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Natural Eating: Eating in Harmony with our Genetic Heritage


January 2000 Nutritional Anthropology™ Volume 3.01

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Private Subscription Newsletter
Ancestral Insulin; Blood Type Debunked; Darwin’s ‘Healthy Choice’; Recipe:
Tomato Ketchup; Q&A: Chicken Feed; Sweet Tipple; Natural Eating for Cats;
Cracking Wheat; Tuna Cholesterol; Feature Article: Cholesterol/Food Connection;
‘Healthy Choice’ Revealed; Messages.
Current Anthropology Darwin Food Label
Blood Groups and Evolution:
Insulin Resistance Clue to Johns Hopkins Refutes Popular
Study this food label and find the pit-
Ancestral Human Diet Diet Book
falls. Comment page 5.
As humans evolved, we developed
Insulin resistance occurs when the blood groups. These have great simi-
body needs to produce “abnormal” larity to those of the chimpanzee and
levels of insulin to function properly. the gorilla.
HEALTHY
Janette Brand Miller and Stephen From molecular studies of the genes CHOICE
Colagiuri of the University of Sydney, for the different ABO groups, these
Australia, argue that insulin resis- blood groups developed more than 5
tance is, on the contrary, the naturally million years ago, and conceivably Tuna
even earlier.
adapted state for human beings.
Casserole
One of the arguments that they cite is Human populations dispersed over
the fact that all ‘unacculturated’ the globe, carrying their blood groups American Heart Association
Meets American Heart Association criteria
peoples such as the Australian Abori- with them, before the development of for saturated fat and cholesterol for healthy
ginal, the Native American and the agriculture 10,000 years ago. At the people over age 2.
African Pygmy all display what we time that blood groups evolved, our While many factors affect heart disease,
ancestors were all forager/hunters. diets low in fat and cholesterol may reduce
call insulin resistance. the risk of this disease.
They ate lot of plant food as well as
This is no problem to them since their animal matter.
food supply contains little in the way
Nutrition Facts
of Bad Carbohydrates. On the con- Humans developed agriculture only in Serving Size 1 meal 9oz (255g)
trary, it is helpful for reproduction. the past 10,000 years. This is the Calories 240
only major change in the human die- from fat 45
During pregnancy, glucose needs to tary and it is too recent to have had Total Fat 5g 8%
be diverted to the fetus. Insulin resis- any evolutionary effect. Saturated Fat 2.0g 10%
tant females would automatically Polyunsaturated Fat 2.5g
maintain glucose in circulation rather All people are of forager/hunter and Monounsaturated Fat 0.5g
than lock it up in muscle and fat then agricultural ancestry. There is no Cholesterol 25mg 10%
stores. difference by blood group in these Sodium 580mg 24%
ancestries, and no reason to believe Total Carbohydrate 33g 11%
Furthermore, during lactation the that one blood group evolved with Dietary Fiber 4g 16%
breasts develop insulin sensitivity. one dietary pattern and another blood Sugars 7g
This encourages the uptake, by group with another. Protein 16g
breast tissue, of glucose for conver- Source: Johns Hopkins University Vitamin A 0%, Vitamin C 0%, Calcium
sion into milk lactose. 15%, iron 8%
Source: WRND; Brand-Miller; 1999; 84. Comment:
INGREDIENTS : SKIM MILK (WATER, CONDENSED
Just so. Our eating pattern was set in SKIM MILK), COOKED FETTUCINE (ENRICHED
Comment: the Savannahs of East Africa over SEMOLINA WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, IRON, THIAMINE
MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID, MAY
See Page 5. 50,000 years ago. The blood groups CONTAIN EGGWHITES) TUNA, CELERY, PEAS,
had been around several million WATER, ONIONS, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF THE
FOLLOWING: MUSHROOMS (CONTAIN SALT)
years by then! TOASTED BREAD CRUMBS (WHEAT FLOUR, SUG-
AR, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL
WITH TBHQ, SALT, YEAST, CALCIUM PROPIONATE),
January 2000 Natural Eating Newsletter page 2 of 6
MARGARINE (LIQUID AND PARTIALLY HYDROGE-
NATED SOYBEAN OIL, WATER, SALT, VEGETABLE Readers Questions
AND MONO-AND DIGLYCERIDES, SOY LECITHIN, Sweet Tipple
SODIUM BENZOATE, CITRIC ACID, AND CALCIUM
AND CALCIUM DISODIUM EDTA (PRESERVATIVES)
FLAVOR, BETA CAROTENE (COLOR), VITAMIN A Chicken Feed Q. What is Sugar Alcohol?
PALMITATE), PARMESAN CHEESE (PART SKIM MILK
,CHEESE CULTURE, SALT, ENZYMES, CELLULOSE Q. Does the type of feed a chicken A. Sugar alcohols are a form of ar-
POWDER (PREVENTS CAKING), MODIFIED receives affect the cholesterol content tificial bulk sweetener. (The word
CORNSTARCH, RICE STARCH, MUSHROOM BASE
of its eggs? What is the value of flax- ‘alcohol’ is to designate the type of
(MUSHROOM, SALT BUTTER (CREAM, SALT), FLA-
VORINGS, SUGAR) MIREPOIX BASE (SAUTEED fed (high DHA) eggs? molecule. There is no inebriating ef-
VEGETABLES (CARROTS, CELERY, ONION), SUG- fect!)
AR, SOYBEAN OIL, SALT, MALTODEXTRIN, MOD-
IFIED CORNSTARCH, FLAVORING), PARTIALLY
A. There have been many efforts by There are many of them: sorbitol,
HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, FLAVORING, the poultry industry to reduce the maltitol and lactitol are the most
FLAVOR, SEAFOOD FLAVOR (CONTAINS WHITE cholesterol content of eggs by mod- common. They are slowly absorbed
COD FISH, CLAMS, SHRIMP, LOBSTER MEAT), SALT,
GRANULATED GARLIC, CARAMEL COLOR, BUTTER ifying the hen's feed. They find that in the digestive tract and so have a
FLAVOR (DRIED BUTTER) FROM BUTTER, NON-FAT the hen's diet has no effect on the low glycemic index. For this reason
MLK SOLIDS, SODIUM CASEINATE, FLAVOR), MAL-
