FARMACY: Leras Family Farm in Santa Rosa

Local, Organic, Sustainable Farms like Leras Family Farm

My kids and I had the pleasure to spend a day at the Leras Family Farm in Santa Rosa last Tuesday. We had a total blast! We played with the two baby calves with Zak (intern), fed slop to the Red Waddle pigs, amusingly watched 24 piglets forage and root on their acreage, studied Danielle the intern making cheese, picked basil, berries and grapes, drank their kombucha and chased and played with their beautiful soy-free, free range chickens in two coups.

Thanks for Dave, WAPF chapter leader in Berkeley for helping to set up!

Mike Leras with my d Hannah and I

FARMACY

What's so awesome about the ecology and environment of an organic farm like Michael Leras and his family's (gorgeous wife Jill (former model), 2 sons, doggy Brownie) is not only the inclusive recycling of all the nutrients from produce and leftovers but the completeness of the system: animals + plants. It's a true farmacopeia of happiness nutrients that every brain, gut and body needs.

Michael and his family go to Three Stone Hearth in Berkeley for families to pick up their fresh products like soy-free eggs, pork, grassfed beef, etc every week on Wed night and Saturdays.



Antidepressant Microbes In Soil: How Dirt Makes You Happy

"Soil Microbes and Human Health: Did you know that there’s a natural antidepressant in soil? It’s true. Mycobacterium vaccae is the substance under study and has, indeed, been found to mirror the effect on neurons that drugs like Prozac provide. The bacterium is found in soil and may stimulate serotonin production, which makes you relaxed and happier. Studies were conducted on cancer patients and they reported a better quality of life and less stress.
Serotonin has been linked to such problems as depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and bipolar problems. The bacterium appears to be a natural antidepressant in soil and has no adverse health effects. These antidepressant microbes in soil may be as easy to use as just playing in the dirt.
Most avid gardeners will tell you that their landscape is their “happy place” and the actual physical act of gardening is a stress reducer and mood lifter. The fact that there is some science behind it adds additional credibility to these garden addicts’ claims. The presence of a soil bacteria antidepressant is not a surprise to many of us who have experienced the phenomenon ourselves. Backing it up with science is fascinating, but not shocking, to the happy gardener.
Mycrobacterium antidepressant microbes in soil are also being investigated for improving cognitive function, Crohn’s disease and even rheumatoid arthritis." Read more HERE. Hat tip: Keith Bell.

Meat Science: Meat and Omega-3 as ACE-Inhibitors

T. Colin Campbell: No Longer Pied-Piper?

So... Again the data speaks volumes and the diminutive Ms. Mingers has put the final dagger in the vegetarian-low-sat-fat-fairy tale spun by so-called academic Campbell. The action is here: The China Study, My Response by Denise Minger.

You know if my teeth, eye color and health were ruined by a low saturated fat, low cholesterol, no meat, high soy, high grain vegetarian diet... I'd be mildly pissed.

And hungry...

For M-E-A-T . . . !



Meat Science

Added to NCBI PubMed in Feb, this newer journal features research and science in MEAT. I came across two articles here regarding protein from meat and beef which behave as ACE-inhibitors, one of the drugs deployed for hypertension, afterload reduction in heart failure and kidney protection in Type 1 (T1)and Type 2 diabetes (T2D) individuals. The mechanism of action of these drugs is blocking a pro-inflammatory-associated enzyme known as angiotension converting enzyme, ACE. Many peptides (proteins that are short sequences) are found in animal, seafood and plants that we consume that, in fact, have ACE-inhibitory action in mammalian systems. Even breastmilk contains lactoferrin which may inhibit ACE.

(1) A review of meat protein hydrolysates and hypertension.
Ahhmed AM, Muguruma M.
Meat Sci. 2010 Sep;86(1):110-8.

(2) Purification and identification of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitory peptides from beef hydrolysates
A. Jang and M. Lee
Meat Science, Volume 69, Issue 4, Pages 653-661.


