In a world dominated by processed foods and fleeting diet trends, many are turning to the wisdom of the past, seeking guidance from the eating habits of their ancestors. The allure of the ancestral diet lies in its promise of better health, reduced risk of illness, and a reconnection with the natural world. But what exactly is the ancestral diet, and how can we incorporate its principles into our modern lives?
What Is the Ancestral Diet?
The ancestral diet is a way of eating that emphasizes whole, unprocessed foods that were readily available to our ancestors. It revolves around the principle of consuming foods that are as close to their natural state as possible, relying on nature rather than industrial processing for health and nutrition. Essential minerals, vitamins, and nutrients are obtained from natural sources through hunting, gathering, and planting.
The ancestral diet is not a rigid set of rules, but rather a flexible framework that encourages individuals to reconnect with their heritage and make informed food choices based on their ancestry, geographical location, climate, and cultural practices. The core goal is to prioritize nutrient-dense, unprocessed foods, while minimizing the intake of refined sugars, processed foods, and unhealthy fats.
Principles of Ancestral Eating
While ancestral diets vary depending on the specific ancestral lineage and geographical location, several core principles remain consistent:
Prioritize whole, unprocessed foods: Focus on consuming foods in their natural state, such as fresh vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, eggs, nuts, and seeds.
Read also: The Hoxsey Diet
Embrace healthy fats: Include sources of healthy fats, such as avocados, nuts, seeds, olive oil, coconut oil, and animal fats from grass-fed sources.
Consume adequate animal protein: Animal protein is a vital component of many ancestral diets, providing essential amino acids and nutrients. Prioritize grass-fed and pastured meats, wild-caught fish, and organ meats.
Limit grains and legumes: If grains and legumes are consumed, opt for whole grains that have been properly prepared through soaking, sprouting, or fermenting.
Avoid processed foods, refined sugars, and unhealthy fats: Minimize or eliminate processed foods, refined sugars, unhealthy fats, and artificial additives.
Follow your intuition: Pay attention to your body's signals and listen to your hunger and fullness cues.
Read also: Walnut Keto Guide
The Importance of Ancestral Eating
Our ancestors relied on their intuition and passed-down knowledge to find and preserve methods for survival. Nutrition and farming were directly connected to how long our ancestors lived, so it was important for them to be good at it. Ancestral eating allows us to follow the tried-and-true principles that our ancestors perfected over thousands of years. It’s the only diet available to us that truly fills our nutritional needs and allows us to feel our best.
Ancestral diets prioritize nutrient-dense foods and unprocessed food. When food is processed, most of the nutrients are lost. When eating natural foods, you’re consuming the foods your body was made for-foods without additives and full of nutrients. This means you're getting more essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants with every bite. The ancestral approach strikes a balance between macronutrients (proteins, fats, and carbohydrates).
Three Steps to Building Your Own Ancestral Diet
Embarking on an ancestral diet journey can be both exciting and overwhelming. Here are three steps to help you get started:
1) Become Friends with Your Local Farmers
Local farmers are dedicated to the growth and production of their crops and know exactly what chemicals and additives are included (and aren’t included) in their farming process. They are also extremely knowledgeable about things like raw milk and organ meats and can provide valuable insights into production and sanitation practices.
2) Make Your Own Food
It’s difficult to maintain an ancestral diet without cooking your own food. Processed foods became popular for this very reason-they’re so much easier to prepare on a busy schedule.
Read also: Weight Loss with Low-FODMAP
There are ways to make ancestral eating work on a limited schedule, though:
- Meal prep basic ingredients on the weekends. Boil eggs, chop veggies, and cook staple meats you’ll use throughout the week.
- Use a crockpot or instant pot. These can be instrumental for things like homemade bone broth and stews, especially if you’re out a lot during the day. A nutrient-loaded crockpot meal may not fit the ancestral “aesthetic,” but it can make all the difference for your wellness.
- Figure out what you’re going to buy from the store. There are easy instant meal options you can purchase from places like Whole Foods, Azure Standard, or even Costco. Figure out your budget and make a plan, deciding exactly what foods you plan to buy from the local grocery store and what you can afford to source from the farmer’s market.
- Figure out how many meals you can realistically cook in a week. If you reasonably have time to cook 3-4 full meals per week, be honest with yourself about that. Plan to make those meals especially nutrient-dense-and eat throw-together meals the rest of the time (sandwiches, cottage cheese, yogurt and berries, beef sticks, etc.).
