A New Old Way to Eat- An Article published in WarKitchen

 Eating is an initiation, a ritual connecting one to the Earth and to distant memories. Every meal, every calorie eaten is a conscious choice and at this point in world-history, a battle. Many of us know that the information regarding the food we should eat has been buried under endless waves of propaganda. Ads that tout the NEWEST TASTY TREAT and their convenience for the “go go go modern worker” are everywhere, without mentioning the hormone-disrupting and health-ruining list of ingredients. Materials like seed oils, soy, corn syrup, and chemical dyes are inside these foods that occupy 80-90% of any grocery store. A lot of men and women, who, noticing the debilitating effects these foods have on their health and how they correlate with many diseases and disorders, have taken more ownership over their health and rejected these foods, in turn leading to the commodification of different “healthy choices” which become trendy for a time and then pass away, but subject still to the same processing and packaging as their sugar-laden and seed oil heavy alternatives. The cultural movement in this sphere has shifted to veganism, which has received a lot of impetus from the top down, with the same companies that want to destroy your health and the governments of the world riding the wave. Those who have seen further through the veil still have landed on a way of eating that supports their body, minds, and spiritual well being. It has different names but the most accurate and life-affirming one is ANCESTRAL EATING. Ancestral eating is simply a refinement of the adage: “Eat what your grandmother would have eaten,”. My proposition is, “Eat what the noble progenitors of your race would have eaten and accept nothing less,”.  

Looking back at Greek and Roman writings on health and athletics, medieval sagas and accounts of castle food expenditures, as well as cookbooks from the 1800s, one sees many similarities that act as a guide to what food choices we should make. Meat and animal products make up the majority of their diets, with game animals being most common due to the prevalence of hunting in pre-modern times. From the English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to distant Russia and Turgenev’s Hunter’s Sketches we read descriptions of daring hunts of boars, stags, and partridge-birds. It is evident from different recipes that muscle meat and organs were consumed. Hunting is difficult and a lot of us reading this might not have the access or skill to hunt wild game. Stores like Sprouts and Whole Foods have grass fed beef (many times coming from local farms) and frozen liver and bone marrow, which would be a great base of proteins, fats, and micronutrients to build off of. Although fish and fowl were in afore times eaten more than beef (cows were kept for dairy more so than meat), it is best to avoid them unless you have  a good relationship with a local farm or butcher since many of these animals are compromised by a soy-rich diet or microplastic poisoning, or both. Eggs are another food that occupies a high spot when ancestral eating due to their high nutrient density and the variety of ways they can be prepared. Dairy in the form of raw milk, cheeses, and kefir taste delicious, and in their raw forms provide digestive enzymes and vitamin D that is lost in the pasteurization process. Carbohydrates should be embraced and this is where Ancestral Eating separates itself from keto and carnivore and does not receive the “diet” label. Carbs are the tricky part since the source matters a lot and it is easier to find carb-rich foods than it is anything else. Fruit and honey are the most optimal and provide the most benefits. Honey, in its raw, unheated, and unfiltered form (that means no plastic honey bears) is a superfood loaded with nutrients and digestive enzymes. These foods should be the base for anyone endeavoring to eat ancestrally. 

While these foods ought to be eaten year-round, it is helpful to rotate and modify according to the climate and seasonal changes to best reflect the eating habits of our more successful and testosterone-fueled ancestors. The changes do not have to be drastic, but one should be mindful that our body has been created so beautifully by God that it functions like a clock. Like a clock, our bodies’ systems are cyclical, and desire different nutrients when it is a warm weather season like spring and summer than a cold weather season like fall or winter. During the summer months our bodies need less food and lighter servings spread throughout the day. While soaking up the sun-rays and enjoying time with friends and loved ones, fruit, honey and raw dairy go down better and digest faster. Meat and eggs I find can be eaten the same amount, but digestion is better when the portions are less at each meal but spread throughout the day. This makes sense when looking at the people who came before us and what they did during their springs and summers. These times were a celebration, a rejoicing over the melting of the winter frost, food is in abundance and so can be enjoyed at a slower pace. During the harsh falls and winters the body craves more food and satiation, since this is the time where food traditionally is harder to source and our biological systems want to store as much as possible. Fall and winter are the times to start adding in heavier and warmer meals, with hefty amounts of protein to support muscle protein synthesis throughout the year. For those who resistance train it is a relief to know that this supports muscle growth or fat loss very well and does not require a sport-specific diet. The only way it changes is shifting the majority of your carbohydrate intake to pre and post workout times so that the body can use the glucose and insulin spike for more energy and muscle output. 

The benefits of this system are too variegated to be listed here in full. In short, Ancestral Eating enriches a man in all ways possible: physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. After 4-6 weeks of consistency, cravings for the sugar-laden processed slop wears off and the body wants these whole foods that have been prized for generations and will go so far as to reject anything less through bloating, inflammation, brain fog, fatigue, and gut issues. All of the things we have been told are normal after eating go away: acne reduces and the skin glows on its own with a beautiful elasticity, energy levels shoot up, testosterone increases and estrogen is reduced along with less cortisol spikes due to regulated blood sugar and insulin, no diarrhea, bloating, distension. Mental illness symptoms can be reduced and eliminated when combined with a holistic lifestyle that rejects the degeneracy and cynicism of the Modern Age. When a person eats what God has put on Earth for us we are connected in some small way to Him, since He works these things to our benefit and what He has given us is good. With this in mind, how could it be possible to eat something produced in a lab by a pencil neck? How could one eat something made by a company that has to use marketing techniques to get around the fact that they make food-adjacent items made from engine lubricant and addictive substances? When the ingredient label can fill a leaflet and cannot be pronounced without a bio-medical PhD, how can it be justified entering the body? It is unfortunate that this has to be a call to arms, that eating like a functioning human is “alternative” and “rebellious” but it needs to be understood that the powers at be do not care about your health, and even have reasons to undermine it to advance certain agendas. If you cannot bring yourself to eat like your ancestors for the innumerable advantages and connections to the past, do it for this: THEY HATE YOU, THEY WANT YOU FAT, WEAK, AND UNABLE TO THINK. You do not need to be convinced, you know this already. The choice becomes simple, and wavering is only a disservice to yourself and everyone who relies on you.