This book by Sally Fallon (with Mary Enig, Ph.D.) is an inspiring polemic against both commercial, prepared food trends and some governmental and research leaders who appear to be making recommendations on nutrition under the influence of commercial interests.
My first impression of the book is that it shows exactly how hard nutritional science actually is. The authors are citing hundreds of technical works from both demographic and controlled experiment studies regarding thousands of different food components in their way to painting a complete picture of good nutrition. Their starting point in painting this picture is the common sense assumption that historical, natural diets are invariably more healthy than those laden with commercially processed foods. This assumption is backed up by demographic research done in the first third of the last century. This is the import of the `traditions' in the title.
It turns out that the potential allies of the authors' approach come from such different quarters as the Atkins diet advocates who endorse eating meat, eggs, and other proteins in preference to (processed) carbohydrates and the `Raw Food' wing of the vegetarian / vegan movement. The latter camp would wholeheartedly endorse the authors' issues with eating foods that retain their original enzymes to aid in digestion. I'm sure the vegans and the Atkins camp will not join forces any time soon, but their appearance in the same metaphorical room on the side of the authors' position is another indication of how multi-sided complex scientific theories can become.
I have no facts to confirm or challenge the authors' claim of corruption on the part of some academics in endorsing a nutritional position to back commercial interests. I will only say that it is irrelevant to the central tenant of the book, which in very simple terms is `Eat the way your great grandparents ate'. Some of the more important details are:
1. Avoid processed fats, starches, sugars, and proteins. They are not of no value. They are unhealthy.
2. Eat animal protein and their accompanying fats.
3. Eat whole grain products.
4. Eat foods prepared in such a way that avoids loosing important nutrients.
Almost all of the authors' statements on individual nutritional facts are backed up by published scientific research. One or two or even ten percent of their references may be flawed, but the overall weight of their evidence is truly impressive. The only problem I find in their characterization of the way things are today is in not giving full credit to medical science in lengthening our lifespans through the suppression of infectious diseases. This is likely to be the reason behind the increase in the frequency of deaths by degenerative diseases like cancer and heart disease, not a catastrophic loss of nutritional value in our diets. That is not to say their claims about the drop in the quality of our diet are not true. Always remember that these gals are making a case, they are not simply publishing scientific results.
While I think the authors have a strong case against processed foods, I find it difficult to fully endorse their next step. Their solution takes us close to the land of food extremists such as both traditional vegetarians and the more radical proponents of `raw' diets. What this means is that they raise up foods which are hard to find or difficult to prepare or are prepared in ways unfamiliar to American kitchens. This may not necessarily be a bad thing. It tends to appeal to my `Whole Earth Catalog' mentality of the home-brew lifestyle. But this lifestyle is simply not practical for the millions who work long, stressful hours followed by time devoted to kids and spouses.
My skepticism regarding their solutions is reinforced by some culinary misstatements such as the suggestion to refrigerate tomatoes after they ripen, to not add garlic to hot fat, and that artisinal breads are not good for sandwiches. The second and third statements are refuted daily by traditional Italian cooking practice. Their condemnation of all aluminum cookware and the microwave also seem more extreme than they need be.
What I take from this work is the very cautious and undramatic conclusion that the safest (and most interesting) culinary path lies in the study and emulation of historical diets. This gives a strong theoretical underpinning to my admiration of educators such as Mario Batali and Paula Wolfert who examine and promote historical cuisines based on the `what grows together, goes together'. This could easily be a subtitle of this book. It also gives support to practitioners such as Rachael Ray who promote fast cooking without resorting to overly processed ingredients.
I love a book that pulls together and validates a wide range of (my) opinions. While this book may not always be right, it is supremely valuable in its provocation to thinking. It is also supremely valuable in it's demonstrating the value of some less common foods such as sauerkraut, crème fraiche, and kim chee. This value doubles in that it actually tells you how to make this stuff. Lest it be overlooked, it is important to note that the lions share of the book is a fairly large cookbook of recipes with methods and materials that follow the book's doctrines.
At a list price of $25, the catalogue of vegetables chapter alone is almost worth the price of admission. I'm happy that here, the authors part company with both the advocates of `raw' and the old Adele Davis doctrine of saving veggie cooking water. They reinforce again the conventional wisdom of old school culinary practice which rarely leaves veggies raw. Some raw vegetables contain some bad things and cooking almost always makes the good things more available to digestion.
I recommend this book to everyone as the very next book you need to buy about food.