TODEXTRIN, MODIFIED CORNSTARCH, BUTTER cholesterol content in the egg yolk. they are commonly found in diabetic
(CREAM, SALT), FLAVORS, PARTIALLY HYDROGE-
NATED SOYBEAN OIL). jams and confectionery. Their toxicity
This is not surprising; a chick embryo is very low so they are also becoming
has to have a certain range of nu- more prevalent in regular soft drinks
Quick Fix trients in order to be viable. Choles- and pastries.
Fast foods and their accessories do terol is one of them. So the answer to On the other hand, sugar alcohols
not have to be life-threatening. Here your first question is: “No, eggs from are still empty calories (just like sug-
is a recipe for tomato ketchup which all sources will have the same choles- ar, 20 cal/tsp.) and they cause intes-
makes for a safe and tasty sauce. terol content, about 190mg per egg”. tinal disturbances in many individuals.
The main difference compared with Even so, they are preferable to the
commercial sauces is the substitution But why worry? It has been demon- alternative, sugar.
of sugar (or corn syrup) by fructose. strated that moderate egg con-
This keeps the glycemic index low. sumption has no effect on blood cho-
lesterol levels.
Natural Eating for Felines
Commercial ketchups usually aim at
a high a level of sweetness. In the
Q. I feed my cat on scraps from the
interests of training the palate, this On the other hand, there is a defi- table and commercial pet-foods. Do
recipe also keeps the sweetness ciency of omega 3 fatty acids in the cats have a different naturally
slightly lower. battery egg. This is a flagrant exam- adapted eating pattern to us, and
ple of how industrial feeding of hens should I be concerned about how and
for egg production has undermined what she eats?
Tomato Ketchup nutritional quality. DHA (docosohex- A. You bet! Cats are ‘obligatory’
 anoic acid) is a substitute for the all- carnivores. Their naturally adapted
important but terribly lacking alpha- eating pattern is such that they get all
Ingredients: linolenic acid (Vitamin F2). Industrial their nutrients from animal matter.
. 1 can (12 oz, 340 g) tomato battery eggs have a very poor ratio of Cats do not have the full complement
paste omega 6 to omega 3 oils – about 33 of enzymes like we do for extracting
. 6 fl. oz (170 ml) tomato juice to 1. the nutrients from plant foods and
. 4 tbsp. (60 ml) red wine vinegar much less cereals.
. 2 tsp. lemon juice The good news is that, when hens This is a major drawback to kitchen
. 4 tsp. fructose are fed on flaxseed or fish oils, which scraps – they are high in foods like
. ½ tsp. garlic powder are high in omega-3 fatty acids, the cereals and saturated fats (including
. pepper to taste yolk content of these "heart friendly" dairy) that the cats’ metabolism can-
. (very little) salt to taste fatty acids is massively increased not process.
from 18 mg to 150mg. This dramati- With the recent introduction of high
Method: cally improves the ratio to the ideal – glycemic commercial dry cat-food
Blend all the ingredients together, 4 to 1. containing large proportions of bad
to obtain a smooth "home-made It is possible to find enlightened egg carbohydrates, it is no coincidence
tomato ketchup". producers who feed their hens this that large numbers of cats are being
Store in the refrigerator. way. They are usually cage-free birds driven into diabetes.
too. Cats cannot synthesize (like we
Comment: Always get eggs of this kind can) vitamin A from plant beta-
This makes a fine tomato ketchup whenever you find them. carotene. They cannot make arachi-
that can be used in all the conven- donic acid (AA), DHA (see ‘Chicken
tional ways. Experiment with the pro- Check your health-food store. One Feed’) or GLA (Gamma Linolenic
portions of tomato juice to get the supplier is Gold Circle Farms Acid) from omega six and omega 3
consistency right. This ketchup can (www.goldcirclefarms.com/). They oils like we can.
also be used as a sauce on spaghetti also claim that their hens are pesti- For cats, AA, DHA and GLA are
or on vegetables. cide and hormone free. essential fatty acids. Why have they
January 2000 Natural Eating Newsletter page 3 of 6
become ‘essential’? Because they Cracking Wheat minerals and a variety of natural
were always present in their food health-promoting phytochemicals.
supply (prey animals that could make
Q. Is cracked wheat bread the same
More importantly, the less the grain
thing as whole-wheat bread?
them). is milled, the better is its glycemic
It is a common failing of cat dieta- A: Cracked wheat is simply whole- index. The following graph shows
ries to be deficient in these essential wheat berries (grains) that have been how insulin levels peak dangerously
fatty acids. Result? Arthritis, inflam- crushed into smaller pieces. This may with fine flour and are at their best
mation, hair loss, flaking skin, and give products a lighter taste or texture with whole kernel. Cracked wheat is
liver and kidney problems. than does regular whole wheat. Some next best.
No, for a healthy cat, you have to ‘cracked wheat bread’ contains only a Rye kernel is even better. The reci-
adopt a Feline Natural Eating pattern. small amount of cracked wheat and is pe for a bread made from whole ker-
That is a whole new story, yet to be mainly made of refined flour. Check nels and coarse ground rye flour will
written! But for the time being, stick to the ingredients label to make sure be published shortly.
all-animal cat-foods and let it catch that cracked wheat or whole-wheat This is a classic example of how it
the occasional mouse or bird. flour is listed first as the primary in- is possible, by choosing wisely, to
gredient. Whole grains are higher in limit the damage of bread, a potential-
dietary fiber, several vitamins and ly dangerous foodstuff.

