Deadly Harvest: The Intimate Relationship Between Our Heath and Our Food (31 page)

Fructose

Fructose, although kind to blood sugar levels, is not without dangers. Professor George Bray estimates that as long ago as 1997, the average American was consuming 60 grams of fructose per day and rising.
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Researchers find that a diet high in fructose has drawbacks. By “high in fructose,” they mean a massive intake of 100 grams (20 teaspoons) per day. Many teenagers can get to this level by the consumption of just four 12-ounce cans of cola. At this level of consumption, fructose undermines blood sugar control, provokes diarrhea and bloating, and drives up glucose intolerance, blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, and insulin resistance.
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And let us not forget that fructose is empty calories—the more you consume, the more likely you are to get fat.

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Low-Glycemic Fruits
—Fruits that are both low glycemic and low sugar are “good” to eat without restriction. Fruits in this category are gooseberry and raspberry. Tomato, which is technically a fruit, is also included. There are other low-glycemic fruits, such as cherries and grapefruit, which nevertheless have a significant content of various sugars. You should go easy on these fruits if your doctor is asking you to restrict your intake of fructose or glucose.

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Borderline Glycemic Fruits
—These fruits tend not only to be relatively glycemic, but they also often have a correspondingly high sugar content. It is good to incorporate them into the daily diet, but keep their consumption modest. Examples are apple, pear, orange, and strawberry.

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High-Glycemic Fruits
—Many fruits, often of tropical origin, are high glycemic. They are not pariahs, but we should not go out of our way to obtain them. If you find a morsel or two in your fruit salad, swallow it down, it won’t poison you. But do not consume these regularly or copiously. Examples are watermelon, pineapple, and ripe banana.

The fruits classified as “Green” are mostly low-sugar berries; they are often exceptionally good sources of antioxidants too. Cranberries, in the raw state, are extremely nutritious and low in sugar. Unfortunately, they are so astringent as to make the lips pucker up. For this reason, cranberries are nearly always heavily dosed with sugar, either as a jelly or stewed in sugar. This process converts a great fruit into a bad one. Bananas become more sugary as they ripen; the greener you can stand them, the better.

Dairy Products

Dairy products are a biochemical disaster for the human organism—we do not have the digestive enzymes to assimilate them properly and they contain a range of compounds that bring bad health. Chief among them is lactose (which is highly allergenic), but we can also cite dairy fats (saturated and artery clogging) and dairy proteins (allergenic and cholesterol disrupting). Whether “raw” or processed, from cows or goats, whether turned into yogurt or cheese, dairy products are all classified in various degrees of “Red.”

Cheese lovers have a slight consolation, as cheese is the least harmful: they have less lactose and, seemingly, their bad fats are not readily absorbed by the body. Cheese can be consumed modestly on the rare occasion. When you commit this offense against the Savanna Model, make sure that it is worth it—that the cheese is a really good one—and savor every nibble slowly, spreading it carefully around the palate. However, no platform of bread or cracker!

Meat, Poultry, Eggs, and Fish

Animal matter has formed a moderate part of the human diet for an evolutionarily significant part of human history. As we have seen, the type of animal matter was rather different. Here we make judgments about the animal matter available to us today. The chief criterion is the fatty acid profile—the quantity of fat and the types of fatty acids. In addition, some variety meats (offal) can contain unhealthy amounts of some substances; for example, iron and vitamin A in liver.

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Farm Meat—
Common farm meats, such as beef, pork, and lamb, have become problem foods. The difficulty is their high fat content and the harmful nature of the fat. Stockbreeders are beginning to work on improving the nutritional nature of their herds, but for now we are better off avoiding these meats and everything that is made from them. In contrast, an uncommon farm animal, the goat, is acceptable.

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Wild Game—
In most instances, meat from various wild creatures has a conforming fatty acid profile. Truly wild game that feeds off what it finds in its natural habitat is an approved animal matter and is fine to consume in moderation. It will be low-fat and should have a good fatty acid profile. This includes wild boar, moose, caribou, and bison.

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Variety Meats (Offal)—
Our Pleistocene ancestors ate all parts of a slain animal, but this did not happen all that often. Many of the internal organs have wildly varying nutrient composition, depending on a number of factors: what the animal ate recently, how it was raised, and even its state of health. It is difficult, therefore, to generalize about variety meats. They are usually rich in micronutrients not found in such high concentrations in other sources. Variety meats are normally alright to consume in moderate quantities on an occasional basis.

Kidney, tripe, and liver are low-fat meats, but liver in particular is heavily loaded with vitamin A and arachidonic acid, both of which are harmful in high doses; you should consume it with caution. Tongue, heart, and brains are high-fat meats, with much of the fat saturated, and brains are particularly rich in cholesterol; eat these only occasionally.

Not many Americans eat variety meats as such, but they are still consuming them without even realizing it. That is because meatpackers disguise them as salami, hot dogs, luncheon meats, and sausage. These products should definitely be avoided because they are high fat (most of it unhealthy), salty, and often doctored with sulfur compounds to preserve them.

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Exotic Animal Matter—
This category includes such creatures as alligator, ostrich, emu, kangaroo, frogs’ legs, and escargots (snails). The last two have a long, honorable tradition in France and they all correspond very well to the kind of animal matter that our Pleistocene ancestors ate all the time. Other exotic foods are making their appearance, particularly bush tucker from Australia, which corresponds to the food traditionally eaten by the Australian Aboriginal. My wife and I have sat down with aborigines in Central Australia to eat one of their delicacies, witchety grub. Lightly roasted in the embers of a fire, the 3-inch-long caterpillar tastes rather like sweet corn.

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Poultry (Farm and Wild)—
The low-fat parts of farm fowl, such as skinless chicken and turkey breast, are good in modest quantities. You should reduce consumption of other parts as much as possible. All parts of duck and goose are fine. Wild birds such as pheasant, grouse, and pigeon are fully conforming.

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Eggs—
Our Pleistocene forebears consumed all kinds of eggs: ostrich, bustard, duck, and anything else they could find. Hen’s eggs come close, with a proviso—seek out eggs that are rich in omega-3 oils and it is preferable if they are also free range and organic. Duck, turkey, quail, and goose eggs are good too. Industrially produced eggs are a poor substitute and should not be consumed on a regular basis.

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Seafood—
All seafood is an acceptable component of the Savanna Model feeding pattern. The “oily fish,” rich in omega-3 oils, are best, such as wild salmon, sardines, and mackerel. Other fish and shellfish have an excellent essential fatty acid profile and are also good.