Welcome to Meat, Part 4 in the Bio Hacking Series. This will be the most controversial post in the series, but because of that, possibly contains the most surprising and difficult to find suggestions.
The brief Introduction post sets the stage for this and the posts that followed.
If you have not done so, please do consider reading Part 2 - Mood and Part 3 - Move before reading this post.
The main interruptions to optimal biological activity or homeostasis are no longer threats from our habitat, but rather from out habits. Having everything with we need nutritionally helps to prepare us, but it is our beliefs and conditioning that ultimately free or enslave us.
When we start reacting to our opinions instead of just what is happening in front of us we leave the possibility of graceful action and any sort of relationship with reality. Ironically, the more chaotic our actions become, the more likely we are to turn inwards away from our senses, into our memories and strategies. How did such a strange phenomena occur?
Economics is as old as life itself
A very simple organism, a single cell, will have the ability to produce energy, define its boundaries and sense its environment. To get more information it must increase its membrane surface area. Imagine a quivering drop of water, at some point it is more stable to split into 2 ore more cells to handle the surface tension. When more cells come together, they can, much like us, specialise and diversify.
Some cells will become flagellates,(leg like thingamy’s) - to create motion, some will just process fuel for energy, others, will focus on sensing the environment. This specialisation and co operation allows for complexity and sophistication.
Eventually we end up with a collection of organ systems called an organism, which may have a very sensitive nervous system, both for reading its environment and for interacting with the other creatures within its habitat.
The human nervous system can be seen as an extension of that original membrane or "skin", that is both the interface and the protective boundary.
What the hell has all that got to do with eating Meat?
The most precious part of any organism is its ability to sense and move with what is happening, to create its own graceful patterns of movement to suit changing scenarios. For this, membranes, connective tissue and by extension the nervous system and brain are the most critical structures.
These are made from Fatty acids, predominantly Omega 3 Poly unsaturated acids and phospholipids. Proteins, (amino acids) are comparatively easy to come by, they can be found in nuts, legumes and other plants. Not so Omega 3, which is best found in animal products, along with (12-24 times more bio available) betacarotene, vitamins K2, D, E and B12.
Ratios are important
The body runs on electricity which is produced, stored and transported chemically in the form of the molecule ATP. Producing this from Fat, such as saturated animal fats, uses super efficient metabolic pathways with additional benefits such as anti-inflammation and muscle preservation. The biggest benefit though of this “ketogenic” energy delivery is that it minimises oxidative stress.
The first Tennent of Bio-Hacking is do less of what harms and more of what helps, its actually a minimalist approach. Fatty meats have all we need and nothing we do not, especially if eaten just once every 23-24 hours. The digestive system gets to rest and the immune system can actually check out the rest of our bodies instead of doing battle with harmful plant compounds.
Many people are taking the 4 week or better still 3 month carnivore challenge and discovering that skin and bowel problems disappear. Their thinking is razor sharp and crystal clear on fat, and all the issues related to high blood sugar evaporate.
To understand more about blood sugar and immune function - please check out this post on Vitamin C and you’ll understand why even full carnivores, (no plants at all) do not get scurvy.
When my nervous system is getting what it needs, I stand a greater chance of truly understanding the relationships and opportunities around me. Otherwise, I am just damaged goods, reacting and re-enacting the same patterns that perpetuate loss of clarity, poor decisions and fear based leadership.
I care deeply about the environment, and I am fascinated with what nature was doing long before agriculture. I used to make my own compost, build worm farms and even collect my pee in a bottle to add to my compost. I understand how micro organisms build soil and I know that the richest soils on Earth were build over thousands of years of herbivores living on grass lands.
The idea that a plant based future can be healthy or better for the environment is not based in biology. It does seem to be based on people transferring their own fear of death onto other creatures. All things must die, for the organic building blocks they are comprised of came from creatures before them. Everything that does die, will be eaten. Now that does not justify keeping animals inside, or feeding them seeds rather than allowing them to graze and feed in a vibrant habitat.
What can I say, we are race of control freaks, however, our best works arise when we let go, and allow flow. Allow ourselves to move once more to the grace that is only found in nature.
"Psychobiology" is the name I give to what we have done to nature, to each other. Un-winding that trauma, while keeping the best of our technology, art and culture is an incredible opportunity that is what this blog is about.
Real Abundance
Hope your enjoying it,
=8-P