Wheat: The finer it's milled, the worse it is

90
80
70
Fine Flour
blood insulin

60
50 Coarse
40 Cracked
30 Kernel
20
10
0
0 15 30 45 60 90 120
minutes
after Brand-Miller; World Rev Nutr Diet; 1999; 84

Cholesterol Worries This is a mantra well worth learning. bes, like the Australian Aborigines,
“Most people who have high choles- the Tarahuramas, the Hunzas and
Q. I see from the label on a tuna can terol levels do so because their body even the ‘high meat’ Eskimos. As far
that it contains cholesterol. Is this
is making abnormal quantities of it – as we can tell, they were unknown
important? I am battling high choles-
not because they are eating it.” amongst our Pleistocene forebears.
terol levels.
Eat the tuna with a clear con-
A. Let’s keep things in proportion. science. Even with its (modest) cho- What is cholesterol accused of? It is
A 3-oz portion of canned tuna con- lesterol content, the net effect will be the visible abnormal deposit in arte-
tains about 20mg of cholesterol. This to drive down your blood cholesterol ries. The real question should be,
is inconsequential compared to an levels. “why is the body causing cholesterol
egg, for example, which contains to settle in arteries?”
over 200 mg – 10 times as much!
Furthermore, tuna is rich in heart-
Feature Article Our internal plumbing is not like boi-
healthy omega 3 oils – imperative for The ler pipes which passively fur up. Ra-
including foods like tuna in the diet. Food/ Cholesterol ther, our arteries are made of pro-
What is more, these oils (EPA or Connection active living tissue that inflames,
eicosapentanoic acid) will drive down High cholesterol levels are stereotyp- scars, produces hormones and
the body’s own production of choles- ical of modern civilization. They are sends signals to other parts of the
terol. unknown amongst the primitive tri- body. Why do the cells that line our
arteries decide to capture cholesterol
January 2000 Natural Eating Newsletter page 4 of 6
molecules and divert them into build- to glucose) the food is compared to Finally bad fats. Perhaps the most
ing plaque? white bread. potent raisers of cholesterol levels
As ever with such matters the Insulin indexes usually, but not are the saturated fats myristic and
question is much more complicated always, track the glycemic index. The palmitic acid and their artificial count-
than it seems at first sight. However, carbohydrates with the worst insulin erparts, trans-fat and hydrogenated
we can be sure of one thing. If the indexes are bread, breakfast cereals, fats. The saturated fats are particul-
body is making too much cholesterol confectionery and potato. Potato is arly found in red meats (beef, pork
then this is a symptom of more harm- notable for having a relatively high and lamb products), dairy products
ful dysfunctions going on in the body insulin index compared to its glycem- (milk, yogurt, butter, cheese, ice
and particularly in the cardio-vascular ic index. cream) and tropical oils like palm oil
system. Simply reducing cholesterol Unlike for the glycemic index, pro- and coconut oil. The artificial saturat-
levels with medication is about as teins do have an insulin index. ed fats are present in all kinds of
useful as shutting off the fire alarm margarines, spreads, baked goods,
without dealing with the fire. Proteins raise insulin levels cookies, cakes, gateaux, TV dinners,
So what are high cholesterol levels even though they do not raise pizzas and the like.
a symptom of? They are a symptom blood sugar levels. The one saturated fat that is safe
of disturbed hormonal balances, par- from the cholesterol-raising point of
ticularly hormones like insulin, corti- The following table gives some typi- view is stearic acid. Stearic acid is
sol and adrenaline. When these hor- cal values. It can be seen that potato found notably in cocoa (and choc-
mones are floating around in the and yogurt is exceptionally insuli- olate). That is one reason why we
bloodstream in abnormal quantities, nemic, beef and fish is moderately so make an exception of cocoa in the
they create mischief. They act on the and eggs only modestly so. Natural Eating patterns.
walls of the blood vessels in many Furthermore, if proteins and carbo- The only oils that are safe to con-
