game Review for Apocalypse Prevention, Inc.

I originally posted this review to RPG.net, but felt the need to re-post it over here due to quality of this game and the number of sourcebooks that are coming out, on schedule. Unfortunately, since this review was written, I have yet to have been able to play or run a game using this system and setting. I hope to rectify this in the near future. However, what I said in this review still stands.

The cover touts the game as "An Action, Horror RPG... with a twist of Humor", and it gives some humor already in just the Disclaimer, though it is slightly lacking in the rest of the book. Starting off, there is summary of the setting, the mood of the game, playable races, and of the system that is used. I rather like a page full of short and sweet summaries of what the book is planning on giving you.

Water and Dehydration

When I first decided to go Paleo, one thing was topmost in my mind: What am I to drink? I lived off of green tea of the Arizona brand, I drank copious amounts of the cranberry flavoured Sierra Mist, and the best drink in the world for me was Canada Dry Ginger Ale. But, they all contained one form of sugar or another, and depending on the different brands they might contain more than one type of sugar.

I tried regular teas but I'm not one to drink green tea or english tea. I do like herbal teas, but as of yet I have not made myself any due to my preference for sugar in one form or another to make said teas palatable.

Friariello Barese Pepper Snacks

A delicious snack, Pimientos de Padrón is a Spanish dish of fried peppers with sea salt. Most of the peppers are sweet, but occasionally you come across a hot one. However, Padrón peppers are not all that easy to find in the States, so for this, use Friariello Barese peppers especially since they are all sweet and you never get one that is very hot.

In Search Of A Game

I wrote the following for a college writing class. Names have been changed to ensure their safety, but the events described are very much so true no matter how many times I have wished the opposite.

PaleoChat

If anyone doesn't know, every Wednesday, a bunch of Paleo/Primalers get on twitter and, while using the hashtag #primalchat, they attempt to have a conversation about whatever crosses their minds. It works, well, it works as much as twitter allows.

So after another person (FlyNavyWife) commented about how twitter sucks for chat, I set up a little primalchat at the link below. Who knows, if enough people use it, other sites might put it up as well, especially Mark from MarksDailyApple.

So go ahead, use it, abuse it, see what you think about it, and don't hesitate to give me a piece of your mind about it.

PaleoChat

My 4 Month Update on Paleo

What have I learned/found out about myself since going Paleo back in January? First off, I have found that eating Paleo suits me perfectly. Too perfect, in fact. From my understanding, the adage to "Eat only when you are hungry" is an important one in going about the Paleo lifestyle. Hell, even the youngest child with a slim understanding of cavemen knows that cavemen probably went without food regularly due to hunting issues. Which means that I lived by it.

I ate only when I was hungry... which was mostly 24 hours to 36 hours between meals. Between you and me, I could have even gone longer but it felt weird not to be eating at least once a day, even though I was wanting to work up to not eating for at least 4 days due to many Native American "manhood' fasting practices. Did you notice I said "was"? Good job, gold star for you.

Coconut Flour Banana Pancakes

Confession: our kids are still cereal junkies.  We buy the 'good' stuff: whole grains, no corn syrup.  But let's be honest: it's all sugar.  However, there is one breakfast food i can manage to get them to eat, and that i can make completely healthy with no added sugar or grains--Pancakes!

2 bananas, mashed
7 eggs
3 tsp coconut oil, melted
1 tsp vanilla
6 Tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon

Mix all the ingredients, and fry each large spoonful in about 1 tsp coconut oil or butter over medium heat.  If you don't like the dark color, a different oil would probably fix that.

Ban on Sunny-Side Up?

I love my eggs, as anyone could guess with my previous post on them. But my favorite way to eat them is with a runny yolk. I've even been trying to find the perfect time needed to hard boil their whites while leaving their yolks still runny in the center. So far, success has not been achieved.

On the way home from work in the mornings, there are two restaurants that serve breakfasts at 7am and I decided that since it was Saturday and due to hunger, I would stop in for some eggs and bacon. First place I went to was full of vehicles all around the parking lot as well as boats. I live near a lake and we have fishing tournaments every weekend, or so it seems. Walked in, got a glass of water, asked how they cooked their eggs (with butter or vegetable oil, I of course chose the butter) and orders 3 eggs, sunny-side up and a side of bacon.

