Deadly Harvest: The Intimate Relationship Between Our Heath and Our Food

DEADLY HARVEST

The Intimate Relationship Between

Our Health & Our Food

by

Geoff Bond

Square One Publishers

The information and advice contained in this book are based upon the research and the

personal and professional experiences of the author. They are not intended as a substitute

for consulting with a health care professional. The publisher and author are not responsible

for any adverse effects or consequences resulting from the use of any of the suggestions,

preparations, or procedures discussed in this book. All matters pertaining to your

physical health should be supervised by a health care professional. It is a sign of wisdom,

not cowardice, to seek a second or third opinion.

C
OVER
D
ESIGNER
: Jeannie Tudor

E
DITOR
: John Anderson

T
YPESETTER
: Gary A. Rosenberg and Theresa Wiscovitch

Square One Publishers

115 Herricks Road

Garden City Park, NY 11040

(516) 535-2010
•
(877) 900-BOOK

www.squareonepublishers.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bond, Geoff.

Deadly harvest : the intimate relationship between our health & our food / Geoff Bond.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7570-0142-0 (pbk.)

ISBN-10: 0-7570-0142-4 (pbk.)

1. Nutritionally induced diseases--Prevention. 2. Diet. 3. Nutrition. 4. Reducing diets. 5. Health. 6. Medical policy. I. Title.

RA784.B6643 2007

613.2--dc22

2006037460

Kindle edition Copyright © 2011 by Geoff Bond

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any

means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,

without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: What is Nutritional Anthropology?

Chapter 2: The Farming Revolution and Its Consequences

Chapter 3: How We Eat and Its Consequences

Chapter 4: The Science I: Population Studies and Biochemical Clues

Chapter 5: The Science II: Digestive System and Dietary Clues

Chapter 6: The Owner’s Manual

Chapter 7: Eating the “Savanna Model” Way

Chapter 8: The Savanna Model Lifestyle

Chapter 9: Disease and the Bond Effect

Conclusion

To my children—who carry the torch down the generations

“
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,

Straining upon the start. The game’s afoot:

Follow your spirit
…!”

Acknowledgments

This book is the culmination of a long journey. Many people have helped me along the way and it is my pleasure here to single out some of them for special mention.

An early, and essential, influence was that of my quietly determined, selfless grandmother, Anna. At her knee, we learned to respect our bodies and to keep close to nature. She taught us to think critically about what we put in our mouths and to get plenty of fresh air, exercise, and sunshine. She pluckily challenged the dietary doctrines of her day. She was decades ahead of her time and, as pioneers do, had to suffer much uncomprehending banter. Thanks to her influence in my childhood over half a century ago, I have lived a life brimming with good health. If I have seen further than most, then it is only because, as a small boy, I used to sit on Anna’s shoulders. She would be immensely proud.

My insights would not have been possible without the peculiarities of upbringing that created in me an untamed questioning, a delight in discovery, and a distaste for humbug. Thank you, then, to my undoctrinaire parents who taught me to be honest to the evidence and to hold fast in the teeth of dogma-driven opposition.

I am indebted to my wife Nicole. This book had a long and difficult gestation and she was always there with her encouragement and support. Like the faery’s child, she found me the manna dew which sustained and nourished my firmness of purpose. Nicole vetted the early proofs: thanks to her I made major improvements to comprehensibility and readability. With the enthusiasm of the convert, she works tirelessly to publicize the life-saving knowledge contained in these pages. With her French background, Nicole is an enthusiastic cook. She has delighted in developing ways of preparing delicious food in conformity with the Savanna Model. These she has crystallized into her cookbook,
Healthy Eating with the Bond Girl
{Change to new title when known}
.
(The reader will find a sample of these recipes in chapter 7.)

This book would not have been possible without the confidence of my publisher, Rudy Shur, of Square One Publishers. In his words, “You have a great rough diamond, we have to release the brilliant stone inside.” Thanks to his patient guidance, we transformed the ugly duckling into a swan. Thanks also to my editor, John Anderson, who shaped the final drafts and refrained from excising too many of my flights of fancy.

