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Are We Too Developed paleo diet Indonesia-min

Are We Too Developed?

I've just returned from an amazing trip to Indonesia (I went to Bali, the Gili Islands and Lombok), which turned out to be a great Paleo adventure. As a “developing Country” I was surprised how many differences I noticed compared to how things are done here, in the “developed” World. The surprising thing was how many of these differences actually seemed far better in Indonesia. Perhaps being “developed” in not such a good thing after all?

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Pregnancy, babies and children in Indonesia

I spent all of my time in small villages, completely off the tourist track. In all of my time, I did not see a single pram/ pushchair/ stroller (whatever you like to call it!). Babies too young to walk were tied to their mothers side by a piece of material and their weight supported by the mothers arm. Whilst pavements aren't suitable for pushchairs (thanks to lots of open drainage holes), this does seem to be a far more sensible way of transporting a baby around, don’t you think?

In the “developed” world you always see mothers distractedly pushing along a pram. Often the pram is completely covered by a rain protector and you can’t even see the infant. The mother is busy chatting on her phone or rushing to her destination. I can’t help but wonder how much better it is for the Indonesian babies, who are constantly in physical contact with their family.

Whilst I don’t doubt a pram is very convenient and get for carrying shopping bags, is it best for the baby? I also regularly see rather old toddlers being pushed around, when surely they should be encouraged to walk.

The other striking difference I noticed was that the Indonesian children were given far more freedom then their counterparts in the developed World. They seemed to have a lot more free reign to explore, without being permanently attached to the apron strings.

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I was impressed to see one young mother weaning her baby, by chewing up food herself, before feeding it to her baby. I didn't see a steriliser, jar of baby food, blender or piece of cutlery involved!

I had the opportunity to visit a maternity clinic, which has been set up as a charitable foundation and is supported by volunteers. Compared to a harshly light, sterile busy Western maternity ward, this clinic was far more homely and open planned. In the typical Indonesian style, the delivery rooms were all open at the top of the walls, allowing air (and noise!) to circulate freely. I was interested to hear that women in Indonesia are typically very quiet in delivery, rarely have drugs (epidurals and the like aren't available in the particular clinic I visited) and “100% of women breastfeed”.

Teeth

The other big contract was around teeth and face shape. Almost all of the locals I met had wide faces and the most beautiful teeth I've seen outside of Hollywood. Their teeth were naturally straight, with no crowding – and they were also very white. With a Weston A Price perspective, it seems clear how the right diet helps to form a proper shaped palate – and good teeth.

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Food in Indonesia

For my whole trip I ate local (I’ll tell you more about the food in Indonesia in a future post). Everything the locals eat can typically be found within a few minutes walk of their home. Most families have a plot of land on which they grow rice for their family and perhaps a few other things. There were chickens everywhere and local markets in most villages for everything else. There are (or course) some Western snacks, but these didn't seem to purchased by the locals at all – and certainly weren't in the types of quantities we see in the Western world.

 

Happiness and Family

Another key observation was that everyone seemed happy, with very little stress! People would work hard to get food (i.e. on the rice paddies), but then they would also spend a lot of time sitting in the shade with their family, chatting. How many people get to do that in the developed world?

Indonesian Women

Oh – and you know some people say women shouldn't lift heavy weights? Try telling the Indonesian women that!

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What do you think about how they do things in Indonesia? Do you think we’re too developed?

Are We Too Developed paleo diet Indonesia-min

Coconut Oil Paleo Diet Uses-min

20 Other Uses For Coconut Oil

Coconut Oil is by far the best oil for cooking with. It has a high saturated fat content (this is a good thing) and can withstand far higher heats, meaning it won’t oxidise and go rancid in the same way that other oils would.

Coconut Oil has got so many health benefits when eaten and cooked with; but what else can you do with it? As well as for cooking with, have you tried Coconut Oil for any of these things too? Perhaps it’s worth having a jar in every room…

In The Bathroom

    1. Conditioner – leave to soak in for half an hour – or overnight for a deep hair treatment
    2. Hair Styling – Use in place of hair gel
    3. Moisturiser – use as an all over moisturiser; it even smells good!
    4. Make Up Remover – far better than chemically laden commercial products, just use Coconut Oil
    5. Massage Oil – you can also add a few drops of essential oils
    6. Lip Balm – use to soften and protect your lips
    7. Toothpaste – Instead of using a commercial toothpaste, you can make your own using coconut oil as a base
    8. Exfoliation/ Body Scrub – mix with sea salt for an all over exfoliator
    9. Making Soap – use Coconut Oil as a base
    10. Deodorant – Check out some home-made recipes using the oil
    11. Aftershave – apply to soothe your skin

In The Medicine Cabinet

    1. Insect Bites – apply to the bite to start the healing process and stop the itching
    2. Insect Repellent – Get the Coconut Oil out before you've been bitten, mix it with peppermint oil and stop the insects attacking!
    3. Cuts, scrapes and bruises – apply to the area to promote healing and form a protective barrier
    4. After Sun – if you over did the sun and got a little burnt, Coconut Oil will soothe your skin
    5. Sun protection – you can also use the oil as a natural sun screen

Coconut Oil Paleo Diet Uses-min

In The Kitchen

    1. Oil your wooden chopping boards
    2. Season your iron cookware

In The Nursery

  1. Babies Cradle Cap – a natural remedy for a dry scalp
  2. Nappy (diaper) rash – use coconut oil instead of commercial products

What else do you use Coconut Oil for? Have you tried any of the uses above?

