Lowcarbing in the Kalahari? BBC 3 Sunday/Monday

[Elizellen]

This sounds an interesting 'survival' experiment which might turn out lowcarb http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/progra...men_cant_hunt/

If you can't kill it and cook it, you'll be going hungry...

Most of us love our convenient Western lifestyles - supermarket shelves groaning with every possible type of food known to man, takeaway deliveries only a phone call away, and handy fridges to keep everything fresh.

However, our Stone Age ancestors lived on a hunter/gatherer diet - and many of the health problems that we in the West currently face can be linked directly back to the change in the way we eat.

In some parts of the world, people still need to hunt, kill, prepare and cook all of their own foodstuffs. Just how would a group of overweight, out-of-condition Brits cope with having to search for their supper?

Fat Men Can't Hunt is a four-part series that follows a group of eight men and women to see if they can live among the San Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert in Namibia. The men will have to join hunts, spending days at a time foraging for food. Meanwhile the women will have to stay in the camp, living their lives according to the strict social rules that govern local women.

[sallyseachange]

How interesting! I'd love to see this. Hope they put it on Satellite! Thanks Elizellen!

[Alexa]

Thanks Elizellen,

It definately has low carb potential - I'll look out for it. I hope they do a nutritional breakdown of a hunter gathering diet.

[Elizellen]

Wel - I was a bit disappointed in the programme as it degenerated into squabbling and shouting (like most of those 'reality-type' shows).
I assume the producers choose people who they guess will be stroppy to include on these shows to make it more confrontational and therefore more 'interesting'!

It was interesting to see that they were testing for ketones to see when the participants started to burn body fat and that one of them who had dropped carbs before the show started was already into ketosis to the doctor's surprise.

I might watch tonights episode (10:30 pm/ BBC3) to see if it gets any more interesting.

What amazed me was that they allowed the girl who brought lollipops (hard candy suckers in USA?) with her to give them to the bushman children in spite of claiming at the beginning of the show that they were not going to impact on their traditional way of living!!

[Richt]

Eliz, I thought the programme was interesting, although I know what you mean about the squabbling. I will also be watching tonights show.

One of the most interesting things for me, which you didnt mention (I agree with your comment about the lollipops btw), the interesting bit for me was that one of the ladies was complaining about a head ache, yet she didnt know why, she thought she had sun stroke. Instead she was going through her sugar withdrawals. So Atkins like.


I enjoyed last nights episode and will look forward to tonights also. (squabbling aside, obviously).

[Richt]

Actually, I am totally disgusted with that Lady who gave those African children candy. It was totally unfair on the children. To give them something that they have never had before, which they would never have known what they are missing, with absolutely no way for them to ever have them again, I think that was a wicked thing to do. Sort of rubbing it in.

[Alexa]

Hey,

I saw last nights - I think it was the second one. I was amazed to see they were measuring ketones and saying how many carbs were in the roots and nuts they ate. I kept hoping they'd make an atkins link.

I felt quite uncomfortable with the way they all acted - they seemed so ungrateful to their hosts - refusing to eat what they'd made and shouting all the time. I think you're right, they pick obnoxious people for 'good' tv - but I think a subject like this is interesting enough without all that.

Next week's preview looked even cringier.

[Richt]

Baarb, they made a reference to Atkins in the first episode.

I have to say, I saw last nights programme too. I think its one of the most interesting TV shows for a while.