Chapter 24: The Philosophy of Food and Health

 

I have heard that humans excrete potassium and retain salt. Animals use salt licks and I can appreciate why our bodies retain salt (sodium chloride) because it is difficult to find in the wild, However, it has been suggested that because we ate fruit, and fruit is high in potassium, we excreted the excess potassium, but we evolved from the fringe of fruit eating monkeys that were forced to eat roots and vegetation and spend more time on the ground because they could not compete with the fruit-eaters. So, our ancestors were ready for life on the ground and, presumably retained the potassium excreting ability.

 

Fire has been used for cooking for 400,000 years and our teeth have become smaller as a consequence of less chewing etc. because cooking tenderised food, Intertwining another thread into this little derivation, how did our ancestors cook? It has been mentioned that hot rocks were used to heat water in skins, and each new heated rock from the fire, introduced some wood ash into the food, which contains potash (potassium compounds).

 

‘Earlier studies have shown that the dominant elements of wood ash are calcium, potassium, magnesium, silicon, manganese, aluminium, phosphorus, sulphur, iron, sodium and zinc.’ (Www.ScienceDirect.com, Ash properties of Pinus halepensis, S. Liodakis, G Katsigiannis, T Lymperopoulou)

 

Thus, it is conceivable that we excrete potassium because of our long association with cooking, also, mushrooms may have been a major food, see below, and they are rich in potassium. If our teeth have evolved to decrease in size, it is possible that we have evolved to excrete potassium, or reinstated the ability. From these attractors set 10,000 years ago, we have to translate in time to the present and compare today’s food.

 

Modern food is high in sodium because it enhances flavour cheaply, preserves, panders to our addiction for salt, is always available on the table etc. Taking it further, vegetables are cooked in water, into which the soluble vitamins and minerals etc pass, and the water is thrown away. Sodium is increased in the diet and potassium is decreased. Compare the hunter/gatherer, where the food, and water that it was cooked in, is eaten. Extra salts from the wood ash are inadvertently added, and that addition is a wide range of elements that are left when the volatile components are burnt off. Humans are the only animals that use fire and gain their minerals that way. Fire even promotes health, apart from warmth, protection etc. Truly a gift of the Gods!

 

But, I hear on TV that nutritional experts are telling us that dietary supplements are unnecessary and that plenty of fruit and vegetables will give a balanced and sufficient diet. Clearly, if the above, where wood ash is added, is likely, the statement ‘balanced and sufficient diet’ is clearly a half-truth, without the other deficiencies of modern vegetables and fruit, see below. Wood ash is a multi-mineral supplement for our ancestors!

 

So, what is the prediction? It is no use deriving the above if we don’t use it, and making a prediction sharpens the point and allows us to incorporate and simplify the organization of the mind. So, it is apparent that a proportion of the current population is going to suffer problems, and while there is much more to be fine-tuned, the above starts us on the trail of the ‘obesity epidemic’ of the developed world. But first, the change to farming 7000 years ago, affected the Natufians to the extent that their average height dropped 4 inches from that of the hunter/gatherers in the same region.

 

So, moving modern cooking back to the Paleolithic, the answer is apparent. Eat stews and take a multi-mineral supplement. But this is only one attractor! As previously outlined, a vast variety of food was consumed and our population tended to reside in multi-niches for insurance against food scarcity. The food was gathered daily as it would not ‘keep’ and we gained from the exercise that went with collecting it.

 

Even the ‘chop and three veg’ that was considered good food in the past is poor compared to the above, and the take-away lifestyle is laughable, when considered similarly. The thought struck me that the vast majority of people won’t change, but perhaps these ideas are necessary for those interested in restarting evolution and wanting to form a Forever Club, see later.

 

(2) Fruit and vegetables

 

Half-truths abound in the media, and half-truths are the marketers’ stock-in-trade, because they want to you buy their product. Marketers are interested in profits, not your health, and even fruit is not produced to help us, but to help the plant distribute its seed. The tomato plant is toxic, but its fruit is not, because the tomato plant wants its fruit to be eaten, and to this end, when the seed is ripe, the tomato turns from green to red to bring it to animals’ attention, and at the same time, it becomes palatable.

 

We are being manipulated by plants! The red tomato is offered as food and the aim is to have it eaten to spread the seed. The bait is the sugars that are to be found in the ripe fruits of most fruits . Nectar is offered to bees within the flower to spread the pollen in the same way. As we are being manipulated by the plant, the eating of fruit may not be in our best interest!

