by Dr. Josh Axe
CHAPTER 4
The Ancient Way of Eating
How Food Pairings, Age-Old Meal Habits, and Eating Dirt Can Benefit Your Health
Did you know there’s a reason you find curry powder or garam masala in many Indian foods or eat wasabi and ginger with sushi in Japan? Yes, they taste good. But ancient cultures created these meals to bring balance to your body. For instance, many classic Indian dishes feature dampening foods, like goat, cow, or coconut milk. To offset the dampness, they incorporate warming/drying ingredients, like black pepper, paprika, and curry powder (a mixture of ground spices, including turmeric, coriander, and cumin) or garam masala (a blend of nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, coriander, and cumin). Likewise, raw fish, rice, and seaweed are cooling, so to bring harmony to the meal—and, therefore, to your body—sushi dishes are served with warming foods, like wasabi and ginger.
In the United States, this type of ancient wisdom has been lost. Western medicine is so single-mindedly focused on pharmaceuticals that doctors receive little, if any, nutrition training in medical school. As a result, most physicians no longer understand the simple reality that foods are essential to healing, which means that when you visit your MD, you probably won’t get any advice on improving your diet. And if you do, it might be dead wrong.
That lapse is one of the most infuriating—and troubling—aspects of modern medicine. But by turning to ancient wisdom, we can fill the gap and vastly improve the nutritional quality and balance of our meals. A number of millennia-old strategies can help. One is combining foods that work synergistically, thereby amplifying their benefits. Another is adopting ancient mealtime habits that can optimize your body’s ability to utilize nutrition. And a third is, well, eating dirt. (Later in the chapter, you’ll learn why that’s one of the healthiest things you can do.) In this chapter, I’ll explain how to utilize these strategies, and share a slew of ancient diet secrets that can elevate your eating habits right now.
Combine foods to foster greater internal balance
Ancient practitioners, particularly in the Middle East, China, and India, understood the value of “food combining,” an idea that is finally being rediscovered today. A study published in Planta Medica found that when you consume turmeric by itself, you absorb very little of the beneficial compounds, including curcumin, into your bloodstream. But when turmeric is combined with piperine, an extract from black pepper, absorption soars by 154 percent.1
The scientific community congratulated itself for this finding, but it’s a principle that has existed in Ayurvedic medicine for more than three thousand years. The Ayurvedic recipe for golden milk is turmeric plus a warming spice blend called trikatu, which includes black pepper, long pepper, and ginger, mixed with ghee, a type of wholesome clarified butter. Indian healers knew that consuming turmeric along with warming herbs improves its absorption into the bloodstream. And by adding healthy fat from ghee, they increased turmeric’s absorption. And turmeric and piperine aren’t the only healthful duo out there. Combining the right foods helps you maximize the nutritional value of your meals. The following chart will show you how different food pairings will help you absorb more nutrients.
Combine…: Vegetables
With…: Healthy fats (avocado, ghee, eggs)
Because…: Fat helps your body absorb more phytochemicals from vegetables, like lycopene from tomatoes, beta-carotene from carrots, and lutein from dark green veggies, as well as the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K.
Combine…: Iron-rich foods (oatmeal, spinach)
With…: Vitamin C foods (strawberries, citrus fruits)
Because…: Vitamin C can increase the absorption of plant-based iron.
Combine…: Calcium-rich foods (salmon, tuna, egg yolks, milk, broccoli)
With…: Vitamin D foods (salmon, tuna, mackerel, beef liver)
Because…: Vitamin D enhances the absorption of calcium in your intestines.
Combine…: Rice
With…: Beans
Because…: The protein in beans helps regulate the carbs in rice, preventing blood sugar spikes.
Combine…: Healthy fats (avocado, ghee, eggs)
With…: Bitter herbs (parsley and cilantro)
Because…: Bitter herbs help release bile from the liver so you can better digest fat.
Combine…: Carbs
With…: Cinnamon, ginger, cloves, rosemary, sage, and turmeric
Because…: These herbs and spices prevent carb-related spikes in blood sugar.
Combine…: Dairy and eggs
With…: Bitter herbs (peppermint, cardamom, orange peel, fennel, garlic, ginger, and turmeric)
Because…: Bitter herbs improve digestion by balancing the dampness of dairy and eggs.