Clinical M-E-A-T Series *haa*:
o Meat as Medicine: Grassfed v. Conventional
o Phytanic Acid in Grassfed Meat: Binds PPAR-α and RXR (potent anti-inflammatory controls)


Other related meat science and research:
o Antihypertensive Activities of Peptides Derived from Porcine Skeletal Muscle Myosin in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats
o Novel Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme (ACE) Inhibitory Peptides Derived from Boneless Chicken Leg Meat
o Antihypertensive effects and endothelial progenitor cell activation by intake of chicken collagen hydrolysate in pre- and mild-hypertension. [Endothelial progenitor cells are required for cellular and organ regeneration -- prior animal pharm Chicken Soup, Bone Marrow, and EPCs for organ regeneration]




Complex Chronic Diseases and ACE/AII Activity

Diseases since the DAWN OF TIME typically involve stress (physical, mental), trauma, infection, hormone imbalances, omega-3/omega-6 imbalances and elevated insulin, are associated with elevated ACE and AII activity. ACE is a membrane-bound peptidyl dipeptidase known to act on a variety of protein substrates in the extracellular space. Known functions are the formation of angiotensin II and the degradation of bradykinin. ACE has an indispensable role in animal physiology: aids in maintaining homeostasis and preventing death during duress activated by mammalian 'fight or flight', our hard-wired mechanism for survival. A sharp cascade of neuroendocrine and circulatory chemicals are released in stressful/imbalanced situations, as the body is trying to keep blood flow to the brain, heart and vital organs, heart pumping activity and other vital processes (see below diagram). ACE catalyzes the conversion from (less active) Angiotensin I to (more active) Angiotensin II. Do we require ACE and Angiotensin II? Of course, this system required to clear damaged tissue, maintain perfusion of tissues and organs and activate the immune system for healing after trauma and infection. Tourgeman discusses the role of Angiotension II here: ' (a) increases pressure within the kidneys, (b) increases fibrosis (scarring), (c) increases the recruitment of pro-inflammatory white blood cells, (d), increases the production of inflammatory cytokines (chemicals), and (e) increases cell proliferation.'

Courtesy RE Klabunde PhD Cardiovascular Pharmacology

Controlling Insulin, ACE and AII

Epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine, cortisol, renin, aldosterone and other adrenal gland secretions are prompted acutely on a short-term basis. Under high insulin and chronic conditions, these powerful adrenal hormones and chemicals are inappropriately turned on long-term.

Any studies?

Frassetto et al (EJCN, 2009) showed that pre-hypertension normalized after 10 days on a hunter-gather paleolithic diet (grain-free, legume-free) in overweight men and women aged 18+ yo. This study was superby in reducing HOMA, insulin resistance, and basal insulin secretion by ~70%.

Subsequently, the systolic blood pressure reduced by 2.6 mmgHg (NS) diastolic blood pressure dropped from 71 by 3.1 mmHg (p=0.006); this is of huge magnitudes greater than those produced in the VAST MAJORITY of clinical anti-hypertensive drugs.

In younger patients the diastolic BP is more difficult to modify and lower; flips as we get older and arteries stiffen up.

A broad Cochrane review found "We found 92 trials that randomly assigned participants to take either an ACE inhibitor or an inert substance (placebo). These trials evaluated the blood pressure lowering ability of 14 different ACE inhibitors in 12 954 participants. The trials followed participants for approximately 6 weeks (though people are typically expected to take anti-hypertension drugs for the rest of their lives). The blood pressure lowering effect was modest. There was an 8-point reduction in the upper number that signifies the systolic pressure and a 5-point reduction in the lower number that signifies the diastolic pressure."

Again in the hunter-gatherer paleolithic diet (granted they were not yet hypertensive, but on the road there), IN ONLY DAYS of diet modification achieved statistically significant blood pressure reduction.

On this evolutionary/paleo diet, treatment participants consumed eggs, M-E-A-T, or seafood at EVERY MEAL.

Harmful?

No.

Healing.

And frequently and highly observed in individuals who lower their insulin levels and adopt an anti-inflammatory evo/paleo diet (and if necessary take antioxidants like omega-3, zinc, magnesium, etc).



