health

I'd like to point the compass to an excellent new blog that I've been reading called Evolutionary Psychiatry. The hot topics in paleo health are diseases like heart disease or diabetes. While this are alarmingly common, the elephant in the room is that mental disorders are just as much of a threat to modern human health. The World Health organization estimates that in twenty years depression will be the world's biggest health burden. Unfortunately, depression has more of a stigma than most other diseases of civilization and...that's saying a lot considering the hatred directed towards people who have more fat on them. Treatment and causes also remain somewhat of a mystery, with many patients opting for expensive methods that remain acceptable despite lack of scientific evidence for their effectiveness. And depression only one of many serious mental health problems that are on the rise.

Dr. Emily Deans of Evolutionary Psychiatry explores these problems with an eye towards evolutionary solutions. The posts are rich with fascinating questions and scientific data, so I definitely recommend checking it out.

My own perspective is that I definitely think that depression is a disease of civilization caused by at least partially by poor social ties, miserable and un-engaging working and living environments, lack of movement, and a highly inflammatory diet. Unfortunately, the paleo diet can only fix the dietary causes, but that can definitely provide a boost. During high school and early on in college there were days when I struggled to rouse myself from bed or shut myself in my room crying. This no longer happens. It stopped happening around the time I got control of my stomach issues and there is a definitely connection between some stomach disorders and depression. I'm often reluctant to blog about problems like this because unlike, let's say GERD, having such a problem tends to warp people's view of you as a person no matter how common those problems are.

Diet might not solve them completely, but it's a little worrying that most mental health professionals either don't address diet at all or advocate a low-fat diet. It's low-hanging fruit that can make a huge difference. Another good blog about food and depression is Rebuild from Depression.

I'm grateful for my process, but would definitely would still like to improve my mood and ability to be resilient, but unfortunately I have found that grass-fed lamb tenderloin doesn't fix broken relationships*, especially if just reminds me of how that used to be his favorite meal and how our food choices had once melded with another's in seamless unbroken domesticity that seemed so permanent at the time. But then I remember that I made that same exact meal for the boyfriend before that and it makes the whole thing a little less romantic, but at least that means perhaps there will be more to enjoy roasted rosemary lamb with black pepper yogurt sauce.

*Ice cream might, but further studies need to be done. It seems like the effect is more about a sugar-induced mirage of happiness than actually mending relationships.

Last night I heard Joel Salatin speak in NYC. I was kind of surprising that he would speak on Easter Sunday. I grew up in Georgia and Easter was a big holiday there, but pretty much everything was open here and lots of people turned out for his lecture.

I only saw the first one, which was about whether or not the local food movement is elitist. Salatin mainly talked about how regulations hinder the development of new local food businesses and make food more expensive. I was familiar with this argument because I did my senior thesis on regulatory obstacles to a healthier local food system and Salatin's book Everything I Want to Do is Illegal was one of my starting points.

You can read his original essay on the subject here. What does this have to do with paleo? Well, the main food regulations affect are animal foods, though produce is becoming more controlled thanks to the spinach, peanut, and tomato food poisoning outbreaks that killed and sickened Americans.

The standard regulatory argument is that risk is risk and every farm should be regulated the same way. I personally disagree with that. Part of the rational behind regulations is that people are victims because they can't make a rational consumption decision due to the structure of our food economy. People wouldn't purchase things made unsafely if they could see the production, but they can't and it's pretty unrealistic to expect most people to closely keep tabs on food factories 1000 miles away. Of course a private certifying agency probably could, but it's equally unrealistic for libertarians to expect the US to drop all food regulations.

Even if you are not libertarian, it's clear that most regulations on food producers are unfair. I went to a big agricultural school sponsored by the government. Much of the technology used on farms is developed by such universities and most of it is geared towards large farms. That's an unfair advantage. So when regulations are written they typical require capital that would be unrealistic for a small farm to own or use. Also, there is rent seeking behavior- manufacturers of this expensive equipment often are the loudest advocates for more regulations. Things are changing- there is a foundation around here that is working on small scale mobile slaughterhouses, but they are facing an uphill battle. The mobile slaughterhouse has to have a separate trailer with an office and bathroom for the USDA inspector. They can't just use the normal bathroom in the farm office, regulations stipulate the inspector has to have their own.

Another subsidy is that large feedlot operations are pretty much allowed to pollute. I don't see why they should be allowed to sully steams they don't own. Small farmers often take great care of their land and the environment in general. Many factory operations also employ illegal workers and the government turns a blind eye, while small farmers struggle with the challenge of having legal workers, which is more than just paying minimum wage, it's often also paying worker's comp and dealing with some draconian state employment laws.

Contrasting with shoppers in the grocery store who really would have a hard time really knowing where their food comes from, people who purchase directly are able to talk to the farmer and often able to visit and work on the farm.

The consequences for all these regulations are stressed farmers who have to haul their cattle hundreds of miles to the nearest USDA slaughterhouse and more expensive meat. One of the reasons poultry tends to be cheaper is that there is an exemption that allows small farmers to slaughter on-farm . Why chickens slaughtered on farm are safe but goat aren't never struck me as logical. The safety of an animal to eat has more to do with the skill of the butcher than the magic of a USDA inspector. I'd certainly rather have animals killed by my own butcher that I know.

Either way, read the book, it's great and will help you understand why small farmers have such a tough time. Salatin also addressed the global agriculture problem. He mentioned how large companies like Monsanto who often claim to be the savior of the third world often don't acknowledge that the green revolution is often the cause of the problems in the first place. He mentioned how the old Thai system was diverse and grew rice alongside fish and vegetables. Replacing this system with rice monoculture created the vitamin deficiencies that the GMO golden rice is supposed to cure.

Another factor is that contrary to popular opinion, small sustainable farmers aren't Luddites. There have been massive increases in the efficiency of many sustainable methods like composting in the past 50 years. Such methods are more sustainable not just from an ecological perspective, but from an economic perspective. In unstable third world countries introducing methods that require imported seeds, pesticides, machines, and oil just isn't appropriate.

Salatin also talked about the choice aspect of the matter. I don't make much money myself, but in the past I had to be on all sorts of expensive medication. Now that I eat a better diet, I don't need those pills and inhalers, which unlike grassfed beef, just masked the symptoms and did nothing to nourish or heal me. Joel Salatin mentioned how tests done at the local ag school showed high levels of CLA, a fat that shows strong anti-cancer properties, and DHA, which is the most prized of the omega-3 fatty acids that promote good health in general.

He said it's a shame that libertarians, free marketers, and conservatives have so often been reactionary against healthy eating, but the tide is turning. I agree. While paleo dieters come in all stripes, a growing segment is people traditionally associated with the right.

Two exciting tips!

• John Durant founder of the NYC Eating Paleo Meetup Group will be on the Colbert Report Wednesday!
• A new event for those interested in raw dairy and traditional nutrition!: Sally Fallon Morell, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, will speak about the safety, health, economic and legal issues surrounding milk.  Learn why full-fat raw milk from grass-fed cows on pasture is natures safest and healthiest food, and the key to revitalizing small family farms and reclaiming our constitutional rights.