Ancient Wisdom: Diet

Grandma Was Right

My grandma knew best. How do I know?

First, she told me so. Second, she proved it with her resilience and longevity. My grandma was born in Lebanon, and at age five emigrated to the United States through Ellis Island in New York City. She survived the Great Depression. She raised seven children and put them all through college. She helped start the family’s Middle Eastern restaurant and kept the back of the house humming for decades. Most impressive of all, she was upright and cooking in her kitchen well into her nineties.

She made a life for herself in the United States, but she kept many of her family’s cultural traditions, especially the ones related to food. My grandma, we called her “Sitto” (Arabic word for grandmother), was actually my first exposure to the kind of traditional dietary practices highlighted in this book. Sitto loved to prepare traditional Middle Eastern foods, which included fermented foods, organ meats, bitter vegetables, and stews made from bone broth. To avoid being wasteful, she made use of the whole animal.

In growing up with less, she learned to make more out of what was available. Maybe it’s no coincidence that she lived well into her nineties. Even at the end, she maintained her frugality. I remember visiting her at her final nursing home. In between blowing her nose with the stiff nursing home-issued paper napkins, she would tear them up into quarters, just to avoid wasting.

Sitto also loved America. She loved funny TV commercials and would always repeat the tag lines. For the better part of 1991, she would greet me at her door with Ray Charles' Diet Pepsi^TM tag line, "You got the right one, baby!” Sitto was a big fan of pop culture, yet she never gave up her traditions. A century after she first stepped foot in America, the wisdom she brought with her had started to become validated by scientific research. Turns out, when it came to the best diet for mental wellness, Sitto had the right one!

Food was my grandmother’s way of expressing love. Every time I’d go visit, first thing, she would sit me down at her kitchen table. Next, she’d place in front of me huge bowls of food she had spent the better part of her days preparing. As my belly began to stretch beyond capacity, I’d try to tap out. Without fail, she’d swoop in, pinch my cheek with her unforgiving fingers, mumble something in Arabic, and swiftly return to her kitchen sink. I didn't always understand what she was saying, but I got the message. I’d better finish that bowl of food she just made for me, because another one is coming. If I fought my way through and finished the bowl, it was 50/50: either she’d slip me a twenty-dollar bill, or hand me another bowl full of food.

Sitto knew there was some sort of magic in good food. To her, it was the most important gift she could give. Good, homecooked food equaled good health. She was fond of saying, “your health is your wealth!” My grandma was something else, but she wasn’t alone in terms of her traditional diet. In examining traditional cultures, we can find many similarities across the globe. Despite traditional diets being frugal and not very cutting edge, they are amazing at providing everything our brains need to function optimally.

Without the benefit of scientific research, traditional cultures gravitated towards fermentation, eating the whole animal, prioritizing foods from the oceans, and eating a variety of bitter and flavorful plants. The alternative to traditional diets is the ‘better living through science’ approach promoted by the massive commercial interests in our food and health systems.

Without a doubt, it was modern-day corporations that invented the kinds of foods (for example, processed grains, vegetable oils, refined sugars, and food additives) that have taken us backwards in terms of the health of our brains and bodies. Scientists in a lab created these artificial ingredients, not mother nature. By loading up processed and packaged foods with artificial ingredients, the food industry found a way to keep their products on the grocery store shelves for longer. This led to greater corporate profits, but also a greater amount of people with chronic physical and mental illnesses. Processed and artificial foods do not give our brains what they need. Rather, these ingredients and means of processing are generally toxic to our bodies and brains.

The only thing my grandma let us add to our food was lemon juice and salt. And, we had to wait to eat. In her home, food was not fast. It was cherished. None of our modern-day foods or conventions can be credited to traditional cultures. Nor do modern-day foods carry the same emotional attachment that my grandma had to her cooking.

Looking back, I’m glad I didn’t try harder to protest the force feedings. I wouldn’t have had the courage to do so anyways. Sitto got a lot right. As more and more research on these traditional foods and practices continues to emerge, it has become increasingly clear exactly how consuming them helps, avoiding them hurts, and replacing them with modern-day processed food is a mistake.

TMWD was built around foods that offer key nutrients our brains need to function at their best. What's in these foods is what you want in your brain and body. Not surprisingly, these foods are not new; they’re ancient.