Pharmaceuticals Do Not Work

IMHO ACE-inhibitor and ARB pharmaceuticals hardly at all or only marginally improve chronic disease processes. Unlike food components, drugs are strong. Artificial substances foreign to mammalian systems (xenobiotics) are not metabolized and eliminated in the same fashion as food components thereby potently binding and staying around quite a long duration. Besides binding one single receptor, they may inevitably activate or inhibit a vast variety of other interrelated receptor/enzyme systems. That is how we are built. Everything is INTERRELATED. Approximately 17% of users of an ACE-inhibitor report a dry, non-productive cough as a result of bradykinins building up which cause inflammation in the lungs, consequently resulting in an asthma-related cough. Captopril is the least because it does not affect bradykinin expression as much.

Dry, high-bradykinin, annoying, lingering, inflammation-related cough in affected ACE-inhibitor drug-users? Good? Probably not despite purported 'benefits'.

Another adverse effect of ACE-inhibitors (and ARBs) is hypotension (low BP), kidney failure and elevated potassium. These drugs, like all drugs, can cause what they are purported to 'protect'...

Blocking the final angiotensin at the receptor level is not good either. Recently angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) are associated with a 20% relative increase in new cancer occurrence (7.2% v. 6.0%) compared with placebo in clinical trials (Sipahi et al, Lancet Oncology 2010). Lung cancer was the highest reported solid organ cancer incidence.

Food? Side effects? Generally not unless a food allergy exists to other food components or it promotes excessive insulin or blood glucoses or n-6/n-3 imbalances (e.g. starches, fruit, industrial farmed high n-6 meat/seafood).






Other Beneficial Foods Functioning as ACE-Inhibitors

Nutrigenomics is a new field that helps align our DNA expression to optimizing health via food, food components, and nutraceuticals (omega-3 fish oil supplements, vitamin D supplements, K2 supplements, magnesium, zinc, trace minerals, digestive enzymes, probiotics, etc). I discussed earlier: Nutrigenomics and Hypertension. The below list is adapted (I removed gluten #19).

Note: many of these are shore-based foods with high minerals (iodine, zinc, magnesium, selenium, manganese, chromium, etc).
1. Garlic
2. Seaweed
3. Tuna protein/muscle
4. Sardine protein/muscle (Anchovies too: Caeasar dressing)
5. Hawthorne berry
6. Bonito flakes (fish protein)
7. Pycnogenol (historical used flavonoid used as tea from pine bark)
8. Casein
9. Hydrolyzed Whey protein
10. Sour milk (fermented dairy)
11. Gelatin (protein)
12. Sake (fermented rice wine)
13. Omega-3 essential fatty acids -- even epigenetically reverses hypertension in bred rats
14. Chicken Egg Yolks
15. Zein (lysine and tryptophan-free protein from maize)
16. Dried Salted Fish
17. Fish sauce (fermented product)
18. Zinc
19. Rice bran (fatty acids, proteins)
20. Fermented cheeses
21. Tubers: potatoes, tumeric/curcumin, Japanese yams, Chinese yams,
22. Lactoferrin (human breastmilk, cow/goat/sheep dairy)
23. Cocoa storage protein
24. Pork protein/muscle
25. Chicken protein/muscle
26. Beef protein/muscle



Omega-3 Reverses Damage from Stressors (Insulin, Salt, Fructose, Cold Storage) and Epigenetically in Low-Protein-Mother and Stressed-Mother Rats

Omega-3 fish oil is just amazing stuff; it reduces ACE by more than one mechanism of action... It reverses all kinds of damage in rat studies and human studies caused by the S.A.D. and neolithic living. Unfortunately for the great majority of human trials, the research doses are often so low to be clinically inconsequential and inconclusive. For accurate results, I believe the dose needs to be calculated per person and based on (1) omega-3 deficiency and (2) accumulated omega-6 incorporation into cell membranes and adipose/fat stores. Current ratios in the U.S. of n-6/n-3 in blood or tissue membranes is 30:1 to (!!) 40+:1 and getting worse as we speak as many outspoken physicians, cardiologists and government agencies are trying to promote more high omega-6 canola oil and other oxidized refined vegetable oils to replace saturated fats.

Dietary n-3 PUFAs affect the blood pressure rise and cardiac impairments in a hyperinsulinemia rat model in vivo.
Rousseau D, Héliès-Toussaint C, Moreau D, Raederstorff D, Grynberg A.
Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2003 Sep;285(3):H1294-302.

