Originally Posted by
Pukeskywalker
All mammals require very similar nutrient ratios to survive. The difference is in their stomachs. Cows eat grass, but their stomachs and gut bacteria turn it into what amounts to a healthly nutrient profile for a human... or a dog or a bear. The berries/bears idea is inherently flawed, because humans digest things differently than a bear.
On that note, you can't get what you need to survive by foraging. The ecosystem cannot support you. It could 10,000 years ago, when there was wild game and you were trained from birth to catch and eat it. But today, you won't be able to.
Veganism and fruitarianism are flawed, fringe diets. Find me a vegan who has been vegan for over 10 years (rare), and whose health is optimal (I don't believe this person exists).
I suggest reading a book like "The Perfect Health Diet" to get a counter-argument to this plan of yours. I've seen too many friends go down the veg/vegen path and end up bloated, tired, depressed, and with various degrees of psychological problems to boot. And once you drop animal products from your diet, you could destroy your gut bacteria and cause permanent digestive issues for yourself
If you want to be extreme, cycle in urban areas while eating from the garbage and spanging for change. You'll eat better than burning 1,000+ calories biking from berry bush to berry bush. There are plenty of train hopper punks living that way right now, just most of them don't have bikes.
Another idea: Eat two thousand calories of blackberries in a safe home setting with nothing to do for the next two days. That second part is important
On the cows: I agree they have very different digestive systems. I once heard a lecturer say that cows and horses can eat grass and look how strong they are. Therefore, you can do something similar. Hugely flawed thinking. We agree on this.
Bears, though -- and I've been around them a lot -- not so much. They seem to be much more similar to humans in their food requirements and habits. I actually do believe that most humans could survive on most bear diets, and vice versa.
I don't plan on touring this way for ten years. Maybe for a few months. I'm sure it can be done, and that I can get more than enough calories and stay healthy.
Yeah, vegans (and raw vegans especially) can have problems like B12 issues, among others. But these are challenges that can be met fairly easily if you are informed.
I've eaten whole meals consisting of blackberries and manzanita berries before, and suffered no ill effects. I'll just be extending it, and making sure that some meals include other foods as well.
I would much rather pick and eat fresh berries than store throwaways.
Some berry patches are large and dense -- you don't have to travel far from bush to bush. You can eat a meal in twenty feet or less.
If you look at Michael Arnstein and Doug Graham, for example, both of them have stayed very (even exceptionally) fit and strong on this sort of diet.
I agree that if it is not done properly, it is likely to lead to problems (at least in the long run). But I believe it can be done properly, and can work for many people if done that way.