- THE HUMAN CONDITION
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- The Diet we Evolved to Eat
To my readers: I have made the decision to change my publication schedule for THE HUMAN CONDITION from weekly to biweekly to provide me the time to author a new book, “Wellness for life”. If successful this will hopefully offset the increasing losses incurred by the production costs of my newsletter.
At this moment, I wish I could sh are everything I have learned—through years of school and medical practice and a lifetime of personal experience. But I can’t distill it all here. Instead, I want to share with you the most valuable lessons I have gathered from over 60 years of adult living. Also, I want to emphasize that despite what you may think, I am no different from any of you. My preferences, my dietary choices, and the things I seek in life are, in most cases like yours…
However, humanity now faces a crisis: adaptations that once ensured our survival during times of food scarcity are now making us chronically ill in an era of abundance. Especially when combined with processed and ultraprocessed food created without regard for nutrition. Instead, focusing on increasing profits by production of addictive “Junk Food.”
Our bodies evolved to store food energy as fat in times when food was plentiful. Then, a biological mechanism, ketogenesis, allowed us to survive by using this stored fat by converting it to ketones that provide an alternative fuel for our heart, muscles, and brain. In many cases, ketones are superior to glucose, our default fuel, which is then converted into ATP (adenosine triphosphate) by our mitochondria through the process of oxidative phosphorylation.
What surprises many people is that ketogenesis—the foundation of the ketogenic diet—originated millions of years ago as a critical adaptation in mammalian physiology. Without it, mammals might never have risen to dominance after the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Interestingly, the therapeutic potential of this mechanism was first tested and documented in the 1920s, when fasting, which mimics the physiological effects of starvation, was found to significantly benefit children with epilepsy. This ancient knowledge, dating back to at least 500 BC, revealed that ketone bodies produced by “fat burning” could serve as an alternative "brain fuel," often producing outcomes superior to those achieved through traditional glucose metabolism in the brain.
However, we are now discovering that this recent abundance of food is also responsible for the creation of most chronic diseases plaguing humanity that have arisen in the past one hundred years. This is caused partly from “over-eating”, and partly from eating ultraprocessed foods that have replaced natural whole foods developed by the food industry in the 20th century.
Many people wonder how to distinguish ultra-processed foods from natural foods. In most cases, these foods cannot be made in a typical kitchen because they require industrial processing, specialized equipment, and ingredients not available in grocery stores. Additionally, ultra-processed foods are deliberately designed to be hyper-palatable and addictive—a strategy to boost sales and profits while keeping production costs low. Let me give you an example: Crisco, the first shortening made entirely of vegetable oil*, was introduced in June 1911 by Procter & Gamble.
*This is not exactly true, unless you consider cotton a vegetable... The truth is that cottonseed was no more than an agricultural waste product that served no purpose until Procter & Gamble developed a way to process an oil derived directly from the cottonseed. I have included a very interesting six-minute video on the evolution and marketing of Crisco. By careful observation you will learn many of the “tricks” that big food uses to convince people to purchase their product instead of using natural products that had been used for centuries without problems.
Just so you know, Crisco and similar hydrogenated seed oils have since been shown to be extremely dangerous due to the Trans-Fats (which do not exist in nature) created in the hydrogenation process that is also used to make margarine from unsaturated seed oils, replacing butter. Trans-fats have subsequently shown to be responsible for promoting cardiovascular disease, cancer, type II diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s…
The FDA ruled in 2015 that trans-fats were unsafe for human consumption and gave food manufacturers three years to eliminate them from the food supply, with a deadline of June 18, 2018…
While I am on the topic of fats used in cooking, I feel this might be a suitable time to mention an emerging trend in nutritional thinking as it applies to fats and oils. From 1950 on, natural fats of every kind have been attacked by the food industry, having us believe that they were responsible for cardiovascular disease, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases that comprise many fatal chronic diseases seen in the world today.
Attempts by the food industry to reduce dietary fats by substituting man-made fats and oils showed no reduction in symptoms, in fact, just the opposite has been demonstrated. Now, there is a trend moving back to traditional cooking methods using natural animal fats advocated by RFK Jr. as secretary of Health and Human Services.
This move confuses people because of the “brainwashing” used by the food industry since 1950, to convince us that “FAT”, particularly saturated fat from natural sources is bad for us. In reality, seed oils, known as vegetable oil, present a much greater danger…because their manufacture requires the use of solvents and other chemicals required to extract the oil from the seed. Additionally, unsaturated oils can easily become oxidized, allowing them to become rancid, which generates free radicals that can damage cells, accelerate aging, and increase the risk of chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease. This rarely happens if a fat is “saturated” or mono saturated as in the case of olive or coconut oil.
In relation to this trend, Steak 'n Shake began using 100% tallow (derived from beef trimmings) to cook its fries by the end of February 2025, replacing vegetable oils, as part of a move to what they believe is a more authentic and higher-quality cooking method.
According to Sarasota Herald-Tribune, some other restaurants are also using beef tallow or have moved away from seed oils, including Popeyes, Outback Steakhouse, and Buffalo Wild Wings.