ways, with the net result of causing hydrates are eaten together, then the sume, but in the right proportions
the production of plaque and blood insulin raising power of the combina- and, as always, modestly, are the
clots. tion is much greater than of the two essential fatty acids found in Canola
The main culprits are the bad car- ingredients separately. This is anoth- oil and flax oil. Olive oil is also safe
bohydrates, bad proteins and bad er powerful argument to observe from the cholesterol raising point of
fats. They are quite unnatural foods good food combining principles and view but it is still empty calories.
for humans to be eating and, as luck avoid protein/starch combinations. So, the main strategy is to elimi-
would have it, they do have an ex- nate bad carbohydrates, bad proteins
tremely deleterious effect on human and bad fats from the diet and stop
Some Insulin Indexes
biochemistry. further corrosion of the cardiovascu-
Natural Eaters will have heard the Food Index lar system. Just by doing that, the
sermons about bad carbohydrates. Potatoes Worse 124 body can start to repair some of the
These drive up insulin levels. Insulin Yogurt 115 damage.
then raises levels of another hor- Up to now we have deliberately
White Bread Bad 100
mone, HMG CoA reductase, which in avoided talking about the HDL/LDL
turn instructs the liver to produce White rice 79 ratio. (The ratio of ‘good’ to ‘bad’ cho-
cholesterol. Fish Better 59 lesterol.) This is because, in a sense,
Beef 51 this is a red herring. It is true that this
There is a direct chain of events Eggs 31 ratio can be manipulated by dietary
between consuming bad carbo- means. But the bottom line is that the
Holt et al; Am J Clin Nutr; 1997; 66
hydrates and raising cholesterol whole transport system of LDL’s,
levels. VLDL’s and a myriad other com-
In addition animal protein has a pounds cannot be micro-managed in
strongly atherogenic (artery damag- isolation. (Sorcerer’s Apprentice
That is only one effect of high insulin
ing) effect, and milk proteins (casein) Syndrome again). You have to get
levels. Insulin directly inflames arte- are the worst. Casein is also the
ries and causes them to scar and fur the whole eating pattern sorted out,
most powerful provoker of the pro- as described above, and then the
up. duction of cholesterol. (Not a mes-
Here is a new concept: because of lipoprotein biochemistry will sort itself
sage that the dairy industry wants to out just fine too.
insulin’s potential for creating havoc hear!) Thus yogurt is exceptionally
with body biochemistry, researchers A word about cholesterol control is
cholesterolemic. not complete without passing refer-
have established insulin indices for
many foodstuffs. ence to the other cholesterolemic life-
And plant proteins? Yet another style activities. Studies show that
Insulin indexes are established in a straw in the wind. Plant proteins are
similar way to glycemic indexes. Vo- lack of exercise and stress are both
helpful to the artery walls and work to potent drivers of cholesterol making
lunteers eat foodstuffs and have their reduce cholesterol. (Soy protein is
insulin levels measured over a period activity. Make sure that you get the
the best.) Plant proteins are good minimum amount of exercise every
of time. However, unlike the glycem- proteins.
ic index (where the food is compared day. That is, about 30 minutes per
day of moderate cardio-vascular
January 2000 Natural Eating Newsletter page 5 of 6
(aerobic) exercise. Brisk walking, Finally, a reference back to the eats no dairy products, the worst of
floor exercises, jogging, tennis, vi- noble savage, who has his choles- them all.
gorous dancing are all acceptable. terol levels perfectly under control. Afterword: Diet is the commonest
This will also help to control stress. If How does he live? Plenty of physical reason for dysfunctional cholesterol
you are the stressed-out type of per- activity and a diet very close to the mechanisms. Just occasionally there
sonality, investigate stress control Natural Eating Pattern. He eats plen- is a medical condition such as under-
techniques such as yoga, meditation, ty of plant food and little bad pro- active thyroid. Your doctor will have
hot relaxing baths, massage and a tein, bad fat, bad carbohydrates. He checked this possibility first.
good night’s sleep.

