Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food

3 January 2017

Catherine Shanahan M.D.

Shanahan, Catherine and Shanahan Luke. 2016. Deep nutrition: Why your genes need traditional food. Flatiron books, New York.

Catherine Shanahan believes that a comprehensive dietary education is a preventive intervention which has not received its due recognition by the healthcare system.

Doctors are not trained to understand how diet can contribute to medical conditions such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease. Adults benefit by improved mood, curbing of hunger, stronger joints, better skin and fertility, fewer infections, reduced risk of heart attacks and stroke, reduced risk of allergies and dementia.

Children can have improved learning capacity, fewer tantrums and behaviour problems, improved jaw growth, reduced need for orthodontia, improved immunity, reduced allergies, increased heights and normal puberty.

Sadly these are not things that we can take for granted but need to actively work towards. We have to push our policy makers, health systems and corporates to stop promoting foods that work against us. We have to instead encourage farmers, traditional communities, mothers and grandmothers to reclaim our traditional and cultural foods.

Crucially she brings in the idea of epigenetics which moves beyond the idea of health of individuals to how the way individuals live and eat can affect subsequent generations. It also means that we can to a large extent determine the health of future generations.

‘One of the most important new concepts of Deep Nutrition is the idea that the foods parents eat can change the way their future children look.’

She describes foods that will unlock genetic potential and rebuild the body.

‘But before you can discover that potential, it is essential that you learn to recognize two toxic substances present in our food that are incompatible with normal genetic function: sugars and vegetable oils. These are not just toxic to people who have food sensitivities or certain medical conditions like leaky gut or prediabetes. They’re toxic to every living thing. By eliminating vegetable oil and reducing foods that raise blood sugar, you will make caloric space to accommodate the nutrition your body craves.’

According to the book, the concept of gene health is simple: genes work fine until disturbed.

‘External forces that disturb the normal ebb and 􀉻ow of genetic function can be broken into two broad categories: toxins and nutrient imbalances. Toxins are harmful compounds we may eat, drink, or breathe into our bodies, or even manufacture internally when we experience undue stress. Nutrient imbalances are usually due to de􀉹ciencies, missing vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, or other raw materials required to run our cells. You may not have control over the quality of the air you breathe or be able to quit your job in order to reduce stress. But you do have control over what may be the most powerful class of gene-regulating factors: food.’

The author recognises that across cultures, there is a collective wisdom about what it takes to have ‘designer babies’ given the available resources and how this knowledge was enshrined in the songs, prayers and cultural practices of different communities.

She says

‘Contrary to the opinion of medical leaders today, saturated fat and cholesterol appeared to be bene􀉹cial nutrients. Fifty years of removing foods containing these nutrients from our diets—foods like eggs, fresh cream, and liver—to replace them with low-fat or outright arti􀉹cial chemicals —like trans-fat-rich margarine (trans-fat is an unnatural fat known to cause health problems)—has starved our genes of the chemical information on which they depend. Simply cutting eggs and sausage (originally made with lactic acid starter culture instead of nitrates, and containing chunks of white cartilage) from our breakfasts to replace them with cold cereals would mean that generations of children have been fed fewer fats, B vitamins, and collagenous proteins than required for optimal growth.’

She explains that the yolk of eggs are full of brain building fats, including lecithin, phospholipids, essential fatty acids and vitamins A and D. Low fat diets have apparently been shown to reduce intelligence in animals. She explains that artificial vitamins and powdered, encapsulated antioxidant products are not as effective as the real thing – not even close and even harmful and that a far better option would be to eat more nutritious food.

This is important in the Indian context because there is a rush to replace single nutrients such as iron, Vitamin A etc. rather than approaching these deficiencies in a wholesome manner through food. Studies show that fortification do not have the intended benefits and can even be harmful. Ignoring this is to our own peril.

She equates poor nutrition to ‘squandering of genetic wealth’ and that continuous poor nutrition over generations, lead to less and less healthy progeny. There is however hope that if we intervene immediately and re-evaluate our eating practices, we can regain this genetic wealth.

She asserts that labelling cholesterol rich foods as ‘dangerous’ is medical misinformation which has changed eating habits drastically and with that our access to nutrients.

She identifies four pillars of World Cuisine which can be eaten as often as we can, preferably daily.

1. Meat cooked on the bone

2. Organs and offal

3. Fresh (raw) plant and animal products

4. Fermented and sprouted foods—better than fresh!

She says that different combinations of these are available across the world.

Surely in India we have an array of these foods. Recognising and identifying them, documenting them (either through oral, video or written form) and then widely disseminating these should become an important part of our lives. We need to reclaim all those foods that are being lost under the onslaught of a hierarchical and monochromic narrative around food based on caste, culture, religion, ethnicity, geography etc.