Interrelationships between salt and fish oil in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rat.
Vaskonen T, Laakso J, Mervaala E, Sievi E, Karppanen H.
Blood Press. 1996 May;5(3):178-89.

Long-chain (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids prevent metabolic and vascular disorders in fructose-fed rats.
Robbez Masson V, Lucas A, Gueugneau AM, Macaire JP, Paul JL, Grynberg A, Rousseau D.
J Nutr. 2008 Oct;138(10):1915-22.

Beneficial effects of omega-3 fatty acid treatment on the recovery of cardiac function after cold storage of hyperlipidemic rats.
Ku K, Oku H, Kaneda T, Onoe M, Zhang Z.
Metabolism. 1999 Oct;48(10):1203-9.


Epigenetic implications:
Adult cardiorenal benefits from postnatal fish oil supplement in rat offspring of low-protein pregnancies.
Catta-Preta M, Oliveira DA, Mandarim-de-Lacerda CA, Aguila MB.
Life Sci. 2006 Dec 23;80(3):219-29.

Maternal fish oil supplementation benefits programmed offspring from rat dams fed low-protein diet.
Gregório BM, Souza-Mello V, Mandarim-de-Lacerda CA, Aguila MB.
Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2008 Jul;199(1):82.e1-7.

Developmental programming of renal glucocorticoid sensitivity and the renin-angiotensin system. [high omega-3 diet ameliorates high BP and high ACE activity in F1 generation born from rats given maternal-dexamethasone-dosing]
Wyrwoll CS, Mark PJ, Waddell BJ.
Hypertension. 2007 Sep;50(3):579-84. Free PDF.

The maternal diet during pregnancy programs altered expression of the glucocorticoid receptor and type 2 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase: potential molecular mechanisms underlying the programming of hypertension in utero.
Bertram C, Trowern AR, Copin N, Jackson AA, Whorwood CB.
Endocrinology. 2001 Jul;142(7):2841-53.


Human study:
Fish oil [1.8 g EPA+DHA] prevents the adrenal activation elicited by mental stress in healthy [lean, young] men.
Delarue J, Matzinger O, Binnert C, Schneiter P, Chioléro R, Tappy L.
Diabetes Metab. 2003 Jun;29(3):289-95. Free PDF.

Okinawans: Hormones and Pork (again)

'The Jungle Effect'

I'm reading 'The Jungle Effect' by Dr. Daphne Miller MD, professor at UCSF. It is better than the Blue Zone. She has some candid interviews and observations that remind me of Weston A. Price and Francis Pottenger's nutritional insights. Dr. Miller went around the world, lived amond native groups who practice ancestral food and lifestyle cultures.

Her perspective is neat because it encompassed both the medical and nutritional points of discussions -- vitamin A and D and omega-3's are frequently referenced. She keenly noted how Okinawans lived in their 80s and 90s wihtout being incapacitated or wheelchair bound. When women transitioned to menopause they reported 'easy menopause transitions free from hot flashes, sleep disturbances, and mood swings. In addition, the fatigue, poor memory, depression los of sexual drive, and impotence that we consider to be a normal part of agiing were rarely experienced by even the eldest of Okinawans.'


Sex

She also reports that 'In fact, the research team interviewed a number of men and women who were still experiencing healthy, active sex lives in their eighties and beyond.' Why? Could it be the pork? The pigs raised on green pastures and imo -- the purple sweet potatoe that is loaded with antioxidants?


Okinawans: High Levels of Hormones

Dr. Miller is keen and a girl after my own hormonal heart...
'After doing lengthy laboratory analyses on the Okinawan elderly, the Centenarian Study research team was ablt to identify more specifically how these foods may be helping to preserve their vitality. the foods seemed to augment natural homrone levels since Okinawans had higher levels of thyroid hormone, cortisol, and sex hormone -- including TESTOSTERONE, DHT, ESTRADIOL, and DEHYDROXYEPIANDOSTERONE -- than a comparison group of elderly from the United States. Interestingly, if you look across the lifespan, Okinanawans and North Americans seem to have different hormonal patterns. While the average North American starts out in adolescence with higher levels (a fact that many researchers atribute to the synthetic hormones commonly found in U.S. meat and dairy products), the hormone levels seem to fizzle out by the time most Americans reach their mid-fifties. Okinawans, however, tend to start low, increase slowly, and maintain their hormone levels longer than elderly in the United States."


