Refined foods are a fairly recent innovation for
humans. I do not believe they are a good
one, either. They are not especially good for anyone, but aboriginal people
lack the generations of exposure to them that non-aboriginals have. If you
carry aboriginal genes, refined foods can be a slow poison to you.
One of these deadly refined foods is alcohol. For most
aboriginal people, drinking alcohol is like trying to run a Volkswagen bug on
jet fuel. It rots out your insides and your brain. You get diabetes and need to
have limbs lopped off as you get gangrene. Heart problems and strokes are part
of the results of drinking alcohol for most Aboriginal people.
White sugar and white flour are not a lot better for
Aboriginal people than alcohol. They may not cause damage as quickly as
alcohol, but eating that kind of junk is almost as deadly in the long run.
Whole wheat and other whole grains are a more natural aboriginal diet. We
have had those as a part of normal diets for many generations, unlike the refined
carbohydrates. Potatoes and corn were domesticated by Native Americans and are
complex carbohydrates that are much better for aboriginals' health.
Meat that is full of hormones and antibiotics is not good
for anyone, but is even worse for aboriginals. It is expensive to eat organic
meat that is free of the bad stuff, but medical care is even more costly.
Dairy is not good for a lot of people who are not even
aboriginal. Many people are lactose intolerant, but a higher proportion of
aboriginals have this problem. There are lactose intolerant remedies to help lactose
intolerant people eat dairy without bad effects. Health food and even groceries
often carry them. Not everyone is helped by the enzyme drops for lactose
intolerance. Low fat powdered milk does not cause me the problems that whole
milk does, but I only use it in foods most of the time. Mozzarella is a
comparatively low fat cheese and cheese substitutes are available in health
food stores.
This blog post is a real bear for me to write because of the
emotional issues involved for me. I have told other Native Americans about this
before. I expected the answer to, why we have such a problem with alcohol as a
group, would be well received. It was by a very few. Most said the idea of a
genetic predisposition to problems with alcohol would be used as an excuse for
more prejudice. The logic of this escapes me. The Drunken Indian cliche is
kinda hard to combat when you see it live and in person so much. The only ones
who escape this reality are escaping reality.
Scientists discovered something they call a "thrifty
gene" that many aboriginal people have. The good part about it is that
people who have it make it through famines more often than those who don't.
When a thrifty gene person does not get enough to eat for a while, their body
sort of shifts gears and becomes more efficient about burning food/fuel. More
work can be done on less food, or even stored body fat. That allows enough work
to be done to get more food to survive the famine. Someone without the thrifty
gene will simply become too weak from lack of food, to work to get more food to
survive, and they die.
The bad part of the thrifty gene is when someone with it
eats refined foods, including alcohol, it messes up our insides and we get
diabetes, heart trouble, strokes, high blood pressure and alcoholism. People
without the thrifty gene can eat all the refined foods, including alcohol,
because they have had so many generations of people eating those refined foods
that their bodies tolerate them. This does not mean those refined foods are
actually good for people without the thrifty gene.
I see no reason to feel inferior to people who can tolerate
refined foods, because their ancestors spent so many generations consuming
things that were bad for them, that their bodies are not as hurt by the refined
foods any more. It does not seem like a good reason for people who do not have
the thrifty gene to feel superior to people who have it either. I can see their
point about people who have the thrifty gene trying to catch up on exposing
their bodies to refined foods, especially alcohol, in one generation.
I figure I have the thrifty gene. I do not consume refined
foods much. This is better for anyone, but close to essential for someone who
has the thrifty gene. I have come to prefer whole grain flour to bleached and
brown rice to white, etc. I don't drink alcohol. I have eaten those things in
the past, but it has been a long time since I ate a lot of them. I am not a
diabetic, and my blood pressure is low. I am slightly overweight, but will be
within my correct range shortly.
There are some tribal groups that are making a great effort
to return to their healthy traditions. I feel this is a matter of common sense.
This is not a bad idea for anyone, to eat things that are good for them,
whether they have the thrifty gene or not.
If you have genes from an aboriginal people, refined foods will make you
very sick and probably kill you early. Please take care of yourself and stop
consuming the foods and alcohol that will kill you. Think of the seven
generations before you and the seven that will come after you. You are not only
hurting yourself when you consume things that are bad for you.
I wanted to give you links about the thrifty gene but found
that scientists are arguing about it now. The message still applies. We know
that refined foods, and alcohol are bad for aboriginal people so we should not
consume them. Osiyo.
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