My intention to live on food from nature

Author: Best.Korea

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#1
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I have been doing lots of research, and I think that I am ready to have an experiment where I live on food from nature for a longer time.

Mainly, I would focus on this food:

1. Dandelion greens and other edible wild greens

2. Tree catkins/pollen

3. Raspberries

4. Dandelion flowers

5. Willow seeds

6. Grass pollen

Including raspberries in this list feels like cheating, but I do like sugar and I am not sure how will I manage to go for months without chocolate if I skip on raspberries as well.

I already ate lots of tree catkins raw.
I know the ones I ate are safe to eat.
They are just harder to chew than regular food.
But they seem to be available in great amount.
Not all are safe to eat.
The only thing which I am curious about is how nutritious are they.
I know squirrels eat catkins, so there probably is some good nutrition in them.

With dandelion greens and any greens, I will make sure to wash them.
I dont want to risk getting sick from unwashed food.

Grass pollen is something I am uncertain about, but I will give it a try.

Edible willow catkins should give me plenty of food, and I want to try those willow seeds as well.

As for nuts and fruit, they become available later in year, and at that point I will already be ending experiment to view results.

I will be taking vitamins, as I am not sure how would I even obtain B12 in nature from plants alone.

I will begin experiment as soon as enough green edible plants appear, because I dont want to start on catkins alone.

I will not be eating dandelion roots, because that kills the plant entirely and its unnecessary with dandelion greens available.
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@Best.Korea
Dandelions are extremely difficult to eradicate  without herbicides.

Roots are tenacious.

The upside is that dandelions are readily cultivated.



Wild meat, fish and other seafoods would be your best source of B12.



Hunter gathering is very time consuming and labour intensive, which is one of the reasons we developed other systems of nutrient provision.

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@zedvictor4
Dandelions are extremely difficult to eradicate  without herbicides.
I see thousands of dandelions growing around.

Its free food, basically.

Of course, I make sure not to eat from areas near road, because thats polluted.

Wild meat, fish and other seafoods would be your best source of B12.
The problem is that I dont like fish.

As a kid, I used to go fishing and I would catch a fish or two every day, sometimes even three or more.

However, I never ate them.

As for hunting, I have no experience in hunting.

Sure, you can hunt birds, they are everywhere, but I really dont want to eat them.

I am more of a gatherer than a hunter.

Hunter gathering is very time consuming and labour intensive, which is one of the reasons we developed other systems of nutrient provision.
It depends on what are you gathering.

Hunting takes time, fishing takes time.

Gathering dandelions takes less than half an hour.

Catkins are easy to gather as well.

The only food which I have problem gathering are raspberries, it takes a long time because they are tiny.

But they are easy to eat.

The only real problem with being hunter gatherer is eating all you gather.

Eating raw catkins, for example, is difficult unless you mix them with water. They take too long to chew without water.

You can also cook them, but I kinda want to try raw diet first.

Dandelion root is even worse to chew, which is one of the reasons I avoid it.

Raspberries and greens are easy to chew, but raspberries are kinda difficult to gather.

Of course, I have the advantage of having lots of raspberries in my yard, which is why it feels like cheating to gather them.
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@Best.Korea
You have to make sure you get enough essential fatty acids.
The following is a list of plant foods rich in essential fatty acids:
Sources of Omega-3 fatty acids: flax seeds, hemp seeds, canola, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, soybeans and its products such as tofu and tempeh. Dark green veggies such as kale, collards, chard, parsley, seaweed, and cereal grasses (wheat & barley grasses) are also good sources because all green (chlorophyll-rich) foods contain Omega-3 fats in their chloroplasts.
Sources of Omega-6 fatty acids: Sunflower, safflower, soybeans, hemp seeds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds, and most grains.
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@Best.Korea

I am a big fan of turmeric.

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@FLRW
I am certain that some of the food I gather will have those two. I think raspberries might have them.

Although I cant wait for dandelion flowers to appear, not just for food, but for dandelion wine.

Last time I just put bunch of dandelion flowers in plastic bottle, added sugar and water and closed it.

In about 7 days, it became good alcohol.

Although this time, instead of adding bought sugar, I will add raspberries.

I wouldnt really recommend people to do this tho.