Conscious Parenting Summit-min

Conscious Parenting Summit

One of my readers told me about the Conscious Parenting Summit, which starts today. The talks are free to listen to online for 24 hours; and there seem to be a couple of interviews a day on all sorts of parenting aspects.

Whilst the nutrition seems to be more geared towards raw food than Paleo, the summit talks about a number of issues that seem very relevant to bringing up Paleo Children, such as Pregnancy, Natural Fertility, Water Birth, Lotus Birth, Unassisted Birth, Bonding, Vaccinating, Breastfeeding, Co-Sleeping, Elimination Communication, Non-Violent Communication, Circumcision and Home-schooling/Un-schooling.

So if you have young children, are pregnant, or considering starting a Paleo family, it might be worth checking out the summit!

Paleo baby babies SAD diet nutrition pregnancy pregnant-min

Paleo Babies v SAD Babies

I went to a first birthday party at the weekend, which was, as you might imagine, crowded with babies, toddlers and small children.  It was actually quite hard to work out which baby went with which grown-up – I’m sure lots of the other guests were probably thinking some belonged to me too!

I've not been around children much since I found Paleo, but knew the whole junk food thing was likely to be an issue with small children.  However, what I saw, was very different to what I was expecting.  And sadly, not in a good way.

I expected to see babies picking food up from the floor and putting it in their mouth.  I expected to see toddlers demanding brightly coloured and attractively presented party food.  I expected to see some children being given junk food and some children being given real food.

What I saw was far more upsetting.

The infants were interested in gaining possession of the squeaky giraffe.  Opening the door.  Closing the door.  Opening the door.  Closing the door.  Sliding on the wooden floor.  My car keys.  Trying to reach the toy at the very bottom of the toy box.  They were not interested in the party food.  A few of the babies were interested in the shiny colourful chip packets, but not the contents.

The-Hand-That-Feeds-paleo babies SAD baby

The parents however, continually gave the small children chips and biscuits and sweets.  The children didn't ask – the parents just gave.  The parents genuinely seemed to think they were being kind, giving the children something nice at a party.  When given this food the children stopped their exploring, ate the food – clearly enjoying it (it’s designed to taste good after all) – and either resumed their playing, or indicated they wanted more.  Hardly surprising once they’d been given that first taste.

What I was most shocked about was seeing parents giving party “food” to other people’s small children.  In fact, this seemed to happen before they gave the food to their own child.  It seemed to be done as an act of good manners, much like opening the door for someone instead of going through it yourself, first.  I didn't once see a parent ask another parent if it would be ok to offer the toddler some (soy!) chips.  I didn't see any parents looking concerned that someone else was giving their child party “food” either.

I would have loved to have seen the blood sugar levels of these babies throughout the party.  Lots of the babies started to get tired and irritable towards the end of the party, which seemed expected and normal by the parents.  I can’t help wondering how much of this was “normal” and how much was impacted by the huge (especially relative to their small size) sugar rush they’d been fed.  Do strict Paleo-fed babies get over-tired as regularly, I wonder?

One mother decided her baby was teething and needed to chew on a breadstick to help, offering breadsticks to any other babies who might have the same complaint.  I'm quite sure our ancestors got through cutting teeth without the need for bread; wouldn't bones be something more effective to chew on in this situation?  Surely giving a teething baby bread, just creates other problems?

I realise when you have children you can’t control what other parents do.  But I thought you’d be in complete control of what your own child ate.  Are you supposed to make a speech at the start of a party, expressly forbidding any well-meaning friends from feeding your child?  Should you hand out cards to everyone with these rules?  Does someone sell baby-grows with the slogan “Don't Feed Me!  I'm Paleo”?

Paleo baby babies SAD diet nutrition pregnancy pregnant-min

I imagine it’s could be hard to explain to other parents why you don’t want your child to eat grains, sugars, dairy and processed foods.  Particularly when talking to parent who feeds their child a CW “healthy” diet of organic whole grains and low fat foods.  I’d hate to be perceived to be criticising other parents – though I guess this is exactly what I am doing in this post!  Perhaps I would take the cowardly way out and pretend my child had severe allergies to gluten and dairy.  People often seem to be a lot more sympathetic about allergies than they are about choosing to omit certain “food” groups.

I think my main issue is that at such a young age children are completely dependent on their parents for their nutritional requirements.  It’s also, I’d imagine, the most crucial stage in their development.  I just wish more parents would understand that their baby has no requirement for grains or processed foods.  They've never had them before – they don’t know what they taste like – they certainly don’t crave chips!  Once a child is old enough to think logically for themselves I think a degree of responsibility can pass over to them for their nutrition.  But this certainly doesn't happen before they can run – or even walk!

I can’t remember if it was Sarah Fragoso or Chrissy Gower speaking at the Ancestral Health Symposium last year about their children and eating Paleo.  One of the was describing how her child had been strictly Paleo since birth and the lady at the check-out had commented on her surprise that the child was not asking for candy.  She replied that her child didn't know what it was, having never had it before.  This really got me thinking, if you don’t know what something is, you won’t miss it – or need it.  I think there is an argument to let older children try SAD food, but when the child is so young they can’t even speak or walk, I absolutely think these foods should be strictly absent from their diet.

Anyway, I don’t have children.  What would I know?  Perhaps when I do I’ll realise how completely impractical and ridiculous my nutrition ideas are and start buying bulk packs of bread sticks and cereal with pictures of cartoon characters on the box.  I kind of doubt it though.

I’d love to hear your comments on this.  If you have small children, how do you deal with other parents?  Is it common for other well meaning adults to feed your child?