Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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I just ran across this entry in Wikipedia that claims there is evidence that humans have been eating land snails since the Pleistocene: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_snail#Snails_as_human_food

I haven't seen snails or clams or mussels or other freshwater gastropods come up in any paleo discussions, blogs, books (not that I've read any in their entirety), etc. Since our ancestors would have spent most of their time near fresh water lakes and streams if possible, they'd have been eating not just a lot more fresh water fish, but also crustaceans like crayfish, mollusks like bivalves (clams, oysters, scallops) and gastropods (snails). Depending on the region, Grok would have seen bears, raccoons, otters or other animals prying the shells apart and then done the same, no?

(In that sense, I guess this question relates somewhat to the question I asked last night about why we can't just smell something and know if it's good or bad for us.)

I'm suddenly thinking a New England style clam chowder made carefully could be a very yummy paleo soup/stew! Butter, cream, clams, potatoes, onions, a hint of celery... mmmm!!!

So, this has me wondering: what other sorts of foods Grok would have had on his menu that we might still overlook today?

flag	asked Jun 19 2011 at 1:16 Rock_Paper_Shirley 4,131●3●14

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i talk a LOT, likely too much, about my delicious little mollusc friends! also, do NOT forget about the salt pork in that chowder recipe. DO. NOT. – being Jun 19 2011 at 1:59

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I would eat ersters everyday if I could! and I LOVE snails! Butter and parsely is all you need! – Futureboy Jun 19 2011 at 2:32

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Hellz yes..I love snails drowned in butter and garlic. And mussels and oysters. I love this question. I live by the ocean and get my crab right off the boats in bodega bay. – baconbitch Jun 19 2011 at 2:54

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Baconbitch, I'm totally jealous! – Futureboy Jun 19 2011 at 5:56

Me too! I loved to eat my way through a big platter of "fruit de mer" when I was on vacation in france with my parents... even at the age of 3... But now it's just now and then some mussels or escargots... – Kikilula Jun 19 2011 at 7:00

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David Rourke · Answer 1 · 2011-06-19 01:36:25Z UTC

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Westerners generally find the idea of eating insects disgusting (and I'm not fond of the idea myself), but I expect that lots of paleolithic H/G groups probably ate plenty of them.

answered Jun 19 2011 at 1:36

David Rourke
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I hear ya... I ate escargot smothered in cheese three times over a year or so... then one day I ordered them and they arrived in all of their naked glory. I hate to admit it, but they were much harder to eat when there wasn't any cheese to hide their curled up grubby shape and little "feet" if that's what they can be called. I love shrimp and lobster, which are very close cousins of other land insects, but I'd have to be really, really desperate and starving, or offered a MASSIVE sum of money to do it. – Rock_Paper_Shirley Jun 19 2011 at 1:53

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spiders and scorpions taste like crab apparently...pass the clarified butter, parsley and garlic! – Futureboy Jun 19 2011 at 2:28

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if there was a way for me to purchase insects to eat...I totally would. – RR Jun 19 2011 at 5:58

I've thought about having a cricket farm, ha ha. – Sunny Beaches Mar 25 2012 at 20:50

ben61820 · Answer 2 · 2011-06-19 01:44:12Z UTC

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Organs. People talk about liver this and organ that a lot but I know about 10 paleo folk and I am the only one who regularly eats any. And even at that, I only do liver, and it's not very frequent. At least not in large amounts. I dont think many paleo people really eat a good amount of organs.

Iodine from sea vegetables is probably though the most glaring, dangerous thing lacking in paleo people's diets.

answered Jun 19 2011 at 1:44

ben61820
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I have to agree whole heartedly with this. I do like organ meat, but very rarely and usually in the form of liverwurst, which is full of salt and preservatives. I take raw, dessicated adrenal, pituitary and thyroid supplements, one of which also contains spleen and thymus. No doubt it's not as good as doing the real thing, but I feel really fantastic when I take them. I also take a kelp supplement, because I believe you are right on with that one as well! – Rock_Paper_Shirley Jun 19 2011 at 1:51

Tell me more about this kelp supplement... – Sara Jun 19 2011 at 2:09

$3 at whole foods vitacost.com/… – Jeff Jun 19 2011 at 2:19

I wanna do some organ heavy (kidney, brain, liver, etc...), nice and fatty terrine experiments. ever tried making it? – Futureboy Jun 19 2011 at 2:31

I get 180 kelp capsules by Nature's Way from Amazon which lasts roughly 6 months if taken once a day: amazon.com/gp/product/B00024D1ZA/… It's a lot of kelp (seaweed) once dried into a little supplement. I only take one a day - no more - because the labeling suggests not to, but I don't know why exactly m(has something to do with iodine) but Kelp also has other important minerals. – Rock_Paper_Shirley Jun 19 2011 at 2:33

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Josh M · Answer 3 · 2011-06-19 05:27:48Z UTC

I have eaten most things that run, crawl, fly or swim, including snails, crickets, grasshoppers, ants, bees, fish roe, clams, squid, etc. The world is abundant with healthy food, trouble is most people, esp in the west have developed a very narrow idea of what can be eaten. On the farm, when I was a kid, we used to shoot starlings (a smallish bird) lured with dog-food and then roast the breasts only (little meat anywhere else) over a fire. I have eaten prairie oysters, moose-nose soup and a Filipino dish made of fermented pigs blood. Hmmm starting to get hungry now lol.

Jac · Answer 4 · 2011-06-19 01:36:29Z UTC

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Yeah, this is where 'eating like my ancestors' and I come to a parting of the ways. My Maori ancestors would have eaten a thing called a huhu grub - looks like an overgrown maggot and wiggles like one, too. Apparently has a high protein value, but eeeeuw. Fish, definitely a big part of paleo food in this part of the world - lots of my friends still go diving for their dinner!

answered Jun 19 2011 at 1:36

Jac
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	I've been pulling out grass and weeds from my freshly tilled garden, and if they look anything like root grubs... no way... well... unless they're first called something else and smothered with cheese and I'm told over and over again for years that it's popular in France... :p – Rock_Paper_Shirley Jun 19 2011 at 1:54
	Lol, not even the cheese would do it for me!! Google it, you'll see what I mean! There are some awesome traditional food festivals here, where it's still served . . . – Jac Jun 19 2011 at 2:14
	I figure kefir counts for the 'little wriggly creatures' part of my diet. I'm sure the bacteria would look absolutely chillingly disgusting - but are too small to see (their loss my gain)! – CaveRat Jun 19 2011 at 3:01

Kikilula · Answer 5 · 2011-06-19 07:12:39Z UTC

Until the middle of the 20th century that was a popular dish in Germany and France: Soup made from cockchafer / may bugs.

Then the may bugs were fought with insecticides and are now rather rare - and today nobody would eat this soup any more...

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maik%C3%A4fersuppe

andrew · Answer 6 · 2011-06-19 07:02:52Z UTC

Here in the UK a lot of shell fish are eaten - oysters, mussels, winkles, cockles - but I draw the lone at Whelks! (They are like giant snails and are very very rubbery. Yuk!) Crabs, oysters, prawns, shrimps, fresh water crayfish. They are all delicious and full of nutrients.

I'm quite sure our ancestors would have seen birds eating snails and worms and eaten them too but I don't think I could. And anyway, modern agriculture has almost made the worm an endangered species - if humans started using them as a food source, that would be the end of farming!

What other foods are we missing/forgetting/ignoring?

6 Answers