Modern day humans exist in a world that is vastly different from that in which our closest ancestors did. Homo sapiens first appeared some 300,000 years ago and evolved living on a diet consisting of animals and plants. Modern human genetics have remained largely unchanged in the past 40,000 years and since the agricultural revolution some 10,000 years ago when human diets shifted more towards a reliance on grain crops. It is estimated that early humans prior to the agricultural revolution consumed approximately 35% of their diet by weight in animal products and 65% by weight from plants (Eaton and Konner, 1985). This diet is dramatically different from modern day with not only the amounts of food being changed, but also their composition. In even more recent times a new change to the human diet has introduced food processing. Modern ultra-processed foods contain not only unnatural compounds (eg. trans-fatty acids, plastics, antibiotics), they also contain unnatural compositions of foods in proportions not normally found in nature. The invention of processed foods allows for the pairing of high-fat, high carbohydrate foods together to create a new class of hyper-palatable foods, ones that override satiety signals from the brain while being devoid of essential micronutrients. This shift in food intake and composition has created a healthcare crisis, contributing to the increase in preventable diseases such as type 2 diabetes (T2D), heart disease, cancer, chronic kidney disease (CKD) and their related disorders. Kidney diseases are the 9th leading cause of death in the US and contributes to the development of hypertension and precipitating cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the US, and cardiovascular related events (eg. stroke, heart failure). CKD currently affects  around 15% of the US population and 10-13% of the population worldwide (US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019). In 2017 alone, the US medicare costs for CKD was $84 billion with another $36 billion coming from end stage renal disease. T2D is one of the leading causes of kidney disease and contributes to the growing number of patients seeking dialysis for end-stage renal disease. T2D currently affects ~30 million Americans and is projected to reach 44 million by 2034 (American Diabetes Association, 2018). Currently, T2D alone costs the US $327 billion a year or 1 out of every 7 dollars spent on healthcare (Association, 2018). Cardiovascular disease costs totaled $555 billion in 2015 and are anticipated to cost $1 trillion by the year 2035, effectively bankrupting the US if left unchecked (American Heart Association, 2017). With healthcare costs growing at ~5% a year, they are projected to reach 20% of US GDP by 2025 (Keehan et al., 2016). This costly future is certainly avoidable if actions are taken before it is too late to act. 
    It is certainly reasonable to assume that the mismatch in human physiology and environment may underlie the health predicament that we find ourselves in, but it also offers us the solution to our growing healthcare costs and diminishing societal health. Ancestral diets consisted of large quantities of plants and animals, unprocessed, and rich in micronutrients. While the agricultural revolution introduced more grains in place of animal products, food remained generally unprocessed until the 20th century with the invention of refrigeration and the supermarket. This change in the way that food was stored and consumed altered the composition of food and increased the need for added preservatives to keep food stable longer. This alteration in the modern versus ancestral diet resulted in a dramatic reduction in potassium intake for increased amounts of sodium, majorly in the form of sodium chloride or coupled with preservatives (eg. benzoate, sorbate). Ancestral diets were estimated to contain a 1:10 ratio of sodium/potassium whereas modern diets are estimated to contain a 3:1 ratio of sodium/potassium (Frassetto et al., 2001). This alteration in the sodium/potassium ratios also comes at the expense of decreased alkali consumption. Alkali is generally associated with the intake of plant material and decreased alkali in turn contributes to chronic metabolic acidosis, bone mineral loss, calcium excretion, osteoporosis, kidney stones, decreased kidney function, kidney disease and the extrarenal diseases associated with kidney function decline such as hypertension, heart disease and stroke. 
    The intake of highly processed foods is therefore a multifaceted problem. Humans now have access to more calories, yet are lacking essential micronutrients such as potassium. Consumption of highly processed  foods come accompanied with inflammatory compounds (eg. refined sugar, nitrites, oxidized lipids and carbohydrates), high levels of sodium and chloride, an increase in total body acid load and  a decrease in total alkali consumption. This combination wreaks havoc on the kidney and is a major contributor to decreased kidney functioning and in turn extrarenal manifestations. Maintaining and caring for kidney function can therefore be an effective strategy at improving our overall health and the health of our society at large. 
    Pulling a page from our ancestors, increasing our intake of plant material, rich in potassium and alkali could do wonders at increasing our overall kidney function. But could such a simple intervention be so effective? A recent meta-analysis of chronic kidney disease (CKD) prognosis found that both high and low serum potassium were predictors of adverse outcomes (Kovesdy et al., 2018). Potassium depletion is associated with increased blood pressure and sodium retention and potassium supplementation with potassium chloride or potassium citrate were both found to lower blood pressure in healthy individuals (Braschi and Naismith, 2008). Urinary potassium excretion, used as an estimate for dietary intake, found that increased potassium excretion was associated with a lower risk for CKD in healthy individuals. Similarly, higher urinary potassium in diabetic patients was associated with lower odds for renal replacement. However, higher urinary potassium in individuals with decreased kidney function (eGFR between 20-70 mL/min) was associated with increased risk of incident end-stage renal disease (Gritter Martin et al., 2019). While the risk of excessive potassium in late stage CKD has been well documented, these studies highlight how important a role potassium can play prior to the development of late stage kidney disease for preserving and maintaining healthy kidney function. 
    Taking proactive steps to support our health is in our hands and in our food choices. Our modern society has crafted a food system of convenience, abundant in calories yet lacking in substance. By drawing on our evolutionary past, we can make informed decisions and choose to nourish and feed our bodies the nutrients it needs to keep it healthy and functioning optimally. 

