Words are powerful! Unfortunately one particular word sets millions on the path to chronic incurable disease . . . omnivore.

What’s in a name? Plenty! You learned about carnivores in primary school: these are animals anatomically suited to eating only meat, their ‘ideal’ diet.

Then there are herbivores – animals that eat only plants: from herba, the Latin for plant and vorare. They have short flat-topped teeth adapted for chewing and grinding.

Now comes the curly one. Because humans eat plants as well as the flesh of fish and meat – we are often called omnivores … omni from the Latin for ‘all’ and vorare.

This unfortunate term leads us to believe we can eat all things safely. So not true!

Humans are actually ‘multivorous’

A much better term for Homo sapiens would be ‘multivore’ – construed from the Latin multi meaning ‘many’, and vorare.

We Homo sapiens can eat many things we find in our surroundings. But being able to chew and swallow something is not the same as being able to fully digest it. A crucial point to note.

Your digestive tract is a finely tuned system

Because there, in your belly, where the work of digestion happens, is a beautiful and finely tuned system of biochemical processing. It is perfect for breaking down fish and meat to release the good nutrients we need - to jump in the car and collect the kids.

It’s also brilliant for processing eggs and leafy green vegetables, zucchini, avocado, carrots, apples, pumpkins and so many other plants.

But when we put inappropriate things through that beautiful finely tuned system – the trouble starts.

So that’s what happens in a mechanical system. Imagine the stress on a biological system, made of your flesh and blood.

So which things are inappropriate?

Homo sapiens cannot fully digest legumes, nightshades, grass grains or mammalian milk. Partially broken-down proteins from these things foster inflammation, damage tissue, cause plaque deposits and interfere with glands and organs – leading to disease.

Legumes, nightshades, grass grains and milk products were not available to Paleolithic humans – one of the most successful species on the planet.

But get this. Early humans survived for two and a half million years – with no disease . . . no chronic incurable diseases – and none of the communicable infectious kind either.

Conclusion? Whatever they were eating was perfect for their bodies.

But our lot - modern humans - dating from just ten thousand years ago - are riddled with disease – chronic ‘non-communicable’ diseases like cancers, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and multiple sclerosis (MS) – as well as infectious diseases like Ebola, tuberculosis, monkey pox and Covid19.

Why? The main reason archaeologists have concluded is how our diet has changed from the Paleolithic one. The trouble with today’s diet takes us back to the four food groups that have been added:

• Chick peas, kidney beans, lentils, soybeans, tofu – legume group

• Chili, capsicum, eggplant, potatoes, tomatoes – nightshade group

• Rye, wheat, barley, oats, rice, corn – grass grain group

• Cheese, yogurt, milk, butter, ice cream – mammalian milk group

These are extremely difficult to digest fully – releasing unprocessable molecules (actually toxins!) which then roam freely in the body, inflicting unfelt cellular-level injury.

But does this mean a cheese sandwich on rye bread is going to make you sick today?

That depends on your ancestry and how frequently you indulge. Because the modern foods listed above are laden with food toxins. And if you are susceptible yes, your body will suffer from eating the cheese sandwich today – even if you don’t notice a thing.

The sad thing is – regarding susceptibility, many people live in denial insisting they are unaffected by food intolerance. Yet they suffer chronic ailments – headaches, sleep apnoea, aching joints, chronic fatigue, hearing loss, fading eyesight, back pain, skin problems or constipation, blaming something else and taking medications for relief.

But the clinical evidence says otherwise. We now know most chronic degenerative conditions spring from marauding food toxins in the blood stream.

What are food toxins?

• The largest group of food toxins: glutens, zein, alkaloids, phytates, phytic acid, saponins and others are found in plants - calling into question the massive shift to ‘plant-based’ milks and meat substitutes. Take care when reacting to this marketing. These toxins are associated with bowel cancers, dementia, motor neurone disease (MND)[1], Parkinson’s[2] and heart disease[3] amongst others.

• Another important group of toxins are caseins and lactose – found in milk and all dairy products. These toxins are linked to schizophrenia[4], depression[5], prostate cancer[6] and chronic skin issues.

• The last group is chemical: alcohol and an exhaustive list of food additives.

NOTE: There are no naturally occurring food toxins in meat, fish or eggs. Neither are there any food toxins in the many plants Paleo peoples selected.

Trying to avoid food toxins?

If you are interested in relieving or avoiding degenerative illness - follow a diet similar to what they ate:

1.    Fresh meat, fish, eggs

2.    Fresh, easily foraged or above-ground vegetables

3.    Fresh fruits, berries

4.    Fresh nuts and seeds in moderation

5.    Water

Sounds a little Spartan I know!

Of 391,000 plant species on the earth[7] – humans only take advantage of about two hundred . . . for good reasons.

The good-to-eat ones - and the poisonous ones were identified by our ancestors a million years ago – most likely from bitter experience. They passed on the knowledge to their children and grandchildren.

This precious knowledge (as forensic archaeologists read it from fossil remains) is extremely informative. And remember – even with the latest technologies these scientists have found no evidence of chronic degenerative disease amongst humans from this time.

So we can utilise this valuable learning to decrease your risk of diagnosis. Because what these early humans ate - are the foods for no disease.

Importantly – for best results – follow a low toxin diet closely … with nothing removed – (vegans and vegetarians have great difficulty) ... and with nothing added (see four modern food groups above.) Straying outside these guidelines puts Homo sapiens on a slippery slope to slow onset sickness and disability – and premature death.

Plan to avoid disease

While some (fortunate) people do get immediate and noticeable symptoms from eating a cheese sandwich – myself included – and decide to avoid those foods … others feel nothing at all. And this latter group are at risk.

Why? Because a diagnosis of serious disease usually comes ‘out of the blue’ – finally revealing the slow-burn injury that has been happening secretly for years.

And now say, your pancreas is irreparably damaged - diabetes . . . a tumour has appeared on a routine bowel screen . . . or night sweats are diagnosed as thyroid disease.

So take care with your bod (you only have one) … and remember, you are NOT an OMNIVORE!

Learn more about food toxins.

REFERENCES

[1] Lee JE, Ryu DW, Kim JS, An JY. Celiac disease presenting as motor neurone disease. Neurol India 2018;66:1810-2

[2] Chen et al. Consumption of Dairy Products and Risk of Parkinson’s Disease. American Journal of Epidemiology May 1, 2007;165-9

[3] Curione et al. Idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy associated with coeliac disease: the effect of a gluten-free diet on cardiac performance. Dig Liver Dis. 2002 Dec;34(12):866-9

[4] Severance EG, Dickerson FB, Halling M, Krivogorsky B, Haile L, Yang S, Stallings CR, Origoni AE, Bossis I, Xiao J, Dupont D, Haasnoot W, Yolken RH. Subunit and whole molecule specificity of the anti-bovine casein immune response in recent onset psychosis and schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 2010 May;118(1-3):240-7.

[5] Niebuhr DW et al. Association between bovine casein antibody and new onset schizophrenia among US military personnel. Schizophr Res. 2011 May;128(1-3):51-5.

[6] Gao et al. Prospective studies of dairy product and calcium intakes and prostate cancer risk: a meta-analysis. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2005 Dec 7;97(23):1768-77.

[7] https://news.mongabay.com/2016/05/many-plants-world-scientists-may-now-answer/