DoingTheCaveman

Foraging in the kitchen

Although I returned from holiday without any diet damage I'm not doing March's progress this month.

Why?- because I've had a mini diet tumble this week. One large enough to make the scales an ominous no go zone.  I don't need them though, I *know* the damage has been done.  My clothes, which were wonderfully loose pre-holiday, in one week have tightened and my skin is inflamed and itchy.

Of course any binge has to have a trigger and this was no exception. 'The move'.  Yes I know, you thought that had happened months ago....

Well it's not on schedule and I'm preparing myself for disappointment regards my potential move to Devon. 

I'd left for hols having completed all the necessary paperwork and arrangements made for for the exchange to happen before my return.  But, what was in the letterbox on my return, yes a duplicate of the contract I'd previously signed.  Then to top it off I'm still feeling really rough - I've had the same continuous painful dry cough and can't even talk or sleep for persistent coughing.

The appearance of this contract and uncertainty has triggered a carb and salt hunt.   

The mission has been to get to all the things that are usually kept out of sight and mind.  Yes well generally things I shouldn't eat is hidden away and out of reach.  Acquiring them is purposely an expedition.

Picture this.  My apartment is Victorian and has 16 foot ceilings.  I have a hidy-hole cupboard knocked into the top of wall at the the far end of the kitchen work-surface, although you can't climb directly up without falling backwards because of the wall units.  So, anything I don't eat I like to keep of sight and hidden (by those nimbler than me) and so usually are safe from chubby fingers. 

But when you're determined and on a mission nothing's gonna stop you!

Anyway said expedition entails taking kitchen chair to the opposite end of 16 foot work space.  Here you can climb up without immediately confronting the wall units.  Remember to collect fish-slice or other long implement on route; climb on chair and then step up on to work-surface; on tiptoes balance along the edge of work-surface, using fingertips on the top of the panels for balance; sideways edge along stretch of work-surface; at half way point step across cooker; to avoid extractor lean backwards as you do so before continuing along the work-surface; take the fish-slice and insert under door of high cupboard that has no handle; prise open; stretch up and blindly rummage for goodies; once acquired grip bag of crisps between teeth and return via the same route; hanging onto the underside of cupboard, pray and *hopefully* step back onto chair and jump down. 

Mission accomplished.

 

 

With my character type being that of the half full bottle you could look at this (diet failure) another way - I am becoming more agile:)

Liquid gold

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I have *stuff* going on, it's not great so there's not much writing going on this week.  A little light relief after the weekend entry, and thank you to MS for taking the pic and for keeping up my replenishments of Argon oil, sometimes known as liquid gold 

For Argon I'd be up that tree too - this is my ultimate caveman diet treat.

BTW, I couldn't resist and had a sneaky mid month weigh in:  86.5 kilos/188 lb/13stone 6 lb.  So since my end of December weigh in that is a 6 lb loss. 

UK Snakes - Take care where you step when foraging!

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Adder and slow worm (slow worm's a lizzard).

I'm a little late getting these two guys up. The pics were taken in the summer, while they were sunning themselves in the few rare rays of sunshine we had this year. I thought they were quite pretty so I'd add them to the blog.  My parents house is on the edge of common land which is low land heath (of which apparently there's very little left in the UK these days). Anway you usually wouldn't usually see snakes here unless you know where to look, and I certainly wouldn't usually go looking for but was on a walk with my dad who's good at pointing out these things.  Anyway I'm sure the adder (zig zag stripe) is familiar to most reading this. It is venomous but not very and it wouldn't kill a healthy adult although my cat did become quite poorly after a bite (we do sometimes find them in the garden).

Almond Milk and Rugby

I've found that almond milk is definitely an acquired taste!  Well I did use some energy to make make my almond milk (despite the Kentucky) but have to say I don't like it very much.   Anyway, I don't even normally watch rugby but so high spirited has everyone been over the last week I'm going to go add some fruit to my almond milk, turn into a smoothie and enjoy alongside tonight's Rugby World Cup. 

A world without bees

Even the Caveman was able indulge in the occasional sweetness, and the main source I'm referring to is honey.  Being diabetic I'm avoiding this in my effort to retrain and reign in my sweet tooth, nevertheless when eating Paleolithic if trying to pacify a sweet craving honey can be enjoyed.  Personally I use honey regularly on my skin.  A few years ago my hairdresser mentioned that whenever she saw lads with raging red acne skin she had the urge to tell them to smother their faces in honey, it'd do wonders.  Well, since then anytime I take a bath a pot of honey accompanies me - it has a wonderful soothing and calming effect and settles any inflammation or spots and leaves your skin feeling wonderfully fresh, clean and soft.

The 'Man of Bicor' depicts early man as a honey gatherer and is believed to date back to the end of the Paleolithic period.

From the earliest days of mankind honey has not only been enjoyed as an edible treat but also a valuable commodity utilized for its medicinal properties, behind Cavemen the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. 

