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Najakcharmer -> RE: Is there any way to stop carb cravings? (3/18/2008 8:50:45 PM)
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Just about every item you mentioned is relatively to extremely low in carbohydrates as well as calories, and could not be a highly sustaining food for Arctic living. In addition, most are only seasonally available, and are not available at all in the further North regions inhabited by some indigenous peoples. The energy to calorie ratio to gather some of these foods is fairly low, making them less practical for survival than essential meat and fat.
BTW, the "eskimo potato" is a legume, and it has some known cases of serious toxicity associated. "Indian rice" is a lily, and it is seasonal and limited to the southernmost coastal regions of Alaska. Overconsumption of plants from the lily family tends to have unpleasant side effects. Essentially you're talking about meat, fat, salad and some low-carb berries, with a few edible but non starchy roots. That would pretty much be the Atkins diet. Many of the plants that do potentially offer some nutrient value have also evolved significant toxicity to discourage predation, and are not easy or reliable calorie sources.
For all practical purposes, in an Arctic environment, concentrated energy sources are essential. Ergo, meat and fat. Low calorie salads simply don't supply sufficient energy for the stomach space. The supplemental vitamins are useful, and are often ingested in the form of a tea (eg, pine needles, spruce gum, Labrador tea or scurvy grass). They do not add significant calories or carbohydrates to the diet.
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