Dedicated to the return of the superior health of our ancestors, by adopting traditional foods that nourished them throughout the ages, and disavowing the modern reliance on the "displacing foods of modern commerce."
11. See yourself as involved in and an integral part of a dynamic movement that is larger than you
Many great movements (good or bad) throughout the ages had leaders who were a little bit messianic in their approach, by which I mean they thought their (initially) little movement, even in the earliest days, possibly could change the world or effect it in some profoundly significant way. It is this kind of thinking and deep sense of purpose that attracts people to what you do and believe. It is this kind of thinking that can help give you a sure sense of stability and a laser beam focus in the war on good food. It is this kind of thinking that can help you get through those deep dark moments when you know you are right but you want to quit anyway (in terms of relating to those who are around you or even in your own personal nutritional lifestyle).
Freedom can stand or fall on issues large (wars, depressions, natural disasters) or small (a hundred thousand regulations that manage our daily life). Regulations on food labeling count among the small issues. It is a tricky issue for market advocates because bad labeling might actually count as breach of contract and thereby require legal intervention of some sort.
As Murray Rothbard writes, "if A sells B breakfast food, and it turns out to be straw, A has committed an illegal act of fraud by telling B he is selling him food, while actually selling straw. This is punishable… [by] the legal code of the free society that would prohibit all invasions of persons and property."
But by conceding that small point does not mean that regulators should be permitted to regiment all aspects of food production, which is where we are headed.
At issue is the theoretical presumption itself. Can market forces manage issues of food labeling or must regulators be involved? Many politicos on Capitol Hill are under the impression that food manufacturers are neglectfully poisoning the 6-11 million Americans who have food allergies by sneakily failing to point out on labels that the food contains deadly ingredients. So here we have the ultimate paranoid-socialist fantasy at work: business rakes in profits through fraud while people die!
In a piece over at Matt Stone's blog, a reader mentioned that while he was in Poland that some of the followers of Jan Kwasniewski's Optimal Diet were having problems "because the nutrient content of meat is not what it used to be."
Oh and there's another thing I wanted to share with you… When I was in Poland last time I visited some dietitians who work under Jan Kwasniewski's guidelines… and it wasn't too nice. They were elderly but all very obese and unhealthy looking and they told me his diet can a bit dangerous to follow, that some people they know got atherosclerosis after some years of eating this way, even though it's supposed to cure it. And that you need to take plenty of vitamin supplements with it even more so than with other diets "because the nutrient content of meat is not what it used to be". They also said they recommend eating more carbs than Jan K. says (as far as I could understand because their English wasn't great). It was a bit disturbing to be honest, I mean they really sounded so negative about the diet… even though it did cure one woman I met of rheumatoid arthritis, to be fair!
Matt also mentioned in response to one of his commenters that he thinks that people get into the nutritional holes they do because the food is lacking in quality from the outset. In this particular post (he also says it directly elsewhere) he does so by way of quoting Sir Robert McCarrison as to one way (but certainly not the only way) poor food quality can harm someone:
…in the absence of vitamins or in their inadequate supply, neither proteins nor fats nor carbohydrates nor [minerals] are properly utilized; some are largely wasted, while others yield products harmful to the organism.
Now McCarrison is not talking about supplements, but food itself. And the entire post from which I am quoting is in the context of fingering poor basal metabolism as being at the foundation of many health issues, which is a largely unrecognized problem among the modern health gurus of today. If you want to review Matt's solution to the issue you can read the rest of the post (or rather series of posts) titled Low Carb Rehab and The Carb Wars over at his corner in cyberspace.
Here at Nutrition and Physical Regeneration I want to tackle what I believe to be the root of the problem. Why isn't meat what it used to be? Why is the nutritional value of many if not most foods so low today? How can one fix their metabolism or tailor a diet that is specifically designed for their particular metabolism and not just based on overall generalities like "eat what we evolved on" or "eat what your ancestors ate" or the more specific but still too generic "metabolic typing"?
Research shows that over-50s who make regular visits to the gym, go for a long bike ride or enjoy a swim can regain the fitness they had in their thirties.
Tests on older women revealed that 12 weeks of exercise was enough to produce the rejuvenation.
Two studies by scientists at the University of California found that “postmenopausal women can achieve the same health benefits from regular, vigorous exercise as younger women”.
Professor George Brooks, an exercise physiologist, said: “There is some good news here for older women in the population, in that they respond much like younger women do to training.
“The women in our study had the cardiovascular and metabolic capabilities of women sixteen years younger.
It is tasty, delicious, and a delicacy with a long and ancient pedigree. If you have ever had it no doubt it provided you with some of your fondest gustatory memories. It is good for you. It also is one of the most vilified foods around, at least in the west. An up close and personal look.
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They are illegal (or nearly so) – a look at 10 foods people break or skirt the law to get on a regular basis.
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The final installment of Winning the War on Good Food – coming to an RSS feed near you.
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And a little further in the future…
Two practices many of Price's healthy groups indulged in (as well as groups studied by other well known researchers such as Stefansson) that while reported by field researchers are often ignored, denied, overlooked, or explained away by us "moderns". Why this modern day "blackout" can prevent you from reaching optimal health.
By the way, the application of what you will see in the video below applies not only to fruits and vegetables, but will also enhance the nutrient and dollar value of making your own herbal tinctures and coconut milk.
The bottom line: more nutrients and less money spent. Great for your health and great for your pocketbook.