Ancient Foods

Ancient foods, as a term in this book, refers to some of the commonly consumed as well as many of the less popular parts of animals, a vast array of edible plants, and ways of preparing foods that have been nearly lost in modern society. These foods and practices were all commonplace in traditional cultures, but currently hold a limited presence in our modern-day diet.

Modern-day life features a Western pattern diet, commonly known as the standard American diet. The Western pattern diet is generally devoid of nutrients, but full of calories and convenience. It reflects a society that is on the go. Further, it prioritizes easy access and hyper-palatability (meaning intense and likely addicting flavors) over giving the brain what it needs to thrive.

The Western pattern diet does include some foods found in the TMWD, such as red meat, butter, dairy, and potatoes. Yet, also on the Western pattern diet list are many of the foods TMWD rejects. These include processed meats, processed grains, industrial seed oils (vegetable oils from canola, soy, corn, among others), sugary snacks and drinks, and mutant compounds like high fructose corn syrup.

Similar to the fast-food diet described above, we live a fast-paced, stress inducing, uber-competitive, sleep-when-you’re-dead modern-day lifestyle. As you may have guessed, the opposite lifestyle is likely to welcome more wellness into our lives. In chapter four, we will dive into the lifestyle practices that complement the TMWD foods. These lifestyle practices provide healthy stimulation and help to heal our brains. They offer a counterbalance to the modern-day stressors that inundate our brains on a daily basis.

Diet and lifestyle seem like two totally separate topics, one you eat, the other you do. But in reality, they fold onto one another: the better you eat, the better you feel and perform. The better you feel, the more time and effort you can dedicate to healthy habits. In turn, the more you focus on improving your habits, the better you tend to eat. Think about how the opposite is true. When do you crave sweets? Is it when you are with friends and having a ton of fun? Or do you more often feel the pull towards the freezer and the “reward” of a pint of ice cream after a hellish day?

The logic here is that the body and brain need certain nutrients to function optimally. The opposite is also true, our brains function better when some foods are absent (think sugar, trans fats, pesticide residues, and artificial additives, and other modern-day food toxins). When our brain is flush with the nutrients it needs for neurotransmitter function, energy production, waste removal, neuronal communication, and balanced immune function, our brains function at their best. As a result, we feel and perform better. When we’re feeling better, we are less likely to seek out highly palatable, nutrient depleted, fast and convenient, but toxic foods.

This is a 24/7 problem. For example, if our brains are not functioning at top speed, our performance at work will likely suffer. Often our only answer to this problem is to dedicate more time to work. If we can't get done what we need to in a day (either at work or at home), we tend to steal time from ourselves in one way or another. We skip the gym, pass on dinner with friends, and collapse on the couch after a long day.

But, what if we were sharper and more productive during the day with a well-fed brain? We’d likely be more efficient at work, as well as at home. That might allow us to stop and let work go when the day is done for two reasons. First, we likely would have been more productive and less distracted with a well-fed, optimally functioning brain. Second, without the draining self-recrimination that falling behind at work can trigger, we’d likely experience greater peace of mind when the clock strikes 5pm. This peace of mind might allow us more time to spend on ourselves and our loved ones.

So, we need to give our brain what it requires to function optimally so we can leave our workday feeling accomplished, satisfied, and at ease. We also need a balanced perspective on our own productivity and ability to meet the demands upon us. A better functioning brain allows us to be more efficient. The opposite is also true – brain fog ruins everything. Imagine finishing your day feeling accomplished instead of self-conscious. Driving home, starting dinner, heading to the gym all feel so much better when we aren’t weighed down by thoughts about how we could have done things better, should have completed things faster, or still need to do more.

Staying sharp, but balanced in our approach to life, limits that ever-burning fear that we are not doing enough, or worse, the fear that others will catch on to our weaknesses. Typically, these two negative beliefs overlap. It’s easy to feel that we aren’t enough when we determine that we have been inefficient with our time. Inefficiency due to problems focusing, sunken moods, or terribly distracting anxiety perpetuates the belief that they’re something wrong with us, which, in turn, cuts into our efficiency and productivity. It’s a vicious negative thought loop.

Time lost to brain fog, anxiety, and depressed moods is just health and wellness lost to us. What we eat and what we think matters. Clearly, nutrients improve brain function. In a sense, our daily thoughts and reflections can also be nutrients or toxins, depending on what they are saying to us. We have to be careful with what we consume – be it foods or thoughts.

