I needed to disable self-signups because I’ve been getting too many spam-type sign-ups lately. Please contact me directly if you want membership on this forum. Thanks.
lil chick's log
@wavygravygadzooks, I sort of think you need to find something that is going to do the same thing that vaseline did in my nose. Protection. I hear you that garlic might not be the answer. Another idea that came to me is konjac, I was on a list with a person who felt that her gluten-harmed gut was soothed it. I think it could be in that category of things that can be sort of protective to sore guts? I've heard of oats for rashes, could it be that some sort of highly softened oat liquid (maybe not so much the fiber part) could be protective? On the topic of milk, I once read of a man who was poisoned and whose gut was in such horrible shape that he was going do die of starvation, and found could ONLY drink raw milk. Perhaps not cow, if cow doesn't work. Perhaps sheep for instance. Kongee (long cooked rice porridge)?
Interesting about the magnesium. A lot of my problems seem to be things people take mg for, but taking mg (orally) has always ended up horrible, like with a stiff neck or something. The opposite of the effect I wanted. Of course, healers might say: "that's just a healing crisis". But I've had too many supplements turn on me that I just don't trust them anymore. Maybe the baths are the way to go? I will let this list know if I start getting MORE stiff in the muscles rather than less. Is taking an epsom salt bath kind of like taking a supplement, or is it a more "natural" cure?
Yes, I think it is actually my point that the reasons humans are not natural is because of human selection. That is what breeding is. Humans select, select, select and suddenly wheat isn't natural anymore. Humans have done this to themselves too, and now we are not "natural" in other words we are no long natures creation but a human creation.
Is milk actually "buffering" oxalates, really? When it binds to oxalates, is it acting protectively? Is that part of nature's plan... for milk to be a soothing beverage to a new gut?
Is this why tea and coffee seem so harsh without milk or cream? Coffee and tea both have oxalates, and look at that, yet another thing almost everyone has taken with milk (until recent fads to stop milk consumption).
Sometimes I think we here, we all seem so different from one another... but what we have in common is this idea that we need to fiddle with our diets. Do we throw the baby out with the bathwater?
What you're calling "human selection" is termed "artificial selection" in biology...it is where humans exert a measurable influence on gene transmission that usually results in rapid phenotypic change, but not necessarily big shifts in the actual genome. Dogs are the classic example: their genetics are still almost identical to wild canids like wolves, but their appearance has been dramatically altered by tiny shifts in gene expression. Most of the breeds we've created would be terribly crippled if left to fend for themselves, and in the absence of humans, the feral dog population would probably quickly morph back into a collection of mutts that look like wild canids.
Quote from wavygravygadzooks on April 18, 2022, 1:42 pmWhat you're calling "human selection" is termed "artificial selection" in biology...it is where humans exert a measurable influence on gene transmission that usually results in rapid phenotypic change, but not necessarily big shifts in the actual genome. Dogs are the classic example: their genetics are still almost identical to wild canids like wolves, but their appearance has been dramatically altered by tiny shifts in gene expression. Most of the breeds we've created would be terribly crippled if left to fend for themselves, and in the absence of humans, the feral dog population would probably quickly morph back into a collection of mutts that look like wild canids.
But there would be lots of death before that wild canid pack emerged--if it indeed emerged at all.
Yes, lots of death...unfortunately, natural selection proceeds by way of differential reproduction and survival. Natural processes are often not very "kind" the way we see it.
My point is that we probably can't go back to the diet we were on before our micro-evolution into the almost-alien beings we are now.
My pet idea is that our primate ancestors lived very closely to water, which some have called the mermaid theory or the aquatic ape theory. That we began near water hunting and gathering around water. Eating coconuts and seaweed and fish and shellfish. That's my fave scenario, and I think it explains a lot. That the women (with their extra layer of fat for warmth and buoyancy) daily braved the waves to forage for seaweeds and shellfish and other sea foods, and the men built shelters and canoes and spears and fought to keep the tiger and the neighbor tribe away from their families, and of course they hunted for land animals for furs and meat as possible. But the water was the bread and butter and transportation too.
However, we are no longer the (choose *your* fave scenario) primates. We've micro evolved for so long, that we have different needs. I think what our recent ancestors have to tell us about diet is more important than what our ancient ancestors have to tell us. I'm not even sure we can really SAY what our ancient ancestors ate. But I'm guessing it was quite varied.
The native Americans here in New England lived very close to nature, by the sea for the warm part of the year, and came up the rivers inland in winter. They had a mixed diet, including high-toxin foods like acorns, which they put through a long process involving a long soak in urine. They didn't have the wheel--the lack of which always kind of blows me away. The rivers and lakes were how they traveled, and short paths here and there, but everything had to be human-carried. So I'm thinking they traveled pretty light. Cat-o-nine tail roots and cranberries are plants that live near water, that I've been told that they ate. They supposedly had the 3 sisters: beans, corn and squash (which is higher in VA than liver) so they dabbled in agriculture, but had no animal husbandry. Of course they did eat all the meats including the salmon as they came up the rivers, deer, shellfish, rabbits and the like. No milk or alcohol, but I think they had tobacco. Wild rice is another ancient native American food that thrives near water, although I've heard more of it's use near the Great Lakes.
One of the more interesting things that people have realized is that animals that have been bred to be domesticated often end up child-like and odd colors. (think Panda Bears for instance, which I suspect might have been bred in time forgotten because of this). There was a cute little Pekinese/Poodle mix here last weekend who totally looks like a puppy even though he's an adult. What a great pet, he's the most lovable little guy. I'm forgetting now what the scientific name is for child-like quality that many non-natural "bred" animals (and some people) exhibit. Maybe someone can help me here. It's interesting stuff and it came up on the plant poisons site, if I remember correctly. Basically, and not holding back... breeding for domestication can make you wimpy... LOL
The word I'm looking for is "Neoteny" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoteny_in_humans
"Neoteny in humans is the retention of juvenile features well into adulthood. This trend is greatly amplified in humans especially when compared to non-human primates."
@lil-chick, this is such a good post! It resonates well with my latest musings on “before and after” in human evolution.
I had a talk with my daughter today about the survival of human species. Will we adapt and thrive with everything that is thrown at us, or wither and die. All those worried about the world overpopulation? It might turn inside out very soon.
Also, not often do we mention here the microbiota. These amazing bacteria can and do process that which humans are supposedly not adapted to process. It takes a very short time to change the composition of microbiota; I read some studies that indicated 21 days! So, do we need thousand of years of evolution to be able to eat rice or beans and be ok?
BTW, I have a friend who works in a daycare. She looks like her pupils! I always wondered if seeing the children’s faces and being surrounded by their energy is an anti - ageing serum? It seems to be in her case.
Hi Beata, do you think you might be "neotenous"? I think I am.
@lil-chick, no such luck for me. I have a pretty youngish look because I am slim and my skin is really good but alas, no baby face.