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Reviews with images
A God-sent
I found this book through the book "The Maker's Diet" which was given to me when I was 18 and sat on a shelf to be picked up 2 years later after the birth of my first child. I was struggling to breastfeed after having a major loss of blood (OBGYN's mistake led to this and a major birth trauma). I had virtually no milk supply. Tried everything! Persevered for 6 horrible long exhausting weeks before I finally gave up. I did not even become engorged upon stopping, that's how low my supply was. Looking back now i was very malnourished from a terrible diet of fast food and soda during pregnancy, plus the major loss of blood after birth- there's no way my body could produce anything. My teeth were crumbling, horrible cavities everywhere. I was very much against infant formula but I had no other choice, so i started my son of Enfamil. He was colicky, constipated, constant projectile spit up, not sleeping well, and I was DEPRESSED. I was even having to use infant suppositories for him. This is NOT NORMAL!! No matter how common it is, it's not normal... I began reading a lot to try and help keep my mind off of the deep depression I was experiencing (Lack of sleep, stress of being a young new wife and mother, no family in the area, plus my very unhealthy and hormone depleted body). Then, one day I came across the book that I had placed on a shelf two years prior (The Maker's Diet- a great book). When I started reading through some of the recipes, I noticed many of them were referencing this book called "Nourishing Traditions". I went to Barnes and Noble and bought this book the same week. Instantly saw how informative it was and how packed with recipes! I love it!! It opened my life to a completely new way of thinking/eating/ living. One of the first recipes i came across was the infant formula recipe. I thanked God because I knew he led me there, as I had PRAYED and cried out to God to help me find some way to feed my baby, and in the midst of feeling like such a massive failure for not being able to nurse my son, I realized that God had used my dad to give me The Maker's Diet, which I would pick up two years later out of desperation, which would in turn lead me to Nourishing Traditions... Long story short, I used the website provided in the book to scout out a source of raw milk locally, and within that week I found a raw milk cow share and signed up, and ordered all of the ingredients that I needed and started making my son's formula. From the first feeding, he was a much happier baby! He stopped fussing so much, he started SLEEPING through the night, AND he was NEVER AGAIN constipated! His bowel movements turned to mustard yellow, seedy, soft just as they were when I was nursing him.Fast forward to two years later and having completely embraced the Nourishing Traditions lifestyle, my husband and I decided to try for a second child. This pregnancy went much differently. I took care of myself, the nourishing traditions way. I drank superfood green smoothies every single day with home made raw milk kefir, ate healthy (not 100%, but I tried to give my body everything it needed!), plenty of butter and coconut oil and eggs, took whole food supplements and herbs instead of synthetic pharmaceutical prenatals, and never once saw a doctor- only my midwives who I had a home birth with. Gave birth to my 9lb 4oz 23" long baby girl, ELEVEN days late (hey, she knew when she was ready!), at home with no medication, in an inflatable birthing pool. It was awesome. My milk came in within 2 days (holy heck did it come in!!), she never lost weight, she slept much better, was very alert and nursed very well, had no digestion issues and has always been SO HEALTHY! My son is very healthy too (thanks to being able to start making his formula at 6/7 weeks of age), but he did catch and still does tend to catch more illnesses than she ever has. I really do attribute this to the type of diet i ate while pregnant with her, versus the SAD (standard american diet) i ate while pregnant with him, as well as the first 6 weeks of powdered formula and the drug exposure he had during birth in the hospital....ONE THING I have noticed that is astounding to me is the difference in their facial structures and teeth/jaw formation. After reading Weston Price's "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration", as well as Francis Pottenger's "Pottenger's Cats", it makes sense to me why this is so. My little girl has such a beautiful and wide jaw, with perfectly straight and spaced teeth which i know will allow for her permanents to grow in without crowding, while my son has very crowded teeth and a more narrow jaw and has already had cavities while my daughter has had ZERO. (SEE PICS!)It really does make a difference what you eat before conception, during pregnancy, and what you feed your child.. (Btw, I supplemented with WAP homemade formula and eventually switched her to it completely when I decided to quit nursing- don't judge me)I'm not saying everything in this book is completely 100% for everyone, but it worked for me and my babies. All of the information also led me into a completely different life as far as nutrition and eating. I try to stay away from grains completely these days as I have some long standing digestive issues, but if I do have them I believe they are best soaked or sprouted like this book says. Also, try sprouted nuts- SO DELICIOUS and so much better for you than roasted or even raw. Lots of good recipes in the book, and you'll get a ton of practice in the cooking and preparing of different foos. If nothing else, get it for the baby formula recipe and information pertaining to childhood nutrition. My favorite and most used part of the recipes in this book are the fermented foods and dairy.
Top reviews from other countries
Jane
Si sólo pudiera tener un libro de cocina sería este
Reviewed in Spain on May 25, 2021
Iván Antonio Hernández Moreno
¡¡Excelent Product!!
Reviewed in Mexico on January 6, 2020
Jörg
Great wisdom of how to improve your health with food
Reviewed in Singapore on December 19, 2023