Primal or not?

So I might as well just get right into it.

Some of you may have seen via Facebook and Twitter, my husband and I just got 2 kittens yesterday! They are sleeping and snuggling with my feet as we speak! They have cozied up on my Barefoot Connections Desk Pad. Smart kitties.

Funny thing happened last night when I fed them. They were raised on mother’s milk and conventional kitty food (dry kibble type stuff). I initially wanted to introduce raw meat right away as their only choice, but Franky thought we would have to transition them. So, I went to pick up some Organic dry food for kitties. Having already put some raw ground beef (from local grass-fed cows) in the bowl, I poured the dry food right on top to see if they would eat both.

Well, as it turns out, this morning I noticed some of the dry food was gone, but all of the raw beef was gone. Yay! Smart kitties again!

My parents carry a product called Wild Kitty at their health food store in York, Maine. The product is a powder and is designed to supplement raw meat for cats. It contains bone meal, fish meal, a few veggies, and dried organ meats. Cats need more than just raw meat in their diet, they need specific nutrients to survive. Not just to survive now, but to survive as a species. Not that I’m worried my kitties need to carry on the entirety of the house cat species, but you get the idea.

There is a story about Lions in captivity. A special research zoo had taken lions into captivity and tried getting them to reproduce. They were being fed raw game and meat, but just the muscle and flesh. These lions were not able to reproduce. So the researchers decide to study lions in the wild. They found that lions in the wild, when taking down their prey, the first thing they eat? Organs. Sometimes they would even only eat organs. And they would make sure young got to eat the organs as well. The researchers took this idea back to the lions in captivity and starting feeding them organ meats. Next thing you know, the captivated lions are able to reproduce again. If I can find the link to the story, I’ll be sure to post it.

This story is not to say that we all need to eat organs. Well, some of us do. I’m sharing the story to trigger thoughts about the natural diet. The lions were able to reproduce when they were fed their natural diet. How many of you eat your natural diet?

I know I didn’t have a natural diet all throughout growing up, and have only been working at it for a year and a half. I’m still working on it. It is a gradual process for sure.

What does our natural diet mean to you? Does it mean lots of fruits and vegetables? What if I told you, those are foods that we have been eating for less than 10,000 years. A lot of them might be only a couple hundred years old. Does this count as our natural diet?

Today I have been doing a lot of reading about the Hunter Gatherer diet. Since this is the history of humans, wouldn’t this be our natural diet? Neither carnivore or herbivore, but a balanced mix – omnivore. I am not one to say that meat or animal is the only answer. I have found profound healing through herbs. And I have also found amazing healing through pure food coming from animals. You choose what’s right for you. If there are valuable things you’re missing, your body is sure to let you know. That’s what amazing about the mechanisms we walk around in.

Many people bring up the subject – What about the China Study? What about this study done on Junk Food? Literally, it’s junk food.

If you really believe what these studies are offering, then we might have larger problems on hand. The biggest issue with the China Study is that there was no real food used for testing. They used a massively processed whey protein powder for testing. Well, obviously it would make people or anyone sick. I personally don’t think that all whey protein is bad. There are actually a few great brands out there. There are some that are made from happy grass-fed cows and are dried at a low temperature. This is a completely different food than the processed grossly extracted versions of whey protein that are out there. Maybe if they tried using real raw milk? Or real pastured eggs? Then, I might have a listen to what these studies are about. Until then, I’ll continue eating what makes me feel good.

At the moment that includes things like: grass-fed butter, cod liver oil, raw grass-fed heavy cream, organic raw and grass-fed milk, nettle/red raspberry tea infusions, medicinal mushroom teas, lightly seared fresh fish, local chicken and turkey, bone broth, eggs from our own hens, herbs and wild eatables from our land, a few superfoods like maca, royal jelly powder, and colostrum powder, occasionally red meat like a local grass-fed beef or lamb, and when I can – organ meats from local grass-fed or pastured animals – usually liver.

The other thing about these studies, is that they are all done with fake food. Meaning conventional meat that has been fed corn, grain, and/or soy, farmed seafood (also fed pellets of soy usually), milk from unhappy locked up cows that are fed the same as the above (which is then heated to high temperatures and then highly pressurized in which all nutrients are destroyed, and it becomes anti-food), and many other similar foods.

There is a great website and blog that I have recently discovered and recommend perusing:

Hunt. Gather. Love.

I also want to recommend listening to this interview with Nora Gedgaudas (author of Primal Body Primal Mind) interviews Lierre Kieth (author of Vegetarian Myth) – two amazing authors, and a valuable listen.

Nora interviews Lierre.

That’s it for now friends.

Below is a picture of my Mother and I celebrating my birthday (about 2 weeks late) and Mother’s Day.

Bless up!