How I View Primal page

[Primal Wayne]

Lately I've seen quite a few posts trying to break the human metabolism down to the cellular level. I'm not a physiologist by any means and I find it all rather fascinating, but this is how I see it: I think it's easiest to think of "what would I do if I was stuck in the middle of the woods and forced to live off the land?" I think thats the basic message of being primal. I know now that I would be better suited to surviving in those conditions being Primal but as a sugar burner I'd have no chance. And I also know with modern conveniences (grocery stores) we all tend to have our own vices which we wouldn't find in the wild. I just think if we all kept the big picture in mind and eat as close to the Earth as possible then we'd have success and live healthy lives.

[ToldUzo]

It would depend on where in the world you were... in a tropical land with fruits around or close to the sea/lakes with fish or in the northern forrests.
And I'm sure a so called "sugar burner" would be able to survive if she had the same tools available to collect food. Humans can survive a lot when in need! It is also easier to live in an established group, which most primal humans would, than all alone.

I agree that the primal message is to eat as natural as possible.

[mike_h]

I don't think it's so much what would I do, or would a caveman do, but what did they do, as we are largely the result of those doings.

For example offer a Palaeolithic dude or lady a greasy, cheesy pizza and big soft drink and I'm pretty damned sure they'd eat it. But they didn't, because they couldn't.

[sbhikes]

I've spent some time out in the wild and let me tell you, with a backpack full of supermarket delights, all my favorites like Pepperidge Farm cookies and cheezits and gummy bears, if I had known what to do and had had enough time, I would for sure have dumped my backpack and eaten the grouse I saw and the thimble berries, huckleberries, wild greens and wild mushrooms. I really would have. I think there is something more than availability that drives us to eat junk. Something about our way of living enables it. Advertising? Stress? Boredom? Pollution? Being on autopilot and not ever actually feeling truly alive? The latter one is why I go on big adventures out in the wild when I can.

[DCarr10760]

It is interesting to think about that, and I do. But what is more pertinant as far as I can see is, what if I was dropped into the supermarket where I live? What will I choose to eat when there are endless choices in front of me?

I'm not sure ultimately which is harder. In the wild you eat what is available that you can catch or gather. In the grocery store you have to gather those things that will nourish you and not harm you. Both of these are hard tasks.

There is an attraction to the dropped on an island idea. Like the Tom Hanks movie, "Cast Away" but I think the attraction is that choice is removed, his choice was learn to eat off the land or die. But in the supermarket we are faced with the very same choice. The only difference is the manner of death and the time scale.

[Primal Wayne]

There is an attraction to the dropped on an island idea. Like the Tom Hanks movie, "Cast Away" but I think the attraction is that choice is removed, his choice was learn to eat off the land or die. But in the supermarket we are faced with the very same choice. The only difference is the manner of death and the time scale.

That is a very good point. Real "primitive" hunters and gatherers eat to survive. I think most Americans nowadays see eating as a social ritual and not as nourishing their own body. I just know the time that I will be alive I want to be healthy and vibrant. I lost 80 lbs to join the military and the entire way I was constantly starving and I felt like I lived in the gym. Now that I'm primal, I dropped about 40 lbs effortlessly and I feel so much better.