 

In fact, monkeys are successful in living on fruit and as indicated above, our ancestors were those that couldn’t compete with the fruit-eating monkeys and we were forced into the vegetables. Vegetables are that part of the plant that the plant does not want eaten and so the plant fills those parts with phytotoxins as a defence against being eaten. We use the phytotoxins in our own defence mechanisms, and many organisms accumulate toxins to make themselves unpalatable to predators.

 

So, this derivation indicates that we should eat vegetables and forgo fruit, especially as fruits and vegetables have been bred to be bigger, which means that the phytotoxins are reduced as the skin area to volume is reduced. This effect is probably lower in berries like blueberries, raspberries and Alpine strawberries, because they are less developed for the market. Ordinary strawberries are much larger than Alpine strawberries and, I believe, are highly sprayed during production. In fact, spraying food plants to inhibit insect damage, reduces the natural phytotoxins because they aren’t needed, and so are not produced!

 

Fruits in general, in my opinion, should be avoided, but there are other factors and a list of one author’s super-fruits is given, but the point is made that some of the fruits are listed because the seeds are eaten, and it is not in the plants interest to have its seeds eaten, unless they pass through the animal undamaged. If the seeds do pass through unscathed, they are rewarded with a dollop of fertilizer!

 

So, fruits such as Alpine strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, Godji, berries, figs, pomegranate etc could be valuable because of the seeds, but other fruits are part of traditional foods and these are the foods that we evolved with and we are likely to use their phytotoxins for our own use and include dates, plums, grapes, apricots, quinces, pears, apples, pomegranates, and the berries.

 

(3) Fruit of the forest.

 

‘The fungi and, in particular, the mushroom have components that can contribute to human wellness and mitigate threats and assaults that render the human body vulnerable to several life threatening diseases including cardiovascular ailments, cancer, metabolic disorders (diabesity) and neurodegenerative disorders. Mushrooms have been used as medicines by humans for 5000 years or more (Halpern, 2007). Mushrooms – an unexploited resource of numerous bioactive components including polysaccharides, terpenes, flavonoids, alkaloid, nucleotides, lipids, vitamins, protein, amino acid and minerals can have many beneficial effects on human systems (Wasser & Weis, 1999).’ (Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms for Sub-health Intervention and Prevention of Lifestyle Diseases, Vikineswary S. and Chang S. T.)

 

Mushrooms are a good source of food and by observation I have not seen them eaten by animals, presumably because many mushrooms are poisonous. In fact, I have read the comment of a specialist in the field of fungi that he would not eat a wild mushroom, but only when it was bought from a supermarket. Mushrooms were used by early man and that leads to the idea that the mind had to be based on a large enough brain to reliably distinguish the safe varieties.

 

Those people that made a mistake would have made a large number of people sick or dead by adding poisonous varieties to the cooking-pot, and thus there would have been pressure to grow the brain to take advantage of such a useful resource. Mushrooms are found throughout the year, are not eaten by animals, dry themselves easily, can be eaten raw, can be eaten at any stage, unlike fruit that has to ripen when the seed is mature, is found in rich valley soil, easily collected etc. In fact, so valuable was the mushroom that it had to derive toxins to keep animals away, and thus probably contributed to our brain development.

 

‘They have a high content of several vitamins particularly of Bs and D, minerals (potassium, phosphorus), and also a high content of some trace elements, especially of selenium which is regarded as an excellent antioxidant.’ (Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms) Notice that mushrooms may have been a significant food and high in potassium that we are able to excrete. Also, vitamin D was required so badly that our skin lightened and (possibly) hair became blonde to decrease absorption of sunlight. The darker skinned people tend to have black hair.

 

Further, mushrooms are high in selenium, and some books state that Brazil nuts are also high in selenium, but they are not found in Europe. So, looking at our blonde Europeans that need vitamin D to such an extent that they change appearance so drastically, we may be sure that mushrooms were highly sought after, especially as they dry so easily. In modern times cod-liver oil is used to prevent rickets in the north of Europe, and presumably mushrooms were used in ancient times.

 

Selenium is a trace element that was tested in recent times as a cancer preventative, and was so successful that the trial was stopped as it was thought unconscionable to deprive the control group of the benefits of selenium supplementation.

 

When I was a child, I had very light blonde hair and I have noticed this tendency to be white blonde in members of my family and have always wondered why Anglo children have much lighter coloured hair which darkens as they grow older. I have always rationalized this as looking ‘cute’ lessens their chance of being left behind! After all, kids can be a nuisance at times! But, in the light of the above, it is sensible that mid Europeans require large amounts of vitamin D for growing bones and they make less of it because their bodies are small and the skin area is small. This current theory of mine may be true or may be false, but it brings together more patterns that mesh together and that is what my brain has evolved to do.

