As a training nutritionist, I have tried many variations of the human diet, from vegan to carnivore, from vegetarian to keto, and throughout all my trials, I’ve not found myself as happy, as healthy, and as nourished, as I am following an ancestral/traditional diet.
When researching the ‘Ancestral eating’, it was simply translated as the ‘Caveman diet’. This seemed to eliminate two of my favourite things: dairy and bread, but I thought “oh well, If it will make me feel better”. But the truth is, I’d never suffered an intolerance to either gluten or dairy, and upon researching many of the elements that make Weston A Price’s diet so successful, I found that eliminating both of these things wasn’t necessary, at least for me, and I don’t believe eliminating these two groups is a must for everyone. With a little exploration of preparation style, most foods can be easily consumed by most.
Eating Ancestrally doesn’t just mean sucking raw meat off the bone or hoarding berries from a tree, it means eating how our forebears ate, how they nourished their families and prepared their food so that it could be as nutrient-dense as possible. And, this is why they were much healthier than us.
Ancestral eating is based on using older culinary principles which are through a sum of around four or five generations, seems to have been completely wiped from public memory. Intentional or not? Nonetheless, this method (which isn’t really a method more than a lifestyle) was the key to your great grandmother’s long life, your great-grandfather’s fantastic jawline and healthy teeth, the answer for their superior body, gut and skin health.
And I want you to be as healthy as them. I wish for all to follow the wisdom of our ancestors and reap the benefits of an effective simple diet.
Below I’ve put together, what I believe to be, the Ultimate guide to Ancestral eating.
1) Don’t go it alone
There is a myriad of resources online as well as hundreds of books to help you along your way as you make this transition from standard eating to Ancestral eating. Some of the best online reading material I have to recommend comes from the Home – The Weston A. Price Foundation (westonaprice.org).
And if that isn’t enough to satisfy you then some of my favourite books on the matter include:
– ‘Cure Tooth Decay’ By Ramiel Nagel. ( not just about dental health) Cure Tooth Decay: Remineralize Cavities and Repair Your Teeth Naturally with Good Food: Amazon.co.uk: Nagel, Ramiel, Gallagher, D. D. S. Timothy: 8601419370726: Books
– ‘Deep Nutrition’ By Dr Cate Shanahan. Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food (Audio Download): Catherine Shanahan M.D., Eliza Foss, Luke Shanahan, Macmillan Audio: Amazon.co.uk: Books
– ‘Nutritional Grail’ By Chirstopher James Clark Nutritional Grail: Ancestral Wisdom, Breakthrough Science, and the Dawning Nutritional Renaissance : Clark, Christopher James, Morel, Jean-Luc: Amazon.co.uk: Books
Thinking about all the ‘bad stuff’ can seem overwhelming. Seed oils…they’re in everything, right? And shouldn’t I be buying organic? And what about artificial sweeteners?
The best thing about Ancestral eating is that you can very much tailor it to suit your situation and preferences, and truly consider it a tool rather than a hindrance.
And the best part is, you can still enjoy your sweet treats from time to time, provided you are using natural ingredients and making them at home.
Buy in Bulk
Freezer and refrigerator are your best friends. Unless you want to learn some real
As someone who doesn’t have the ability to buy my food fresh every day, for ancestral essentials such as Liver, Milk, Cream, and Kefir, the freezer is a necessity. On the first day of raw milk delivery, I keep one litre in the fridge and freeze the rest, so that I can defrost them as I need them. I usually get through around 8 litres of a month of milk, and I either drive to my closest dairy farm shop or order from them directly. Delivery charges can be nasty, but buying in bulk softens the blow of this a little.
I tend not to buy my meats in bulk, with the exception of frozen seafood, such as wild salmon, which is obviously not as easy to obtain fresh, depending on where you live. But offal such as Bones, Liver and Heart can be very easily bought to last you the month and stored in the freezer, raw and cooked.
Batch cooking
There are many useful things that can be
Balance Cooked, Raw and fermented
Preparation is key
Now lets move onto the best part: the food.
What should I be eating on an ancestral diet?
Meat
Dairy
Carbs
Returning minerals