It's been awhile since my last post, but I assure you I haven't been totally slacking off. I've been spending the last few weeks reading. One day during lunch I went to Half Price Books. The selection wasn't the greatest but since the books were so cheap I didn't mind buying anything that looked reasonably interesting. I ended up with eight books for $50 including one ("The Paleo Diet") that I was considering buying new online.
"The Paleo Diet" is a very interesting book (and diet). The theory is that for millions of years humans have evolved eating a diet of lean meats, fruits, vegetables and nuts and seeds and only in the last 10,000 years has man taken to eating grains, dairy food and large quantities saturated fats. The author claims that the Paleo Diet is healthier because our bodies have evolved based on that diet.
I'd like to try this diet but I first need to eat up all the cereal food I have stored up. I've also been thinking about storing food for a survival situation. I figure I would start with two weeks worth and work my way up to a couple months. But, I don't know how well that would work with the Paleo Diet. The two ideas are not exactly complimentary. The Paleo Diet doesn't allow for cereals which are the basis of every survival food storage program I've read about. It also avoids canned foods that have preservatives and salt added. I think that leaves dehydrating the food, but I don't think all fruits and vegetables will dehydrate well. I need to figure out the best way to store food for the Paleo Diet.
Another interesting book I read is "Tappan On Survival". This book is written by Mel Tappan who wrote a lot of articles for "Guns & Ammo" and "Soldier of Fortune" magazines. The book is basically all his articles compiled into book form. It was published in 1981 during the Cold War and a few years after the oil crisis. So based on these points it is easy to see why half of the book is dedicated to firearms even though it is his fifth priority in a survival situation.
The book laid out his plan for a post-apocalyptic survival scenario. The approach was a mix of what I think of as the stereotypical gun toting survivalist and a hunter gatherer. On the one hand he relies on guns for hunting and pest control, but on the other he talks about gathering wild food and caretaking his plot of land to survive off of it. I read the book with an open mind and took what I could from it.
He argued for living in a small town as the best way to survive a civilization crash. The small town would be small enough to bond together in defense against looters, share food and have medical care.
It was definitely insightful reading about different guns and there advantages and disadvantages in a survival situation. Even if I never buy one, I at least know more about them. All in all it was a good book for the four dollars I spent on it.
Finally, I've been reading a lot more about the "Peak Oil" situation. If you are interested in knowing more I suggest reading the main page on this site: http://lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/Index.html.
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8 comments:
You need to have a section on here for the books you have read about survival. It should include the book cover and a rating system of some sort. Make it so.
You didn't mention our trip to the gun store where you could buy a brand new assalt rifle for $70 (or three easy payments of $25 and the promise that you tell 5 friends)
anyway, that is pretty interesting stuff. i think you told me that the paleo diet was a diet in the sense that it is better for you and I presume you would lose weight.... that is true right?
I also tend to think that this diet is much like the no-carb diets made famous by atkins. maybe that is why it works????
I think that the fact that out species evolved from the species that lived on that diet says alot about that being a better diet for us... that sounds very compelling.
good luck becoming a paranoid gun-toting weirdo who builds a bunker in his yard and counts the minutes until the bombs drop.
when and if they do, I will come running to you for help, and you can say "I told you so" and I'll eat your stored jerky and cry all day while you go gather food.
I hope at some point "red Dawn" happens. I call Swazey's role as leader. He is dreamy.
okay. that is enough.
Bleach, I'll take that into consideration, but that would include a lot of books.
Fooie,
Supposedly you do lose weight on the Paleo Diet. I think I read that eating lean meat gives you a full feeling. I didn't concentrate on the losing weight part of the diet since I am not looking to lose weight. This is a low-carb diet of sorts. The carbs you consume come from the fruits you eat. Unlike atkins, this diet does not let you eat all the greasy, fat meat you want. This diet is more healthy in that regard.
I guess I'll be Charlie Sheen then.
I've been on the ol' Paleo Diet for a long time. Be careful, that book is incorrect in many parts. Here is a great link that covers the parts the book fails to mention:
click here
Also check out the book "Wild Fermentations." It's one of the ways (aside from dehydrating or drying) that indigenous people stored their foods. The book "Body Ecology Diet" covers much more about the ecology of our bodies and how the native diet works to improve our internal ecology.
And for shits and giggles, watch my video I made years ago when I was on the paleo for the first time:
Click Here
For a recent peak-oil conterpoint, see the following article I just read off google news:
http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=021307A
Urban Scout, thanks for the info. I actually was planning on commenting on your blog to ask you some questions about your diet. I'll check out "Body Ecology Diet". Cool video. I'm impressed with the production quality. :)
Bean, I read the article. I still haven't made up my mind about the issue so it's good to hear both sides of the argument.
Aw, Scout, I remember that story about how they used to have intestine eating contests. I don't remember where I first ran into this article, but I really appreciate you linking to it.
Sass, I just finished an experiment in making pemmican--the ultimate survival food. Forget cereal--if made right, this stuff can be stored for decades. Check it out at my WildeRix blog.
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