John Durant: Early agriculturalists adapted to pathogens

John Durant's recently published book, The Paleo Manifesto, is excellent. Not a Paleo guide per se, but a wide-ranging look at the anthropology, history, and physiology underlining the Paleo approach to health. Transitioning from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to farming was hard on human health. Durant on how humankind adapted:

Whether or not early agriculturalists realized it, many ancient cultural practices were adaptations against pathogens. For example, spices have antimicrobial properties, which made them a healthy addition to food in an era before refrigeration. It is not a coincidence that equatorial ethnic cuisines are particularly spicy (food spoils faster in hot climates) and recipes for meat dishes tend to call for more spices than do vegetables dishes (meat spoils faster than plants). Water in early cities was often filthy, which helps explain the emergence of sterile alternatives such as wine (microbes can’t survive in alcohol) and hot tea (boiling kills microbes). Early people didn’t know that invisible bacteria were causing cavities, but many still ended up using “toothbrushes” – wooden chewing sticks containing a natural antiseptic or treated with one.

Broccoli combats radiation sickness

A compound in broccoli has been found to be effective in preventing death following radiation exposure in rats. According to LiveScience, the compound 3,3'-diindolylmethane (DIM) in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables shows “promise as a cancer-preventive agent, possibly because it boosts DNA repair.”

To determine the possible benefit of DIM in animals exposed to radiation, investigators “exposed 40 rats to a dose of gamma-ray radiation that would normally be deadly.” All the rats not given DIM following radiation exposure died while 60% of the rats given the broccoli compound were alive 30 days later. LiveScience observes: 

"If follow-up studies show the treatment works in humans, the compound could be given to people before or right after nuclear exposure to mitigate acute radiation sickness.”

Recycling: “a basic survival strategy”

Middle Paleolithic flint Levallois chip. Image Roulex_45.Recycling may be as old as humankind. At a recent conference on "The Origins of Recycling" Phys.Org interviewed several of the participants including archaeologist Avi Gopher of Tel Aviv University.

In a hominid cave near Tel Aviv, believed to have been variably occupied from 200,000 to 420,000 years ago, Gopher’s team “uncovered flint chips that had been reshaped into small blades to cut meat—a primitive form of cutlery.” Gopher noted:

“Some 10 percent of the tools found at the site were recycled in some way. It was not an occasional behavior; it was part of the way they did things, part of their way of life.” (emphasis added)

“…the early appearance of recycling highlights its role as a basic survival strategy.” (emphasis added)

Mainstream online media advocating the Paleo diet for oral health!?

Speaking with sharecare, Dr. Robin Miller remarked that processed sugars and flour have reduced the diversity of the bacteria in our mouths thus leading to cavity formation. When asked what she recommends, she answered:

“I think we need to go back to eating like our little cave men and women use to, and eat fruits and vegetables and seeds and nuts and berries and organic meats.”

Well said except for the “little” part. Our ancestors from the late Paleolithic were taller & stronger than us:

"... a Spanish Explorer named Álver Núñez Cabeza de Vaca spent nine years (1528-1537) living with Native American tribes in the moderday southern United Sates and northerm Mexico. He described the indigenous people as tall and healthy: "[F]rom a distance they look like giants. They are quite handsome, very lean, very strong and light-footed."

via The Paleo Manifesto

“I saw one!” Welker gasped, still struggling to recover his breath. “He was naked, with long hair. Broad shoulders. Strong. He ran across the bridge. Disappeared into the woods.”

The Arrow People: Catching a glimpse of Paleolithic man

Here's one approach to Paleo fitness. Enough said.

PubMed: Aerobic fitness improves academic performance in 4th to 8th grade students

"Aerobic fitness was a significant predictor of academic performance; weight status was not. Although decreasing BMI for an overweight or obese child undoubtedly improves overall health, results indicated all students benefit academically from being aerobically fit regardless of weight or free/reduced lunch status. Therefore, to improve academic performance, school systems should focus on the aerobic fitness of every student."

Evidence that aerobic fitness is more salient than weight status in predicting standardized math and reading outcomes in fourth- through eighth-grade students.

Quote: Nurture the Wild Child

"A week in the countryside is worth three months in a classroom."

George Monbiot
Rewild the Child

mmm...coffee: Denver's Paleo Café

I recently made my first visit to mmm...coffee, Denver's first Paleo Café. In a glass case were a number of cookies and treats. I asked the young woman behind the counter: "What's Paleo?" She said: "Everything. We make it all ourselves, even the chocolate." The mmm...coffee flyer tells more:

I picked up a couple of N-Oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies and two bags of Paleo granola; half of the order for a friend of mine that works at the hospital. Below is an image of the enticing granola. My two cookies were gone by the time I got home. Tempting and healthy!

Plant a Billion trees in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest

NASA and Miguelrangeljr

Described by the Nature Conservancy as “one of the world's most magnificent and endangered forests,” the Atlantic Forest in Brazil is in peril.

“Centuries ago, the Atlantic Forest covered nearly 330 million acres, an area roughly the size of the eastern seaboard of the United States. Today only 7 percent remains, much of which is in isolated fragments. Home to 130 million people, the Atlantic Forest has taken heavy hits from urban expansion, coastal and industrial development, agriculture, ranching and illegal logging. Despite the forest’s diminished state, 70 percent of Brazil’s population relies on it for its drinking water.”

Learn more about the Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion trees project to save this threatened global resource.

Geoengineering: Holding off Disaster

A new study published in Nature finds the globe will be enterring "unprecedented climates" within a few decades.  In an article in New Scientist, Michael Marshall writes on geoengineering as the means to avoid this fate: 

"THIS is how we will hold off disaster. To help us avoid dangerous climate change, we will need to create the largest industry in history: to suck greenhouse gases out of the air on a giant scale. For the first time, we can sketch out this future industry – known as geoengineering – and identify where it would operate."

Terraforming Earth: Geoengineering megaplan starts now

Western diets & Depression

In a previous post, I wrote about depression being considered an inflammatory and degenerative disorder. In a recent post on Primal Docs, Jen Knutson, MA, MS writes an opinion piece on depression and nutrition:

"It is clear that ingesting unhealthy and/or processed food and abstaining from nutrient dense quality food is correlated with higher depression rates and depressive symptoms. This is likely due to the innate connection between the body and the mind via biological issues, such as inflammation, oxidative processes, and brain plasticity and function, which are altered due to diet quality and nutrient intake. Being able to determine precisely which foods positively and negatively affect depression, and its various forms, has the potential to dramatically change both the number of people suffering from this illness and the way in which it is treated."

Learn More: 
Nutrient-Rich Food and Depression – Part 1 of 2

Related Post
Is depression an inflammatory & degenerative disorder?

"Unprecedented Climates"

I am sure there is good news somewhere, but this isn’t it. According to a new study in Nature, we are heading into “unprecedented climates.”

Regarding the findings of the study, John Roach of NBC News writes:

“The world is hurtling toward a stark future where the web of life unravels, human cultures are uprooted, and millions of species go extinct, according to a new study. This doomsday scenario isn't far off, either: It may start within a decade in parts of Indonesia, and begin playing out over most of the world — including cities across the United States — by mid-century.”

And, just in case the message has not sunk in:

“The authors warn that the time is now to prepare for a world where even the coldest of years will be warmer than the hottest years of the past century and a half.”

We will need drastic measures for drastic times.