Fridge Door Summary


Cholesterol
Helpful Foods - definitely favor
Unrestricted Salads and Vegetables: see Book, Table 1, Appendix 1
Unrestricted Fruits: see Book, Table 1, Appendix 1
Omega 3 oils (moderation): Canola oil, walnut oil, flaxseed oil
Oily Fish (moderation): salmon, tuna, sardine, mackerel
Nuts (moderation): particularly walnuts
Sundry: tea, ginger, red wine (moderation ), hard drinking water

Harmful Foods
Meat: cut out beef, lamb, pork, bacon, sausage, ham, salami and other cold meats.
Dairy: cut out milk and its products – See Book, Appendix 1.
Other Animal Proteins: limit consumption of poultry, cheese
Bad fats: cut out lard, shortening, dripping, butter, margarine, cream, whole milk, full
fat yogurt, palm oil, coconut oil, trans-fatty acids, hydrogenated fats.
Omega 6 Vegetable Oils: cut out sunflower oil, safflower oil, corn oil, peanut oil,
evening primrose oil etc.
Bad Carbohydrates: cut out cereals, bread, pastries, sugars, honey etc. (see Book,
Table 3 Appendix 1)

Other Harmful Lifestyle Activities


Stress: Stress raises cortisol and adrenaline levels, raising cholesterol levels.
Lack of Exercise: Exercise rebalances cholesterol-producing hormones.

This information is not intended to replace medical advice or to be a substitute for a physician. Always seek the advice of a physician before beginning any diet program. The
author and publisher expressly disclaim responsibility for any adverse effects arising from following the diet program without appropriate medical supervision.
================================================================================
Darwin Label Revisited dients like the salt – 25% of daily It is rather like the storm overflow at a
maximum in one go! sewage works. If there is a sudden
This product is more skim milk flood, the raw sewage overflows into
“Healthy Choice”? st
(1 item) and garbage fettuccini the watercourse.
Anybody who looks at the litany of nd
(2 item) than it is tuna. Is that what The immediate problem is resolved
fillers, additives, preservatives, flavor- you intended to buy when you bought (avoiding flooding the sewage works)
ings will soon realize that they have a ”tuna” casserole – cheap junk fil- only to store up downstream prob-
to exercise a lot of skepticism about lers? lems in terms of polluted rivers.
the claims of food processors. In this So it is with us. The insulin sensitivi-
case the term ‘healthy choice’ is not a Give products like this a wide berth. ty solves the immediate crisis of a
claim – it is the name of the manufac- glucose overload by shifting the glu-
turer! Caveat emptor … cose into fat stores.
From Page 1 But the longer term problems re-
“American Heart Association”? Ancestral Diet (continued) main – in the form of all the ills of
Read the small print. Only in as much Comment: abnormally high insulin levels: heart
as the dish “meets criteria for satu- Indeed. The advent of bad carbo- disease, atherosclerosis, allergies,
rated fat and cholesterol”. What about hydrates into the human diet is very cancer, immune dysfunction, osteo-
all the other heart threatening ingre- recent. If we have become insulin porosis, kidney disease and diabetes.
sensitive then this is to our detriment.
January 2000 Natural Eating Newsletter page 6 of 6
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Nutritional Anthropology:
Eating In Harmony
with our Genetic Heritage
The Natural Eating Book Geoff Bond

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