Defensive Concepts

The Modern Evolutionary Diet

    I first heard about the Modern Evolutionary Diet and it's major proponent, Dr. C.

Leigh Broadhurst, while listening to the G. Gordon Liddy Show several years ago. Dr.

Broadhurst works for a research group in the DC area. She has several PHD's, is a wife

and has a couple of kids. In what little spare time she does have, she runs triathlons.

From a practical, rubber meets the road kind of thinking, if a diet plan didn't work to

keep her energy levels high, she probably wouldn't push it. Normally, beyond staying

away from junk food, I never followed any kind of "diet", however, something about her dietary

ideas intrigued me. At the time a nutrition warehouse had a booklet on Dr.

Broadhurst and her diet. I got a copy and it basically reiterated what I'd heard on the

radio. Enough to get you started but not enough detail and background for me.

    Moving ahead to the present. I was doing a little surfing and decided to see if the good

doctor had a website, it turned out she had written a book on her diet. Checked

Amazon.com, lo and behold there it was. The title threw me for a second, "Diabetes:

Prevention and Cure". The price was right though and I bought a copy. I've tried the diet

for awhile (more or less) and it deserves your consideration. Let's see why.

    The concept behind the diet is this: While we live in a modern age of abundant food,

electricity, computers and other marvels, our physical bodies are those of ancient

hunter-gatherers. Much of what constitutes our diet, particularly what is known as the

Western Diet, is unnatural to our systems. Think processed foods, excess sugar and

wheat. This causes chronic health problems such as obesity, food allergies and adult onset

diabetes. That folks got my attention. I've got several family members who have

developed adult onset diabetes as well as a friend who developed it shortly after hitting

40. The family member's cases were directly attributed to the diet they had when they

were kids. They were poor, bologna and flour gravy were staples. My friend? Their four

major food groups were coffee, chocolate, whiskey and tobacco.

    Dr. Broadhurst puts forth in her book that our ancestors grew up on a diet of wild

game, fish, nuts, fruits and vegetables. There was no bread, pasta or doughnuts. They

drank water primarily. Colas were not in the picture. The life was physical so our bodies

are designed to move, not sit in front of a TV with pizza and wings and a beer by our

elbow.

    The book is easy to follow, even for a knuckle dragger like me. The only place I got

lost and had to go back and read s-l-o-w-l-y was the chapter on dietary fats. Other than

that it was an easy and very understandable read.

    Part One thoroughly explains the concepts behind the diet and gives scientific research

to back up Dr. Broadhurst's claims. As a sidebar, I recently read several books by Chief

Luther Standing Bear. He was a Lakota Chief born before the Lakota were forced into

reservation life. As a teenager, Chief Standing Bear was sent east to an Indian school.

Prior to that he lived as the Lakota had lived for centuries. The were nomads, classic

hunter/gatherers who followed the buffalo. He describes his diet as a youth. It coincides

with Dr. Broadhurst's theories. The Lakota lived on buffalo, a lot of buffalo and anything

else they could hunt. When Chief Standing Bear was shipped east by the Bureau of Indian

Affairs he was introduced to the American diet in vogue at the time. Flour, salt, sugar,

lard and coffee were staples. According to Chief Standing Bear many of the children

shipped east died. He attributed it to two things, extreme homesickness and the radical

change in their diet.

    Part Two of the book gives the Modern Evolutionary Diet Plan. In this section Dr.

Broadhurst gives suggested menu plans for a week, recipes for blender drinks, ideas for

snacks along with advice about supplements, kicking sugar or starch addictions and (my

personal favorite) how to cheat.

    Part Three gives her advice on natural cures and prevention of diabetes and food

allergies.

    There are appendixes in the back which give resources for acquiring game meat,

supplements and other items needed to follow this plan. She also  includes a reference

section.

    As I said at the start of this, I've been trying this diet out, more or less, for a few

months. I've never had a problem with being overweight. The foods that don't agree with

me, I don't eat and I'm not diabetic. I decided to try this plan with an eye to the future

based on family history and trends I see in our society these days concerning health.

    First, if you're used to eating a fairly clean healthy diet with a minimum of junk food,

this is easy. Obviously, the more you have to change the harder it will be. The only things

I haven't really embraced are the green power drinks. I prefer to eat vegetables, not drink

them. I also don't go as heavy on supplements as the doctor suggests. I will say this, I did

start supplementing chromium as recommended and noticed, fairly quickly, that I was

more cut than usual without any increase in my workouts. The big thing is I feel better.

When I do cheat I notice it the next morning. I don't have the get up and go I usually do

and I'm congested. When I stay with the diet those problems disappear.

    I have a good friend, a doctor, who's wife, also a doctor, follows this program. She has

stated that between their practice and their kids she doesn't have time to work out. She

credits the diet and supplement plan with controlling her weight and maintaining her

energy and youthful appearance. Yeah, yeah, I know I've said it before, I'm primarily

concerned with performance. Folks, there ain't nothin' wrong with lookin' good. Think of

it as bonus points.

    Would I recommend looking into this? Yes, the $12-$15 you'll spend on the book is

an investment in your health, physical and mental performance. I know there are those out

there who do just fine with a Snickers bar and Pepsi for breakfast. I don't want be 'just

fine' I want to excel. I believe that this diet can help you do just that.

    Want more info? Click on the link below to get to Amazon. You'll find both Dr.

Broadhurst's and Chief Standing Bear's books