References:

Association, A.D. (2018). Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. in 2017. Diabetes Care.
Braschi, A., and Naismith, D.J. (2008). The effect of a dietary supplement of potassium chloride or potassium citrate on blood pressure in predominantly normotensive volunteers. British Journal of Nutrition 99, 1284–1292.
Eaton, S.B., and Konner, M. (1985). Paleolithic Nutrition — A Consideration of Its Nature and Current Implications. N Engl J Med 31, 283–289.
Frassetto, L., Morris, Jr., R.C., Sellmeyer, D.E., Todd, K., and Sebastian, A. (2001). Diet, evolution and aging. Eur J Nutr 40, 200–213.
Gritter Martin, Rotmans Joris I., and Hoorn Ewout J. (2019). Role of Dietary K+ in Natriuresis, Blood Pressure Reduction, Cardiovascular Protection, and Renoprotection. Hypertension 73, 15–23.
Keehan, S.P., Poisal, J.A., Cuckler, G.A., Sisko, A.M., Smith, S.D., Madison, A.J., Stone, D.A., Wolfe, C.J., and Lizonitz, J.M. (2016). National Health Expenditure Projections, 2015–25: Economy, Prices, And Aging Expected To Shape Spending And Enrollment. Health Affairs 35, 1522–1531.
Kovesdy, C.P., Matsushita, K., Sang, Y., Brunskill, N.J., Carrero, J.J., Chodick, G., Hasegawa, T., Heerspink, H.L., Hirayama, A., Landman, G.W.D., et al. (2018). Serum potassium and adverse outcomes across the range of kidney function: a CKD Prognosis Consortium meta-analysis. Eur Heart J 39, 1535–1542.
US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2019). Chronic Kidney Disease in the United States, 2019.
Cardiovascular Disease Costs Will Exceed $1 Trillion by 2035, Warns the American Heart Association.
https://newsroom.heart.org/news/cardiovascular-disease-costs-will-exceed-1-trillion-by-2035-warns-the-american-heart-association

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The ketogenic diet has had a recent surge in popularity. This is due to high profile individuals in the “biohacking” realm and movie stars using the ketogenic diet to make weight for an upcoming role.  Similarly, the use of intermittent fasting has become just as popular.


Google Trends: Red-“ketogenic diet” Blue-“Intermittent Fasting”

Looking at the interest on Google, the search for ketogenic diets (blue) and intermittent fasting (red) have mimicked one another in appeal. While at first appearing different, at a molecular level these two approaches to diet are very similar. The ketogenic diet creates a cellular milieu similar to the fasted state with the added benefit of getting to eat. While the similarities of the two dietary approaches are striking to say the least, there are still differences between the two.