 

(4) Foods that fight cancer.

 

The cancer epidemic, like many other so-called diseases needs a solution that can be put into our mind and remembered because it ‘fits’ and is so logical that is will never be forgotten. I believe that the body can prevent cancer, or at least prevent it becoming a threat to us. ‘Pathological studies have found microtumours that had never been clinically detected hidden in the tissues of an overwhelming number of people who died from causes other than cancer. In one study, 98% of individuals had small tumours present in the thyroid, 40 % had prostrate tumours and 33% had breast tumours; obviously, tumours in these organs are normally detected only in a far smaller percentage of the population’. (Foods that Fight Cancer, Preventing and treating cancer through diet, R. Beliveau & D. Gringras, p 57)

 

‘Most brightly coloured fruits are important sources of a class of molecules known as polyphenols. Over four thousand polyphenols have been identified; they are especially abundant in such substances as red wine and green tea, as well as plants such as grapes, apples, onions, wild berries. They are also found in several herbs and spices, as well as in vegetables and nuts.’ (p 69)

 

‘Many of the phytochemicals showing the highest levels of cancer prevention activity are present only in a few very specific foods (figure 20). The isoflavones in soybeans, the resveratrol present in grapes, the curcumin in turmeric spice, the isothiocyanates and indoles of broccoli, or the catechins in green tea are all anti-cancer molecules occurring naturally in a very select group of foods. In other words, if it is true, generally speaking, that fruits and vegetables are part and parcel of a well balanced diet, we must also take phytochemical content into account in the context of a diet designed to reduce the risk of cancer.’ (p 71)

 

The above paragraph outlines a number of concepts (or attractors) that need a prediction and it suggest to me that ‘the highest levels of cancer prevention activity are present only in a few very specific foods’ leads to eating a very wide selection of foods, and further, these foods should be spices, herbs, camellia leaves (tea) and probably a wide range of the leaves of common plants that could be brought into the herb category. In other words, what I call an ‘antioxidant mix’, is sprinkled (ground in a blender) on my food before serving, along with turmeric and pepper.

 

Further, ‘synergy is also often involved in indirect mechanisms. The foods that we eat on a daily basis, for example, contain a host of molecules without any anti-cancer activity per se, but which can nevertheless have a considerable impact on cancer prevention: by increasing the quantity (and thus the potential anti-cancer activity) of another anti-cancer molecule in the bloodstream, by slowing down its elimination, or by increasing its absorption (Figure 36). One of the best examples of this indirect synergy is the action of piperine, a molecule present in pepper. Piperine increases by a factor of one thousand the absorption of curcumin (Figure 38); this allows the amount of curcumin present in the body to achieve levels sufficient to modify the aggressive behaviour of cancerous cells. (p 202)

 

Cancer is a problem in our basic cellular structure and evolution has provided the solution, in my opinion, as indicated above. It is a compound problem, but there appear to be three basic ‘platforms’ holding it in check and these are firstly, the ability of the bacteria (now our cells) to repair DNA damage. that occurred in the harsh conditions of the reducing atmosphere before the ozone layer formed. Secondly, better control of apoptosis through food, where cell death is initiated by the body’s processes, and thirdly, certain foods stop the growth of tumours by denying blood vessel growth (anti-angiogenesis). Some books go as far as saying that cancer, heart ‘disease’ etc are preventable diseases.

 

 

(5) Cooking.

 

‘In 2006 nine volunteers with dangerously high blood pressure spent 12 days eating like apes in an experiment … Their diet included peppers, melons, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, grapes, dates, walnuts, bananas peaches, and so on – more than fifty kinds of fruits, vegetables and nuts. In the second week they ate some cooked oily fish, and one man sneaked some chocolate. The regime was called the Evo diet because it was supposed to represent the types of foods our bodies have evolved to eat. Chimpanzees or gorillas would have loved it and would have grown fat on a menu that was certainly of higher quality than they could find in the wild….. The aim of the volunteers was to improve their health and they succeeded. By the end of the experiment their cholesterol had fallen by almost a quarter and average blood pressure was down to normal. But while medical hopes were met, an extra result had not been anticipated. The volunteers lost a lot of weight – an average of 4.4 kg (9.7 pounds) each’ (Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human, Richard Wrangham, p 16)

 

This quotation warrants a few remarks, firstly, it is in line with my ideas of a wide ranging diet that is principally fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and a small amount of cheese and fish. Secondly, it cured the problem of high blood pressure, and blood pressure measures the elasticity of the arteries and that is a measure of the health of the body. The more elastic the arteries, the lower the blood pressure. Thirdly, the diet is ‘natural’ in that it was eaten by our ancestors, but is ‘artificial’ in that it comes from a wide variety of habitats that would not be accessible without modern commerce and transportation. Fourthly, it shows that excess weight is possibly a symptom of the way that we eat.