Imagine my surprise when the waitress told me that due to new food-saftey regulations, she couldn't serve me eggs that were sunny-side up.

Eggs

Image via Wikipedia

From the Hobbit:

Riddle: A box without hinges, key, or lid,
Yet golden treasure inside is hid.

Answer: An egg.

Most of us who have chosen to live our lives under the banner of "Paleo" consume eggs. And why not? Eggs have been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird eggs (including chicken and turkey eggs) consist of a protective eggshell, albumen (egg white), and vitellus (egg yolk), contained within various thin membranes. Every part of an egg is edible,although the eggshell is generally discarded. Roe and caviar are edible eggs produced by fish, but this post is about eggs from birds.

The largest concern over eggs is how to tell if they are fresh or not.

Assuming the eggs have been bought when they were very fresh, they will last 30-40 days in a refrigerator. The best way to tell if an egg is still fresh, meaning edible, is to crack it open. Very fresh eggs tend to have a loose, light yolk and a clear white. The thick, whitish strings that attach the yolk to the white, called the chalazae, will be very prominent in a fresh egg. As the egg ages, the chalazae will slacken, the yolk gets darker and tougher, and the white becomes dingy. Even then, these eggs are still safe to use. A rotten egg, however, is immediately recognizable, as the smell is powerfully offensive.

Muffins!

After much disappointment, i have finally had success with coconut flour in baked goods!  They're not only grain-free, but sugar-free as well, and edible to everyone in the house.  That's the trifecta of impressive around here.

1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
12 eggs
12 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
2 bananas, mashed
3/4 tsp vanilla
2 packages blueberries

Preheat oven to 375 and mix ingredients (it doesn't hurt to let it sit for a few minutes to give the coconut time to soak up some of the liquid.  Bake 20-25 minutes (makes 2 dozen).

That seems like a lot of oil and eggs, i know, but it works.

Photographic evidence!

We Watched FatHead

About the Film

Have you seen the news stories about the obesity epidemic? Did you see Super Size Me? Then guess what? … You’ve been fed a load of bologna.



Comedian (and former health writer) Tom Naughton replies to the blame-McDonald’s crowd by losing weight on a fat-laden fast-food diet while demonstrating that nearly everything we’ve been told about obesity and healthy eating is wrong. Along with some delicious parody of Super Size Me, Naughton serves up plenty of no-bologna facts that will stun most viewers, such as: The obesity “epidemic” has been wildly exaggerated by the CDC. People the government classifies as “overweight” have longer lifespans than people classified as “normal weight.” Having low cholesterol is unhealthy. Lowfat diets can lead to depression and type II diabetes. Saturated fat doesn’t cause heart disease — but sugars, starches and processed vegetable oils do.

This movie should be required watching for everyone out there. That is all that there is really to say about it. Okay, I suppose I could talk some more...

Eating Out at Golden Corral Might be Paleo/Primal Friendly, but is not Worth It

This morning, my family decided to go out to eat for breakfast. I have no shame in admitting that this was more than likely due to the bacon my wife cooked the night before, the smell of which still filled the house. Buffet-style bacon, heaping, piled high made my wife and I salivate at the thought. It did not go so well.

The Breakfast

We chose Golden Corral, since their meat selections for dinner are pretty good and in the past, their breakfasts have been equally good. But that was before we went Paleo/Primal and, more importantly, before we became meat snobs.

You Can't Trust Restaurants

Restaurant Foods Contain More Calories Than Restaurants Claim! | Homeschool-Articles.com: Articles by Homeschoolers for Homeschoolers:

"You can’t trust everything you read, especially if it is a nutrition label! In a disheartening study from the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers found that many dietetic frozen food entrees had many more calories than their nutrition labels claimed; on average, the frozen foods, including items from Weight Watchers, Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, and South Beach, contained 8% more calories than their boxes suggested. They also found many discrepancies between the number of calories in food items at many popular chain restaurants and the number of calories these restaurants claim their food contains. On average, restaurant foods contained 18% more calories than listed."