The “fasted state” occurs when no nutrients are taken into the body, blood glucose and insulin levels begin to fall, adrenaline and cortisol levels rise and the liver responds with the release of energy stores. The absence of nutrients is a signal to the body to mobilize reserves and to begin food-seeking behaviors (e.g. hunger and searching for sustenance). In the absence of food the body begins to prepare for the upcoming famine and therefore starts to begin the process of liberating fats from adipose tissue for use in the peripheral tissues. Our fat reserves are sufficient to allow us to survive for weeks without food with even the leanest individual capable of surviving a week without food under the right circumstances. This extended fasted state is where the magic happens. Without nutrient input, our body begins to undergo a process of recycling and repair that otherwise will not occur. Inside all our cells are broken bits of proteins, oxidized damaged cellular components and dysfunctional mitochondria. During starvation conditions the cell takes account of these precious resources and begins the process of autophagy (“self-eating” for those that didn’t learn Ancient Greek). This process of autophagy removes these damages components and repurposes them to new use as cellular building blocks or as an energy source. While energy is scarce, the normal immune cell production of white blood cells is diminished and cells associated with autoimmunity disappear. The lack of food intake also means that the blood levels of bacterial associated endotoxin drop, decreasing systemic inflammation. These effects can have lasting positive effects on our health, as reducing inflammation is a key component to living a long and pain free life.
The ketogenic diet can produce a lot of similar effects as fasting can. This comes from the reduction in insulin associated with carbohydrate and protein intake. The increase in fat intake also increases mitochondrial density, creating new mitochondria that are healthy and robust. The increase in fatty acid use also increases the amount of our free radical scavenging enzymes, reducing cellular damage. The increase in fat also provides building blocks for anti-inflammatory molecules produced by the body including the endocannabinoids, leukotrienes and prostaglandins. The ketogenic diet is also capable of regulating certain forms of dysbiosis caused by carbohydrate hungry yeast or bacteria.
When combined together, the ketogenic diet and fasting regimes are powerful therapeutics for the treatment of a host of disorders that stem from inflammation, dysbiosis or metabolic disease. This includes previously intractable diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, cancer, ALS and more. The list of the maladies that these simple tools have been shown to be effective for continues to grow and more research will continue to expand the list for potential use.

I like to look for wisdom in unconventional places. In this practice I find that many of the ancient ideas that today are looked down upon for their seemingly silly explanations of reality are telling to the wisdom and observational wit of ancient man. We exist in a dynamic and ever changing world filled with stimuli that are not perceived at a conscious level. No one can know the moment that a cell inside their body becomes cancerous but that moment may come and will pass, triggered by some outside force. These influencing forces are around us in all shapes and forms molding our cell’s environment. The cell is a computer that takes environmental stimuli and produces an output fitting to the situation. When we eat, the cells in our body produce a concerted effort to change their behavior to uptake nutrients, grow and repair. When we exercise our cells change their metabolism to deal with the environmental stress that comes from increased glucose consumption and decreased oxygen levels. Everything effects everything.

Thinking about the influence of the environment and the role that this can have on our bodies provokes an interesting thought. What effect does the place that we are living influence our development and the person we will become? We can be born on the north or south side of the planet, near or far from the equator, high or low elevation and with varying degrees of temperature and humidity. We can be born into poverty, affluence or somewhere in between (1). All of these factors influence the way that our cells will react to the environment along with the genes that are turned on or off. Our diet and the diet of our parents are another environmental factor that influences our gene expression and can’t be overlooked.
Our genetic makeup is only part of who we will become, there are maternal factors, histone modifications as well as epigenetic traits that will effect our development. Epigenetic inheritance comes from the patterns of modified DNA that lead to gene activation or gene silencing. These epigenetic marks are made in response to environmental stimuli and will determine the expression of our genes. The environment that we are exposed to as adults will cause epigenetic changes that occur to regulate the needs of cells to their environment. The interesting part of epigenetics comes from the developmental standpoint in which the environment of our parents and grandparents shapes our genes prior to our conception. Your mother and your father contribute the genetic material necessary to create you along with the epigenetic marks that they have acquired. Since sperm have a high turnover and are continually produced, the epigenetic modifications of the father are coming from the environment of the adult, whereas the epigenetic changes on the egg occurred long ago during the mother’s development in utero. These epigenetic changes were influenced by the environment of your grandmother during pregnancy.
And now for some conjecture.