Ancient dietary lessons you won’t learn from your doctor
Doctors of old had a deep respect for food and the nourishment and protection it provides for your body, and new studies are confirming that ancient dietary theories can offer the kind of healing that is missing from our meals today. Maimonides, a twelfth-century Jewish physician and philosopher, offered some of the best general advice about eating I’ve ever read. The author of ten medical books, which combined health instructions from the Torah with ancient medical records from the Greek physicians Hippocrates and Galen, Maimonides offered advice that can guide you to a healthier way of eating. Here are my five favorite pieces of his wisdom:
Eat until you’re three-quarters full. Overeating makes you feel sluggish and sick. Your body can digest only so much food at once, and when food isn’t fully digested it causes poor nutrient absorption, gas, and bloating. From the TCM perspective, stuffing yourself causes stagnation, which leads to a number of health problems.
Don’t eat until you’re warm—and move afterward to promote digestion. Doing light exercise before you eat is an ancient concept. It gets your body warm and prepares it for digestion. A study published in World Journal of Gastroenterology, for instance, showed that a daily schedule of walking and aerobics improves gastric motility and digestion overall.2 And movement after a meal is helpful, too. A study published in the journal Medicine found that walking after a meal, and eating at least three hours before you go to bed, improves digestion and decreases the risk of stomach cancer.3 When Chelsea and I took a trip to Italy, we walked constantly—before and after eating—and noticed how easily we digested our food, even after a hearty Italian meal.
Consume fruit by itself. Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine both suggest this. Here’s why it makes sense: Your body uses different enzymes to break down fruit than it does to digest meat and grains. Berries are easier to digest with other foods, but you’re better off eating other fruits by themselves.
Sleep eight hours—and wake up slightly before sunrise. This allows your body’s internal clock to stay in sync with the circadian rhythms of nature, which bolsters the functions of your body as a whole, including digestion. Maimonides also had advice on sleeping positions that can aid digestion. At the beginning of the night, he said, you should sleep on your left side to get more blood to your small intestine and liver, both of which are involved in digestion. If you awaken in the middle of the night, flip over and spend the latter part of your sleep cycle on your right side, to get blood to your heart and stomach, which prepares you for the day ahead.
Eat according to the season. As I mentioned in chapter 3, ancient Chinese philosophy holds that you should shift your food intake so you’re eating foods that are fresh and ripe during each season. (However, if you have an underlying health problem, prioritize the more prescriptive diet advice in chapters 11 and 12.) Seasonal fare gives your body what it needs with the changing weather and temperature. In the summer, for instance, you should opt for cooling foods, like cucumber, melon, and salads with little seasoning. In the spring, consume pickled foods, like vinegar and fermented foods, to help your liver detoxify your body. Spring also tends to be warm and wet, so you want to stay away from dairy and other damp foods. Instead, stick with drying foods, like celery, t
urnips, and asparagus. In the winter, go for pungent foods that are balanced with sour—things like cooked veggies, parsnips, sweet potatoes, horseradish, garlic, onions, and olives. In the fall, fuel yourself with warming foods and spices, like lamb, pistachio, mustard, ginger, and cinnamon, and balance the chilly dryness of the season with moistening foods, like persimmons.
In addition to those dietary lessons from Maimonides, here are four other age-old tidbits of eating-related advice that Chelsea and I live by:
Savor your meals. Turn off the TV, stash your phone, set the table, and gather with family and friends for home-cooked meals. Watching TV, scrolling on your phone, or working while eating activates your sympathetic nervous system, which interferes with digestion. It’s also important to have fun with your food. Chelsea and I are big-time foodies. We like to play with ingredients and come up with delicious, nutrient-dense creations. One of our favorites is pizza night, featuring our homemade pizza with cauliflower crust, organic tomato sauce, fresh basil, mushrooms, and buffalo mozzarella. We savor every bite!
Chew! Sounds obvious, right? But it’s incredible how often I find myself eating while zipping from one place to another—and barely tasting the food. But digestion actually begins in your mouth, with a substance in your saliva known as amylase. There’s an old saying, “The stomach has no teeth.” Chewing breaks down food before it hits your gastrointestinal tract, maximizing your ability to extract its nutrients.4 What’s more, chewing allows you to enjoy food’s flavor, which helps you feel more sated and may reduce your calorie intake.5
Eat with gratitude and joy. Throughout the Middle East and Mediterranean, meals are celebrated as a time for nourishment and bonding. Before we eat, Chelsea and I always give thanks to God for the blessing of our food, our families, and all the good things in our lives. From the Biblical and Chinese perspective, the more we appreciate our food, the more nourishment it provides. Food is life-giving fuel that powers every cell in our bodies, from our muscles to our brains, and gives us energy to think, laugh, play, work, and love. That’s a lot to be grateful for!