 

This book supports the idea that cooking was one of the principal reasons for the evolution of Homo Habilis to Modern Man by decreasing our digestive system, increasing our brain size, decreasing jaw and tooth size by softening our food through the process of cooking our food.

 

There is much more on this interesting subject that will have to wait till a later date, and this small amount was added to ‘flesh out’ the inter-connectedness of life.

 

(6) Added benefits from fibre.

 

The purpose of the digestive system is to break down the food into its chemical components and absorb them into the body. The lower parts of the gut contains bacteria that work on the fibre that we can’t digest.‘In the large intestine, the passage of the digesting food in the colon is a lot slower, taking from 12 to 50 hours until it is removed by defecation. The colon mainly serves as a site for the fermentation of digestible matter by the gut flora. The time taken varies considerably between individuals.’ (Wikipedia, Human digestive system, large intestine)

 

‘The essential function of fermentation is the regeneration of NAD+ for gylcolysis so ADP molecules can be phosphorylated to ATP. The benefit of fermentation is that it allows ATP production to continue in the absence of O2. Microorganisms that ferment can grow and colonize in an anaerobic environment. Microorganisms produce a variety of fermentation products. The products of fermentation of cells are waste products of the cells, but many are useful to humans.’ (Microbiology demystified, Tom Betsy and Jim Keogh, p 97)

 

The modern diet, with an emphasis on carbohydrates and meat and a down-playing of fibre causes the colon to forgo its purpose in evolution, which is to convert un-digestible products into absorbable and useful ones through the use of the gut flora. If the lower digestive system were not useful, or even necessary, we would not have evolved it because of the extra weight etc.

 

The colon evolved to process the by-products of food that we evolved to eat and is part of a chain of digestion. If we eat a ‘modern’ diet with low levels of fibre, the colon is not producing the energy or chemical products that we evolved to use and, presumably need to stay healthy. Another reason to use the diet found in the Palaeolithic diet described above.

 

 

(7) Arsenic and rice

 

“It is the diets that comprise of numerous sources of rice or rice based products, such as in macrobiotic, vegan, gluten and dairy intolerance regimens that the cumulative inorganic As exposure is likely to be highest and thereby of greatest concern.”

Dr. Andrew Meharg from the Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK and investigator in all 3 above mentioned studies graciously agreed to answer some questions about arsenic and rice.

Why does rice contain higher levels of inorganic arsenic than other cereal grains?

Rice is grown under flooded conditions that lead to high mobilization of soil arsenic into the plant.

What other foods are likely to contain inorganic arsenic?

Seafood has high arsenic, but the species present are organic, which have low toxicity, unlike inorganic arsenic found in rice.

Is there any data available on the threshold level of tolerance for inorganic arsenic? In other words, what amount of inorganic arsenic must be consumed on a daily basis long term in order to cause health problems?

At the low levels found in foodstuffs it is a chronic carcinogen – at higher doses it is an acute toxin.

Are there more arsenic poisonings reported in countries like China and Japan that presumably would have a higher per person rice intake than the general population in the U.S.?

This type of epidemiology takes decades to research, and the problem has just been identified – only detailed study will link food intake from arsenic to observed cancers. Based on US risk assessments, elevated cancers due to rice consumption should be observed.

Are there any steps that can be taken to reduce the inorganic arsenic levels in rice?

Yes. 1. Growing aerobic rice – cultivated under none-flooded conditions. 2. Source rice from low arsenic regions. 3. Breed rice for low arsenic. 4. High water to rice volumes and discarding the water during cooking moves a large portion of the inorganic arsenic.

What recommendations do you have for individuals with celiac disease who may consume a lot of rice and rice-based products?

Switch to using other grains if possible, or at least to not have such a strong dependence on rice products, and source rice from low arsenic regions

(www.glutenfreedietician.com)

 

The quotation above, suggests that modern convenience foods such as grains are marketed for usefulness and not necessarily for health, and this is in line with the comments about ‘improved’ varieties of fruit and vegetables, above. I believe that the Palaeolithic diet, with sensible modifications for our time is the best bet for the future.