If you can't trust restaurants about the calories that are in their foods, how can we who eat Paleo/Primal trust them when they say their food is gluten-free or sugar-free?

Education is Missing in the Lunchroom

What follows is an essay I wrote my my English 106 class:


There is no question that schools, public or private, are in place to educate children. For twelve long years, children learn facts about nearly every facet of their lives from history to geography, mathematics to biology, sex to reading and writing comprehension. Children have ample opportunities to become inspired intellectually and artistically. While education is at the core of every school, there is one place where education is sorely absent: The lunchroom.

Can Round-Robin-style of GMing Work?

I proposed the following game idea to my gaming group today:

I think it would be fun for a "round robin" sort of styled game, where each person makes a character.. and a villian. We roll a dice to see who plays the villian, i.e. GM's it, at the end of each "episode". As each villian is jailed or killed, a new one is made, and after some time in game, the jailed ones get thrown back into the mix to see if any breaks out and so on. I think the characters would be a mix of Batman-esque up to Iron Man-esque to fight said villians.

Of course, if someone has a really good plot and they want to run it because it would fit with the end of the previous plot, no need to roll. This way there isn't just one GM, and so that the villians are ran differently.

I would say the swap happened when the villian got carted off to jail or died, and that any background notes, like what various seedy underbelly elements were up to should be handed over to the next gm

So, any thoughts?

Somewhat immediately, one of the members in our group became worried about what would happen if there was a disagreement with how some of the more subjective elements present in nearly every game system. There was a rather long debate over this, with myself believing that while "shit happens", we were all adults and could get past such problems. His contention was that if one player disliked a general consensus to a rule, he/she might try to against the general consensus when his/her turn came up to GM.

While I agree that this could present a problem, I believe that if the GM at that moment can not stand the fact that he is helping everyone play a game, instead of that everyone is just acting as placeholders in HIS story, then he shouldn't be playing.

So I wonder, how many people out there have been involved in a round-robin-style of GMing and how did it work out for you?

Are Ham and Genoa Salami Paleo?

I asked the following on the forums at Marks Daily Apple and did not get many responses, none that could confirm one way or the other, so I am bringing it here to see if anyone out there in blogland has a clue.

Grilling for Flavor

Grilling meat is rather easy. You fire up the grill and lay the meat over it, letting it cook until it is as done as you want it to be. But how do you make that meat taste better?

Some people use rubs, some use marinades, I just sprinkle a mixture of spices while I am cooking it... but that is not the way to get great flavor out of your meat. There are two rules for getting the most flavor out of your meat, and they both take place after your meat has been cooked.

First Rule of Grilling for Flavor

Tired of Meat?

It may be Primal blasphemy, but i get tired of meat quite easily.  Before going Primal, it wasn't uncommon for my family to eat an average of only 3 standard servings of meat per week.  That's quite a difference from what we're doing now, and i'm still getting used to the change.  One thing that helps: produce, of course.  I might go a little overboard on the carbs for a person that's trying to lose as much weight as i am, but it keeps me sane and away from nonsense items like crackers (which, for some reason, is what i've been craving lately).  And today?  My night-working caveman 'gathered' some fruits and veggies on the way home from work, so today i had plenty of the things i've been wanting.

Today's lunch was Fruit Salad (red and green grapes, strawberries, apples, and oranges), bacon-wrapped pork loin, fresh broccoli, and mushrooms and green onions sauteed in butter and a splash of oyster sauce and soy sauce.

Food, Inc. Is Being Streamed, For Free

Food, Inc. is a movie that lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that's been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, insecticide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli — the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.


Currently, it is being streamed FOR FREE at PBS until April 29th (http://www.pbs.org/pov/foodinc/photo_gallery_watch.php). Go watch it and tell me that it doesn't make you desire for a change in your life.


