Jeßus wrote:
> Doug Freyburger wrote:
>
>> Until a century ago refined grains were rare. Flour got ground and
>> baked into bread and eaten all within a few days and whole grain was the
>> only kind there was.
>>
>> Until a century ago sugar was rare in most of the world. It would be in
>> fruit during a brief season and only available from honey the rest of
>> the year.
>>
>> Starting much more recently than that unlimited quantities of food have
>> been available in some parts of the world.
>
> Looks like we're pretty much on the same page Doug.
>
> Up until 10000 years ago - which is only a millisecond in terms of
> evolution - man never ate grass seed (grains).

Take an anthropology course and see some films of hunter gatherer
cultures. They do eat grains, just tiny amounts compared to civilized
folks. They may have a loaf of bread the size of a small hamburger bun
several times in the same year.

The transistion to herding was closer to 20K years ago so in between 20K
and 10K ago the eating of grain would have gradually increased.

It's still a tiny length of time in terms of evolution. Folks still
have diabetes from eating high carb foods decade after decade. The
evolutionary pressure is extremely high because early onset diabetes
causes very low fertility. There are tribes that span the US/Mexican
border that weren't separated until a century ago. On one side there's
unlimited grain in their diet and diabetes rates near 90%. On the other
side there's root veggies much less carby than potatoes and very low
diabetes rates.

> That only came about due to climate change which prompted the advent of
> agriculture.

The trigger isn't known. Folks went from nomads following the herds to
planting grain for the herds to eating the grain themselves. The timing
is suggestive, though. Before 20K years ago there were vast herds of
grass eaters on the plains near the glaciers. Humans likely drove many
to extinction before learning to herd the types that were still around.
As the millenia passed game continued to be less common and the glaciers
continues to be farther away. What caused what is pretty speculative.

> Thus, we're not really designed for such a diet, although many do manage
> to be able to eat grains without any obvious issues.

The word obvious is the key. How many people ever go a few weeks grain
free then add grains back individually to see what happens?

> I do wonder how many people don't realise that grains may be
> compromising their health. In my case, I was completely unaware of any
> intolerance until I went on a low carb diet back in 2003 - that's when
> it became obvious to me that I have an intolerance to wheat in
> particular. If I eat just one meal occasionally with wheat in it, I
> usually get away with it without any symptoms. If I eat more again the
> next day, the symptoms will manifest themselves. So I pretty much avoid
> grains, and wheat in particular.

For my it was going on Atkins 21-Jul-1999. I didn't notice any health
changes until a couple of weeks later the ladies told me I wasn't
snoring any more, or that when I did snore the volume was low. All the
other changes weren't apparent until a few months later when I followed
the sequence and trying grain in the form of gravy with flour in it.
Boom, symptoms rooled back. Yet it wasn't really symptoms. It was
really what I had once considered normal but now I was no longer willing
to tolerate.

The degree of reaction dropped gradually over the years. After 5 years
of active wheat avoidance and eating very low grain I could eat cream of
veggie-du-jour soup that had some flour in it and only get some sweating
in my scalp and some minor indigestion. A month ago after 11 years of
active avoidance I chanced a slice of pizza including the crust and then
chewed gum for several hours to push it quickly through the early
digestion. The symptoms were their but more minor than in years.

> All this means my visits to the supermarket have become very infrequent.

I work in large computer data centers or offices near them so I am a big
city boy. Food from the wild is a rare treat for me.

> The only packaged/processed foods I buy in a supermarket that come to
> mind are Ryvitas (rye and oats don't seem to affect me as much).

See if they have Wasa Light Rye. It's lighter and crunchier than those
dense Ryvitas. Oats don't bother me but what's ever made from oats
without wheat other than oatmeal? Oat bread always seems to list wheat
flour first and oat flour second.

> NB: I do plan to try making my own prosciutto now that we are heading
> into winter... can't wait!

Color me jealous to have your own smoke house. We have a small
dehydrator. Completely different scale.