Its much easier to buy better alcohol at the store.
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Helps fight depression
If you have depression, the protein known as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is reduced and your hippocampus, which helps with learning and memory, starts to shrink. A study shows that curcumin can boost BDNF levels and may reverse changes.
Another study shows that curcumin was just as effective as fluoxetine (Prozac) in lessening symptoms of depression. Curcumin may also increase levels of serotonin and dopamine — which are chemicals in your brain that regulate mood and other body functions
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@FLRW
I have noticed that I feel better when I eat edible plants that grow in nature or that I grow myself.

For some reason, fast food from stores, despite being very tasty, doesnt seem to improve the mood throughout the day.
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Green catkins are hard to chew, but I will try catkins which have flowered. They should be easier to chew.
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You should just research the Mediterranean diet and focus on produce too. I like to put the focus, on vitamin a and vitamin c and fiber and antioxidants and something green. If u get all those categories every day, everything else falls into place.
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@n8nrgim
The problem is more about finding that food in nature.

I know its a good food, but the nature doesnt currently have it in offer.

What I have plenty of right now are catkins and dandelion greens and some other greens like clover.

Dandelion flowers should appear soon too, and catkins should stop being tough and green and should become flowers soon too.

I read that catkins are tastier once they become flowers.

Raspberries and strawberries I should have soon. I dont have them right now.

Sure, I would love to find a sandwich in nature, or some chocolate, but nature simply doesnt give that.

At best, you can make some treat from raspberries.
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@FLRW
I am a big fan of turmeric.
Are you yellow?
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@Best.Korea
You cannot afford to be fussy.

Hunter gatherers eat to live, rather than live to eat.

And cooking makes foodstuff more digestible, whereby the gut can extract more nutrients from it.

And dandelions produce their own sugars, you need a yeast to promote fermentation.

Water lilies are a good nutrient source, and common in the U.S. 
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@zedvictor4
And cooking makes foodstuff more digestible
I know. 

I might try cooking catkins if they dont become softer  soon.

And dandelions produce their own sugars, you need a yeast to promote fermentation.
I know how fermentation works, and you dont need to buy yeast, because dandelions and fruit usually have wild yeast on them which works similar to convert sugar into alcohol.
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@Best.Korea
Super.

Have you researched water lilies yet?
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@zedvictor4
Have you researched water lilies yet?
I dont think there are any here where I live.

I notice everything which grows in high amount.

I need at least 1200 calories daily.

I dont really get much from finding one plant.

Thats why I need to collect at least 100 dandelions per day, at least a few kilograms of raspberries to gain weight.

I can get lots of calories from raspberries or strawberries because I can eat lots of them.

Tree catkins I am not sure. They do work as food to stop hunger, I am just not sure how much calories they have.

I might also have to gather some apples, I have trees growing near, if they produce in time, depending on how long I can put up with this experiment.

The biggest issue is not hunger. I dont even feel hungry.

But lack of taste is such a big problem. 

Catkins taste like dust. Dandelion greens and flowers have virtually no taste. Its almost like chewing paper.

Thats why I am looking forward to raspberries and strawberries. They will be nice change.

I basically cant stop thinking about tasty food.
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@Best.Korea
Catkins dandelions and raspberries have short seasons, so you will need to expand your dietary range.

Moving close to the coast would be beneficial.

So where do you currently reside.
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@zedvictor4
Catkins dandelions and raspberries have short seasons, so you will need to expand your dietary range.
Catkins exist from february to late may.

Around that time, I will have strawberries.

Also, I will have raspberries somewhere in summer.

Later, the apples and nuts might show up.

Dandelions dont have short season.

They grow from february all the way to winter.

Its the flowers which have short season.

Dandelion greens are pretty much available all the time except in winter.

If you look at dandelion flower, just look at the greens which grow with it. Those greens are almost always available.

I dont live near ocean or sea, but I do live near river and forest, and I have some land where I have some food growing.
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@Best.Korea
Sounds idyllic.

Best of luck.
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@zedvictor4

Are you yellow?
No
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@zedvictor4

Eating a lot of dried, ground turmeric for several weeks cause slightly orange skin.
OMG, do you think Trump eats turmeric?
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@FLRW
Maybe he's a carrot man.

I think that carrots have the same effect.