Better Adrenal Organs

..'In fact the researchers did an autopsy on one very elderly woman and were surprised to see that her adrenal glands (the organs where many of these hormones are produced) were the same weight as those of a much younger woman.'


Pork Does a Body Good

Miller references one of the coauthors of the Okinawa diet book, Craig Willcox, as believing that 'pork, as it is eaten traditionally on the island, is actually an important player in the longevity diet.' Errr... that somehow did not make it into the text. Yes. I checked. Fervently and was strongly disappointed with the book and its pork-deficiencies.

'He explained that the long-lived participants in the Okinawan centenarian AStudy had high blood levels of proline and glycine, which came, at least partly , from the collagen and elastin in pork. These proteins help the body to build and regenerate normal tissue' she reports.


Pork = Excellent Source of Selenium for Glutathione

'Pork happens to be an excellent source of selenium, an essential mineral that concentraes in the breast and prostate and acts as a building block for a powerful cancer-fighting enzyme called glutathione peroxidase.' She lists sources of selenium: spinach (cooked 1 c) 2.7 ug; whole-grain bread slice (11.2 ug); sunlfower seeds (1/4 c) 25.4 ug; anchovies (3 oz) 31 ug; pork loin 4 oz (37 ug); halibut 3 oz (39.8 ug); Brazil nut (1 nut) 100 ug. Bison is a great source especially raised on sunflower screenings and/or pasture contains 26-31 ug selenium per 100 grams (~ 3 oz). [Thank you gentlereader Sweeney for the reference HERE] Selenium is vital not only for our #1 antioxidant and de-toxifier glutathione, but also for components of enzymes responsible for conversion of thyroid, adrenal hormones and neurotransmitters in our nervous and immune systems.


Pig: What You Eat is What You Are

Is Okinawan pork different? Possibly. Miller states 'In Okinawa, most pork is raised on purple and orange imo [special species of sweet potato, which apparently has a slimly consistency]. Certainly a pig eating such nutrient-rich food cannot help but be nutrient-rich itself.' Lard? Bone broths? Okinawans are subsistence farmers. Miller discusses how the fat was discarded and only lean meats consumed... misinformation? She fails to mention cooking with lard. Again, with my self experimentation, 1-2 Tbs of saturated fat raised my HDL chol from 89 to 105 mg/dl in ~6wks (18%). Perhaps higher, bionic HDLs help traditional Okinawans achieve centenarian status?



Prior posts:

Brain and Cholesterol
When is Cholesterol Too Low? -- coconut oil raises HDL
Brain and Adrenal Health
Okinawan resouces -- pork-rich, island shoreside diet

Momofuku Pork Bun SERVES 1

Courtesy of Inuyaki
Top, I's homemade

Bottom, Momofuku's Pork Belly Bun

I.
Love.
Belly and BUNS.

Growing up eating Peking duck as a special weekly treat which required ordering 24hrs in advance, our family treasures the soft, fluffy (wheat, non-paleo) bread-pillows that are used to envelope rich roasted duck accompanied by sweet plumy hoisin sauce and a hit of brightness from thinly sliced long scallions. The best duck were the ones with juicy, moist meat and a crispy, crunchy skin. My sisters and I would sometimes eat the brains from the duckhead which came with the whole roasted duck. We're Chinese, e.g. we eat everything. Head-to-toes *winky*.

Marrow, meat... feet.

Visiting Momofuku restaurant in New York is a great Paleo treat. I don't think the owner David Chang intended to have a phenomenal paleo-type restaurant but indeed that is what it kinda is. Fatty meat, pig pig pig galore and the most delicious awesome variety of fusion (Korean, Chinese, Japanese, etc). I've only been there once with my little bro but I am looking forward again when I go back and he gives me a bionic tooth implant/crown (being a 4th yr Columbia dental stud). Waiting in line at Momofuku (translation Japanese: 'lucky peach') is not paleo *haa* IMHO but hey it is worth the price of unforgettable FOOD. Chang's cookbook is a FANTASTIC, engrossing read. If it were not for an unprecedented failure, he would not have adapted in the micro-niche of restauranting and evolved Momofuku's, one of the best, most heralded restaurants in NYC, the city of fast live-die-restaurant cycles. He is a cardinal survivalist and evolutionist. I admire those with the skills to identify what is not working and to tweak and adjust for things to work. His restaurant also applies the liberal use of LARD, pork fat. The pork belly recipe recycles food, like all good chefs. The rendered protein and fats are collected after the roasting which is gelatinous and similar to aspic (YUM) and used in other Momofuku dishes and to flavor soups.

