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How to Prevent Nutritional Disorders and
Premature
Aging with Functional Nutrition.
4th edition; Softcover: 360 pages;
Language: Russian;
ISBN: 0-9706796-0-2
For millennia, the human body and evolving
brain were dependent on a limited seasonal contingent of raw or
semi-raw foods that could be obtained with bare hands and in
the wild—mainly fish, seafood, and grazing (herbivorous)
animals.
Much is made of “gathering,” but in fact, it
was the least efficient and least relied upon method of
sustaining life. That‘s because the gathering of edible plants
in the wild was severely limited by the seasons (especially as
humans moved up north), while fish, seafood, and animal meats
had been abundant year-round during the primordial era. Besides,
plant food lacked primary proteins and fats, so essential for
the health, strength, vigor, and stamina required for a nomadic
lifestyle.
As human intellect, dexterity, and strength
evolved, food sources became more numerous, but they still
remained relatively small—meats, eggs, and dairy from
domesticated livestock, and, until recently (in terms of human
evolution), agricultural products such as wheat, millet, and
rice.
Finally, courtesy of the industrial revolution,
humans learned to process inedible plants, such as soy or wheat
bran, into foods for human consumption. Most present-day
varieties of fruits and vegetables are also just a brief
blip—less than a few thousand years old—on the evolutionary
timeline.
Evolution was merciless.
Those who mastered the art of survival passed their genes on to
us. These genes determined the makeup and the needs of our
bodies. In turn, these needs determine what we should and
shouldn‘t eat. The choice wasn‘t complicated even a hundred
years ago because the variety of foods was limited, and almost
all of those foods were functional—i.e. they were fulfilling
their particular function of sustaining life, beginning with
breast milk, the most functional food of all.
Not today. The majority of supermarket-style
foods aren‘t functional, but simply edible. We can survive on
them, but can‘t enjoy even a modicum of the health and strength
possessed not just by the caveman, but even our ancestors just a
few generations ago.
Simulated cover in English. Slide the mouse pointer
over to see actual Russian-language overlay.
Why? Because edible foods sustain life, not
health. For vibrant health the food must be functional. And
that‘s the subject of this fascinating book, which has become
the highest-selling and most popular Russian-language title in
the United States since 2000. ***
Author's note:
This book was written specifically for
Russian-speaking readers, who don't yet need to be convinced to
eat red meat (a most prized food in Russia) or butter
(an essential food in Russia).
I am planning to revise this book for English-speaking readers
at some point. Meanwhile, you may gain many basic insights into the
concept of functional food by reading Fiber Menace, and by
paying attention to “small” details.
Konstantin Monastyrsky |