EDIT:

I've just finished watching this documentary and straight away, I purchased it. There are tremendous lies that we are being told, billions of dollars are being spent to keep us misinformed with misinformation. I cannot stress this enough: The country that I live in today is not the country that I was raised to believe it was.

Food, Inc. reminds us that in spite of the terrible things that these food companies are doing to their customers, products (the actual animals and vegetation), and the environment, the blame for this state of affairs is due to the people buying it. So buy local meats and vegetables and fruits and stop buying mass-marketed foods. Stop eating corn derivatives like High Fructose Corn Syrup. Show some concern for the other people, animals, and environment out there. Everyone likes to think that they cannot do something. That they are just one single person and their voice doesn't mean anything. Food, Inc. shows that this is not true by just looking at how Wal-Mart has stopped selling milk with growth hormone due to the amount of money their customers were spending. They sell organics due to customer desire and do you really know what this means? It means that there is a little bit less of the horrors we have allowed the food industry become.

Please, if you do nothing else between today and the 29th of April, watch Food, Inc. for free through the link provided above. The more people who watch this documentary means that the more people can realize that every time they spend their money of crap, they are voting for the company who makes that crap to make more of it... and every time they spend their money on wholesome items like locally grown produce and meats and organics, that it tells those companies who make crap to make less of it and invest in better food because the people prefer it. I know that my lifestyle, eating Paleo, may seem odd to many people (even though the science is all there as well as a great deal of common sense), what this documentary shows affects us all. I'm begging you, share the link with friends and family, print this page and hang it around the office, copy and share the link around the internet. Because if we will not save ourselves... who will?

Vegetables and Fruits Do Not Protect Against Cancer

We have been told by the authorities, repeatedly, that eating plenty of fruits and vegetables will lower our risk of cancer. However, a recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition states that this is not necessarily the case:

"Conclusions: Intake of fruit and vegetables was generally unrelated to total cancer incidence in this cohort. Residual confounding by smoking is a likely explanation for the observed inverse association with vegetable intake among men."

This study reveals a very modest association between high intake of fruits and vegetables and reduced risk of cancer. Of course, due to the fact the research was based upon the daily food reporting of the people involved in the study, there can be a great amount of error... although I tend to believe that the error would be more in line with falsifying a greater amount of vegetables and fruits eaten. People tend to say what they think others want to hear. 

What does this mean? According to the Cancer Research blog out of the UK, 

"If the study’s results are to be believed, the authors calculate that if everyone ate two more portions a day on average, then 2.6 per cent of cancers in men could be avoided, as could 2.3 per cent of cancers in women. In the UK, this equates to around 7,200 cases of cancer every year."

They also point out that even if fruits and vegetables do not help to reduce cancer rates by more than 2.6%, eating them means that you are not liable to eat foods that do harm your body like junk food and processed foods.


I agree with them whole-heartedly. Of course, I eat very little vegetables and even fewer fruits due to my desire to continue to get rid of my excess weight. That said, once I get to my desired weight, I do plan on adding more vegetables and fruits into my diet simple because I like their taste. Which is an oddity. During my years of living the SAD (Standard American Diet) I thoroughly disliked nearly all vegetables. But now that I have cut out all sugar, I can actually taste their true flavors and I am finding how much I enjoy them.


Which means that is makes complete sense for vegetables to be hated by the majority of the people since their diets are screwing with their taste buds.

Primal Bento

Bento is one hobby that i have all but given up due to our recent lifestyle change to Paleo/Primal eating.  It's not that i can't simply leave out the traditional rice dishes (and all the fun onigiri molds and toys i have collected to go along with them!), because i can, but more the general apathy that I often fall to in regards to food due to all the diet changes--i'll be honest, i resist change of any kind.  It makes me grouchy.  So, in a grand gesture of goodwill, i offer you the Primal Bento:

Wherein lies: summer sausage (read labels carefully to avoid additives), leftover grilled chicken, cheddar (this is what makes it non-Paleo), broccoli, cherry tomatoes, canned apricots (again, read labels carefully and avoid corn syrup), and raw almonds.

Grill Night!

It's my favorite night of the week.

Partly because i don't have to cook, but mostly...