PHAT FAT is treasured.

Quite frankly Chang is a F*KU genius. Ancestral food + neolithic brilliance.


Prior animal pharm post on Okinawan LARD and LONGEVITY.


The book is HELLUV entertaining. Watch out, the only cookbook with a precaution for R-rated language. *haa* Richard, Paleo-King, U'd LOVE IT (LIKE ME).



Stolen recipes, courtesy NY Time Out:

• Momofuku pork bun, serves 1
• Momofuku, pork belly

Abridged: Roasted Pork Belly
--skinless pork belly, 1/4 c sugar, 1/4 c salt
--dry brine 6 to < 24 hrs in fridge
--roast 450°F 1hr; lower heat 250°F another 1hr
--rest the meat then... F-E-A-S-T



David Chang's Momofuku book was a Xmas gift to my foodie brother (which THANK YOU U.P.S. arrived afternoon of Xmas Eve, delivered as I was walking to my car by a haaawwt U.P.S. male driver, why r they all so uniformly ridiculously ROCKN-in-shorts???! Job prerequisite?).



My bro's rendition ...(sorry, picture pending my download skills which are non-existent). YUMM. Hard to screw up. Easy to eat. Effort: NONE. His 3 lb-roast served 6 adults and 2 kids for TWO MEALS. Paleo-thrifty in these economic times. Completed one of our best Christmas dinners!

Value: Immeasurable
Cost: Sacramento local asian meat market, pork belly $1.70 per lb
(anatomically, belly is the same as bacon, see below)

Courtesy of Art of Not Working LOVE UR SITE

Benefits of High-Saturated Fat Diets (Part V): The Traditional Okinawans

Goya Chanpuru dish courtesy of TastyIsland

According to Dr. Willcox, Principal Investor for the Okinawa Centenarian Study that started in 1975, "Among the entire population, which takes a sparing approach to food, there is 90 percent less coronary artery disease than in the wider world, a third less incidence of cancer, and breast cancer is virtually unheard of." HERE. In long-living Okinawan and Japanese, their dietary intake as surveyed in the 1970s was higher in both protein and dietary saturated fatty acids (see below abstract) compared to their shorter-lived peers at that time. When Okinawans move away (like to Brazil) heart disease risk factors appear (see last abstract). Diet is 80-90% of our health I believe because our bodies are designed to express what is dictated by our environment and food macro- micronutrients (foraging/hunting v. lounging; fecundity v. fasting). (These are the PPAR alpha gamma and delta receptors; their role is to 'sense nutrients' and to 'sense energy demand' in order to ultimately balance our energy needs). To me, the observations from blue zones and centenarian data always seem to reinforce that the physically active, low carb mod-high fat Paleo/TYP approach is the most optimal at this time, as it was for centenarians studied in the 1970s.


Protein and Fats?

Dietary Protein and Fatty Acids activate PPAR alpha gamma delta. (Like drugs but no adverse effects and gosh so yummy...)
(a) PPAR Delta: Omega-3 PUFAs, Fish Oil, Grassfed Beef
(b) PPAR Delta: Dagger in the Heart of CAD
(c) PPAR Delta: Prevent Sarcopenia, Poverty of the Flesh
(d) PPAR Delta: Saturated Fatty Acids Are Anti-Atherogenic


Okinawan culture not only embraces one of the most heart-healthy diets (high seafood, animal meat, milk, eggs, saturated fats, high minerals and low carb) but also a very physically active lifestyle. Additionally, like other long-living societies, they display a distinct community spirit and lifestyle that values every members' contributions including elders, daily prayer, frequent festivals honoring ancestral spirits, playing/dancing (Bali, Polynesian style) regularly, exercising/tai chi together, working diligently until the day they pass away, hot baths (sweat out toxins) daily, avid music listening, folkmusic singing, instrument playing (sanshin) and is tied around all generations of extended families yet promotes self-sufficiency and self-reliance. Traditional Okinawan livelihoods and common activities are still farming, fishing and gardening.