Long before there was the science of epigenetics, humans were cataloging the movement of the planets and the stars and their relationship to the seasons. The movement of Saturn and Jupiter in relationship to Earth have huge impacts on our planet’s temperature and seasonal variation. These changes in temperature lead to differences in precipitation and ultimately a change in food supply. Astrology’s predictive power was probably much better before the invention of refrigeration, fast travel or the ability of humans to trade from the north to south equator or vice versa. When a person is conceived, the culmination of the genotypes of the parents are mixed along with their epigenetic traits that were influenced by the environment of their region. If a population were to settle into a particular area for centuries there would be many constants that could produce repeatably observable phenomena brought about by environmental influence. The astute could take notice that individuals born in spring under the sign of Aires possess a particular disposition compared to those born in the winter as Capricorns. These observations could lead people to believe that the time of year and the position of the planets and stars was leading to the behaviours of individuals and they would be partially correct!

How would this work exactly?

Epigenetics come from the marks on DNA made using methyl (-CH3) donors. The availability of methyl donors being dependent on dietary input. The availability of vitamin B-12 and folate are extremely important in providing the source for the methyl groups put onto DNA. Abundance of available methyl donors would vary depending on seasonal variation and the availability of food sources that provide them. Individuals that were conceived during times of plenty would have more access to these methyl donors and would have altered patterns of methylation in comparison to individuals that have a lower access. The same idea could be applied to a number of environmental factors that could contribute to behaviour. Genes regulated by vitamin D would be altered for those conceived in darker months. The regulation at the epigenetic level would coincide with the prenatal nutrition available depending on the season. The availability of carbohydrates would alter the embryo’s sensitivity to insulin and lack of food or other stress would cause increases in circulating cortisol that has been shown to lead to increased levels of inflammation (2) and may lead to increased levels of anxiety in children attributed to altered methylation patterns (3) .
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While astrology is considered pseudoscience and is certainly incorrect in its understanding of the universe, it could have very well been drawing to some approximations of human behaviour that are influenced by the environment. We are products of our environment and our genes. The environment of our past as well as our present. Our bodies are molded by our experiences as well as our ancestors experiences. And while we may not be able to tell whats going to happen tomorrow based on the movement of the planets and stars, we know that there are unseen forces acting upon us all the time.

1. Stringhini, S. et al. Life-course socioeconomic status and DNA methylation of genes regulating inflammation. Int J Epidemiol (2015). doi:10.1093/ije/dyv060
2. Braithwaite, E. C., Kundakovic, M., Ramchandani, P. G., Murphy, S. E. & Champagne, F. A. Maternal prenatal depressive symptoms predict infant NR3C1 1F and BDNF IV DNA methylation. Epigenetics 0 (2015). doi:10.1080/15592294.2015.1039221
3.Hompes, T. et al. Investigating the influence of maternal cortisol and emotional state during pregnancy on the DNA methylation status of the glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3C1) promoter region in cord blood. J Psychiatr Res 47, 880–891 (2013).

I want to talk today about a topic in science that can really help with the way we view nutrition day to day. This concept is taken from chemistry and is useful to describe the way that systems behave when exposed to varying concentrations of a substance. To make this topic make sense I need to explain a couple of important aspects on the topic.

 1.) Affinity: This term describes the level of attraction of one molecule to another molecule.
 Example: Hemoglobin has affinity for several substrates including oxygen. The affinity for oxygen is not as high as the affinity for carbon monoxide making carbon monoxide a toxic substance since oxygen cannot bind to hemoglobin when it is present resulting in suffocation.

 2.) Disassociation Constant (Kd): In scientific terms the affinity of a substance is measured by describing the concentration at which half of all the available substance is bound to a partner in solution. This is called the Kd, or the disassociation constant described in units of molarity or moles/liter denoted with a capital M. The Kd can vary depending on the pairs of molecules being described. This is important for things like neurotransmitters that have multiple binding partners but may prefer particular receptors over others.
 Example: A molecule that has high affinity will have a low Kd value since few molecules are needed to have half of them bind to its substrate.

 3.) Enzyme kinetics: This is a term that is used to describe how enzymes behave when they are exposed to a substrate. Enzymes are catalysts for reactions and their behavior is dictated by their intrinsic properties. When they are in solution with their substrate under the proper conditions they will exhibit a reaction that is related to their affinity for their substrate. Due to the constraints of their physical properties enzymes are limited at how fast they can react with their substrate to create a product (substrate+enzyme-> enzyme/substrate ->product+enzyme). This means that an enzyme has a maximum potential for the rate at which it can catalyze a reaction with the fastest enzymes limited only by diffusion (~10-9/Msec) with the rest falling below this limit. Each step of the process is subject to regulation making this process a lot more complicated.

