I was reading a handy wilderness survival book and it turns out that if you eat lean meat constantly like that of a rabbit you can still die of starvation.
Pretty odd but apparently that is a reality because one cannot survive on lean meat alone.
I had hear that as well…That one needs the fat…
yeah you need fat, it’s called protein poisoning. If you eat the whole rabbit you can… if you can eat the whole thing 
I bet the marrow would be interesting!
Precisely. 
Good thing that I consider myself well read to know that because such a thing would be terrible to find out later.
I’m not a fan of bone marrow and such a thing would be a last resort before starvation for myself.
If you boil the bones with the rest of the stew, you should get some of the marrow fat into your stew.
I think I also read of someone cooking the rabbit in a ground oven with the skin on, to let the fat from the skin cook with the meat.
Don’t get too carried away with this. I’m not saying it isn’t real, just that it’s easy to misunderstand.
The real issue is calories. Protein is poorly converted to calories (energy), so a diet of only lean meat generally means creating an energy defecit. So, you need to incorporate fats (or carbs, but that does open up other issues) into your diet. This is probably why organ meats were/are so highly prized by indigenous people, there’s ample amounts of fat to be found there. Also, some insects and plants have ample amounts of fat (and/or carbs), so lean meat (such as rabbits) combined w/, say, maggots or hickory nuts would be a decent way to eat.
I’ve actually developed a huge fondness for it. Can I have yours? ;D
Hunter-gatherers love fatty meat. That’s kind of what’s gone haywire with our modern diet; now, we can breed animals to give us fatty meat, while hunter-gatherers had to go the extra mile (literally) to find that extra fatty prey. Rather like sugar. We like it for a reason: because we need it, it’s harder to get, and that desire gave us the motivation it took to go get it. That’s why our modern, agribiz diet is so laden with the fats. But that also means to check that mentality at the door when you go hunting: you like fat for a reason, so don’t be afraid to act on that.
I will probally have to do that. Eating bone marrow by itself makes me feel sick to my stomach.
[quote=“jhereg, post:8, topic:337”][quote author=Fenriswolfr link=topic=358.msg3505#msg3505 date=1186945877]
yeah you need fat[/quote]
Don’t get too carried away with this. I’m not saying it isn’t real, just that it’s easy to misunderstand.
The real issue is calories. Protein is poorly converted to calories (energy), so a diet of only lean meat generally means creating an energy defecit. So, you need to incorporate fats (or carbs, but that does open up other issues) into your diet. This is probably why organ meats were/are so highly prized by indigenous people, there’s ample amounts of fat to be found there. Also, some insects and plants have ample amounts of fat (and/or carbs), so lean meat (such as rabbits) combined w/, say, maggots or hickory nuts would be a decent way to eat.
I’ve actually developed a huge fondness for it. Can I have yours? ;D[/quote]
I've actually developed a huge fondness for it. Can I have yours? ;D
You can have the bones as long that I may have the flesh or skin.
[quote=“WildeRix, post:7, topic:337”]If you boil the bones with the rest of the stew, you should get some of the marrow fat into your stew.
I think I also read of someone cooking the rabbit in a ground oven with the skin on, to let the fat from the skin cook with the meat.[/quote]
Such a thing to know is definately going to be a life saver for me considering that I hate touching bones.
We need good fats for far more reasons than calories… and eating a high fat diet won’t hurt you in the least as long as you’re eating whole food, healthy fats (not french fries and doughnuts y’know) but rather non-industrial lard, ~wild~ fish and their oil, unrefined coconut oil, eggs and so on… especially if you’re going to be living in the cold and your body temp will be lower than you’re used to, you’re going to need lots of fat. Pemmican would be a damn good idea.
Bone stews with organs included are probably one of the most healthy things to eat in the world, talk about rewilding your food! oh, and if you add a small amount of vinegar to your stews the minerals will be more available from the bones.
If you want to know more about how your body utilizes fats etc check out the literature currently available on insulin resistance and syndrome x.
It’s probably rude of me to ask but my curiosity, why don’t you like touching bones?
[quote=“BearMedicineWoman, post:13, topic:337”]We need good fats for far more reasons than calories… and eating a high fat diet won’t hurt you in the least as long as you’re eating whole food, healthy fats (not french fries and doughnuts y’know) but rather non-industrial lard, ~wild~ fish and their oil, unrefined coconut oil, eggs and so on… especially if you’re going to be living in the cold and your body temp will be lower than you’re used to, you’re going to need lots of fat. Pemmican would be a damn good idea.
Bone stews with organs included are probably one of the most healthy things to eat in the world, talk about rewilding your food! oh, and if you add a small amount of vinegar to your stews the minerals will be more available from the bones.
If you want to know more about how your body utilizes fats etc check out the literature currently available on insulin resistance and syndrome x.
It’s probably rude of me to ask but my curiosity, why don’t you like touching bones?[/quote]
Thanks for the suggestions and information.
It's probably rude of me to ask but my curiosity, why don't you like touching bones?
I don’t mind touching bones it is the marrow that I don’t like. 
( Makes my stomach feel bad.)
I want some organy mineral rich bone stew!!!
Most of the references I’ve ever seen to this rabbit starvation were about people in the north subsisting on snowshoe hares during times of scarce game.
I used to snare them a lot so I’ve eaten tons of snowshoe hares and they are about the leanest animal you can possibly imagine. Not like a domestic rabbit at all. They have no body fat. I guess they stay warm purely through metabolizing food. Their skin is about as thick as toilet paper, their fur is ok but not really great.
They do have a brain which would have some fat and I have read that Native people in the north ate the stomach contents with the meat. Suppposedly this provides enzymes which would help us to get the most out of the meat.
I don’t really like hare meat for that reason. They are much too lean to make it worthwhile. I much prefer bird meat or some other type of fatty meat, birds seem to have more fat content every time, If I have to eat lean meat I prefer pigeon or dove over hares when I have a choice. All the hares I have eaten have been extremely lean and it seems like I expended more calories in the hunting/setting up snares than I obtained in eating their fat-less meat.
I have read those stories by Calvin Rutstrum and others about the old-time trappers living off lard/butter and lean hare meat when they couldn’t obtain any fat meat but I wouldn’t eat that as a staple unless I had to.