Internet? I am not sure if it would be embraced by these happy, busy, peaceful inhabitants of this subtropical semi-Paleo-fantasy island... They are too busy LIVING. *ahaa*



Carbohydrate intake (less than mainland Japan, ALL GLUTEN-LESS):
--sweet potato
--rice
--mochi (sticky rice dessert)
--buckwheat noodles
--raw goat milk (alkaline, more similar casein profile to human milk)




Here are some 'secret' foods from this ancient society:
--goya (twice the vitamin C as citrus) Okinawan version of Chinese bitter melon known to lower blood glucoses and inflammation; the above pictured dish goya chanpuru is a staple (goya, eggs, pork, lard, bonita shaved taurine/fish)
--nigari (more Magnesium and Calcium than trad'l tofu)
--sweet potatoes (anti-inflammatory, rich in carotenoids and hormone precursors)
--fish fish fish seafood seafood seafood (taurine, iodine, omega-3s, carotenoids, krill oil, astaxanthin)
--goat meat: stewed, stir fried
--raw goat sashimi which is considered a delicacy (taurine, omega-3s, CLA, and other muscle building/fat-burning fatty acids)
--raw goat milk (plant sterols, short and medium-chain saturated fatty acids, CLA)
--LARD LARD LARD (anti-inflammatory, lowers sdLDL-particles and %-sdLDL, increases particle buoyancy like other saturated fatty acids like lauric acid)
--BOAR PORK BOAR PORK BOAR PORK (pork belly, stews, stock, etc)
--miso (centenarian Okinawans have ME-SO-PRETTY skin and coronary arteries! ..."source of vitamin E, saponin, isoflavones, lecithin, choline, and dietary fiber from soybeans; vitamin B2 from koji mold; and vitamin B12 from lactic or propionic acid bacteria" ...fermented foods and probiotics that promote longevity are staples Japanese food)
--fermented fish sauce (source of vitamins B12, K2, MKs) Ishiru/squid, Ishiru/sardine, Shozzuru (pickled juices of mackerel-sardines-anchovies)--red tofu (fermented source of vitamin K2 MKs)
--seaweed (iodine, marine minerals and antioxidants like FUCOIDAN/ fucoxanthin)

Nutrition for the Japanese elderly.
Shibata H et al Nutr Health. 1992;8(2-3):165-75.

The present paper examines the relationship of nutritional status to further life expectancy and health status in the Japanese elderly based on 3 epidemiological studies.

1. Nutrient intakes in 94 Japanese centenarians investigated between 1972 and 1973 showed a higher proportion of ANIMAL PROTEIN to total proteins than in contemporary average Japanese.

2. High intakes of MILK and FATS and OILS had favorable effects on 10-year (1976-1986) survivorship in 422 urban residents aged 69-71. The survivors revealed a longitudinal INCREASE in intakes of ANIMAL foods such as EGGS, MILK, FISH and MEAT over the 10 years.

3. Nutrient intakes were compared, based on 24-hour dietary records, between a sample from OKINAWA Prefecture where life expectancies at birth and 65 were the LONGEST in Japan, and a sample from Akita Prefecture where the life expectancies were much shorter. Intakes of Ca, Fe, vitamins A, B1, B2, C, and the proportion of energy from PROTEINS and FATS were SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER in the former than in the latter. Intakes of CARBOHYDRATES and NaCl were LOWER.

PMID: 1407826

Impact of diet on the cardiovascular risk profile of Japanese immigrants living in Brazil: contributions of World Health Organization CARDIAC and MONALISA studies.
Moriguchi EH et al. Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 2004 Dec;31 Suppl 2:S5-7.

1. Japanese immigrants from Okinawa living in Brazil have a higher mortality from cardiovascular diseases and have their mean life expectancy shortened compared with their counterparts living in Japan.

2. A cross-sectional study comparing Okinawans living in Okinawa (OO) and Okinawan immigrants living in Brazil (OB) was designed to characterize the dietary factors that could interfere with the profile of cardiovascular risk factors and with this reduction on the life expectancy when Okinawans emigrate to Brazil.

