The Diet for Human Beings: An Ancestral Paleo Approach to Health
Beverly Meyer, MBA Holistic Nutritionist
Producer/Director Laura Varela
We must caution viewers that this video contains subversive information. Beverly Meyer discusses the optimal diet for the human species and summarizes it in eleven big ideas. From the start she recommends a species-specific diet. What does that look like for humans? Can you get it at the nearest and cheapest all-you-can-keep- down buffet? Probably not.
For one thing, the optimal diet for the human species doesn’t look like the optimal diet for a rabbit or cow. Before grain-based agriculture, humans on average were taller and had bigger brains. Bearing that in mind, the first big idea is that the hydrochloric acid in our stomachs is ideal for breaking down animal proteins. We don’t really need grains. Moderate amounts are all right if properly prepared but one can easily over-indulge grain consumption. A lot of sugar and starch can knock your metabolism out of balance.
Big idea number two is where things really get subversive. This idea suggests that fat, as in saturated animal fat, is good for you. In addition, cholesterol is also good for you. We’re not good at keeping secrets around here, so if that was supposed to be a secret, well, that’s too bad. If you have been a member of the Weston A. Price Foundation for any length of time, you may have already heard much of this information.
Other big ideas cover issues like sugar, insulin, potatoes, beans and trans fat. Idea number eight suggests that there are good carbs in the form of various vegetables. Meyer also says that we don’t need a truckload of fiber every day. Running barbed wire through a drain pipe may clear out the pipe but it can be rather hard on the pipe itself.
Idea number nine once again says that fat is not a problem and lists specific good fats like butter, ghee, lard, tallow and coconut oil. Meyer also throws in the factoid that there is no clear relationship between cholesterol and heart disease. Maybe that was supposed to be a secret too. We know that dairy foods can be difficult for some, but aside from those exceptions, for many it is very good especially if it is raw. Salt is also important. As far as I know, there are no exceptions to that unless you like to deal with all the serious health problems caused by lack of salt. The thumb points UP for this one.
This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly magazine of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Spring 2013.
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