Making the Best Choices
How do we know with certainty what foods are beneficial, and which are not? TIME is the great revealer of truth. If a particular food is bad for human health, time will tell us…and it has! But do we really want to wait for something to kill us as proof? Instead of this approach, let me offer up a few simple facts to serve as your guide. These can be taken as things to look for as desirable, or things to avoid.
Animals
Let’s start with farm animals and wild game meats. Most edible land animals are ruminants such as beef, sheep, goats, dear, elk and moose. Each of these animals have 4-chambered stomachs to allow them to get all essential nutrition from grass or other low-lying vegetation. The key take away here is when these animals are fed other types of food such as grain, corn, or soy, they can develop metabolic problems that result in disruption of digestive balance leading to acidosis and other discernable problems arising from this unnatural feed stock. Ironically, the quality of meat due to grain feeding may improve growth, taste, and texture, at least to humans, thus commanding a higher price…
However, as a rule of thumb, choose animals fed on the same grass or plants native to the environment they evolved in. This also serves as a guide to dairy products, such as butter.
For poultry and other farm animals always look for designations like “pasture-raised” where animals spend most of their lives on pasture, grazing and foraging for food, rather than being confined to a barn or feedlot. Sometime, try to imagine being that animal…where would you be happiest? That will always be the best choice, but conversely, you will pay more for animals or products produced in this environment…it only makes sense.
For the healthiest seafood, there are a few strategies that should work well. Obviously, wild-caught fish are almost always superior to farm raised with certain notable exceptions. Avoid long-lived apex predators, such as swordfish, bluefin tuna, shark, king mackerel, tilefish, orange roughy, and grouper. Each of these have shown extremely elevated levels of mercury because they are at the top of the food chain and can live as long as one hundred years.
The healthiest choices are: wild caught salmon, sardines, Atlantic mackerel, herring, wild caught or farmed rainbow trout, canned yellowfin tuna, Arctic char, oysters and mussels. Try to avoid repeatedly eating the same species of fish, caught from the same bodies of water.
Fruits, Vegetables, and Grains
Following are short lists of each plant type stating their primary benefit. What is always true is these items should be stored in a cool dry place out of direct sunlight. Wash and dry thoroughly to remove pesticides and glyphosate before consuming.
Berries:
Blueberries: Rich in antioxidants and vitamin K
Raspberries: High in fiber and vitamin C
Strawberries: Excellent source of antioxidants and vitamin C
Citrus Fruit:
Oranges: Abundant in vitamin C and potassium
Grapefruit: Contain flavonoids with antioxidant properties
Lemons: High in vitamin C and antioxidants
Other Fruits:
Apples: Provide fiber, vitamin C, and antioxidants
Bananas: high in potassium, rich in fiber and antioxidants
Pomegranates: Packed with antioxidants and polyphenols
Mangoes: Rich in vitamin C, potassium, and fiber
Papaya: Contains vitamin C, potassium, and papain, an enzyme aiding digestion
Avocados: Provide healthy fats, potassium, and fiber
Kiwi Fruit: excellent source of plant fiber
Nuts:
Almonds: Rich in vitamin E, magnesium, and fiber, promoting heart health and cognitive function.
Pistachios: Low in calories and saturated fat, packed with antioxidants and vitamin B6.
Walnuts: High in omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and brain-boosting nutrients.
Cashews: Contain heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, magnesium, and zinc.
Pecans: Rich in vitamin E, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory compounds.
Choose Vegetables low in Lectins.
Lectins are a type of protein found in many plant and animal foods. They bind to carbohydrates and can play a role in biological processes, including immune responses and cell communication. However, some lectins, particularly those found in certain raw legumes and grains, can be hard to digest and may cause inflammation or gut irritation in sensitive individuals. Learn more about each vegetable below by clicking on the name.
How to Reduce Lectins in Food
Cooking (especially boiling or pressure cooking) breaks down most lectins.
Soaking and sprouting beans and grains reduces lectin content.
Fermentation (like in sourdough bread or fermented soy) helps neutralize lectins.
Peeling and deseeding certain vegetables (like tomatoes and peppers) lowers lectin exposure.
Grains
Surprisingly, modern grains are a “mixed bag.” Grains were first cultivated around 10,000 years ago during the Neolithic Revolution. This was when people began to domesticate plants and animals, and transition from hunting and gathering to farming. Since that time man has significantly changed the nature of grain, through hybridization.
In 1970, Norman Borlaug won the Nobel peace prize for developing modern wheat, which is a high yield, semi-dwarf wheat which is the common bread wheat, Triticum aestivum and has forty-two chromosomes opposed to the native Einkorn wheat which only has fourteen chromosomes…
This development has become known as the “Green Revolution” This transformation has enabled food production to meet the needs of the global population by increasing wheat’s yield 10-fold. Conversely, it has also introduced challenges such as environmental degradation and sustainability. Most recently, there is emerging evidence that consumption of this wheat significantly contributes to overeating and obesity. Unsurprisingly, when Big Food discovered this fact, they began adding its flour to foods that traditionally did not contain this ingredient solely for the purpose of making it MORE addictive! Unbelievably, Twizzlers are one such example…
In the next edition, I will discuss some of the most successful diets that demonstrate the ability to minimize the negative effects of our western diet and have shown the ability to reduce insulin resistance and obesity without muscle loss.
Until next time, take care and stay POSITIVE…Dr. G
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