Primal Primer 11 (Nutrition)
As our progenitor species transitioned from aboral and quadruped, diets also shifted from primarily bugs, fruits, and vegetation to heavier concentrations of carbohydrates. ~10,000 years ago the sapien’s radii of hunting and gathering shrinks while more permanent agricultural practices take precedence with each seed sown and sprouted. Introducing a more carbohydrate forward dietary landscape continues to provide many benefits supporting human’s mind, body, and culture to this very day.
- Brain Development – Glucose is a simple carbohydrate that is primary fuel for the brain. Increased availability of complex carbohydrates supports the expansion and increased complexity of the human brain.
- Foraging To Agriculture – Shifting to organized agriculture made complex carbohydrates more and consistent, while surplus provides the blue print for specialization of labor; food sourcing no longer the only occupation.
- Cooking Carbohydrate – Advances in cooking increased the bioavailability of carbohydrate. Consumption of cooked starchy foods provides a steady and reliable source of glucose; supporting endurance for exploration, subsistence hunting, and energy demands of a growing cortex.
- Energy Reserves – Carbohydrates are stored in the body as glycogen, providing quick sources of energy during times of exertion or scarcity. Especially important when fueling immediate fight or flight fast twitch muscle fibers (fat as fuel does not convert quick enough).
- Social Bonding – Growing, preparing, and sharing of carbohydrate rich foods such as beer and bread plays central theme in culture and social bonding by reinforcing structure, tradition, and collective identities.
Natural Carbohydrates
Consume organic and non-processed sources of carbohydrates. This common macronutrients is critical in fueling the body and brain via glucose and stored as glycogen. The breakdown of this important macromolecule C6/H12/O6 is the corner stone of all aerobic and anaerobic respiration (liberating carbon).
~Cave Implementation~
Carbohydrates are best sourced closely from farm to table via plants, fruits, and grains (organic when possible); fiber is the key to slower absorption and moderating insulin spiking that results in hormone insensitivity, mental instability, and rampant hunger. Understand your fueling needs, and watch yourself closely as individual metabolism’s vary. Reactions such as anxiety, lethargy, bowel distress, weight gain, or inflammation are signs to reevaluate consumed carbohydrate sources. Food is nourishing and should result in feeling energized after eating, not like taking a nap.
Food Is Nourishing and Should Result In Feeling Energized After Eating.