Come on, seriously?  What's tastier than lots and lots of grilled MEAT!?

Cast Iron Cookware Information

The best thing to cook on is a grill in my opinion, regardless of if it uses propane or is able to use charcoal, wood, ect. Smokers are my second choice half the time and first choice the other part of the time. The taste you get from a well smoked piece of meat can not be beat. However, you can't bring your grill and smoker inside, so what are you going to do? There are some rather nice non-stick pans out there but those are not all that healthy as studies now show. The best solution? Use cast iron!

For most of us, cast iron is a mysterious metal, with the care and usage of it is nearly magical that only grandmothers understand. Do not let the skill of using cast iron die out and reclaim the ability to use it! The added flavor that the cast iron imparts makes dishes unbelievably good. To help everyone better understand how to use cast iron, I've provided an excellent guide below.

The following is from an article from Backwoods Home Magazine:

The Military May Be The Ones To Force School Lunch Change

School lunches called a national security threat - Diet and nutrition- msnbc.com:

"The school lunch bill, currently awaiting a Senate vote, would establish healthier options for all foods in schools, including vending machine items. The legislation would spend $4.5 billion more over 10 years for nutrition programs.

The Army is already doing its part to catch the problem earlier, working with high schoolers and interested recruits to lose weight before they are eligible for service, says U.S. Army Recruiting Command's Mark Howell. He added that he had to lose 10 pounds himself before he joined the military.

'This is the future of our Army we are looking at when we talk about these 17- to 24-year-olds,' Howell said. 'The sad thing is a lot of them want to join but can't.'"

Though I might have problems with the way the military is being run, I feel that the military's involvement in our school lunches and health might be the only way for them to see improvement.

Fried Ham and Veggies

Tonight's dinner was ham (fried in coconut oil), carrots, and zucchini (both fried on coconut oil, soy sauce, and rice wine vinegar), with fresh strawberries.  It's simple, but that's pretty much how we roll.

My Wife, the Contributing Author

My wife and I both noticed that I rarely write about what I eat and pondered it. We came to the same conclusion: I eat once a day, and when I do, it is usually just leftovers of what my wife had made earlier for herself and the kids or it is some type of meat that I have grilled. My wife asked if she could add content to the Retrospective Caveman blog, like the lunch she made today for herself and the kids consisting of ham from the bone fried to bacon-like consistency and taste. I readily agreed.

So expect to see posts by either myself or my wife from now on!

Are Flowers Paleo?

My children actually brought me to this question. Ever since they learned that some flowers could be eaten, they ask about every flower that they come across it seems. Would not our ancestors have done the same thing? I was curious to understand why those of us who are living a Paleo and Primal lifestyle get into the macro and micro nutrients of nearly everything they eat, but flowers are never brought up. Perhaps it is because flowers are seen as non-edible by most.


For example, everyone should know that dandelion leaves are edible, I mean, they have salads with dandelion leaves for sale in Wal-Mart. But did you realize that the roots and flowers are edible as well? I especially like the tea produced by roasting the roots, but the leaves and flowers have that distinct pungent flavor as do the ilk of healthy vegetables like collards, spinach, chards, etc. If you think about calcium and phosphor when eating the dandelion, you'll understand why it has the flavor it does. You are tasting health. The dandelion has, in addition to fiber, the following particularly good concentration of:

The End of West End Games (WEG) Is Nigh

Eric Gibson, the owner and writer for West End Games (WEG), is selling TORG according to an interview given to the Wild Die blog. Accordingly, TORG is still in the process of being sold and not even Mr. Gibson knows what the new owners of TORG plan on doing with it. What makes me really happy about this is that he is giving Bill Coffin back the rights to his Sci-Fi/Space-Opera d6 game, Septimus.

Also, he is going to give to the gaming community Open D6. As he stated in this forum post at the WEG Fansite, he wants to make changes to the OGL that allows the community to make use of the D6 system text copyrights, as well as the Open D6 trademark.

According to what he said in the interview, WEG will be closed when all the properties have been sold off.