In sum, humans have been successfully following these ancient food diets and practices for centuries. Now these foods and practices are becoming trendy. These foods (organ meats, bone broths, shellfish, fermented foods, among others) and practices (sunlight, exercise, community, relaxation, meaning and purpose, among others) are thankfully gaining momentum.

The nutrients plentiful in TMWD, but lacking in the Western pattern diet, are now receiving more attention. Even more exciting, these nutrients and practices are finding support in current scientific research for their role in supporting brain health and emotional wellbeing.

To be sure that myself and my grandma are totally legit, we can look to five criteria to judge whether or not a specific key nutrient - and by extension the ancient foods overflowing with this particular key nutrient - should be accepted or rejected in TMWD.

All of the ancient foods (organ meats, fish and shellfish, connective tissue foods, fermented foods, nuts and seeds, and fruits and veggies) highlighted in TMWD earned their high priority status on the list because they meet these five important criteria.

Five Criteria

1. Scientific research has identified a mechanism for how this key nutrient (found in high concentrations in ancient foods) improves brain health and function.

2. Scientific research demonstrates that deficiencies of this key nutrient (found in high concentrations in ancient foods) is associated with greater mental illness symptoms.

3. Scientific research demonstrates that replenishing this key nutrient (found in high concentrations in ancient foods) is associated with improvements in mental health.

4. Traditional cultures valued and incorporated these ancient foods.

5. Standard American or Western pattern diets are lacking in these ancient foods, and by extension, the key nutrients on which the brain thrives.

The Unusual Suspects

The following list of ancient foods all share a unique quality: they are all very nutrient dense. Foods with higher nutrient density is what TMWD is after. Nutrient density is the ratio of beneficial nutrients to calories in a given food. This means that for every bite of TMWD food you consume, you will take in significantly more key nutrients than you would from a bite of food from the Western pattern diet.

Organ meats

When it comes to nutrient density, the edible meats that come from organs like liver, kidney, heart, and others are a cut above.^17–18 Let's think about it. Animals (humans alike) store nutrients in organs because those nutrients are needed, in ample supply, and at the ready, to support the function of those vital organs. Organs are like your pantry or refrigerator. If you're starving, or find yourself needing a snack, you head straight there to quickly grab what you need. Organ meats are some of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet out of necessity. Their jobs are so important, and so time sensitive, they need a ready supply of nutrients. Given that our brain is also an organ, it makes sense that it likes to soak up and utilize as many nutrients as possible.

Many of these nutrients serve as catalysts. They help activate enzymes, which in turn speeds up various metabolic processes in the body. If nutrients are in short supply, the enzymes will not be able to keep up with the demands of the body. The brain also needs fast and responsive enzyme activity to help us effectively deal with life. Without key nutrients keeping the metabolic activity humming along, our brains will not be as responsive.

Our brain works best when it is running on all cylinders. This is why we should look to organ meats for support. What’s the simplest and most efficient way to make sure your brain has stores of the key nutrients that it needs? Eat organ meats, as regularly as possible.

Connective Tissues

I know we just finished talking about organ meats but bear with me. We don't have to go all feral & eat live animals to enjoy the benefits of connective tissue foods. Our ancestors knew that connective tissues— bones, skin, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and fascia— are all highly nutrient dense parts of the animal that should be consumed for optimal health and wellness. They also knew their teeth weren't sharp enough to easily consume these parts of the animals raw. So they got creative and came up with ways to consume connective tissues without the jaw ache.

Various cultures took advantage of hot water to make broths out of bones and other parts of the animal. With this approach, the good parts (key nutrients) leach out of the bones and connective tissues into the water. Connective tissues contain certain nutrients that are truly difficult to find elsewhere. Primarily, they offer an amino acid profile that compliments the amino acid profile of muscle meat, which most of us are eating all the time. One of the key amino acids that is plentiful in connective tissues, but nearly absent in animal meat, is glycine.

As you’ll see below, animal meat (cuts of muscle) is on the list of important foods. For example, muscle meat provides higher amounts of methionine, which is vital for brain function and rebuilding our body.^18-19 Connective tissues deliver higher amounts of glycine, an amino acid of critical importance for a number of different functions in the brain and body.^18,20 One amino acid (methionine versus glycine) is not more important than the other. We need both working together in synergy. It’s important to note, however, that in the Western pattern diet, glycine is typically lacking.

