The Plant Paradox: Back from Five Days of Farm Fun Barn Reclamation day labor help

My university meditation activist friend, now farmer, asked me to help him reclaim a barn. I pulled nails, pitched the hay mow (rhymes with cow), and scraped and scrubbed the barn floor. Sounds pretty exciting huh? Actually we had an amazing adventure but I left before he did, and so I don't even know if he got out of there o.k. with all the "reclaimed" barn wood. haha. Oh well, I did pretty much all I could and had promised to be home for dinner.

So what's it like to spend 9 hours plus a day for five days in a barn that is 140 years old? Turns out the floor of the hay mow (the full upper story loft) is redwood - old growth redwood! The rest of it is Douglas Fir. The only reason we knew this is because an "old timer" rolled up on us - he has reclaimed 32 sheds and barns from the area. He's 83 years old and is now providing the crucial equipment so that this barn can be reclaimed. So that is the plan - an 83 year old in the "bucket" of a crane that he owns - steering it to reclaim the tin roof panels and the cedar shingle siding.

Anyway it's all out of my hands now - I did what I could handle. After the siding was removed by my farmer friend from the University - then when it rained, the hay urine smell got real strong since the "composting" process was activated. Also there was a beautiful bat colony in the top of the barn. I have not seen a bat colony in my life - and have barely seen any bats in 30 years!! Just maybe a few bats. So I hope they find another home. Other critters (mice, a raccoon, barn swallows) - all will have to evacuate but fortunately the barn will stay up for a month or two more.

So I also did more qigong meditation in this barn country - in the small farm town nearby. I had nice dreams - and the qigong meditation went well. My friend had bought expensive organic co-op food. I learned of the histamine diet and lectin diet. I was recommended the book, The Plant Paradox, about lectins. Let's see what it has to say.

https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062427137/the-plant-paradox/

 These proteins, which are found in the seeds, grains, skins, rinds, and leaves of plants, are designed by nature to protect them from predators (including humans). Once ingested, they incite a kind of chemical warfare in our bodies, causing inflammatory reactions that can lead to weight gain and serious health conditions.
At his waitlist-only clinics in California, Dr. Gundry has successfully treated tens of thousands of patients suffering from autoimmune disorders, diabetes, leaky gut syndrome, heart disease, and neurodegenerative diseases with a protocol that detoxes the cells, repairs the gut, and nourishes the body. Now, in The Plant Paradox, he shares this clinically proven program with readers around the world.
The simple (and daunting) fact is, lectins are everywhere. Thankfully, Dr. Gundry offers simple hacks we easily can employ to avoid them, including:

• Peel your veggies. Most of the lectins are contained in the skin and seeds of plants; simply peeling and de-seeding vegetables (like tomatoes and peppers) reduces their lectin content.
• Shop for fruit in season. Fruit contain fewer lectins when ripe, so eating apples, berries, and other lectin-containing fruits at the peak of ripeness helps minimize your lectin consumption.
• Swap your brown rice for white. Whole grains and seeds with hard outer coatings are designed by nature to cause digestive distress—and are full of lectins.

 So it's a pretty strict diet, along the lines of paleo -

 Green bananas and avocados are the exception to the fruit rule. Why? These fruits are loaded with beneficial vitamins, fats, and fiber that the body needs, without any of the sugar. Avocados are packed with vitamins that support nerve and blood cell function, and they’re loaded with good fats that help lower cholesterol and protect against heart disease.
The “sugar” in an unripe banana cannot be broken down by digestive enzymes. This so-called resistant starch passes through the small intestine, unabsorbed. From there, it travels to the large intestine, where it feeds and fertilizes your friendly neighborhood colonic bacteria. Green bananas are also high in fiber, potassium, and vitamin B-6; again, without any of the sugar.

And so here is a criticism of the Plant Paradox diet:

One of the commonalities of the blue zones, areas of long-lived populations, is that they consume legumes^[2] (and Americans, by and large, don’t). Consumption of beans has been shown to be beneficial for a wide range of diseases, including diabetes^[3], heart disease^[4], cancer^[5], and in weight management^[6][7] (Dr. Gundry allows vegetarians and vegans to eat beans, but only those that have gone through a pressure cooker, and yet research demonstrating the huge array of benefits of consuming beans does not require pressure cookers)

 Yes that review is from Dr. Tom Campbell who authored the China Study book on vegetarianism.

Anyway diet is a fascinating subject to be sure.