Grains, Rice, Corn, etc. Whats their purpose...? page 2

[MEversbergII]

I'm with knife on this one.

Heatseaker, how did the creation of modern wheat save "billions" of lives? I am in the dark (and slightly skeptical, but that's what I always am).

M.

[cori93437]

If these foods are not for human consumption, then what is their purpose? Mark argues that not even cattle or livestock should be eating these items as feed, either.

In my mind all these plants must have a purpose, but if not to be eaten, then why do they exist? What use do they have?

Wait... if a plant or that plants fruit/seed isn't for human consumption then "what is it's purpose" existing?

Is that pretty much your question.

There are lots of things on this earth that if you ingest them you DIE.
Seriously. Flat out die.
From some of them you die almost immediately... others it takes a little while and you suffer miserably in the process.
Some are plants, some are animals.
What is the purpose of any of those things existing.
/head desk.

[heatseeker]

War in the 1960s in the Indian subcontinent had led to a huge famine. What wheat was growing, wasn't yielding high amounts of product because it was literally tipping over from being too top-heavy. The introduction of high-yield dwarf wheat in India and Pakistan essentially saved the entire subcontinent from starvation. Wikipedia Norman Borlaug for more on that story (he got the Nobel Prize for creating the dwarf wheat, bringing it to the subcontinent, and saving all those lives).

I disagree. I think millions of people have and do thrive with grains in their diet. I wouldn't say everyone who eats grains is in poor health and not living optimally. There are countless people who eat grains and live healthfully into their 80s, 90s and beyond.

.

True. I was speaking from an evolutionary biology standpoint, since we are on the Primal forums, after all, and the OP was talking about why Mark specifically nixes grains.

But in opposition to your statement, I don't agree with you that people whose diets are high in grains (a significant portion of their diet is what I'm talking about; I'm not talking about people who have pizza once a month as part of their 80/20) are living optimally. Some may not be in poor health, but they're not living optimally. In my opinion. YMMV.

[gopintos]

I wish corn were Primal Approved! I love corn!

I can do w/o corn, but popcorn makes me sad that it is not.

[Damiana]

In the past they had their uses. The development of grain and agriculture brought Paleolithic man from hunter gatherer tribes to established agrarian community that settled down and gradually evolved into societies.

Some types of grains and rice were genetically altered to be grown with higher yield and with less water, and they did help save lives in drought ridden areas of the world like Africa and India where famine is still a great problem.

[qqemokitty]

Your question seems to rest on the concept that all things exist only to serve humans. If something has no purpose related to us, does that mean it has no purpose at all?

Does the hummingbird exist only to serve humans? Does the clover plant exist only to serve humans? Is the "reason" the sun shines only so that humans may enjoy it?

We are a tiny spoke in a massive wheel, an itty bittty cog in a ginormous machine, and you should try to remind yourself of that more often.

[sbhikes]

Mice and rats eat grains.

So do birds, rabbits, weevils and other insects. Also, I'm sure that grazing animals would love to eat the young plants before they've gone to seed. The seed is only one part of the plant.

[MEversbergII]

Thank you heatseaker, I now know more than I did earlier today.

As an aside, I think part of our problem lies in modern grains NOT being what our predecessors ate.

Nor do we even make them the same way.

This has come up before on the forum, and the main site as well, but it bears repeating.

Not that grains are in any way approved by this way of life, but remember it was there in our past and is different from what we eat now.

M.

[itchy166]

An interesting side note, I recently read a hypothesis that man began to farm BECAUSE we were such good hunters. We had wiped out most of the large prey we were used to eating and had to farm out of necessity. We are going to have to keep factory farming in order to maintain all 7 billion of us.

Its a pretty crazy choice trying to choose between 7billion not quite healthy humans vs. maybe 1billion Primal ones. This thread has reminded me how fortunate we are to be able to choose for ourselves. Most will never be so lucky.

[j3nn]

But in opposition to your statement, I don't agree with you that people whose diets are high in grains (a significant portion of their diet is what I'm talking about; I'm not talking about people who have pizza once a month as part of their 80/20) are living optimally. Some may not be in poor health, but they're not living optimally. In my opinion. YMMV.

So you don't believe the pockets of "Blue Zones" (centenarians) around the globe, the French, the Japanese, many athletes and Olympians, and millions of others who include grains in their diet are living optimally? I disagree. I think there are many people who are living healthful and optimal lives despite grain consumption. I don't think all grain-eaters are equal, I don't think all grains are equal, either. I think it's painting with too broad of a stroke to conclude that all grain-eaters are living suboptimally. I think there are too many variables to conclude that grains are the number one reason for chronic illnesses and diseases in affluent societies. I'd put rancid high o6 seed/vegetable oils, overall low quality food/lack of nutrients, chemicals and artificial colors, preservatives, environmental pollution, stress, and prescription drugs above traditionally prepared grains as detrimental to your health.