★★★★★ 3
One of the better food, diet, and health books available, but with significant drawbacks
Format: Kindle
Paul and Shou-Ching Jaminet present the most cogent argument in favor of ancestral-style eating that I have ever read. In fact, I never really understood the logic behind Paleo until I read Perfect Health Diet. I applaud their scientific rigor and willingness to challenge dietary dogma, Paleo or otherwise.
There is no question that removing all grains and legumes from one's diet is incredibly effective for people with autoimmune diseases and some other chronic, intractable health conditions. But when taking the evolutionary perspective on human diets it's also important to recognize that many cultures have thrived on grains and legumes for millennia, and humans have evolved some clever ways to extract nutrients from foods that would otherwise be toxic through the use of prolonged soaking, sprouting, and fermentation, all techniques that are very effective at reducing seed toxicity. I think that properly prepared grains and legumes can be a nutritious part of our diets, at least for those of us who do not suffer from autoimmunity. Stephen Guyenet has written excellent posts on legumes (wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2013/11/beans-lentils-and-paleo-diet.html) and grains (wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/search/label/lectins).
I also wish that the Jaminets had delved a little bit deeper into the subject of fatty fish from a sustainability standpoint. They recommend that we eat fatty fish, but make no mention of seafood sustainability and the importance of avoiding farmed fish, especially farmed (aka "Atlantic") salmon. Farmed fish are fed soy, corn, and pellets made of smaller fatty fish like anchovies and sardines. Entire small fish fisheries off the coast of Western South America are being destroyed in order to feed our hunger for farmed salmon, while we have plenty of small fatty fish we can eat (but choose not to) here on the west coast of North America (herring, sardines, anchovies, etc.). I bet that the fat profile (3:6 ratio) of farmed salmon is not nearly as good as that of wild salmon and smaller cold water fish.
That said, I highly respect and follow their writing and will continue to look forward to their excellent work.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2014
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