Wee Scottish Kitchen

I watched a brilliant documentary lastnight called “Medicine Men Go Wild“.  It is a series about a pair of identical twin doctors, Chris and Xand van Tulleken, who travel to the remotest villages in the world and visit tribes who still believe in and practice ‘primitive’ health care and medicine.

Lastnight they went to Chukotka, the farthest northeast region of Russia, and visited a village of 400 inhabitants, who are mostly reindeer herders, and hunters.  These people have the healthiest hearts in the world - they have no recorded heart disease at all.  Their diet consists primarily of fish and sea mammals such as walrus and whales.  The Russian government has given them permission to hunt 2 whales per year, and up to 30 walrus.

The doctors undertook an experiment where Chris ate solely the traditional diet of only protein and fat in the form of walrus, fish and whale meat.  No vegetables, no fruit, no bread - just fat and protein.  He reported feeling energetic, not bloated or tired at all, and he slept well and felt happy (although he did not like the taste of much of the food!).  He was very constipated though but one of the elders of the tribe showed him some wild berries he could eat which soon alleviated that problem.  His twin brother, Xand, ate the new style of diet that the younger people are turning to - bread, cakes, cereal, deep-fried pancakes with sugary syrup etc.  He reported loving the food but feeling full and bloated, constipated, and very tired.  He napped a few times a day and found it difficult to sleep at night.  They both checked their cholesterol before and after the experiment - Chris’ cholesterol went from 4.7 to 2.8 (I think I’ve remembered this rightly) and his good cholesterol went up!  Xand’s cholesterol went from 4.3 to 4.7 and his good cholesterol went down!  They also checked many of the hunters’ cholesterol levels and found them all to be low, with very normal blood pressure.  They were incredibly fit and strong, hardy and most of them had very good teeth.  One of the elders, interestingly, had higher cholesterol than the others and had a few teeth missing.  The doctors visited his house to try and find the cause for this - they soon saw it… he ate lots of American hotdogs (which were over 50% carbohydrate) and his wife baked cakes and cookies.  He said he didn’t prefer the taste of the hotdogs to walrus and whale but preparing that food took a lot of time and he and his wife were too busy - it was easier to just to put a hotdog on the stove and 2 minutes later your lunch was ready for you.

Another thing I’d like the mention was the hunting of the walrus and whales.  I have read a few message boards where people are outraged that they showed the hunting of these animals but I did not feel that way at all (which is interesting given my last post where I get upset about animals having to die for my sake).  They had a deep respect for these animals and they felt they were, in fact, their guardians and protectors.  There had been reports of two walrus alone on the beach so the hunters went down to see.  They woke the sleeping animals out of respect and showed them their faces.  The hunter speared them directly in the heart as this was the fastest and least painful way.  The hunter then kneeled down and stroked the walrus and apologised for taking its life and thanked it for its bounty.  I actually found this beautiful and profound, and it didn’t make me feel so silly for thanking my meat before I eat it.

Just one more thing - they had fermented walrus!  There is a little clip of it here.  The twins said it was absolutely disgusting but the villagers assured them it was a delicacy.  They use the full belly of the walrus, fold it in two to make a giant square pillow, then sew it up with its own intestines.  They then leave it in their ‘cool-room’ for 4 months.  I wonder if Sally will add this recipe to her next edition of Nourishing Traditions!

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