Rebuild from Depression Blog

For the first official contest on the Rebuild website "Pest or Dinner?," we are looking for nutrient-dense foods that are also known to be pests. The unpublished list of depression buster foods contains a number of meats that many of us would consider "exotic" at best. There are definitely some animals on the list that are nutrient dense and considered "pesky" in their live state. It's your task to nominate pests that may also be depression buster foods. See the contest rules for details.

Keep in mind, we are searching for foods high in depression-fighting nutrients and fats: Omega-3 fatty acids, B-vitamins, iron, magnesium, and zinc.

Carey nominates her hamster as a depression buster food. She writes:

I am not sure of how nutrient dense hamsters are but I do know that he is only grain fed, not grass fed. He might have some omega 3s if I added some flax seed to his food or added some cod liver oil to his water every day.

And he fits the pest category:

I know they say that pets help reduce stress, but not Hammy. We think of him more as a pest because he tends to run on his wheel all night long. Our lack of sleep may lead to more depression. However Hammy is a smart little guy and running in the wheel is just not challenging enough for him. He finds it more fun to run on top of the wheel ( like in the video attached) We find this very funny, especially since he gets going so fast he sometimes flies off the wheel onto the side of the cage. Hope you enjoy!

I did a quick internet search for the nutrient profile of a hamster and of its relatives the rat and mouse. While there are a lot of rodent studies looking at changes in rodents under different diets, it is unclear whether Hammy is a depression buster food. Certainly feeding him flax or cod liver oil would help improve his Omega-3 profile.

I asked my mom, "Mom, hamster could be a depression buster food. How would you prepare it if you had to feed the family hamster?"

She had some thoughts:

Well, it depends on whether said hamster had been your pet or not.

If a pet, you certainly wouldn't want to roast the little darling whole like a game bird.
The kids would have a fit and no one would eat.

On the other hand, how would you cook this itty bitty critter? You wouldn't want to cut it in pieces like cutting up a chicken.

OK, let's go for roast the whole hamster with poultry herbs and whole garlic cloves in the cavity, oil, salt and pepper all over the outside. This usually insures good flavor and moist meat (untried on this particular species, but be adventuresome).

Bake at 350 degrees for who knows how long?

Watch Mr Hamster closely, because he could turn into jerky quickly given his size.

Now before the kids can see it, strip the meat off the bones. Or, slice the jerky into thin strips.

Use the meat in a nice thick soup that will disguise whatever color this meat might be.

If you end up with jerky, just stick it in the kids' lunches and don't say a word.

Personally, I hope hamsters are not on the list. What will you tell the kids when they ask where Fluffy is?

Here in this house, we've challenged ourselves to eat anything that turns out to be a depression buster food. Considering the "us" includes my mom, there are other reasons she is hoping that the hamster is not a depression buster food.

Carey gets a free book for being the first out of the gate with this entry, but to determine the top three entries, I need some feedback.

How would eating a hamster help or hurt your depression?

Do you happen to have the nutrient profile of a hamster handy?