[The introductory text below is the same as part 1, but the video is the second in the series. Note to my email subscribers: you may have to go to the website to see this video]
"You, sir, are a dangerous man" – The Queen of England's physician in a comment to Dr. Richard Schulze after one of his seminars challenging the medical establishment's way of doing things.
Diet and lifestyle changes can't always take care of everything. Sometimes we get sick beyond the ability of our body to heal itself with good food. Sometimes through our prior lifestyles the damage is sufficient enough that we need some outside help. Sometimes through the luck of the draw our genes and individual constitutions conspire in such a way that without the help of someone well versed in the healing arts, whatever their particular title, we just aren't going to reach optimal health no matter what kind of diet or lifestyle we adopt. And frankly, sometimes even the most motivated among us need a kick in the butt to get back on course.
To that end from time to time I will post information from those well versed in the healing arts both now and from the past. Sometimes they will be doctors with prestigious degrees from top of the line universities and other times they will be people who are autodidactic, i.e. self-taught. The common denominator amongst all these people however will not be their back-ground or training but rather their results. Did they actually heal people on the ground with consistent verifible results and can they communicate that information in an effective way to others? By the way I am not talking about run of the mill stuff, but "terminal" diseases that are often considered "incurable" – that is what this series on how to get well is all about.
The world is full of great researchers and highly credentialed folks but I hope to present to you people who are great clinicians. In the end, when your health or the health of a loved is at stake that is all that really matters. So without further adieu, the first up in this series – Dr. Richard Schulze.
Disclaimer: I don't necessarily agree with all the dietary advice offered by Dr. Schulze. Just keep in mind there is a difference between getting well and maintaining health after you have recovered from sickness or debilitating disease. There is no question that a vegan diet as part of a therapeutic course in healing can be one avenue to getting well. Once you are well it is, in my opinion, for most of us, a very different story.
Scurvy has been the great enemy of explorers. When Magellan sailed around the world four hundred years ago many of his crew died from it and most of the others were at times so weakened that they could barely handle the ships. When Scott's party of four went to the South Pole twenty three years ago their strength was sapped by scurvy; they were unable to maintain their travel schedule and died. Nor has scurvy been the nemesis of explorers only. Twenty years ago the British Army in the Near East was seriously handicapped, and last October an American doctor reported a hundred Ethiopian soldiers per day dying of scurvy. The disease worked havoc during the Alaska and Yukon gold rushes following 1896. Scores of miners died and hundred suffered.
Medical profession and laity equally believed for more than a hundred years that they knew exactly how to prevent and cure the disease, yet the method always failed on severe test.
Thomas Huxley once wrote the oft-quoted adage: "The great tragedy of Science — the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact."
Yet many a hypothesis is able to withstand the brutal onslaughts of countless ugly facts without budging. Why? From whence has come this ugly and monstrous creature — the immortal hypothesis?
Below is the story of one such hypothesis, the apparent widespread corruption of researchers who have upheld it, and the seeming complicity of Big Government in maintaining it.
The Amyloid Hypothesis
In Alzheimer's disease, there is a protein fragment called "beta-amyloid" that is found to aggregate into plaques in the brain. Beta-amyloid is actually an essential brain protein with positive effects, not in itself toxic.
But there persists a hypothesis that refuses to be slain by countless ugly facts: the amyloid hypothesis, which holds that the production and accumulation of this essential brain protein is the "cause" of Alzheimer's disease. I will spare you the scientific details, as it is beside the point, but for a thorough discussion, see my article, Myth: Cholesterol Causes Alzheimer's Disease.
My name is Michael Miles and I am the founder of Nutrition and Physical Regeneration. I am dedicated to the regeneration of health by pointing people back to the life giving traditional foods of their ancestors, both ancient and modern. I am a writer, research hound, voluntaryist, foodie, wine lover, beer snob, cigar aficionado, and fitness buff. Welcome to my corner of the web.
Body Temple Boot Camp
A jungle fitness factory in the beautiful hawaiian islands. Elite training and elite eating for the elite athlete within us all
Eat Wild
Finding grass fed food around the country
Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund
For Farmers and Consumers Defending the Right to Buy and Protecting the Right to Sell Nutritious Food Directly from the Farm
Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation
A non-profit educational resource providing access to modern scientific validation of ancestral wisdom on nutrition, agriculture, and health for 57 years
Ray Peat
This website currently reports on my research in aging, nutrition, and hormones.
The Schwarzbein Principle
Degenerative diseases of aging are not genetic but acquired. Because the systems of the human body are interconnected and because one imbalance creates another imbalance, poor eating and lifestyle habits, not genetics, are the cause of degenerative diseas
Wise Traditions
The Weston A. Price Foundation for Wise Traditions in Food, Farming, and the Healing Arts
My Other Blog
Disclaimer
The statements on this site have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Admini-stration. No writing, product, or service found on or linked to from this site is intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. I have a number of opinions covering many different areas but none of what I say or publish constitutes advice. The material presented on this site is meant for informa-tional and educational purposes only. It should not be relied upon to determine any course of treatment or medical diagnosis.
I am not a doctor. I am not certified to dispense any medical or health advice of any nature. My calling in life is not to tell people what to do. Seek out whatever guidance you need in your search for optimal health, but in the end always remember your health is in your own hands.
writes, "if A sells B breakfast food, and it turns out to be straw, A has committed an illegal act of fraud by telling B he is selling him food, while actually selling straw. This is punishable… [by] the legal code of the free society that would prohibit all invasions of persons and property."
as to one way (but certainly not the only way) poor food quality can harm someone:
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