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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2016)
Logan Butler, Lee Butler and Isaac Butler (left photo); and Matt Garrett, Randy Garrett and Maranda Garrett (above) volunteer for the woodcut in May. Courtesy photos by Denise Garrett Cut Wood for the Elders Day needs your help to get firewood to Tribal elders The Tribal Natural Resources Com- mittee and Natural Resources Department will sponsor the second Cut Wood for the Elders Day of the year on July 16. The woodcut will be held on the Tribe’s Logsden Road property between the Tribal food distribution warehouse and the Tribal vehicle storage yard in Siletz. We need lots of volunteers to help cut, split and deliver firewood for Tribal elders. Bring your chainsaws, hydraulic wood splitters, splitting mauls, axes and lots of energy. Lunch, drinks and snacks will be provided. We will start at 8 a.m. and go until mid-afternoon. The goal of this event is to deliver fire- wood to as many elders as possible. The Elders Program maintains a list of elders who burn wood for their winter heat. People willing to haul firewood to elders outside of the Siletz area should contact the Elders Program clerk at 800- 922-1399, ext. 1261, or 541-444-8261 to be paired up with an elder in need. We especially need folks who can haul wood to the Eugene, Salem and Portland areas. Elders in need of firewood also should contact the Elders Program clerk to get their name on the delivery list. If you have parents or grandparents who burn wood in the winter to stay warm, you need to help out at this event. Come help replenish those wood piles for the coming winter. This year’s final woodcut is Sept. 17. Modern-day hunter-gatherers: What are we meant to eat? By Nancy Ludwig, MS, RD, LD, Siletz Tribal Head Start Nutrition An article by The PaleoMom caught my eye recently, although it was published in September 2015. My purpose here is to highlight nutrition concepts of traditional foods for modern-day healthy eating. Key points are summarized below with refer- ence links. For some reason the question about whether we are innate herbivores, carni- vores or omnivores is often hotly debated. Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, Ph.D. (also known as The PaleoMom), believes that based on examining a variety of scientific angles, including evolutionary history, surveys of modern hunter-gatherers, clues from our primate relatives, comparative anatomy and our unique genetic adaptations to starch and dairy, we are clearly omnivores. An omnivore is an animal that likes to eat plants and meat. An herbivore eats only plants while a carnivore eats only meat. Analysis of hunter-gatherer societies across the world suggests they average about half of their diet (calorie-wise) from animal foods and about half from plant foods, with wiggle room on either side depending on what types of meat and vegetation are abundant. Keep in mind that 50 percent of dietary calories from one type of food isn’t the same as 50 percent dietary volume from that food, meaning that if you aim for a diet of approximately 50 percent plants and 50 percent animals, as hunter- gatherers tend toward on average, the plants will take up more visual space in each meal, typically on the order of plant foods taking up 2/3 to 3/4 of your plate. It may be useful to consider a palm- sized high quality protein portion with 4 • Siletz News • the remainder of the plate in vegetables, which may be seasoned with high quality fat. I add that high quality means clean foods, raised responsibly, without con- tamination, that are not altered by genetic engineering or converted to trans fats and fresh vs. rancid. A diet in which 50 percent of calo- ries are coming from plant foods will tend to include some carbohydrates. In other words, the diets of hunter-gatherers generally are not low-carb. (see carbs-vs- protein-vs-fat insight article link below for more information). Loren Cordain studied the diets of hunter-gatherers and noted a wide range of protein, carbohydrate and fat intake (ref- erence below). The far north populations tended to have fewer carbohydrates and more fat. But many cultures, however, also eat higher carb diets, with modest fat calo- ries and most of the fat being saturated. It was also noted that the diverse diets of hunter-gatherers had common ground. The nutrient contents all changed with the seasons, they had cycles of feast and famine, the foods were nutrient-dense (many vitamins and minerals per calorie) and fiber was quite a bit higher than the current healthy recommendations. The take home point is that rather than worrying if you’ve eaten too many carbohydrates or fat grams, your mental energy might be better spent trying to squeeze a wide variety of fresh, high- quality, nutrient-dense plant and animal foods onto your plate (like organ meat, seafood and tons of veggies), and enjoy- ing every bite! Notice I did not include sweet treats, which are a modern downfall for many. July 2016 The bulk of the available scientific evidence additionally points to low-fat diets also having plenty of risks. For one, we need some dietary fat to optimize the absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Also, low-fat diets and having low levels of serum cholesterol (which tend to go hand-in-hand) have been linked to a variety of health conditions, including depression and suicide (low-fat diets may impair serotonin receptors by decreasing the fats in nerve-cell mem- branes), anxiety, aggression, other violent behavior, premature death and even cancer (fat and cholesterol are important for the integrity of cell membranes). Hunter-gatherers certainly don’t fol- low low-fat diets. Most contemporary studies of hunter-gatherers report as much as 58 percent of their calories from fat. Overall, the research points towards a moderate fat intake (30-40 percent of calories, perhaps as high as 50 percent for some people) being ideal for maintaining all aspects of our health (see link below for Saturated Fat: Healthful, Harmful or Somewhere in Between). Keep in mind that the fat consumed needs to be healthy, which means fresh, not rancid, and not processed into trans-fats. In summary: 3. The diets of hunter-gatherers gener- ally are not low-carb and are influ- enced by location, season, availability and climate. In today’s world, this translates to a wide variety of fresh, high quality, nutrient-dense plant and animal foods on your plate (like organ meat, seafood and tons of veggies) and enjoying every bite! There was no mention of cookies or candy. 4. Hunter-gatherers may have eaten more than half of their calories in fat. We need healthy fat to support our mental health. Overall, the research points toward a moderate fat intake (30-40 percent of calories). Again, the emphasis is on healthy and may include the fat we eat in nuts, seeds and avocados as well as salmon and other animal foods. 5. If you want more science, check out the links provided below. Siletz Tribal Head Start is an important and influential program. I am pleased to support family nutrition education. Reference links • • 1. Hunter-gatherers are omnivores and eat plants and animals. 2. The average intake of hunter-gatherers with half calories from animal foods and half from plant foods actually looks more like a palm sized, high quality protein portion with the remainder of the plate in vegetables (2/3 to 3/4 of the volume) and may be seasoned with high quality fat. • • thepaleomom.com/2015/09/the-diet- were-meant-to-eat-part-3-how-much- meat-vs.-veggies.html thepaleomom.com/2016/06/carbs- vs.-protein-vs.-fat-insight-from- hunter-gatherers.html Cordain L, et al. Plant-animal subsis- tence ratios and macronutrient energy estimations in worldwide hunter- gatherer diets. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000 Mar;71(3):682-92 thepaleomom.com/2016/03/satu- rated-fat-healthful-harmful-or-some- where-in-between.html)