Shellfish

When it comes to vitamin and mineral content, oysters, mussels, clams, shrimp, scallops, and lobster blow all other foods out of the water.^18,21 Shellfish are some of the most ancient living species still around today. Maybe it’s the hard shells that help keep all those nutrients inside and enhanced their survival. Maybe they know something we don’t when it comes to storing up brain saving nutrients. We could ask them their secret, or we can just eat them. These little nutritional powerhouses are chock-full of the vitamins and minerals that keep the gears grinding in our brains. They also provide some of the harder-to-find vitamins and minerals that the brain craves, like vitamin B12, zinc, and copper.

Animal Meat

In recent years, there's been a lot of controversy surrounding the health benefits, risks, and ethics of consuming meat. Obviously, TMWD does not fit with the beliefs and practices of vegetarianism or veganism. In a way, I wish it were different. Those who promote awareness of animal rights put forward some very valid points - particularly when it comes to the mistreatment of livestock and the abuses of the industrial food complex on our environment. However, as a species, I believe our optimal health depends on us consuming animals. For some, it may be impossible to reconcile the idea of harming animals for our own health needs. Yet, plenty of research points to the vital importance of animal foods for the development of the human brain.^22–23

On a practical note, animal meats provide some key nutrients that plant foods do not – or at least not in sufficient amounts. The same nutrients that are critical for brain function are also the ones found in abundance in animal meat. They include the highly absorbable form of iron,¹⁷ as well as zinc,²⁴ copper,²⁴ vitamin B12,^17,25 methionine and glycine,¹⁷ among others. Like organ meats, muscle meats carry a decent amount of nutrients the brain needs for optimal functioning. For example, the key nutrients mentioned above are critical for balanced and responsive neurotransmitter activity.

To drive the point home, iron, zinc, copper and vitamin B12 are all found in high concentrations in red meat. These nutrients are critical for neurotransmitter activity and overall brain function. They are also, by comparison, less available in plant foods - especially processed grains like corn, soy, or wheat.

You've probably heard the phrase "grass-fed" from advertisements or seen it on packaging at the grocery store. It may sound like a marketing gimmick, but there are some clear benefits to eating animals that have grazed on grasses or pastures - rather than ones fed processed grains like corn, soy, or wheat. Animals that graze on grasses will produce a healthier balance of polyunsaturated fatty acids in their muscles and organs.²⁶ If you have heard the warnings about the dangers of red meat, you may be hesitant. Thankfully, recent research took a second look and debunked this misguided warning.²⁷ So don’t be too scared to include at least some red meat into your diet.

Fermented Foods

Most traditional cultures have their own classic versions of fermented food. Often used as a garnish, traditional cultures knew enough to incorporate fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir, kombucha, yogurt, miso, tempeh, and of course pickles into their regular meals.

The most basic fermentation process involves picking plants from the soil and allowing them to soak in water and salt. When the plants are uprooted, they retain the bacteria from the soil. In the brine of salt and water, the lactic acid bacteria are preferentially able to multiply over time. This produces a bitter and sour, yet flavorful, bacteria-rich treat.²⁸

Since the invention of antibiotics, modern society had tended to consider all types of bacteria as without-a-doubt, across-the-board bad for us. With new information coming down the nutritional science pipeline, attitudes are changing. Now people are lining up to ingest probiotic bacteria in the form of pills, powders, and fizzy drinks.

Not all of the health claims have been fully established at this point, but there is a good amount of science backing up many of the proposed benefits. When it comes to brain health, certain bacteria, common in fermented foods, have been found to interact with our nervous, digestive, and immune systems in helpful ways. The impact of probiotics on our bodies can also have downstream benefit for our brains.²⁹

Probiotics are supplements made up of “good bacteria” that have proven, in human clinical trials, to improve one health condition or another. In relation to our mental wellness, the general effect of probiotics is that they calm the nervous system.^30–32 That’s a welcome influence on our overstimulated brains and bodies in modern-day life. Fermented foods carry many of these exact probiotic strains that have been isolated in scientific laboratories and studied in humans.

Maybe our ancestors understood the brain benefits of fermented foods, or maybe they were just trying to find a way preserve their food supply to last through the winter. Whatever the case, we are the beneficiaries of so many different kinds of fermented foods from all over the world. What could be more fun than sampling the intense fermented flavors from various cultures? Experiment and see what you like. Your brain, in addition to your taste buds, may thank you.