Heal your body with tea and soup. In ancient times, herbal tea, as well as soups made with broth, vegetables, herbs, and rice, were the go-to foods for healing. Ancient cultures typically consumed tea one to three times a day for protective benefits. Chelsea and I have made a habit of starting our day with a cup of tea with a squeeze of fresh lemon. We love doing tea blends, but some of our favorite solo teas include green tea, which reduces inflammation and cholesterol and is a potent antioxidant; oolong tea, which is great for anti-aging and can reduce stress, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels; reishi mushroom tea, which has anti-cancer properties and boosts the immune system; tulsi herb tea, which can combat respiratory ailments and ease arthritis-related joint pain; ginger tea, which relieves nausea, strengthens immunity, and promotes healthy blood circulation; turmeric tea, which is a potent anti-inflammatory and can reduce arthritis pain, boost immune function, and ease irritable bowel symptoms; and chamomile tea, which can promote relaxation and reduce inflammation and blood sugar.
Avoid these three modern products that bear no resemblance to ancient food
Several food items have become so prevalent in our current packaged-food paradigm that people no longer think about the fact that these foods have no roots in the ancient world. Because they weren’t a part of ancient diets, these foods shouldn’t be part of yours, either. Here’s what to avoid:
Sugar and sugar substitutes. Sugar is naturally found in certain foods, like fruits, vegetables, and dairy, but those foods also contain enzymes, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that slow their digestion, so your blood doesn’t get a huge hit of sugar all at once. But that bag of white crystals in your pantry? Or those packaged cereals, cookies, flavored yogurts, sodas, and fruit drinks? They’re toxic. As John Yudkin, a University of London nutritionist whose 1972 book Pure, White, and Deadly was the first to sound the alarm about sugar, said, “If only a small fraction of what we know about the effects of sugar were to be revealed in relation to any other material used as a food additive, that material would promptly be banned.” Sugar increases blood pressure and chronic inflammation, causes weight gain (in part, by tricking your body into turning off its appetite-control system), and damages your cardiovascular system. In one fifteen-year study by Harvard researchers, people who got 17 to 21 percent of their calories from added sugar had a 38 percent higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease than those who consumed 8 percent of their calories from added sugar.6 And artificial sweeteners are no better. For a hit of sweet, stick with the sweeteners ancients used, like local honey, dates, maple syrup, and molasses. (My desserts in the recipe section call for sweeteners that have been used since the beginning of time.)
Processed oils. I call them the seven deadly oils: corn, cottonseed, canola, soybean, refined sunflower, safflower, and vegetable. Many are genetically modified Frankenfoods. What’s more, hydrogenated oils, found in potato chips, packaged cookies, crackers, and snacks, fried food, coffee creamers, microwave popcorn, and margarine, contain dangerous trans fats, which increase inflammation as well as heart attack and stroke risk, and impair blood sugar control. A New England Journal of Medicine study of eighty-five thousand women found that those who consumed the highest amounts of trans fats were at significantly higher risk of developing diabetes. Opt for these oils instead: coconut oil, olive oil, avocado oil, flaxseed oil, ghee, or wild organic animal fat (beef tallow and chicken fat).
Refined grains. Today’s wheat is a far cry from the stuff the ancients ate—it’s higher in gluten and carbs and far less nutrient dense. I recommend staying away from most breads and other grain products. Instead, eat rice, congee, oats, and other gluten-free grains. (Sourdough bread is fine, too, since it’s fermented.) When the ancients prepared grain for food, it was sprouted, then either fermented or made into congee, a rice dish made by boiling rice in water for twelve to twenty-four hours until it breaks down into a sort of porridge. The Chinese have used congee as a medicinal food since 206 BC. They believe it warms and heals the digestive system, enhances energy circulation (especially if you eat it in the morning), and improves sleep. I prefer congee made from brown rice, but you can make it from corn, quinoa, millet, and most other grains. If you’re paleo or keto, try cauliflower congee. And add seasonal ingredients, like mushrooms, seaweed, or mulberries in the winter; celery, green pepper, kiwi, or lemon in the spring; strawberry, apple, tomato, carrot, or beet in the summer; squash, pumpkin, yam, banana, mango, or pineapple in the late summer; and onion, water chestnut, white radish, or cauliflower in the fall.
