I have been trying a few things related to the Man the Fisher idea. The first is iodine. I eat virtually no salt and also no seafood, so it seemed like a good idea to try some iodine. I have been supplementing with it for about a month. I haven't noticed any huge improvements, but there doesn't seem to be any negative side effects.
Next up are the Trace Minerals shown above. The idea is that there are critical elements that can only be provided by marine foods. Again, no big improvements but no side effects either.
I look at these two supplements as insurance policies. If the historical Paleo diet was heavily dependent on marine food, then I'm covered.
Before the advent of refrigeration and canning, the only way humans really had to preserve food was salt. Our consumption of salt radically dropped in the 20th century, and it does not seem likely to me that any of the disease that increased while salt consumption was decreasing can be caused by excess salt consumption.
If you believe in the Aquatic Ape theory then our ancestors were big fish eaters. Basically the theory says we evolved along the coasts and not on the African savanna. With the sea level rise all evidence of this is now gone. Stone tools go back some 2-2.5 million years. Before that we would have had sharpened sticks. They could have been used to catch fish in streams.
Matt,
When I switched 4 years ago to Paleo/EF, I did NOT cut the salt intake. With all the talk about iodine deficiency from going paleo, does consuming salt (not sea salt) give you some protection? Or do you think the salt is a no no?
Appreciate your thoughts on it.
Marc
I’ve been looking for something like this (just hesitant). Started Bikram yoga and sweating for hours every week at 104F (don’t know if Paleo but it is surely de-toxifying, eliminating neolithic toxins). One of my teeth started aching, only occurs after half-marathons (without eating my usual bowl of beef broth/PHO).
The strong shore-based diet makes sense from the scientific evidence. All the shore-based foods provide mechanisms of action that are similar to drugs:
–taurine (seafood/raw meat) — lowers BP glucose TG pain inflammation, improves mood GABA-ergic neurons HDL-chol (reverses fatty liver, improves bile)
–cholesterol (caviar, seafood)
–omega-3 — need I say more, the brain’s vital architecture and fast speed internet cable
–ocean minerals (chromium, boron, manganese, magnesium, iodine iodine iodine, selenium, potassium, etc)
I’m on the fence on this subject, but I’ll post about it soon.