Nunavut Inuits eating raw trout and raw caribou liver in the tundra

[carnivore]

Here is a french report about inuit hunters in the tundra.
You can see at 9:20 inuits eating fresh raw trout and at 13:00 inuits eating the fresh liver of a killed caribou with the content of the stomach.

http://plus7.arte.tv/fr/1697660,CmC=3042552,scheduleId=3016548.html
 

[PaleoPhil]

Yes, traditional Inuit loved certain animal livers, by most accounts. The Inuit didn't dislike liver or organs in general, as Stefansson sometimes claimed. The main reason they didn't eat polar bear at all or husky liver much was apparently because they contain very high levels of vitamin A. As I recall, even Stefansson admitted that polar bears are the only animal whose liver that the Inuit have a prohibition against eating entirely (or even feeding to their dogs). Scientists later discovered that polar bear livers contain levels of vitamin A that are toxic to both humans and dogs.

While Stefansson and others report that the Inuit tended to feed caribou liver and other organs to their dogs, Stefansson was apparently unaware that the Inuit prize seal liver. Also, Stefansson speaks more positively about organs elsewhere, such as in "Adventures in Diet," than he did in "Not by Bread Alone." I have found that the folks who avoid organs like liver tend to cherry pick the most anti-organ Stefansson quotes and ignore the pro-organ reports of Stefansson and many others. I have also noticed a correlation between belief that the Inuit didn't eat liver much and a dislike of the taste of liver. Coincidence?

Interestingly, Geraci and Smith found that ringed seal liver contains the third-highest level of vitamin C of the foods eaten by the Inuit population they studied, when eaten raw, after muktuk and mountain sorrell. (http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic32-2-135.pdf). Eating seal liver (and often the entire seal) raw (either fresh or aged) is apparently an Inuit tradition:

"The seal is cut in a specific way directly after a hunt. Borré explains the cutting of the seal is this way “one of the hunters slits the abdomen laterally, exposing the internal organs. Hunters first eat pieces of liver or they use a tea cup to gather some blood to drink.”[Borré, Kristen. “Seal Blood, Inuit Blood, and Diet: A Biocultural Model of Physiology and Cultural Identity.” Medical Anthropology Quarterly 5 (1991): 48–62. As quoted in "Inuit diet," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuit_diet]

"Anthony Bourdain eats raw seal [including all the organs] with an Inuit family in Quebec." ["Anthony Bourdain in Quebec," http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d8EymQPiqk]

Among many hunter-gatherer peoples, the liver is one of the most prized parts of the animal, is often reserved for the hunters and is often seen as a source of strength. Such as among the !Kung:

"as we sit down on the kill site to cook and eat the liver

...

‘this one is not worth the effort; let’s just cook the liver for strength and leave the rest for the hyenas."
["Eating Christmas in the Kalahari," Richard Borshay Lee, http://windward.hawaii.edu/facstaff/dagrossa-p/articles/EatingChristmas.pdf]

Inuit hunters reportedly eat the liver of a seal first as do !Kung hunters with kudu. Interestingly, the liver is also reportedly the first part of an animal that wolves eat.

"...the seal is then dismembered piece by piece, with nothing wasted. On a winter seal hunt men frequently take the liver from the seal (as it is rich in vitamin C) and eat it while it is still warm." http://www.johntyman.com/arctic/inuit104.html

[goodsamaritan]

Nice video! Me and my kids enjoyed it.

[PaleoPhil]

Yes, and I see that the hunters ate the liver first in that video too.

[redfulcrum]

Go to Nutriiondata.com and look up the profiles of liver and regular meat.  You gotta be a moron to keep eating muscle, like I did.   

[Hannibal]

The main reason they didn't eat polar bear at all or husky liver much was apparently because they contain very high levels of vitamin A.

Only liver contains such high levels of vitamin A.
Inuits eat the meat of polar bear, but they boil it to anihilate the trichinella. They do not eat it raw.

[alphagruis]

Only liver contains such high levels of vitamin A.
Inuits eat the meat of polar bear, but they boil it to anihilate the trichinella. They do not eat it raw.

Boar meat may also bear trichinella, here in France. Well I eat it routinely raw... No problem up to now.

[Hannibal]

Boar meat may also bear trichinella, here in France. Well I eat it routinely raw... No problem up to now.

I also eat wild boar meat. But it is checked by vets. What about your meat?

[miles]

What does it mean to 'bear trichinella' and why would a Boar do it? Is it like the Macarena? "Bear - Trichinella, HEY!"?

[miles]

Only liver contains such high levels of vitamin A.
Inuits eat the meat of polar bear, but they boil it to anihilate the trichinella. They do not eat it raw.

That is interesting considering how people here keep saying not to worry about trichinella/osis/parasites...