 A long time ago in the beginning of biochemistry, scientists studied the rates and reactions of enzymes and discovered many properties of enzyme kinetics. There are many and may be too confusing to describe in detail here but there is an important lesson in all of this. Concentration matters!
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 Enzymes regulate vast and seemingly complicated processes by having different rates at which they catalyze reactions. These reactions are regulated not only by the enzymes themselves but by the reactants they use. This is how our body regulates everything inside the cell. If levels of a particular substrate rise too high then it can inhibit the enzyme that is upstream creating the substrate. Nucelotide synthesis is regulated in this way. DNA is comprised of four nucleotides, adenine, cytosine, thymine and guanine. Each is necessary in equal proportions to create DNA. When the enzyme the levels of one nucleotide rises it inhibits the enzymes that catalyze the reactions to create the other nucleotides resulting in a balance of available nucleotides in the cell.   
 These examples are useful because they can give us an idea about how the cell works autonomously. The cell's intelligence is based on the ability to react to changes in its environment. The way it does this is by creating a balancing act from the interplay between substrates, enzymes, cofactors and all of the other environmental stimuli it encounters. This interplay comes together at the level of the organism to provide us with robust responses to our environment. Here is a great example that relates to nutrition and everyday life.
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Credit: Human Metabolism Michael Palmer, MD, Department of Chemistry University of Waterloo Ontario Canada
(4.4-6 mM is average blood glucose of the blood)

This graph illustrates an important concept that actually can come in handy when thinking about carbohydrate metabolism. What is shown is three different versions of a molecule called the glucose transporter (GLUT). This protein comes in a variety of flavors and is denoted with a different number after GLUT. Each of the members of this family can transport glucose and some can transfer other sugars as well. What is shown on this graph is that there is difference in the rate at which these transporters will move glucose out of the bloodstream and into the cell. The brain is a glucose hungry organ and so its transporters have a high affinity for glucose to keep up with demands. The liver on the other hand only needs to soak up excess glucose that is circulating around in the bloodstream. The GLUT4 transporter lies in the middle of the two and is important since it is only called into action after high energetic demand created from keeping muscles under tension (i.e. weightlifting). This effort activates glycolytic pathways in muscle tissue quickly depleting the muscles stores of glycogen. Each transporter exists to serve a function of the body in order to preserve homeostasis.

"Sure, all this sounds good and dandy but how does this help me?"
 Great question! This topic is important because it relates directly back to health and nutrition. Our brains are like the glucose sponge of the body, it soaks up glucose all the time and its GLUT3 is quick to reach its maximum efficiency at relatively low concentrations. On the graph the GLUT3 line starts to max out at what is considered the "normal" blood glucose level. This makes sense because we want our brains to have all the energy it needs all the time. If we had to eat to get to optimal glucose levels for the brain then we may not survive all that long. Notice that as blood glucose levels rise the brain GLUT3 doesn't get any faster at transporting glucose from the bloodstream. This is an important fact and is analogous to a car in first gear. The GLUT3 protein trades its maximum velocity for a quick start. This means that once glucose levels go too high GLUT3 cant bring down blood glucose levels on its own at any significant rate. Excess glucose is toxic to cells beginning around 11mM and thus other systems are needed to keep blood sugar in an appropriate range.

 The bottom line of the graph depicts the liver transporter GLUT2. It is interesting to note because it is important for how fat deposition occurs. When blood sugar levels rise past the range at which they can be handled by the tissue GLUTs then insulin is released to help transport glucose into tissues. In addition to insulin the GLUT2 protein works to bring blood glucose levels down. GLUT2 is a slow transporter that gains velocity as concentration increases. The GLUT2 transporter is also found on the pancreatic islet cells that release insulin. It is the transport of glucose into these cells that causes them to release insulin in response to increased levels of glucose.

 Example: Say you were to consume a food item that was comprised mostly of simple sugars. Once digested, the quick release of sugars into the bloodstream will begin to overwhelm the mechanisms in place to keep blood sugar in its normal range. The rise in blood sugar causes the release of insulin along with the GLUT2 transporter in the liver soaking up blood glucose to turn into glycogen. Once glycogen levels are maximal then the excess transported glucose is turned into fatty acids.