3) Join Your Local Weston A. Price Chapter
Dr. Weston A. Price is credited with rediscovering ancestral eating in the 1930s. His studies are the motivating factor for most ancestral diets-and the people who closely follow his work are involved in local groups. These local communities often run how-to workshops and provide support for people new to ancestral eating.
Key Food Groups in an Ancestral Diet
Raw Dairy
When we pasteurize milk, we remove a great deal of the nutrient content (enzymes, protein, vitamins, and minerals). The better option is to find raw dairy from a dairy farmer you trust. Talk to your farmer and find out their methods of testing for diseases and ensuring milk is sanitary-without pasteurization. This way, you can glean all the benefits of raw dairy safely.
Ancient Wheat Varieties or Milled Flour
Most flour today is so stripped of nutrients that manufactured vitamins and minerals are “fortified” back into the flour (hint: these are not bioavailable to the body). It’s surprisingly easy to mill your own flour. But if you don’t have the time, you can purchase an ancestral wheat blend (that’s unbleached and glyphosate-free) to feed your family.
Grass-Fed Meats and Animal Organs
You can actually get plant compounds into your diet from eating grass-fed beef (things like polyphenols, antioxidants, and phytochemicals). Grass-fed beef has also shown to have more omega-3 fatty acids and can even reduce the risk of heart disease (the exact opposite of what we hear about red meat and the standard American diet).
The nutrients in animal organs are our bodies’ reward for eating the entire animal without letting anything go to waste. Animal organs are a superfood-filled with enough vitamins, minerals, and other goodness to be considered a natural multivitamin.
In-Season Fruits and Veggies
In Ayurveda (an ancient Indian medicine), it’s encouraged for women especially to consume in-season produce-and to consume warm meals in the winter and cooler meals in the summer. It makes sense that our bodies would respond better to the produce when it’s in season, since this is how our ancestors ate.
Other benefits of eating in-season fruits and veggies are that they’re typically on sale, you can support your local farmer, and (my favorite) you can eat from your own garden.
Local Eggs
Local eggs are a rich source of choline-and can also provide vitamin A, vitamin E, and double the omega-3 fatty acids of store-bought eggs.
Healthy Natural Fats
No matter how many vitamins and minerals we consume, we can’t use them without healthy fats. They are the avenue by which our vitamins and minerals are absorbed. Low-fat diets most often mean low-level brain energy-and low-quality health. You can get more healthy fats by eating animal meats, raw dairy (cheese, butter, milk, cottage cheese), and by eating plant-based fats (Seeds, nuts, avocadoes, etc.).
Where to Shop to Encourage Ancestral Eating
Azure Standard: Pantry staples.
Primal Kitchen: Condiments, dressings, sauces, and supplements.
US Wellness Meats: All things grass-fed meat.
Dutch Meadows: Raw milk produce if you can’t find a local farmer.
Force of Nature: Grass-fed meats and awesome options for organ meats.
Benefits of Ancestral Eating
Weight Management
An ancestral diet can help you regain control over your energy levels. Removing refined sugars and highly processed carbohydrates in your diet prevents mid-afternoon crashes that leave you reaching for sugary snacks. Instead, you'll experience more stable blood sugar levels throughout the day.
Reduced Inflammation
Inflammation, the body's natural response to injury or illness, can sometimes go haywire and become chronic. This chronic inflammation is linked to various health issues, including heart disease and autoimmune disorders.
Reconnecting with Nature
In a world filled with artificial additives, preservatives, and highly processed foods, an ancestral diet is a return to simplicity. By choosing an ancestral diet, you're taking a step closer to nature. You're reconnecting with natural foods that are free from artificial enhancements.
Criticisms and Considerations
While ancestral diets offer numerous potential benefits, it's important to consider potential criticisms:
Potential for Nutrient Deficiencies
Strict adherence to certain ancestral diet variations, such as the carnivore diet, may lead to nutrient deficiencies if not carefully planned. It's essential to ensure a balanced intake of all essential nutrients through a variety of whole foods or supplementation when necessary.
Ethical Considerations
Some individuals may have ethical concerns about consuming animal products, which are often a central component of ancestral diets. It's important to consider personal values and make informed choices that align with one's ethical beliefs.
Sustainability
The sustainability of certain ancestral diet practices, such as the consumption of large quantities of meat, may be a concern. Opting for sustainably raised meat, reducing food waste, and incorporating plant-based foods can help mitigate these concerns.