You may hear people with chronic diseases complaining that doctors and dieticians are constantly telling them what NOT to eat, while the foods that they can eat are dwindling. That is partly because we have become accustomed to a very narrow array of foods. Diversifying our food plates by exploring those foods are may not be available off a supermarket shelf has the additional benefit of giving us more variety and thus leading to better satiety and nutrition.

Organ meats are considered the ‘original vitamin supplements’ and she attributes their disappearance from the plate to numerous health problems. Since organ meats and those foods with a strong smell such as dried fish and dried meat are an acquired taste, it is important that children are atleast exposed to these in various forms even from a young age. The culture of good eating is thus inculcated early.

As far as reproduction and nutrition goes, she emphasises that the nutritional status of the mother before and during pregnancy can influence the development of the child and that eating sweets and vegetable oils during pregnancy can be as detrimental as smoking and drinking. The health of the men is also important to ensure good quality sperms. Unless the mother gives herself time to replenish her nutrient stores, the second and subsequent children may not be healthy.

A woman who is not consuming adequate nutrients will not be able to provide for the needs of the baby.

However major deficiencies are avoided to some extent by the body drawing these nutrients from the mother – this includes iron, folate, calcium, potassium, Vitamin D, Vitamin A and carotenoids, magnesium, iodine, omega-3, phosporus, zinc,DHA and other essential fatty acids, B12 and selenium. Mother’s brains can apparently shrink primarily in the hippocampal and temporal lobe areas which control short term memory and emotion. The drawing out of mothers nutrients can lead to her developing spine related issues, memory related issues and even could contribute to post partum depression.

The sugar and vegetable oils can, in addition, disrupt maternal metabolism and lead to gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia and other pregnancy related complications. In the child, this could lead to diseases previously assumed to be due to mutation – cancer, diabetes, asthma, obesity etc. Low birth weight due to mother’s smoking or high blood pressure can put children at risk of low bone mass and relative obesity.

Highlighting the importance of soil quality she says ‘When plants and animals are reared on mineral deficient soil, not only are they missing nutrients, they’re not as healthy. And their cells are, in

turn, less able to manufacture the vitamins and other nutrients that would benefit us……..Without healthy soil to nourish them, plants are unable to use the energy from the sun to manufacture optimal levels of vitamins.’

Foods have been reduced to chemicals rather than the ingredient source and cooking tradition. Access to greater quantities of animal products have historically produced bigger and tougher bodies while access to nature is the real source of genetic wealth.

She explains in detail the health benefits of healthy fats and fermented foods to help support a thriving microbiome, the benefits of bone stock. For those who exercise moderately, she recommends 100 gm of carbohydrate a day as an upper limit, with 30-70 gm on most days. The worst time to consume carbohydrates is at breakfast. It should be preferably had during dinner. The minimum average daily intake of protein is 50 gm for a woman and 70 gm for a man.

The author explains in great detail how the cholesterol theory created a sickness epidemic. And that lipid scientists have been telling us for decades that saturated fats and cholesterol are not the problem. Oxidised polyunsaturated fat (PUFA) is dangerous because it is chemically unstable. The vilification of cholesterol and saturated fats was based on ‘sloppy statistical work’ by Ancel Keys who was considered the father of the ‘diet-heart hypothesis’. This gave rise to years of cheap processed foods claiming to be ‘low fat’, ‘low carb’ etc. – margarine, vegetable oils, ready to eat foods, ultra-processed foods replacing meat, butter, eggs and fresh foods from local farms.

“Vegetable oils contain mostly heat-sensitive polyunsaturated fats. When heated, these fragile fats turn into toxic compounds including trans fat. The heat sensitivity issue means that all processed vegetable oils, and all products that contain vegetable oil, necessarily contain trans-fat.’

The good fats are the traditional fats that can handle the heat involved in processing or cooking – includes olive oil, peanut oil, butter, macademia nut oil, coconut oil, animal fat, palm oil and any artisanally produced unrefined oils. The bad fats, on the other hand are industrially produced and cannot handle the heat involved in processing or cooking and include canola oil, sunflower, soya, cottonseed, corn, grapeseed, safflower and non butter spreads.

She explains that cholesterol profile contains total cholesterol, LDL, HDL and triglycerides. HDL should be > 45 in men and >50 in women and LDL less than 3 times the HDL value. This ratio together with triglycerides less than 150 implies that the person is within the healthy range. If triglycerides are above 150 and/or HDL is below 40, then it means the lipoprotein cycle is disrupted.

Read the book for more detailed understanding.

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