Even if you say that: It isn't safe to eat a bear because its' digestive system, as a carnivore, would be similar to ours so parasites which survived within it could survive in us too; what does the polar bear eat? Does it not get its' trichinosis from herbivorous animals? Even if not, then the carnivorous animal it got it from must've got the trichinosis from a herbivore.

A side: All these people seem to boil their meat as opposed to roasting it. To stop it burning? I would've thought some stuff'd be lost in the water though. They cook it right through as well, but light.

[Hannibal]

That is interesting considering how people here keep saying not to worry about trichinella/osis/parasites...

There are various types of parasites.
I don't know what to think about trichinella, which could be on of the few, that can cause trouble.

[djr_81]

What does it mean to 'bear trichinella' and why would a Boar do it? Is it like the Macarena? "Bear - Trichinella, HEY!"?

Bear: To carry.
As in the boar bore Trichinosis.

[PaleoPhil]

Thanks for that video, Frederic. I'd been keeping my eyes out for a good video that showed Inuit folk eating liver and/or stomach contents. The hunters in that video clearly weren't starving at the time, either. I've also read that Inuits eat caribou cud. On the other hand, they let the contents spill out on the ground in this case and only dipped the liver into them, so it looks like the stomach contents are not as favored as much of the rest of the animal. It's also interesting that they saved all the lean meat and air dried it. All of these practices--eating and saving organs, stomach contents and lean meat all go against the standard view at ZIOH, although some there probably are aware of them. When I and another fellow there tried to discuss this stuff we got a rather negative response so we both dropped it. That's one reason this forum is my main home.

I still haven't seen strong evidence that wolves eat stomach or intestinal contents when not starving, though, so I'll believe that when I see it or a credible source (not a vegan, for instance) reports witnessing it in wolves who aren't severely hungry. It's a moot point anyway as regards the Inuit because now we have evidence of Inuit themselves eating stomach contents and I doubt they just started that practice.

[William]

It's a moot point anyway as regards the Inuit because now we have evidence of Inuit themselves eating stomach contents and I doubt they just started that practice.

I don't believe it.
I've seen the stuff that caribou eat, heard a biologist(?) describe it as miniature trees, moss, and it just ain't edible unless you have the digestive system of a herbivore.

The Inuit will do anything the director/producer/paymaster tells them. Money talks.

[PaleoPhil]

If you watch the video you'll see that one of the hunters said that the caribou were eating the little flowers that had budded on the tundra plants. For some reason he sampled a couple and said they were dry. I'm curious about why he did that. Is that so he can guess where they are headed (maybe a wetter area?) or was he maybe just curious about what they were eating or whether the food was good enough to make them fat (hoping to get a good and fat one)?

[William]

If you watch the video you'll see that one of the hunters said that the caribou were eating the little flowers that had budded on the tundra plants. For some reason he sampled a couple and said they were dry. I'm curious about why he did that. Is that so he can guess where they are headed (maybe a wetter area?) or was he maybe just curious about what they were eating or whether the food was good enough to make them fat (hoping to get a good and fat one)?

It's said that modern Inuit have forgotten much of what their primitive hunter ancestors knew, but to suggest that there's some food that they didn't know about (flowers???), and that they didn't know their land is a bit hard to believe.

[miles]

Ayah my lexicon was completely wrong... >.> I thought it was meant to be 'bare'. But 'Bare' is just for 'baron'. Bear is the animal, and the possessive. >_< Ah well, good I sorted that one out.

[carnivore]

I don't believe it.
I've seen the stuff that caribou eat, heard a biologist(?) describe it as miniature trees, moss, and it just ain't edible unless you have the digestive system of a herbivore.

The Inuit will do anything the director/producer/paymaster tells them. Money talks.

In the report, Inuits dip bits of raw liver in the stomach content (predigested lichen) of the caribou, like a seasoning.

[PaleoPhil]

It's said that modern Inuit have forgotten much of what their primitive hunter ancestors knew, but to suggest that there's some food that they didn't know about (flowers???), and that they didn't know their land is a bit hard to believe.

I don't understand what you're talking about. You don't think I suggested that, do you? Did you watch the video?

[William]

I don't understand what you're talking about. You don't think I suggested that, do you? Did you watch the video?

I can't watch the video because I am on dialup. I relied on your description of what the Inuk said and did.

[PaleoPhil]

I can't watch the video because I am on dialup. I relied on your description of what the Inuk said and did.

That explains it. I'll add more context. The Inuit hunter wasn't asking what the flowers were, he was teaching about them--showing the cameraman what the caribou that they had filmed in that spot had been eating, picking a little white flower from the tundra vegetation and then eating a couple. He was chewing and pensive for a bit, then he said that the flowers were dry. There was no further explanation, so I was curious if that was just supposed to be informative for the nature show or whether it's useful in hunting somehow. Basically, I'd like to know more about what he was getting at.

Quote from: PaleoPhil on Yesterday at 04:56:45 PM
It's a moot point anyway as regards the Inuit because now we have evidence of Inuit themselves eating stomach contents and I doubt they just started that practice.

