10 Hunter-Gatherer SuperFood

I have previously written about my top 3 superfood categories HERE! I won’t go into details about the top three this time, let’s have a look at the others! The main aspects are nutrient density, bioavailability and necessity, mitochondrial function, our evolutionary heritage. I would add that this is an “elite club”, and it is a glory to get in. If one is not in the top three, it is still recommended to consume it regularly! And there are, of course, sensible foods outside the top 10.

In general, it’s always worth aiming for the best quality ingredients. Give preference to fresh, local foods from animals raised on their natural diets, with minimal additives, local and seasonal plants. If you can’t manage that, don’t worry, it’s still better to eat average grocery store meat than a nutrient-poor, crappy ingredient-rich margarine sandwich…

  1. Seafood ->
  2. Liver and other offal ->
  3. Bone broth, jelly ->

4. Red meat

A favourite of many is a juicy, (raw) steak. There’s no need to present red meats as roasts, soups, stews… If you can get your hands on pasture-raised, grass-fed beef, buffalo, lamb, goat, you’re even more lucky. You can also find omega-3 fatty acids in red meat, and it’s an excellent source of B12 and other B vitamins, iron, zinc, selenium.

I would also put game meats (venison, deer, wild boar…) in this category, which can be used to make super stews. The big advantage of game is that it has a naturally good omega-6:omega-3 fatty acid ratio.

Let’s not forget good old pork as a relatively cheap, readily available source of red meat. The thing with pork is that it matters what the animal ate, which unfortunately is why there are some issues with industrial livestock production… But it’s still a better choice than a refined, processed fake food!

5. Eggs

It could be fourth place, it’s a close race :), but the bottom line is that here’s a favourite breakfast staple for many of us!

Eggs are basically one big cell. It’s made up of proteins, fats and their associated reserve nutrients and protective layers. A complete food. It contains complete, easily absorbed proteins and important fatty acids (including omega-3!). It also contains fat-soluble vitamins, including vitamin A, which is important for eye health, and lutein and zeaxanthin, important “eye antioxidants”.

It can be eaten raw, scrambled, boiled, fried, however you like…

6. Raw meat (vegetables, fruit)

A shark or a land predator doesn’t fuss much with cooking. They eat their food raw, from tail to nose. Humans can eat raw meat in the same way, it’s just not very fashionable in modern societies.

The processing and heating of raw food converts some of the natural L-amino acids into D-amino acids. Since we also incorporate the L-amino acids, the D version tends to be an unnecessary burden on the body. I think one of the advantages of a raw herbivore diet (of not too many…) is that they take in little D-amino acids and rather only the L-version, albeit with a deficient amino acid profile in the absence of animal foods. Also, raw vegetables and fruits have a lot of structured water, as do raw meats.

I think it is important to keep heat treatment to a minimum. This is a balancing act, on a scale of safety from infection and higher nutritional value. Cooking can produce a variety of harmful compounds: AGE, HCA (heterocyclic amines), PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), acrylamide, which accelerate aging, can be carcinogenic, can promote certain autoimmune and kidney diseases through oxidative and carbonyl stress. If one detoxifies well, there is less to fear from these…

When heat treated, our food loses its structured water, mineral and vitamin content. However, heat treatment is the best way to destroy infectious microbes, so these factors should be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Basically, I do not consider vegetables and fruits to be essential foods in the human diet. Natural peoples also prefer animal-based ingredients. Local, seasonal, edible plants can be included as a supplement.

What should generally be avoided raw: pork, wild boar meat, poultry meat due to risk of infection. It is generally safe to eat beef, lamb, goat meat or some fresh fish, some seafood.

Have you ever eaten steak tartare with raw beef and eggs?

7. Bacon and animal fats

The energy bomb of our grandparents that kept them working in the fields all day… One unit (1 mole) of fatty acid can produce 3-4 times as much ATP in mitochondria as glucose. Furthermore, fats can produce about twice as much deuterium-depleted metabolic water as sugars. Where are fat-soluble vitamins (D, E, K, A) found? In fats! Why not take advantage of this?

People who have been on a high carbohydrate, low fat diet for a long time may need time to adapt their enzyme pool to break down fat, to eat more fat. In addition, optimally functioning mitochondria (light environment, circadian rhythm) are also important for proper fat utilisation, so that the oscillation and geometry of the mitochondria are in order (Jack Kruse, Douglas Wallace).

Bacon, lard, duck fat, goose fat, wild boar, beed tallow, butter, ghi, pork greaves… Use them all!

8. Sausages, cured hams, ’pork cheese’

As well as being super high in protein and rich in animal fats, they have all the above benefits of red meat. And with a pork’s cheese, you also get extra collagen.  Did you know that cured hams are also a good source of vitamin K2?

Quality and label reading really matter in this category!

9. Mushrooms

Mushrooms are an ancient food, full of beneficial B vitamins and minerals (selenium, potassium, copper). They also contain some vitamin D, but you should get this preferably from sunbathing! Of course be very careful which mushrooms you choose, there are many poisonous species! Poison mushrooms are not a toy, you can’t go wrong once! We wrote more about mushrooms in the Wild Paleo book.

10. Seaweeds

When it comes to natural iodine supplementation, after sea animals, the best are various seaweeds. The Japanese, who eat a lot of seafood and sushi, are not really iodine deficient… They eat fish regularly and often wrap it up in a good algae sheet…

Bon Appétit!

Food is important, but not the most important. I’ve written about why in my books and articles, I’ve talked about it HERE and HERE. For more details, you can read my books to understand the scientific context. It would be a great neglect to leave out the function of mitochondria, the role of sunlight and evolution (not back a few thousand or a few hundred thousand years, but from the first living beings on Earth!) in the discussion of diet.

Also, it is time to move on from thinking at the biochemistry level (or not even there yet) to quantum biology. Without these, unfortunately, we are left with various misleading nutritional dogmas and fear based propaganda recommendations…

From a biological point of view, the role of nutrition is, on the one hand, to provide the necessary building blocks (amino acids, vitamins, minerals, fats, water). On the other hand, to stimulate the mitochondrial ATPase enzyme (energy and water production) with the electrons and protons in food. All this in a way that also transmits free radical signals to our body without side effects if possible, with optimal deuterium intake as well.

We can also produce ATP outside the mitochondria, without oxygen (glycolysis, creatine system) (quickly but with poor efficiency), but we leave these to performance sports or anaerobic organisms, tumour cells, red blood cells (they have no mitochondria). The more advanced life forms use mitochondria because they allow much more efficient energy production for basic life functions, it is worth taking advantage of this.

Choose wisely!

Read more about nutrition, mitochondria, evolutionary perspective, recipes in my books!

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