Honey has again become popular in modern medicine and there's been a return its use for the antimicrobial properties known to speed up the wound healing process.  Additionally bee sting therapy is also claimed to alleviate arthritis. Beekeepers are said by some to be the longest lived professionals and supposedly are less likely to suffer from arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.  This longevity is purported to be down to frequent stings and the consumption of propolis, honey, pollen and royal jelly.

Bees in the Environment:  Have you noticed less buzz in your gardens this year? Have you heard of Colony Collapse Disorder?  Yes, something relatively apocalyptic is happening within the bee world (and therefore to us).  Around the world the bees have been disappearing!

We take our bees for granted and many may have have a romantic notion of the local beekeeper gathering honey from two or three hives in his back garden.  Anyway, sorry to shatter any illusions but bees are 'Big Business', and although exact cause of the disappearing bees is a mystery man is the most likely culprit; by interfering with their natural lives and by farming bees on a massive scale the world's bees population is experiencing this crisis.

Over the last year or so beekeepers have been visiting their hives to discover that entire colonies have disappeared.  However, they're apparently not simply swarming on; any remaining bees found are sick or dead, and the rest of their colony has left and died away from the hive.  Spookily abandoned hives are not utilised by other insects or bees - a phenomenon unheard of in nature and sugesting something toxic actually luked within the colony itself.

Despite our love of their products we do little to assist the nature of bees to promote their health and well being.  In in the name of profit we industrially farm honey bees, and as a result of our manipulation cause stress and make bees susceptible to disease.

1. Honey isn't the only product we obtain from bees we also use them.  Bees are our pollinators and there's more money to be had from migratory pollination than there is from honey.  Where in some places crops are farmed in huge scales we require bees to pollinate crops so colonies are rented and transported for pollination.  However, transporting bees causes them stress and lowers their immune system.
2. As with us, bees have nutritional requirements to maintain good health. In nature bees would forage and eat pollen and honey, but because of the decline in natural foraging areas these needs are not being met and beekeepers inadvertently lower the bees immune systems by feeding them a junk food diet full with artificial supplements, protein, syrups, and not being their natural food this can affect their immune systems.
3. In nature bees ensure their genetic diversity by the swarming process; when the queens leave with a swarm and are replaced by a new queen.  However, again we play with this process and breeding better queens is again profitable. Therefore queens are often killed and replaced and occasionally the Queens wings are clipped to prevent swarming.
4. Over the last couple of years bees have been badly affected by varroa, a mite that depresses the bees immunity making them vulnerable to viral illness.  Hives that have been left empty often do have evidence of this mite.  However, In a healthy colony varroa is sometimes viewed as healthy culling the weaker members, but if the colony is already weak the mites can develop resistance to pesticides and overwhelm the colony. 
5. Apparently, pesticides used in other crops can also affect bees inducing a type of intoxication disrupting navigation, feeding, memory learning and egg laying. 

My thoughts about this is that mankind has always been at the mercy of environment for survival but we have become arrogant in our manipulation of it.  Mass production of any natural product without any foresight will have consequences.  So, as we are seeing in world of bees, if we continue to disrespect and exploit nature's resources in order to create unrealistic supplies, there will be a knock on effect on us and nature itself will turn in and withdraw what it provides to us, forcing future generations to live more sustainably (or a full circle back the Paleolithic)?

'If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man' Albert Einstein

Useful sites:

• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/14/wbees14.xml
• http://www.hmc.org.qa/hmc/heartviews/H-V-v3%20N4/9.htm
• http://www.bumblebee.org/
• http://www.bumblebeeconservationtrust.co.uk/index.htm
• http://www.beekeeping.org.uk/NL/                                       

Caveman Vs Modern day conundrum

A dilemma I've been pondering is how true to the Caveman diet do I stay.  One hundred percent cavewoman and I should be prancing around the countryside with  bow, arrow and loin cloth.  I'm sure that although the exercise would be good, modern day hunting regulations may well bring me into legal conflict and certainly to the attention of the fashion police!

During the weekend I live by the sea where certainly I could fish and forage along the shoreline.  Whereas, during the week, in order to be near work I stay with my family in the country, here we do occasionally see wild herds of deer roaming and sometimes the odd one even ventures into the garden - think about it - I could potentially be a well stocked up cavewoman.  Additionally, my father would be overjoyed if his lettuces were saved by a cull of the ravenous bunny population. 

However, the main problem is one of geography.  Keeping to the spirit of the Caveman diet I should eat only nuts and berries grown locally, so what does a British caveman do during the long cold winter?  Granted I'll be able to find meat and probably nuts but will certainly be suffering from scurvy by the end of the winter.  I'm certainly going to have to start thinking about storage as fruit won't be readily available.  Oh, I wish I was a cavewoman in a far off land and warmer climate. 

I conclude that I may need to submit to buying food that is well travelled, irradiated and stored for months ie. fruit that has lost much of its goodness and flavour, all in the interest of maintaining variety in the diet. Even when I consider the nuts that I've been consuming - almonds, pistachios and Brazil nuts - none of these grown in the UK.  To stay absolutely true to the caveman diet I should be limiting myself to hazelnuts and acorns, found in abundance in the British countryside.

At this stage you may well be thinking I am just taking this all a little too literally???