Besides learning how to save a bunch of money on our car insurance, is there anything else we can learn from the caveman today?
I say yes. And what you find out may surprise you. Along with my own thoughts, I will be quoting from Dr. Shari Lieberman's book "Dare to Loose: 4 Simple Steps to a Better Body."
LESSON #1: DIETS ARE BAD. Think back to the hunter/gatherer days. Our ancestors lived off the earth which meant that during the winter months food was scarce. They had to make sure they saved enough from the warm months to last through the winter and when that was dwindling well......they scrounged for what they could and were a bit more hungry than usual. Our bodies are designed to store fat in times of drought. This is why people can actually end up gaining weight while on diets. They think that by eating salads and slim fast for a month they are going to be bikini-ready but in reality they are sending their body into starvation mode and becoming a fat-storage machine. By eating more frequent, smaller meals you can rev up your metabolism and repair the damage done by diets in the past.
LESSON #2: SUPPLEMENTS ARE GOOD. Most people tend to think that if they are eating a balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, protein, and foods low in fat and sugar that they are fine and don't need supplements. The cavemen did just fine without supplements so why should we be bothered with them. Well I hate to break it to you but we are living in the 21st Century. Our nutrient depleted soil is not the same soil our forefathers worked.
Dr. Shari explains it a little more scientifically. "Our soil is depleted of selenium in most parts of the country and many times has barely adequate levels of other minerals such as zinc, magnesium, and calcium (but it can have plenty of harmful heavy metals such as cadmium).......Fruits and vegetables are often harvested before they reach peak ripeness, which is usually equated with peak nutrition. They are often grown and trucked thousands of miles.....stored for long periods of time before they reach the market. Each moment between harvesting and arriving at our dinner tables robs product of vital nutrients." She goes on to talk about today's lifestyle. "To make matters worse, stress and environmental pollution in our air, water, and soil increase our needs for vitamins and minerals....there is compelling evidence that augmenting our intake of vitamins and minerals may lower the risk for many diseases and conditions in in some cases lessen their effects and even reverse their course."
LESSON #3: STRESS CAN BE BOTH. Cortisol can make us miserable and greatly affect our health. Notice how much "easier" it is to get sick during stressful times. Dr Shari says "75-90% of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress related complains or disorders." Think about it: Stress can either push you to do things in times of crisis or can cripple you and leave you incapable to handle even little things. Imagine a caveman trying to spear a wild animal. The cortisol is released and is then used up in the act of focusing on and killing the beast. But today we aren't out on the Great Plains spearing wild buffalo. We let deadlines, responsibilities, and sudden crisis release waves of cortisol and then fail to flush it out of our system. This is why exercise is so crucial. Unfortunately, in a world where everything is designed to save time and be convenient (from fast food to electronic devices), exercise is the last thing left that we actually have to do for ourselves. No one can exercise for you.
So take a lesson from the caveman: Eat, supplement, and be merry.
I applaud you. A solid distillation of evolutionary principles as they relate to nutrition. My only concern is that some research indicates, though it is be no means conclusive, that supplements are not ideal because the body has difficulty breaking them down given their "artifical" form. Just because your capsule says it has 500mg of Selenium, doesn't mean you're actually getting 500mg of Selenium.
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