This blog is about the intersection between evolutionary biology and food. But also about practical applications, sustainable agriculture, and general tasty things. I originally started eating this way to heal from chronic health problems and...it worked!
Melissa McEwen
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01/24/2010 - 12:59
Let's get real about chocolate. First of all not paleo: it requires advanced processing and the addition of sugar to make it edible. If you found the raw fruit growing on the tree it would taste pretty gross.
Second, it's one of the hardest foods to give up. It is admittedly tasty and has a powerful flavor. The problem is that many of us are addicted to it. I used to study alongside a bag of almond chocolate kisses and by the time my term paper was done, I had eaten ALL of them. I was ashamed, but I couldn't stop myself.
Looking back, I had to wonder if it's the mixture of chocolate and either soy or dairy that makes it powerfully addictive. Casein, a major protein in milk, can break down into an opioid that may be addictive. Some people have shifted towards dairy-free dark chocolate bars, but almost all contain soy.
Either way, modern technology and ingredients have made cacao into a food way more addictive than when it was originally used by the Mayans. The Mayans drank the bitter concoctions for religious purposes and it was forbidden to women and children.
My personal experience is that it is best to phase out consumption of chocolate because of the sugar content. I personally started by only consuming "raw" chocolate, which is the least-processed edible form. It's a treat that can teach you to respect the bitter qualities of the substance, while still allowing you to enjoy its culinary virtues.
I eat these treats occasionally:
Artisana Cacao Bliss is made with pureed coconut and just a spoon of this rich concoction satisfies!
Fine & Raw chocolate bars are made with the highest quality full-fat cacao and fully display the complex flavors inherant in the cacao plant.
Or make your own. I made this truffle using a Swedish recipe that is known as Ice Chocolate. Simply mix raw chocolate powder with coconut oil and honey to taste! Roll pureed berries in nuts in the chocolate coconut oil mixture to make truffles.
Comment?: 3
01/23/2010 - 22:03
You may wonder why I, as someone who does not consume milk, would care about The Raw Milk Revolution. But this book has important implications for anyone who eats outside the mainstream. While I do consider raw milk a relatively risky food, I think it should be up to individuals to make the choice whether to consume it or not. As far as the argument that children can't make that choice, are we going to prosecute every parent that feeds their child potentially deadly food? I don't think the government has enough money to go after all the parents who feed their children massive amounts of sugar. Besides that, this book makes the point that illness from raw milk is very very uncommon. Why is the government spending massive amounts of money going after small farmers and not the large companies that poison millions every year?
Brazil, Sci-Fi Dystopia with unfortunately similarities to food law in the US
The stories in the book of small farmers persecuted by government agents could be out of some sci-fi dystopia. The stories in the book of farmers driven to mental, physical, and financial ruination because of a suspected case of food poisoning are tear jerking. They remind me of another book I read, Mad Sheep: The True Story Behind The USDA's War on Family Farm, which tells of the shattered dreams of one family whose beloved sheep were seized and killed on the basis of faulty science.
With the government turning its eyes towards produce safety, even those of us who don't consume or want to consume raw milk have to worry. If this is the way government handles food rights, we have much to be afraid of.
Those of us less skeptical of government intervention may even be swayed by the fact that most safety regulations have no basis in actual science. The government has never proved that most of its regulations make food safer. They do a great job of hurting small businesses though. I highly recommend Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal by Joel Salatin, the farmer featured in The Omnivore's Dilemma, which chronicles how idiotic regulations hobble his ability to sell healthy food.
With that, I give you a list of some foods we are missing out on.
Paleo foods you can't eat because the government says so.
- Charcuterie: producing good sausages is hard unless you have lots of money because it has to be made in licensed commercial facility with an approved recipe. Some lucky people are able to get it illegally.
- Lungs and thyroid tissue. I ate these foods in Central Europe and they were nutritious and delicious. They are illegal despite the fact that there are methods of slaughter that completely mitigate the risks associated with them.
- Wild game, well unless you know a hunter. The venison at the store is farmed and often fattened on grains. You can buy true wild game from Scotland, where it is legal to sell, from D'artagnan. Sweden also allows the sale of wild game and it's not like wildlife has disappeared there.
If you think of any more, please email me at mgmcewen @ gmail . com
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