Seth Roberts has proposed an interesting hypothesis, that humans like complex tastes (umami) because we evolved to like the taste of bacteria in food. He believes that bacteria from natural pickling is harmless, and actually improves our immune function. As reported in Conditioning Research, Roberts points out that explorer Vihjalmur Stefansson reported that Eskimos ate lots of bacteria fermented fish, which he also grew to enjoy. Supporting this theory, Conditioning Research also tells of University of Michigan paleontologist, Dan Fisher, who butchered a draft horse and cached the meat in a stock pond. The lactobacilli in the water pickled the meat, which it emitted a slightly sour odor that put off scavengers when it floated to the surface. Fisher cut and ate the meat from February until midsummer to prove its safety, showing how hunter gatherers might have once stored their large animal kills. As I blogged in an earlier post, fermented foods also are known to be good sources of vitamin K2.
Tags: Diet, Fermented Food, Hunter Gatherer, Natural Living, Primitivism, Rewilding, Vitamin K2