I am indebted to the many expert reviewers whose opinions, encouragement, and advice have improved the relevance, usefulness, and scientific accuracy of the text: Rita Stec, M.D., president of the Walter T. Stec Memorial Foundation of Indian Wells, California; Elber S. Camacho, M.D., medical director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center, in Palm Springs; Dr. Günter Nöll, of Vienna, Austria, biochemist and authority on edible wild plants; and Caroline Mansfield, N.D., director of The Naturopathic Clinic, in London. If, in spite of their efforts, there remain any deficiencies or differences of opinion, then these are mine alone.

Many visionaries helped me on my way in the early days: Christopher Brown MD who wrote the excellent foreword to my first book, Joe Schuchert of Kelso Corporation who, with Emmanuel Kampouris as chairman of American Standard, brought my ideas to their workforce, and Steven Gundry MD, Medical Director of The International Heart Institute of Palm Springs. Many readers and followers have encouraged me with their enthusiasm over the years. It is invidious to single out any one of them. However, I must mention Dr. James Melton, visionary and speaker, for his sage guidance -- and Frédéric7 and Jeanne Bouvet who, persuaded from the very earliest days, produced the first child, Alexandre, using my precepts all the way from inception, through pregnancy to upbringing.

If you are one of the many meritorious contributors whom it has not been possible to cite, just know that you are, like Henry V’s unsung heroes, “freshly remember’d” and that your influence lives on in this work. To all of you, and to all of those as yet unsung, my heartfelt thanks.

Introduction

A zookeeper puts signs in front of the cages saying, “Please do not feed the animals.” Have you ever thought about that? If you feed lions on popcorn or gorillas on pizza, they get sick and die. The zookeeper knows that there is a particular feeding pattern that is right for each of these creatures. We now realize that there is a particular feeding pattern appropriate for human creatures as well.

A new science has come into being to explore this fascinating subject: nutritional anthropology. It is the spellbinding story about what it means to be human—in nutritional terms. It provides an extraordinarily powerful understanding of how, by eating in harmony with the way our bodies are designed, we can rejoice in the best possible health and relish the prospect of a long life.

We accept that lions and gorillas have bodies, digestive systems, and feeding patterns that are adapted to the environment in which they live. Lions, who live by catching and eating fleet-footed antelope, have razor-sharp claws, needle teeth, and powerful stomach acids. Gorillas, who live by chomping through vast quantities of vegetation, have massive molars and long colons. Lions’ bodies are designed to work on the food that lions eat and gorillas’ bodies are designed to work on the food that gorillas eat. Yet we imagine, incorrectly, that humans are made to eat anything.

What feeding environment are human bodies designed for? Nutritional anthropology shows that there is a very precise specification for the human diet, developed by our human ancestors over millennia, and our bodies are designed to work according to those instructions and no others. It is an adventure story, stretching across the globe and into the distant past, to discover what humans were designed to eat. The past is the future: modern-day humans have changed very little, genetically speaking, and we are still living in bodies that nature designed to thrive in that far off time. Examining our ancestors’ way of life provides powerful clues to how we should be living today. These remarkable insights show how, in many surprising and unsuspected ways, we can make critical, life-transforming adjustments. The way humans have been eating and living for many thousands of years has not been ideal. In this book, you will learn how we discovered this and come to understand what we can do to improve and enrich our own lives right now.

Our first goal is to open your mind to a whole new way of thinking about the fuel that your body needs. Once this reality is accepted, we can move forward to learning how to practice this way of feeding in today’s world. The news is good—we live in a society where there is a huge variety and abundance of food available from all corners of the globe at any time of the year. We just have to learn how to choose wisely.

One of the most troubling aspects of our busy lives is the constant bombardment of conflicting messages directed at us by the health and food industries. In this book, we show you the way to peace of mind. The insights of nutritional anthropology empower you to judge for yourself. They bring clarity to the confusion and allow you to select with confidence which claims to accept and which to reject. After all, our ancestors knew they were living in a dangerous, treacherous, and unpredictable jungle. They had the skills to survive: they knew which mushrooms were poisonous and which berries were safe. This book can help teach you the skills to survive in today’s supermarket
jungle.