I really have no love for Eric Gibson due to the way he mangled WEG and the d6 system... but I am glad that he is finally washing his hands free of it. And while I have nothing but love for Bill Coffin's work with Palladium (even though I have some SERIOUS issues with the owner and other personnel at Palladium Books, as well as their fanbase), as well as having less respect for the man due to some of the more recent things that he has said and done, I am happy for him that he is able to get back the rights to Septimus. The poor guy was screwed over by Kevin Siembieda and then he was screwed over by Eric Gibson just as he decided to get back into RPG writing after nursing the wounds Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books gave him.

Paleo/Primal Ice Cream w/o the Cream

While I am not one to eat bananas due to their high fructose content and that I am looking to loose weight, this does look very good and a great way to eat a Paleo- and Primal-friendly treat. Especially since my wife's recent journey into a Paleo-friendly ice cream utilizing coconut milk and almond milk did not turn out so well; It froze too quickly along the sides of the ice cream maker, meaning we just froze it, turning it into more of a shaved-ice sort of thing rather than a creamy sort of thing. Still good, but nothing that would make you think of ice cream.

Step-by-Step Instructions for One-Ingredient Ice Cream | Apartment Therapy The Kitchn:

"That mystery ingredient, of course, is banana! The smidgen of fat in bananas makes a magic trick when they are frozen and blended up. They turn creamy instead of crumbly, with a smooth texture any home ice cream chef would love to have in their frozen treats.

The major tips can be summed up as:

• Peel your bananas first.

• Cut them into small pieces.

• Freeze for just 1-2 hours on a plate.

• Blend, blend, blend - scraping down the bowl when they stick.

• Enjoy the magic moment when they turn into ice cream!"

Primal Hell for Eaters in San Fransisco on Mondays

Meatless Monday Reports:

This past week, the city by the bay raised the bar in both arenas by becoming the first Meatless Monday city! The resolution passed by San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors ensures that residents will gain greater access to healthy, meatless options while learning about the connection between what they eat and their health.
The resolution to make Mondays meatless was introduced by supervisor Sophie Maxwell, who hopes that residents will use this opportunity to make nutritious, sustainable choices. San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors agreed that Meatless Monday is a smart way to start the week, passing the resolution unanimously! According to ABC news, Maxwell’s Meatless Monday declaration will “encourage restaurants, schools and grocery stores to offer plant-based options”.

So what does this mean? For one, it means that San Fransisco is pandering to the vegetarians and are not listening to all the new research and studies proving how healthy meat is for you. For another, it means that those Primals and Paleos that are living in San Fransisco are not going to be dining out on Mondays.

Chili's Restaurant is NOT Primal, Part 2

Last night i went to work still feeling like I need to puke more than anything else in the world, and of course, attempting to do just that did absolutely nothing. Stomach bloating, intense cramps, headache... and worst of all i started to get a sore throat. Now, whenever I get a sore throat 99% of the time it is strep. This means that the moment I start to feel twinge of soreness in my throat, I start to worry and freak even though I knew, mentally, that this soreness was due to the hazardous waste that I ate at Chili's. 

When I got home from work, I fried up some ham and eggs in coconut oil, hoping the healthy food would help to alleviate my problems. No such luck. So, with my throat in pain and me feeling like I needed to puke every time I stood up, I had to miss my father-in-law's birthday party.

Needless to say, I am done with eating out. The convenience just isn't worth it.

Chili's Restaurant is NOT Primal

With the kids at their grandparents for the night, my wife and I decided to go out for dinner and watch the movie "Kick Ass". Now, I have to mention how sexy my wife was looking tonight. Its not often that she dresses up for me, but she really went all out for me. I had a hard time keeping my hands off of her, which she really enjoyed. Anyways, we stopped at the book store and picked up a few titles that looked great, when we began to get hungry. Our kids have been wanting to try Chili's for the longest time and this seemed like the perfect moment to go and see how the food compared with other restaurants especially since we were without the kids. 

