In her book Deep Nutrition, Dr. Cate Shanahan, now the nutritionist for the LA Lakers, tells us how to feed our genes (not our jeans) by mapping out the parameters of epigenetics. Epigenetics is the study of how our genes perform. We have our DNA, and then we have both optimal and poor performance of our DNA. What we eat, think, and what we do with our lives has as much or more influence than what we come in with when we are born.
Essentially, traditional ways of eating are still the best ways. Saturated fats, unprocessed foods, slow cooking, plenty of bone-in meats, seafood, fresh seasonal fruits & vegetables, and fermentation (the only way they had for thousands of years to preserve foods through the seasons.) – are the basic super foods of your genetic code.
To enhance our vitality, resistance to disease, longevity, moods, mental function, and beauty, we’ve got to get a handle on feeding our genes what they crave the most. Using the whole animal gives us nutrients our bodies will ravage aisle after aisle of packaged food trying to find. Have you seen a zombie movie lately? That’s the image that comes to mind when I think about the direction our mainstream nutrition is headed. It’s terrifying! And frighteningly true. Have you seen the book Salt, Sugar, Fat? Woah.
The amazing thing about giving our bodies what they really want…
is that when we do, we start to radiate beauty and great health immediately. I’m not just talking about shiny skin (yep), beautiful hair (that too!), or great teeth (mm-hmm), but also the strong physiques and beautiful body weights that are best and most natural for our personal genetics. Lots of energy. Muscles for men. Curves for women. {Wait – are you a woman who is afraid of curves? Have you seen Beyonce lately?} Fertility. Vitality. Energy. Great sleep. Intelligence. Yep yep yep yep yep!
Forgive me if it seems I’m over simplifying.
I don’t mean to make light of the deeply complicated art of eating well in today’s world. I DO want to encourage you to take a few steps in the direction of real food that will help you live longer, lighter, and happier without having to go to the doctor as much or depend on others to care for your health.
Here are a few basic steps:
1) Shop organic, fresh, seasonal and local. Get fresh fruits and vegetables from farmers markets or directly from farmers.
2) Eat plenty of meat and protein. Include pastured chickens, grass-fed beef, and foraged pork products. Wild seafood is also good. Local is best. Knowing your farmers and ranchers and knowing how they raise their animals is ideal.
3) Eat bone-in meats, cook with bone broth, and include marrow in your recipes.
4) Eat fermented foods: sauerkraut, kombucha, yogurt, cheese, pickles, kimchi, miso made from non-gmo soy.
5) Eat less packaged processed dried white foods.
6) Go full fat: dairy – organic, unpasteurized, and raw. Skip the skim and lowfat dairy products. Use coconut oil, grass-fed butter, extra virgin olive oil, and homemade lard from humanely raised pigs. Saturated fats make our world go round.
7) Eat what your body wants. Are you craving steak? EAT IT! Are you craving ice cream? Eat that too. Ice cream every night instead of eating dinner? Maybe not the best idea. But everything in moderation means everything in moderation. We need a varied diet to get all of the nutrients it takes to keep our bodies thriving. We need as much nutrition as we can get with as few chemicals, toxins and pollutants as possible. Nutrient dense food is filling, delicious, and great for us.
Food is meant to be more than mere survival – it is meant to be part of the great pleasure of being human and alive. Traditional cultures celebrate that fact. Let us use all our resources to celebrate life too.
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