This book offers a sustainable 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.
by Nora T. Gedgaudas, CNS, CNT
Gedgaudas examines the healthy lives of our preagricultural Paleolithic ancestors and the marked decline in stature, bone density and dental health, and the increase in birth defects, malnutrition and disease following the implementation of the agricultural lifestyle.
She also 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, Gedgaudas 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. She reveals the primal origins and physiological basis for a high-fat, moderate-protein, starch-free diet and the importance of adequate omega-3 intake; and explains the nutritional problems of grains, gluten, soy, dairy and starchy vegetables.
She also covers which natural fats promote health or 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 a sustainable 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.
$19.95 — Healing Arts Press, One Park St., Rochester, VT 05767.
Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 30, Number 4, August/September 2011.
April 13, 2012
Book review