The Importance of Avoiding Poisonous Things in Primal Nutrition
If the primary goal of Primal Nutrition is eating nutritious animals and plants, the secondary or corollary goal is to avoid poisonous things. For the vast majority of human history, our biggest problems were acute poisons and toxins.
For example, plants that were incredibly toxic and would kill you or make you immediately sick after eating. Or meat and other animal products that had gone bad or hosted food-borne pathogens that could quickly kill or weaken you.
In the modern world, acute poisons are pretty much absent from the food supply. We’ve had hundreds of thousands of years to figure out how to avoid the foods that are acutely toxic, and food safety laws, for the most part, do a good job of limiting exposure to food-borne pathogens.
What we have to worry about, and what our ancestors by and large did not, are foods to which we have not adapted. Modern foods that were largely unavailable before the advent of agriculture, and that were completely unavailable before the industrial food system.
Avoiding poisonous things these days means avoiding the sources of hidden dangers in our food system.
Grains and Anti-Nutrients
Grains employ chemical anti-nutrients to prevent or dissuade animals from eating them. These anti-nutrients include things like phytates and lectins, and even the primary proteins in grains like gluten.
These compounds won’t kill you over the course of a day, a week, a month, or even a year, but they can suppress the immune system, impair mineral absorption, and negatively impact gut health over the long term. Eaten as a staple food, grains can make the diet less nutritious than it appears on paper, and it can result in nutrient deficiencies, poor growth, and impaired vitality.
The grains to limit, in order from worst to least bad:
- Wheat: Wheat is the richest source of gluten in the diet, and even if you aren’t celiac or gluten-sensitive, there’s evidence that it triggers zonulin—the compound that opens up the gut to invaders.
- Ancient wheats like emmet, spelt, korasan: The more ancestral forms of wheat don’t have all the same issues as modern dwarf wheat.
- Rye and barley: Rye and barley both contain gluten, but it’s a weaker, less potent form of the gluten found in wheat.
- Millet: Millet is an ancient grain with a long history of use by humans, albeit one with anti-thyroid effects.
- Oats: Oats do have high levels of phytic acid, which can inhibit mineral absorption if you rely too much on it.
- Corn: Corn isn’t the worst. Just make sure to eat nixtamalized or sprouted corn when possible.
- Rice: Rice is fairly innocuous. White rice especially has little to no anti-nutrients and is a nice source of pure carbohydrate.
Refined Sugar and Industrial Seed Oils
Refined sugar and industrial seed oils are modern additions to our diet that come with their own set of health risks. Refined sugar lacks the accompanying nutrients and fiber found in whole foods, leading to metabolic issues.
Industrial seed oils, like soybean oil and canola oil, have replaced traditional animal fats and can lead to inflammation and oxidative damage in the body.
The oils to avoid:
- Soybean oil
- Sunflower/safflower oil
- Canola/rapeseed oil
- Grapeseed oil
- Rice bran oil
- Cottonseed oil
- Peanut oil
By being mindful of what we consume and avoiding these modern pitfalls in our diet, we can better align with the principles of Primal Nutrition and support our overall health and well-being.
Thank you for reading!
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* This blog reflects my personal views and opinions and isn’t intended as medical advice, but I hope it will be informative and inspiring as you pursue a healthy, fulfilling life.