Ancestral Diets, Why?

I am sure you have heard of eating an ancestral diet. But that is not what this is. We are talking about “ancestral diets” because people historically consumed food differently in different parts of the world. We are not suggesting that you eat exactly like your ancestors, but instead learn from your ancestry and borrow ancestral concepts to create a diet compatible with your unique genetic composition and needs.  

For example, this will mean more fruits and carbohydrates for some people, while more meats, fats, and dairy for others. And your diet may need to change with the seasons. There is no one size fits all answer. But instead, we have compiled some valuable guidelines for you when deciding what to put into your body. As to the specifics, look and learn with the approaches to your past for your answers. Experiment, and most importantly, find food that energizes and makes you feel good!

The general foundation is to eat WHOLE FOODS full of nutrients that fuel your body. So shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle. 

Ancestral Diets Rules

• Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.
• Eat organic whenever possible.
• Avoid all processed foods, especially processed oils.
• Avoid food products containing ingredients that are unfamiliar, unpronounceable, or that include high-fructose corn syrup.
• Fresh olive oil, avocado oil, and coconut oil may work for you. But use carefully as oil quickly oxidizes even when raw. Time and light alone will oxidize fat.
• Healthy fats and cholesterol are necessary for a healthy body.   Organic grass-fed butter is a super food.
• Avoid foods with added iron or vitamins.
• Avoid drinking your calories, especially juices and smoothies. Occasionally they are fine, but they often result in issues that cause more harm than good.
• CHEW each bite at least 20 times.
• Eat until about 80% full.
• When eating meat, eat animals with multiple stomachs, i.e., cows, goats, bison, etc. Always eat organic and 100% grass-fed. Avoid chicken when possible. Non-farm raised fish and seafood are almost always good. 
• Eat organic pasture-raised eggs every day if you can tolerate them. They are natures multivitamins, and as you take more copper, over time, your tolerance for sulfur will improve.
• Avoid milk unless it’s raw, 100% grass-fed, organic, and ideally A2. 
• Eat only organic nuts, but in limited quantities.
• Be careful with fruits and vegetables. They contain defensive mechanisms such as oxalic acid, gluten, anti-nutrients, and other toxins designed to poison you. In moderation, they can be okay. But be aware that much of what is sold now is grown with harmful chemicals, which are heavily genetically modified. For example, did you know that broccoli is a man-bred vegetable? When you do eat fruits and vegetables, try to only eat organic.
• Be careful with how you cook your food. Overcooking can oxidize fats and turn proteins into carcinogens and AGEs. (Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are proteins or lipids that become glycated as a result of exposure to sugars. AGEs can also form in foods. Foods that have been exposed to high temperatures, such as during grilling, frying, or toasting, tend to be very high in these compounds. In fact, diet is the most significant contributor to AGEs.They are a bio-marker implicated in aging and the development, or worsening, of many degenerative diseases, such as diabetes, atherosclerosis, chronic kidney disease, and Alzheimer’s disease.)
• Never microwave, and rarely grill foods.