Bring your diet Back to Basics

We live in a fast paced world, with an abundance of processed, refined and unhealthy food options. Unfortunately, many people seem to have lost sight of what good food choices are, with even “healthy” options being false marketing. Consequently, many people find themselves frustrated, trying to eat healthy and still putting on weight.

It seems so crazy to me that in todays society it is easier to eat a very unhealthy diet, that is so readily available. I think it is helpful to discern what the best way to eat is by looking back at the diets of primitive cultures.

Research from Weston A. Price examined isolated cultures’ diets around the world for about 20 years. He documented his findings in “Nutrition and physical degeneration” which was published in 1939. I think it is a great way to clarify what types of foods we should be eating by looking at diets of healthy primitive and non industrialised people!

It should be of no surprise that primitive diets contained only wholefoods. Many of the harmful and unhealthy foods that are part of the average everyday diet nowadays did not exist in these primitive diets. Foods such as sugar, corn syrup, white flour, canned foods, pasteurised, homogenised, skim or low-fat milk, refined or hydrogenated vegetable oils, protein powders, artificial vitamins or toxic additives and colourings.

Instead tradition cultures consumed animal protein, fish and other seafood, water and land fowl, eggs, milk and milk products. This type of diet contained at least four times the calcium and other minerals, as well as TEN times the fat soluble vitamins from animal fats, when compared to the average American or Australian.

These primitive diets have a high food-enzyme content from raw dairy, raw met and fish, raw honey, tropical fruits, cold pressed oils, wine and unpasteurised beer, naturally preserved lacto-fermented vegetables, fruits, beverages and meats. Seeds, grains and nuts were soaked, sprouted and fermented or naturally leavened. traditional cultures also consumed animal bones, usually in the form of gelatine-rich bone broths.

This food culture was vastly different to all that is available to us these days! We have an abundance of foods of the wrong kind, and many people also tend to wrongly prepare foods.

Traditional cultures make provisions for the health of future generations by providing special nutrient-rich foods for parents-to-be, pregnant women and growing children; by proper spacing of children; and by teaching the principles of right diet to the young.

 

I hope that the description of these primitive cultures typical diet brings you back to basics and helps you to organise your diet.

To learn more about healthy eating please look through my website or come to one of my healthy eating and cooking workshops or book me for a one to one consultation.