I’m gearing up for more posts on the iron enrichment hypothesis to explain dietary “paradoxes” (debunk please). More researchers are weighing in. There are a couple posts in the works, and believe it or not, the most delicious of the two is the history of bloodletting (in barber shops) and how people flocked to get bled regularly (bleeding reduces stored serum iron—like pre-menopausal women do every month). Some people are hooked on donating blood regularly—which some chalk up exclusively to social conscience—but might it really be a selfish endeavor, even beyond the selfishness inherent in feeling like you’re a community value?

On a practical level? My just-begun experiment with making artisanal whole grain breads and cereals a dietary staple, combined with lowish fat and lowish protein, with protein being accounted for by sardines, clams, mussels, oysters, and various liver pâté—and otherwise small portions of meat and fowl. Simple tasty mini-meal-esque stuff.

In the meantime, another post on the list is my individual take on the non-aggression principle, 25 years in the chewing. My two most recent Zac posts (here and here) about living in a largely American community on the tip of Baja California for 2 months had comment threads that in a couple of cases gave me the impression I was dealing with toddlers that will eventually raise their hand to hit you after you’ve been explaining algebra to them for a while. It’s a perfectly common reaction from a toddler. When dealing with adults, what’s going on is that they’re ignorant to such an extent that they don’t recognize that they’re ignorant. They lash out like toddlers.