Characteristics of Traditional Diets

You all probably know by now, I am a Chef and Nutrition Coach.  I teach my clients to eat a Traditional Human Diet.  The one we have been eating for thousands of years; healthy fat, meat, vegetables with small amounts of fruit.  Nothing out of cans and bottles, nothing frozen, in short, real food.  Not “products”.  The following article is from the Weston Price Foundation;

Characteristics of Traditional Diets

• The diets of healthy primitive and non-industrialized peoples contain no refined or denatured foods such as refined sugar or corn syrup; white flour; canned foods; pasteurized, homogenized, skim or low-fat milk; refined or hydrogenated vegetable oils; protein powders; artificial vitamins or toxic additives and colorings.
• All traditional cultures consume some sort of animal protein and fat from fish and other seafood; water and land fowl; land animals; eggs; raw milk and milk products; reptiles; and insects.
• Primitive diets contain at least four times the calcium and other minerals and TEN times the fat soluble vitamins from animal fats (vitamin A, vitamin D and the Price Factor–now believed to be vitamin K₂) as the average American diet.
• In all traditional cultures, some animal products are eaten raw.
• Primitive and traditional diets have a high food-enzyme content from raw dairy products, raw meat and fish; raw honey; tropical fruits; cold-pressed oils; wine and unpasteurized beer; and naturally preserved, lacto-fermented vegetables, fruits, beverages, meats and condiments.
• Seeds, grains and nuts are soaked, sprouted, fermented or naturally leavened in order to neutralize naturally occurring anti-nutrients in these foods, such as phytic acid, enzyme inhibitors, tannins and complex carbohydrates.
• Total fat content of traditional diets varies from 30% to 80% but only about 4% of calories come from polyunsaturated oils naturally occurring in grains, pulses, nuts, fish, animal fats and vegetables. The balance of fat calories is in the form of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids.
• Traditional diets contain nearly equal amounts of omega-6 and omega-3 essential fatty acids.
• All primitive diets contain some salt.
• Traditional cultures consume animal bones, usually in the form of gelatin-rich bone broths.
• 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.

This way of eating is also environment-friendly.  I buy no food in boxes, I take bags for my produce, have very little to throw away.  Almost nothing I buy has a label; real food, like a mango, needs to packaging, you can tell what is is by looking at it!

5 kids (age 18- 37) with no cavities, no doctor bills for me or them except for ankle surgery to repair tendons I tore on a trampoline 5 years ago. A few broken bones here and there. I got well at 36 years old after studying nutrition for 20 years.

Americans are fat deficient, low fat is dangerous, we are seeing immune disorders, allergies, depression increasing at an insane rate. We need saturated fats from organic sources, grass-fed meat, raw butter, coconut oil in our day to day diet.  40% of our calories should come from fat, 30% from protein and 30 from carbs (vegetables and fruit only).

My book, Optimum Nutrition, and my my cookbook are a guide to getting well and achieving perfect health through nourishing ourselves. The cookbook has 780 gluten, lactose and soy free recipes, a 62 day meal plan with shopping lists. It is in software form.  Please check them out here.