You can see a few here.

10 Food Pyramids From Around The World

All of these have been designed by various nutrition gurus, who obviously do not agree with each other. So, which one do you follow?

How about this one: a Food Plate designed by Nature. What would it look like if we went back in time to take a peek at what nature evolved humans to eat? This would be the Original Diet that sustained our ancestors for about 2.49 million years (99,600 generations), was abandoned about 10,000 years ago in favor of an agricultural model, and is only now being reinvestigated.

Here is what Jared Diamond, a Pulitzer Prize winning author/geographer/anthropologist, has to say about the agricultural food model, upon which all modern food pyramids/plates are based:

Morality predates humanity, and can be seen in the behavior of our closest living genetic relatives, the chimps and bonobos. These traits developed as a survival tactic in communities that hunted animals. Reciproci y and the golden rule increased chances of survival in a tribal setting. The key element to making this system work was accountability. If you did not play by the rules, you were easily identified and ostracized – a death sentence.

As I see it, the real issue in our present culture appears to be the lack of accountability, which allows many to get away with antisocial behavior without consequences. While I am not a fan of a bloated government, one of their roles should be to enforce accountability through the legal system. Pass laws that criminalize immoral behavior, and permit corporate employees to be held personally accountable. Jail sentences might be the modern equivalent of tribal rejection.

For research and touching stories of empathy in the wild, I recommend The Age of Empathy and Primates and Philosophers by Frans de Waal, a prominent primatologist.

As outlined in The Wellness Project, the field of zoopharmacognosy (animal self healing) has persuaded me that wellness-supporting behavior is also instinctual, but has been distorted by our modern concept of health care.

Self-justification, the hardwired mechanism that blinds us to the possibility that we were wrong, has benefits: it keeps us from torturing ourselves with regrets. But it can also block our ability to see our faults and errors. It legitimizes prejudice and corruption, and can keep people from changing disastrous behavior that is costly to them and society.

A detailed explanation of some of this behavior can be found in the book:

Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why we justify foolish beliefs, bad decisions, and hurtful acts.

“We are all capable of believing things which we know to be untrue, and then, when we are finally proved wrong, impudently twisting the facts so as to show that we were right.” George Orwell

The intestinal structure of these close relations, with a very large hind-gut, is designed to efficientl­y digest plant foods very high in cellulose, which humans cannot handle. However, it is a misconception that they are strict herbivores in their natural environmen­t.

One recent Jane Goodall Gombe study of chimps, for instance, concluded that the 45 members of one troop ate a ton of monkey meat per year. During one hunting binge, chimps killed 71 colobus monkeys in 68 days; one chimp alone killed 42 monkeys over five years. All told, chimps may kill and eat a third of the Gombe’s colobus population each year. Some speculate chimps eat more meat than many Americans.

Jane Goodall’s Wild Chimpanzees

Chimps track an animal such as a monkey, rip it apart with brute force, and eat virtually all parts raw. They scream with pleasure at the prospect of a meal with meat.

Chimps hunting a monkey (YouTube video)

Recent observations suggest that gorillas actually eat both monkeys and antelope.

GORILLAS EAT MEAT TOO?

Even though I eat meat from pastured animals, I am a strong supporter of the vegan lifestyle as an honest attempt to improve the lives of CAFO animals.

I chose the Original Diet because I found it to have an ecological footprint smaller than either a vegan or vegetarian diet. It also is arguably the most nutrient dense and lowest in toxins, while respecting the ethical treatment of both animals and plants – something unavailable in any other diet.

It does not require the use of artificial fertilizers or pesticides (environmental neurotoxins that kill animals); or agricultural machinery to plow, cultivate and harvest; or artificial irrigation; or GM seeds (Frankenfoods).

It is completely independent of farms and all of the agricultural machinery that destroys topsoil and kills/maims/crushes millions of ground-living animals. It eliminates the need for any of the products produced by the pesticide, fertilizer, and GM AgriGiants, or the need for feed-lots, egg-breeders, or dairy farms.

It does not use anything made by Monsanto, Archer Daniels Midland, Syngenta, Dean Foods, Heinz, Nestle, Kraft, General Mills, Betty Crocker, Solae, Kellogg, Nabisco, Stonyfield, Yoplait, ConAgra, Cargill, etc.

