The Jungle Effect by Daphne Miller.

[Darryl Shaw]

I'm probably going to order this as it looks interesting but I just wondered if anyone here has read it?

http://www.amazon.com/Jungle-Effect-...4482912&sr=8-5

[Tirzah Harper]

I'm in the middle of it right now, having borrowed it from my local library.
I haven't gotten to the recipe section.
Unless you're a slow reader, I'd recommend getting it from the library to see if it's worth your investment first...my takeaway from this is going to be:
1) Eat unprocessed; eat a variety; eat the good foods (and we all know by now what those generally consist of;
2) I'm hoping for some good new recipes to try.

No blinding flashes of light, but it's a decent enough book. It certainly isn't Paleo, though - grains are included, and dairy, and NOT a whole lot of red meat.

[Darryl Shaw]

Originally Posted by Tirzah Harper

I'm in the middle of it right now, having borrowed it from my local library.
I haven't gotten to the recipe section.
Unless you're a slow reader, I'd recommend getting it from the library to see if it's worth your investment first...my takeaway from this is going to be:
1) Eat unprocessed; eat a variety; eat the good foods (and we all know by now what those generally consist of;
2) I'm hoping for some good new recipes to try.

No blinding flashes of light, but it's a decent enough book. It certainly isn't Paleo, though - grains are included, and dairy, and NOT a whole lot of red meat.

I guessed that this book could be summed up as eat more veggies and you'll live longer but I enjoy reading this type of book as I find it fascinating to learn what people in remote parts of the world eat and occasionally I'll come across something that really changes the way I eat.
When I started learning about the Okinawa diet for example it seemed fairly obvious that if you removed the rice and soy you've got the paleo diet but with different macronutrient ratios than what Cordain recommends so given the well documented health and longevity of the Okinawans I came to the conclusion that Cordains recommendations must be wrong and S. Boyd Eatons earlier findings re. macronutrient ratios must be right as they fit with in with how the Okinawans eat ie. ~60% carbs, 25% fat and 15% protein and I changed my diet accordingly.

[Gittit Shwartz]

Are you Okinawan? There are general guidelines that apply to every human but I would think that kind of fine-tuning is race-specific. There has been some degree of evolution since we all split up out of Mother Africa, with adaptation to different environments.
Of course, if it does work for you, that's great!

[Gittit Shwartz]

Darryl, you may also find this post on the Eskimo diet interesting:
http://idoportal.blogspot.com/2008/0...tefansson.html (wfs)

[Darryl Shaw]

Originally Posted by Gittit Shwartz

Are you Okinawan? There are general guidelines that apply to every human but I would think that kind of fine-tuning is race-specific. There has been some degree of evolution since we all split up out of Mother Africa, with adaptation to different environments.
Of course, if it does work for you, that's great!

I'm not Okinawan but I believe that their enviable reputation for health and longevity lies in their diet not their genes and there is plenty of evidence to support that theory. Okinawans who emigrate and adopt western diets for example develop heart disease, cancer and diabetes at the same rate as westerners and elderly Okinawans who stay faithful to their traditional diet rich in vegetables (sweet potatoes are the traditional staple carbohydrate not rice), fish and relatively meager amounts of meat (mostly pork) outlive younger Okinawans who adopt western diets by decades.

www.okicent.org

Originally Posted by Gittit Shwartz

Darryl, you may also find this post on the Eskimo diet interesting:
http://idoportal.blogspot.com/2008/0...tefansson.html (wfs)

Thank's for the link, it was an interesting read but the problem with using Eskimos to illustrate the benefits of high protein high fat diets is that while their diet may reduce their risk of developing some diseases it increases their risk of developing others. Obviously they will derive some benefits from their extremely high intake of EFA's (something that isn't exactly lacking in the Okinawan diet) but it also causes them to have a double the risk of having a stroke compared with the average Canadian and the lack of vegetables in their diet means they have nothing to neutralise the acid load created by their high protein intake (fat has a nearly neutral PRAL value) so consequently they suffer from appallingly high rates of osteoporisis.
Obviously replacing some of the fat and protein in their diet with vegetables would go a long way to reducing their risk of developing these diseases as well as increasing their overall antioxidant intake and that brings you right back to the Okinawan diet.

http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/171/8/869

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fniah-spnia/d....php#mortality

(all links wfs)

[Gittit Shwartz]

I agree with you on the most part. Certainly the "western diet" is not good for anybody, including westerners. It's just a small point that I'm trying to make, that a diet that brought somebody else certain results, will not necessarily do the same for you. Somehow it's become a platitude when discussing individuals - we all know some people respond better to higher carbs and some thrive on fat - but not so obvious when different populations are the subjects. In other words, the diet which will give a caucasian a long and healthy life is not necessarily the one that works for Okinawans. However this is just fine tuning and it's already been discussed in another thread that the small details of diet may not even be the biggest factor in longevity.

[Steven Low]

Originally Posted by Gittit Shwartz

I agree with you on the most part. Certainly the "western diet" is not good for anybody, including westerners. It's just a small point that I'm trying to make, that a diet that brought somebody else certain results, will not necessarily do the same for you. Somehow it's become a platitude when discussing individuals - we all know some people respond better to higher carbs and some thrive on fat - but not so obvious when different populations are the subjects. In other words, the diet which will give a caucasian a long and healthy life is not necessarily the one that works for Okinawans. However this is just fine tuning and it's already been discussed in another thread that the small details of diet may not even be the biggest factor in longevity.

Agreed. Diet is largely specific to culture/race for the most part.

For example, I've got chinese genetics and I really see no adverse effect from eating white rice though as high glycemic as it is... although I know many people that just crash and burn from eating rice.

People need to find out what works for them.. not what works for another culture. If it works for another culture it MIGHT work for you but that's not guaranteed. Experiment and figure it out; don't take someone's word for it or even anecdotal evidence. What works for me doesn't always work for you.

Although one thing everyone can agree on is to stay away from anything processed.

Ironically, there is a similar theme with training where what works for someone doesn't always work for someone else... but there are generally common principles depending on your goals.

[Garrett Smith]

With the Eskimos and osteoporosis, regardless of how much liver they eat, I do think that the lack of sun for many months out of the year plays a huge role in that issue as well as the high acid load diet.