Meat is Transcendent

My wife wanted meat today. Badly. How bad? She actually went to the store and purchased chicken and beef, which is always relegated to a job that is for me only since I know what to buy. Regardless of my wife's lack of understanding of meat, she picked up the right stuff and I commenced to grilling.

First up was the carrots, of which we had more than 5lbs of and we ate through 2lbs at least.

Paleo Carrots

Watching Your Children the Paleo Way

One clear and present problem in society is the way kids are not being allowed to be, well, kids. While that may conjuure up ideas of an argument about schools, this problem stems from parents, and their desire to keep their kids away from harm. Most of us have fond memories of spending time away from our parents and spending that time doing things that we wanted, such as running through the woods, swimming in a creek without supervision, playing with pocketknives and fire, riding a bicycle without a hemet or protective pads on. A parent's worry is understandable, but living dangerously and obtaining scars are a child's lifeblood. They have a physical need to test their own boundaries, even if it means that they need a first aid kit at times. This simple fact can be simply proven by the way children still have need of band-aids even with worried and terrified parents watching over them like a hawk.

Sugar is Causing a Dental "Epidemic"

The BBC reports:

"More than half of the 1,000 dental operations carried out each year are on children under the age of six.
Dental surgeon Sharon Lee said she sees a constant stream of toddlers: "It obviously upsets me immensely but we do have a job to do to look after the child."
Five-year-old Kaitlyn was one of them.

Tooth decay meant that she needed to have eight molars removed - almost half her teeth.

"It could have been sweet drinks, sweets, biscuits, anything. Just too much sugar in the diet," said dental surgeon Dr Rod Llewelyn of her rotting teeth.

Her mother, Sharon, said the culprits were her daughter's love of sweets and tomato sauce. The little girl was at one point eating half a mug of tomato sauce a day.
But after the traumatic experience of seeing her daughter undergo the extractions, Sharon vowed to ban the ketchup entirely and cut back on the sweets served to her three children."

Now, it seems that these dental surgeons understand what constitutes sugar, such as tomato sauces and biscuits, as well as the items conventionally seen as full of sugar like soda and candy. So why are we not stepping up to ban these items as well? Schools have gotten rid of the soda machines and snack machines due to the health concerns over the sugar in the items the machines sell, but then why are these kids being served sweetened milk in the lunch line along with tomato sauces, breads, pizzas, pastas, corn, and potatoes? These items contain sugar as well, but due to lack of education the public has on these things, "What do you mean my bread is sugar?", they are considered acceptable.

It is great to see doctors, even those who deal with teeth, talk about what foods contain sugars, but the lack of education that people have astounds me.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/erix/ / CC BY 2.0

Yesterday was a Day of Fun and Cheats

We determined that two movies we all wanted to see, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Avatar, were playing at a nearby cinema for only $1 a ticket. Since for us, "nearby cinema" actually means an hour away, we decided to make a day of it and this would mean we would need to eat out at least once. Lonestar is our restaurant of choice due to the fact that Tuesdays kids eat free, we have three of them, and their menu is rather Paleo (Me) and Primal (Wife) friendly. However, the kids and my wife were all begging for Chinese and since the Chinese restaurant has a Mongolian BBQ setup, meaning I pick my meats and veggies and they cook what I want, I agreed.

Nuggets of Wisdom on my Paleo Lifestyle

Here are just some of the things I said as I was talking to my friends about eating Paleo/Primal and living that type of lifestyle. It struck a chord in me as to how much I have changed in the past three months so I thought I would share.

"What to eat: Meat, seafood, eggs, vegetables, salad, fruit (but not too much), nuts, seeds.

What not to eat:  Bread, rice, pasta, potato, cereal, wheat, dairy, beans, any processed food, sugar.

The Fat Question: Fat is healthy – even saturated fat. The one type of fat to avoid is vegetable fat. This means margarine, vegetable cooking oils and processed foods that contain vegetable oil. In addition, whilst eating the fat from free-range animals is healthy, eating animal fats from industrially farmed animals is not as healthy. Avoid the latter if you can."

"My hunger has gotten to where I rarely get hungry more than once a day actually... must be all that stomach fat keeping my body working, lol."

