Primal Body, Primal Mind

HEALTH / NUTRITION "Nora Gedgaudas is a warrior fighting for our collective health. For 2.6 million years humans knew what to eat: animal fat and protein. On that diet, we grew tall, strong, and disease-free. That primal pattern is still there, laid down like a labyrinth circling out of our DNA, and Nora is ready to guide us. This book is fabulous." --Lierre Keith, author of The Vegetarian Myth Examining the healthy lives of our pre-agricultural Paleolithic ancestors and the marked decline in stature, bone density, and dental health as well as the increase in birth defects, malnutrition, and disease following the implementation of the agricultural lifestyle, Nora Gedgaudas shows how our modern grain- and carbohydrate-heavy low-fat diets are a far cry from the high-fat, moderate-protein hunter-gatherer diets we are genetically programmed for, leading not only to lifelong weight gain but also to cravings, mood disorders, cognitive problems, and "diseases of civilization"--such as cancer, osteoporosis, metabolic syndrome (insulin resistance), heart disease, and mental illness. Applying modern discoveries to the basic hunter-gatherer diet, she culls from vast research in evolutionary physiology, biochemistry, metabolism, nutrition, and chronic and degenerative disease to unveil a holistic lifestyle for true mind-body health and longevity. Revealing the primal origins and physiological basis for a high-fat, moderate-protein, starch-free diet and the importance of adequate omega-3 intake--critical to our brain and nervous system but sorely lacking in most people's diets--she explains the nutritional problems of grains, gluten, soy, dairy, and starchy vegetables; which natural fats promote health and which (such as canola oil) harm it; the crucial role of vitamin D in cancer and disease prevention; the importance of saturated fat and cholesterol; and how diet affects mental health, memory, cognitive function, hormonal balance, and cellular aging. With step-by-step guidelines, recipes, and meal recommendations, this book offers sustainable strategies for a primally based yet modern approach to diet and exercise to reduce stress and anxiety, lose weight, improve sleep and mood, increase energy and immunity, enhance brain function, save money on groceries, and live longer and happier. NORA T. GEDGAUDAS, CNS, CNT, is a certified nutritional therapist and neurofeedback specialist with a private practice. A member of the Nutritional Therapy Association, the National Association of Nutritional Professionals, the Nutrition and Metabolism Society, and the Weston A. Price Foundation, she lives in Portland, Oregon.

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Foreword by Mark Steinberg, Ph.D.

Foreword by Brent Pottenger

Preface

Introduction

Part One
Primal Body

1 A Look at Where Our Dietary Requirements Originated
2 So, What’s for Dinner?
3 Grains: Are They Really a Health Food?
4 So What about Soy?
5 Digestion and Nutrient Assimilation: A North-to-South Journey
6 Your Gut and the Immune Connection
7 Dietary Fats: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
8 Dispelling the Cholesterol Myth
9 Vitamin D: What All da Buzz Is About
10 Making the Omega-3 Fatty Acids Connection
11 The Tyranny of Trans Fats
12 So, How Much Natural Fat Do I Need, Anyway?
13 Carbohydrate Metabolism
14 Leptin: The Lord and Master of Your Hormonal Kingdom
15 Weight Management 101 and the Path to Type 2 Diabetes
16 Taming the Carb-craving Monster
17 High Fructose Corn Syrup: A Sticky Wicket Best Avoided
18 What about Fiber as an Essential Carbohydrate?
19 Adrenal Exhaustion: A Uniquely Modern Epidemic
20 A Word about Water
21 Understanding the Role of Protein
22 Our Primordial Past: Understanding Mother Nature’s Plan and Where We Fit In
23 Using Insulin and Leptin to Our Advantage

Part Two
Primal Mind

24 Feeding Your Brain: Why It Matters
25 How Important Is Fat to the Brain?
26 Where Does ADD/ADHD Fit In to All of This?
27 Relief from Anxiety and Depression in Our Uncertain World
28 What about Food Allergies and Sensitivities?
29 The Impact of Modern Dietary and Environmental Stress on the Brain

Part Three
Paradise Lost

30 Surviving in a Modern World
31 What Generation of Pottenger’s Cat Are You?

Appendix A Where to Start?

Appendix B Sample Menus

Appendix C Protein Content in Foods

Appendix D An Abbreviated Guide to Supplementation

Appendix E The Weston A. Price Foundation

Appendix F Pyroluria

Appendix G Paleo/Traditional Diet Resources and Related Websites

Appendix H Recommended Reading

References

About the Author

Index