Food Assessment: Fractional Thinking; Vitamin D, Sunlight, and Mushrooms (WAS: Sunlight and mushrooms)

[Guest guest]

I agree, my example is so exaggerated, it can barely be called an example.

It was more to make a point, to emphasize the degree to which we engage in

fractional thinking.

 

Jeff:

 

1. It is quite unlikely that your system is " deficient " in one AND ONLY ONE

nutrient at any point in time.

 

2. Science is presently aware of thousands and thousands of nutrients, and

many more probably await future discovery.

 

3. Therefore, eating for individual nutrients is almost always a

self-defeating proposition. And that is what you propose here ... to eat

mushrooms in an attempt to gather in some vitamin D.

 

Jeff, many people are unaware just how little sunlight it takes to get the

body producing vitamin D. Go for a 30-minute walk as frequently as you can.

Find a window to sit in front of, take off as many clothes as circumstances

and personal comfort permit, and sit there when the sun shines in. (Yes, the

glass filters out some of the sunlight, but not all, not even close.) My

point is that you can indeed do some things to engage with the sun ... and

that this will benefit you in many ways, beyond vitamin D. For example, just

going for regular walks will expose you to light, fresh air movement, and

more.

 

In other words, what I'm suggesting is that you're asking a self-limiting

question and that you consider changing the question entirely. For example,

you might ask yourself, " How CAN I get some sunshine in my life, even here

in the NW Territory? How would Lewis and Clark have done so? " Allow your

sense of curiosity and play to come to the fore, rather than having it be

some serious-seeming inquiry.

 

Regarding the mushrooms per se, as I've already written in another post

earlier today, from my perspective, under normal circumstances, the cost, in

terms of energy and other resources, of processing and eliminating the

mushrooms outweighs any potential benefit. By " normal circumstances, I mean

not famine, not war, etc.

 

You may find it interesting to know that mushrooms are no longer considered

plants. I mention this because, if I have the right sense of your

chronological age, you were probably taught about the 2 kingdoms of life,

plants and animals. But the biological taxonomy is a hopeless mess, (those

most of the scientists will not yet say so in public). Right now, many

biologists acknowledge fungi (which subsumes mushrooms) as a kingdom of life

entirely distinct from plants, animals, and the other kingdoms. So when you

consider eating mushrooms, from a biological perspective, you're not even

speaking of eating plants.

 

Just an extra tidbit for you.

 

Best to all,

Elchanan

_____

 

Jeff Rogers [jeff]

Sunday, March 01, 2009 1:39 PM

 

Re: Vitamin D and mushrooms

 

<<Elchanan wrote: For perspective, and to continue my comments from my last

post, even a table leg contains SOME nutrients for humans, given enough

preprocessing. But this does not likely lead us to conclude that a =table

leg is food.

 

Make sense? >>

 

I think so, but I seriously doubt mushrooms could be used for table legs!

 

While your example is very exaggerated, it supports my comment suggesting

that mushrooms are not ideal. I think of mushrooms as more from northern

climates, though I'm sure they are found in various forms all over the

planet. As humans migrated away from their natural climate and natural

foods, I'm sure they began eating all kinds of things in an effort to

survive, one reason for so much animal flesh and cooked foods today. While

our ancestors likely began eating mushrooms to survive (even if not natural

for them), I suspect they did not try eating table legs (though soaked wood

or wood chips may yield them some sustenance).

 

Even if their proper climate, in times of lack, I'm sure humans ate outside

their ideal diet in order to survive.

 

So, while not ideal, I'm still curious about the Vitamin D effects of

mushroom consumption (as well as other possible effects.) I don't notice any

toxic effects when eating them. When eating a mushroom by itself, I don't

notice anything that turns me off, although it may not be as pleasing as

ripe fruit.

 

Jeff