"I just cook meat, I am on 20 grams of carbs or less, and eat the the small amount of veggies raw... often I eat zero carbs per day, lol. The kids say they love that they get meat every meal, that they would rather have meat than rice or pasta or anything else."

"I wasnt a veggie fan, but after no sugar, veggies started to taste good. Romain lettuce can sometimes be sweeter than a rather unsweet grape."

Diabetic Cookbook from 1917, almost purely Primal

Found this very interesting book written in 1917: "Diabetic Cookery; Recipes and Menus" by Rebecca W Oppenheimer, a very primal like diet from 90-odd years ago. What the hell happened to us? Why have we screwed up our nutrition so poorly? I mean, I know what happened. Industry happened, excess of corn syrup happened, bad science happened, and worst of all, people became sheep. It is irritating to see hoe blinded we have become to our own bodies and the results that we can see taking place in other people, as well as the lack of results. This makes me think of William Banting and if you don't know who that is, see below.

William Banting's Letter on Corpulence, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Banting

"In 1863, Banting wrote a booklet called Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the Public which contained the particular plan for the diet he followed. It was written in the form of an open letter in the form of a personal testimonial. Banting accounted all of his unsuccessful fasts, diets, spa and exercise regimes in his past, then described the dietary change which finally had worked for him, following the advice of a physician. His own diet was four meals per day, consisting of meat, greens, fruits, and dry wine. The emphasis was on avoiding sugar, saccharine matter, starch, beer, milk and butter."

Here is the full text from "Letter on Corpulence" written 1869. He even charts his weight loss. It's pretty cool. Especially because we have known how to be healthy. It seems that the public opinion is that when a new study comes out, the older studies become null and void. This is not the case, only BAD studies and those that were fabricated and revealed only part of the truth should be null and void, regardless of how old or new they are.

Remember, "Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food." - Hippocrates, the father of medicine.

Trainer tells what he has learned about health and fitness:

I found this online around a month ago and thought I would share it, mainly because it is useful, informative, I agree with most of it, and he asked for readers to share it if it was useful.


FitnessSpotlight.com wrote:

"Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in 2008. Part of our “Best of the past” series time to time will include reviewing and updating some of our top old posts for everyone to re-read (or read for the first time in many cases). Enjoy!

I was riding my mountain bike yesterday and all of the sudden it just came to me. I just started thinking about how many things I’ve learned through my own personal working out (since I was a kid and playing competitive sports) as well as being a trainer (since 1998). So today I just wanted to share some of the things this 36yr old has personally learned about all things health and fitness….in no certain order….

Researchers shed light on ancient Assyrian tablets

I have a HUGE interest in History, Anthropology, and Archaeology, so expect for me to blog about interesting finds such as this. New Cuneiform tablets have been found that contact a largely intact treaty Assyrian treaty dating to the 7th century BC. I personally love it when new tablets are found mainly due to how much light they shed on history.

Researchers shed light on ancient Assyrian tablets:

"Researchers Shed Light on Ancient Assyrian Tablets
ScienceDaily (Apr. 10, 2010) — A cache of cuneiform tablets unearthed by a team led by a University of Toronto archaeologist has been found to contain a largely intact Assyrian treaty from the early 7th century BCE.

'The tablet is quite spectacular. It records a treaty -- or covenant -- between Esarhaddon, King of the Assyrian Empire and a secondary ruler who acknowledged Assyrian power. The treaty was confirmed in 672 BCE at elaborate ceremonies held in the Assyrian royal city of Nimrud (ancient Kalhu). In the text, the ruler vows to recognize the authority of Esarhaddon's successor, his son Ashurbanipal,' said Timothy Harrison, professor of near eastern archaeology in the Department of Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations and director of U of T's Tayinat Archaeological Project (TAP)."

If you are interested about this sort of thing as I am, there is a fair bit about the correspondence found in the Al-Amarna cache in History of the Ancient Near East. Marriages, recognition of other states as equals, extradition agreements. It is very cool and makes me sad that I am changing my degree from a BA/Masters in History/Anthropology to an AAS in Web Design.