Protect your gut the way the ancients did: eat dirt (or the next best thing)
Trillions of microorganisms live in your gastrointestinal tract. They help support immune function, enhance nutrient absorption, aid in the synthesis of key brain neurotransmitters (which has been shown to bolster mood), and promote the healthy functioning of your body as a whole. But in order for these microorganisms to protect your health, you need a wholesome balance of good and bad bacteria. When bad bacteria become too abundant (antibiotics are one common cause, as I pointed out in chapter 1), your risk of developing gastrointestinal problems, which can undermine your health as a whole, increases dramatically. But ancient cultures didn’t have that problem. They were able to achieve a healthy balance of gut bacteria naturally because their diets contained plenty of probiotics: the beneficial bacteria you get from food.
Before the introduction of refrigeration in the early twentieth century, people got probiotics by eating fresh food from healthy soil that was teeming with bacteria. In addition, for millennia, various cultures around the world stored food by burying it in the ground or putting it in a dirt cellar. They gardened and farmed, and their children played outside—then they’d all come inside and eat.
They literally ate dirt. Sound unhealthy? It’s not. Dirt contains soil-based organisms (SBOs), microbes that keep plants healthy and well nourished
and help prevent them from becoming contaminated by yeast, fungi, and molds. Without SBOs, plants wither and die. And guess what? These soil-based microorganisms are equally vital for us. (My book, Eat Dirt, explains this concept in detail.) In fact, more than eight hundred scientific studies have looked at SBOs and found that they can help relieve allergies, asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis, flatulence, nausea, indigestion, nutrient malabsorption, nutrient deficiencies, autoimmune disease, inflammatory disease, and bacterial, fungal, and viral infections.
Even in this age of refrigeration and sanitation, you can find ways to introduce more healthful bacteria into your diet. Here are four of my favorites.
Eat fermented foods. Before refrigeration, people ate tons of fermented foods. Fermentation not only preserves veggies, fruits, and dairy products, it also promotes the growth of natural bacteria. When you eat fermented food, these helpful microbes inhabit your intestines, where they serve as a first line of defense against harmful bacteria and toxins. Sauerkraut, or fermented cabbage, is a great example. It has nearly one hundred times more lactobacilli, the beneficial bacteria that makes plain yogurt so healthy, than raw cabbage.7 Much of the sauerkraut that’s available in stores now isn’t naturally fermented, so it doesn’t contain valuable probiotics. But you can still find the good stuff at natural food stores—or make your own. I encourage you to try Asian fermented foods, too, like kimchi, natto, and miso. Research has found that kimchi lowers the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome.8 Natto is made from fermented soybeans that contain Bacillus subtilis, a potent probiotic that bolsters the immune system,9 supports cardiovascular health,10 and increases circulating levels of vitamin K2,11 which promotes bone density. Miso (fermented soybeans), a salty staple of the Japanese diet for centuries, has long been used to relieve fatigue, regulate digestion, decrease cholesterol,12 prevent cancer, and lower blood pressure.13 Miso is one of my favorite probiotic-rich foods, especially during flu season. It helps strengthen the immune system and the lungs. When it comes to respiratory issues, consuming a classic miso soup is one of the most powerful remedies on the planet. Another healthful fermented food is full-fat kefir, a beverage made from the milk of cows, goats, or sheep. Kefir is one of the most microbe-rich foods in the world, with up to thirty-four different strains of bacteria in each serving—and a staple of my diet. Plain goat’s milk and sheep’s milk kefir are the healthiest kinds, but coconut kefir is a good option too, especially for vegans. Just avoid versions with added sugar. Likewise, full-fat yogurt contains two super healthy probiotics—lactobacillus and bifidobacterium—and often an array of others. Opt for plain, organic, grass-fed yogurt. Goat’s milk and sheep’s milk yogurt are my preference, because they contain more nutrients and are less likely to cause digestive issues than cow’s milk products. (Goat and sheep milk contain A2 casein, a type of protein that is easier to digest than the A1 casein found in cow’s milk.) If you struggle with dampness or candida, avoid dairy for at least a few months as the condition clears; eat coconut kefir and fermented vegetables instead.