How can we reconcile this with the fact that he diet nature evolved humans to eat is loaded with pastured animal foods, with a preference for the parts highest in saturated fat?

Saturated fat has been a staple of the human diet for about 2.49 million years (99,400 generations.) It is hard to imagine more compelling evidence than that, unless you believe nature evolved us to eat a diet meant to promote premature death and chronic illness.

On the other hand, the diets promoted by the various nutrition experts of today are quite recent in our history, and the results have been a total disaster – with us now leading long, sickly lives. Some anecdotal evidence has shown that while lifespan has increased, healthspan (the average number of years without any chronic illness) has actually decreased, and is about 48 years.

Further reading:

The Importance of Saturated Fats for Biological Functions

The vet industry is booming with the very same medical specialties as the human health care industry, and there are now more than 23 veterinary specialties. Just like humans, our pets lead
long and sickly lives. Feeding them the Frankenfoods in cans and bags that pretend to be pet food is a major source of their ills.

The field of zoopharmacognosy (animal self healing) is an eye opener when it comes to learning how to stay healthy. This You Tube video is another example where switching animals to foods that nature evolved them to eat restores their health:

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo are adjusting gorilla diets in an effort to understand and treat cardiac issues in the animals.

I am “staff” to two magnificent Tonkinese cats that are tenth generation raised on their natural diet. Hopefully, they will never see the inside of a vet’s office. They are in perfect health, have beautiful coats and teeth, and a great disposition. They eat virtually all parts of raw ground-living animals, and munch on grass occasionally to act as a purgative. They have never eaten anything in a can or a bag.

A description of a “species-appropriate” diet for humans can be found in The Original Diet.

Cow dung in medicine

Development of cow dung based herbal mosquito repellent

The healing powers of dung

Stories from India

We have turned nature’s perfect fertilizer into a toxic substance via CAFOs, demonizing E. Coli bacteria along the way. All warm-blooded animals, including humans, have a gut filled with E. Coli, the majority of which is not only non-toxic, but is beneficial. Some strains are even used as a probiotic to treat IBD. See for example:

Escherichia coli

As a researcher in the fields of paleopathology, anthropology, zoopharmacognosy (animal self healing), and ethnobotany, the relevance of soil-based compounds in nature’s plan for wellness is quite clear.

Over the millennia, our ancestors and many other animal species have used these compounds for self -healing, including clay, spore-forming bacteria, and humic/fulvic acids. NASA has even certified a particular clay for astronaut use.

Nature has provided soil compounds that act to remove toxins from the environment, such as heavy metals – mercury, lead, arsenic, etc. It is my hypothesis that the same effects can be implemented in the body, under certain conditions.

For more info see:

Dirt cravings explained

Evolutionary biology: Dirty eating for healthy living

Eytons’ Earth has a section on where to buy clay

I recommend: Terramin Clay Tabs

The plant foods in this eating plan are very carefully chosen to follow clues from nature as to what she evolved humans to eat. In particular­, I avoid foods that are high in anti-nutri­ents placed there by her to discourage consumptio­n by primates. For an overview of the subject, see plants bite back on westonaprice.org.

One example is spinach. Although it is seen by many as a super health food, it’s actually extremely high in oxalates, second only to soy, and oxalates are not destroyed by cooking. They can form nasty crystals throughout the body, including the kidneys and heart. For details, see o­xalates in autism an­d chronic disorders also at westonaprice.org.

Sweet potatoes contain invertase and protease inhibitors­, which can interfere with digestion, although cooking can reduce the inhibitors somewhat. There is evidence that nature has placed anti-nutri­ents in at least some species of sprouts as well.

Probably the most studied in this category are alfalfa sprouts. There are reports of animal and human consumptio­n of alfalfa sprouts, seeds, and supplement­s causing lupus-like symptoms. One hypothesis for a culprit is the concentrat­ion of canavanine­, a non-protei­n amino acid. Undoubtedl­y, there is a dose related response, and perhaps some genetic susceptibi­lity. Using the precaution­ary principle, I can take a hint, and won’t go near the stuff.

Fooling with nature is always a losing propositio­n.

Here are a few additional links on the issue, in no particular order:

Dietary amino acid-induc­ed systemic lupus erythemato­sus. And here.

Pathogenes­is of systemic lupus erythemato­sus

Effects of L-canavani­ne on T cells may explain the induction of systemic lupus erythemato­sus by alfalfa.