3. In total, 234 OO and 160 OB (aged 45-59 years) were recruited to the present study to undergo medical and dietary history, blood pressure measurement, electrocardiograph (ECG), blood tests and 24 h food/urine collection.

4. In the present study, OO subjects presented with 37% less obesity and 50% less systemic hypertension than OB. The OB subjects used threefold more antihypertensive medication than OO. Meat intake was 34% higher in OB than OO, whereas fish intake was sevenfold higher in OO than OB. Serum potassium levels were 10% higher in OO than OB. Urinary TAURINE (an index of seafood intake) was 43% HIGHER in OO than OB. Urinary isoflavones (an index of the intake of soy products) were significantly lower in OB than in OO. Of (OMEGA-3 PUFAs) acid (20:5) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6) were TWO- TO THREE-FOLD HIGHER in OO than OB, respectively.

5. The rate of ischaemic ECG changes in OO subjects was only 50% of that of OB subjects.

6. There were no differences in the smoking rate between OO and OB subjects.

7. The results of the present study suggest that coronary risk factors and cardiovascular health are not only regulated by genetic factors, but that the impact of LIFESTYLE (MAINLY DIET) can be large enough to modulate the EXPRESSION OF GENES.

PMID: 18254187



The Food of Paradise: Exploring Hawaii's Culinary Heritage

By Rachel Laudan (Kolowalu Books, 1996) HERE






Read more about Okinawan food, culture and lifestyles:

Diary of Local Okinawan TASTY Dishes *YUMM* Goat sashimi, boiled testicles with miso and vinegar, slow cooked stews (fatty pork), goya chanpuru
Children of Heaven Interview: Live SLOW Live LONG
Okinawan 'Lard' Recipes *ahhhha*
The Way of ChoJu: Consuming Longevity in a Rural Japanese Village (Masters Thesis by J. Busch)
Mashed Okinawan Purple Sweet Potato Recipe (americanized)
Goat Meat and Milk Productivity in Subtropical Okinawa for last 80-130+ years
Goat Meat and Pig Rearing in Okinawa Prefecture
Traditional Yagi (Goat) Dishes and changes in modern Okinawan youth -- Yagi-jiru Goat soup, stir-fried goat, raw yagi-sashi goat sashimi, etc
Raw Grassfed Goat Milk in an Okinawa Study Tolerated due to different type of non-allergenic beta-A2 casein and better saturated fatty acid profile (butyric, propionic, lauric, caprylic, etc)
Okinawan Goat Milk
Traditional Japanese Condiments: shoyu, miso, ishiru, preparations
Truth About Saturated Fats by M. Enig and S. Fallon: "In Okinawa, where the average life span for women is 84 years—longer than in Japan—the inhabitants eat generous amounts of pork and seafood and do all their cooking in LARD (Franklyn D, Health, September 1996, 57-63 .)" This is not apparently the case currently... as canola and other refined omega-6 oils which oxidize super rapidly increased to predominant use after the 1980-90's; canola is not great but less omega-6 compared with corn, soybean, safflower, sunflower, cottonseed, grapeseed, or peanut oils.
Okinawa Centenarian Study and Genetics
Ex-Pats in Okinawa and Crossfit Asia/Okinawa
Bizarre Food's Andrew Zimmern checks out: traditional Okinawan sea snake soup, raw goat ball and testicles, yako-gai (giant sea snail), squid ink soup, and giant tuna eyeballs, stewed in mirin, garlic, ginger, and brown sugar
"Blue Zone Okinawans formed moais to support each other in good times and bad" HHhmmmmm.... sounds like... our TYP forum? our Paleo blogoshere? our Xfit gym networks?
Goat's Milk, Blue Zones and Longevity: "Goat's milk - 80 percent of all people over 90 have consumed goat’s milk many times per week throughout their life. It is rich in blood-pressure lowering tryptophan and antibacterial compounds."
Blue Zone concordance: Ikaria, Greece similar to Okinawa, Japan in lifestyles, hot baths (?Magnesium, Iodine), raw goat milk consumption, wild greens, tea-drinking, relaxing, embracing community and family closely, etc