I don't believe it.
I've seen the stuff that caribou eat, heard a biologist(?) describe it as miniature trees, moss, and it just ain't edible unless you have the digestive system of a herbivore. ...

Do you have a source you can direct us to? Bear in mind that the stomach contents are partially fermented, which might make them more digestible.

I should note, BTW, that I'm not saying that just because some Inuit folk eat something that we should necessarily eat it too. No single source of information should be relied upon as magical dogma. In my own case, I don't do well eating carbs so low-carb cultures like the Arctic culture are more relevant to my situation. I've only been eating VLC for a year or so, whereas the indigenous Arctic cultures have been doing it for thousands of years, so there are probably some "tricks of the trade" that I can learn from them.

[roony]

That is interesting considering how people here keep saying not to worry about trichinella/osis/parasites...

Even if you say that: It isn't safe to eat a bear because its' digestive system, as a carnivore, would be similar to ours so parasites which survived within it could survive in us too; what does the polar bear eat? Does it not get its' trichinosis from herbivorous animals? Even if not, then the carnivorous animal it got it from must've got the trichinosis from a herbivore.

A side: All these people seem to boil their meat as opposed to roasting it. To stop it burning? I would've thought some stuff'd be lost in the water though. They cook it right through as well, but light.

Trichinosis is vitamin a poisoning, nothing to do with bacteria ...

[miles]

Who said anything about bacteria? Trichinosis is what you are suffering from when you are infested with trichinella, or tapeworms. They stick to your intestines, eat your food, can grow there large in both length and diameter. They can hatch eggs which can go in to your blood-stream and form cysts in your body-tissue, waiting to be eaten by another animal when you die. Segments also detach in to your faeces for a similar purpose. When Trichinella have grown large, like snakes and then been deprived of food, they've been known to burrow their way out of people, or sometimes surface through their mouth.

However, if you know otherwise and would like to share and elaborate then I am listening...

[Hannibal]

Although it seems that trichinella is a "bad guy" there are natural methods to get rid of these tapeworms - some good clays (bentonite, green), anti-parasite herbs - wild animals do eat them to cleanse theire bodies of some hostile intruders, some unhealthy substances, etc.

[roony]

Who said anything about bacteria? Trichinosis is what you are suffering from when you are infested with trichinella, or tapeworms. They stick to your intestines, eat your food, can grow there large in both length and diameter. They can hatch eggs which can go in to your blood-stream and form cysts in your body-tissue, waiting to be eaten by another animal when you die. Segments also detach in to your faeces for a similar purpose. When Trichinella have grown large, like snakes and then been deprived of food, they've been known to burrow their way out of people, or sometimes surface through their mouth.

However, if you know otherwise and would like to share and elaborate then I am listening...

Yea thats correct, need to eat ... lol


As for boiling liver's, i doubt it has anything to do with parasites or tapeworms, & more with vitamin a, as we're not able to secrete vitamin a very efficiently


"You must remember that Vitamin A and D are not soluble in water so if someone takes more quantities of these vitamins than required, there is no way they can be excreted. They generally are stored in the liver. On the other hand Vitamins B and C are water soluble vitamins. If someone takes enormous quantities of Vitamin B and C, they would be excreted in urine.”

“Oh, I see. So this means Vitamin A can act as a poison too?”

“Oh yes. Certainly. This is a fact which most people do not know. The medical condition which results from an intake of excessive amounts of Vitamin A is known as Hypervitaminosis A. About one million I.U. of vitamin A are very toxic to human beings, and about 3 million I.U. may prove fatal, as they have in the case of Ramlal. To put it another way, about a year’s requirement of Vitamin A if taken as a single dose may prove toxic, and about three years’ requirement taken as a single dose may kill a human being. Well, we do say often that ‘too much of a good thing can be bad’. Nowhere does this maxim prove truer than in the case of Vitamin A.”


“Tarun, I did not tell you a very interesting fact. Most polar animals such as polar bears have dangerously high levels of Vitamin A in their liver. In fact there have been cases, where polar explorers have died of Vitamin A poisoning, because they ate the livers of animals residing in those regions.”

“Really? That’s an interesting fact. How does such dangerous amounts of Vitamin A reach their liver?”

“Vitamin A originates in marine algae, and then passes up the food chain to reach the large carnivorous animals. Toxic levels of Vitamin A may accumulate in the livers of a wide range of creatures such as Polar bears, seals, porpoises, dolphins, sharks, whales, Arctic foxes and huskies.

Even a small meal of southern Australian seal liver, say 80 g, may produce illness in man. I may tell you that several foods are recommended as good sources of Vitamin A. Most of them contain well below the toxic levels of vitamin A, but one - Halibut liver oil - contains dangerously high amounts of Vitamin A, as you can see from the accompanying table. "