 This is how the majority of weight gain occurs. When blood glucose levels rise the glucose needs to go somewhere and usually that somewhere doesn't help get my pants on. Adipose tissue is extremely sensitive to insulin and when there is excess glucose not only is glucose being turned into fat by the liver but it is also being stored in fat cells. This glucose storage needs water to occur which is where the bloating feeling and look of excess carbohydrates come from. Its about a 4:1 ratio of water to glucose storage that occurs in cells and is the first weight to be lost when adopting a lower carbohydrate eating regime.
 I want to end this discussion with a little bit of useful information.
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 Fact: Exercise can help us lose weight and control blood sugar levels.

 This may not be new or groundbreaking but it may make a lot more sense after all this information. Lets refer to the graph one more time and look at the GLUT4 line. This line shows that as blood glucose levels rise the GLUT4 transporter begins to pick up steam before the liver gets dibs on that blood glucose. This means that if timed properly we can eat carbohydrates and get them to the tissues that need them the most, our muscles. The GLUT4 transporter is tricky though, it only comes to the surface of cells in response to strenuous exercise. I repeat, STRENUOUS exercise. This doesn't mean running, walking, yoga or any other light to moderate exercise. While those activities will cause GLUT4 translocation it wont be to the levels the warrant massive carbohydrate repletion. Its translocation, or movement to the exterior of the muscle cell depends on the kind of exercise being done. Time under load is an important factor to consider when consuming carbohydrates for the intent to replete muscle glycogen. Choosing starchy carbohydrates allows the sugars to digest slowly whereas simple sugars will raise the blood glucose too high, too quickly to be useful for shuttling glucose exclusively into the muscle tissue since the liver will compete with the other transporters for glucose. Keeping glucose levels at the moderate range will allow more glucose to make it into the muscle cells over being deposited as fat. Gaining an understanding on how glucose is metabolized in our bodies can give us better insight into food choices and nutrient timing to achieve maximum results.  

The Paleo "diet" is plagued with a problem. Not one that arises from the actual recommendations made by its author Loren Cordain but rather from branding. The word Paleo is a reference to our common ancestors existing some 2.5 million-20 thousand years ago. The Paleo anachronism may bring to mind images of Flinstoneesque characters, pronounced brow ridges, protruding lower jaws and individuals adorned in leopard skin garbs living in rock homes (minus the pig trash compactor) . Continued explanation of Paleo can result in glazed over looks and the discussion may end with the listener missing the tenets of the diet or any of its guiding principles. The "diet" is actually the long-term application of habitual practice and lifestyle changes.

Some may be afraid of drinking the 'Paleo' Kool-Aid since it requires close examination of the way we live our lives. The food we eat, the ways we deal with stress, our interpersonal relationships, work, exercise, the way we sleep and for how long. All this change can sound daunting if one is living in discordance with what our human body was evolved to do. Changing a lifestyle can be difficult to impossible if the belief structure surrounding it doesn't change first. Believing that health is a priority and that the things that jeopardize it are not things that we are missing out on is essential to implement lasting changes. Putting health as the top priority makes all decisions easier. When we trade time to eat well, exercise and sleep sufficient hours, our levels of stress rise and we trade disease for health and well-being. Modern society does not promote human wellness as its top priority leaving the burden on the individual to create a healthy environment for themselves.

Regardless of our diets or lifestyles dogmatic views of the world will almost certainly lead to conflict. This results from an inability to change, to allow new information to add, subtract or modify our existing theories or worldview. This is the antithesis of the scientific method. Any eating regime or habitual practice unable to be modified is intrinsically flawed if new data cannot alter it. Allowing information to alter our ideas is essential to making informed and rational choices and is the heart of the scientific method. This can make a lot of people reticent to make a stand on any position since new information may lead them to retract their position or force them to adopt a new one. In an effort to save face many people will form alternate assumptions that ignore detrimental data in an effort to fit to their own worldview rather than to alter it.
There are people who want to make us believe that the Paleo diet is not viable because it discriminates against certain food groups or  labels a particular food as the root of all evil (baguette anyone?). This may be true in practice but is not what the underlying principles of Paleo are. Elimination of foods occurs from first principles derived from scientific data rather than on a purely subjective or ideological bias. The Paleo diet was created using primary scientific literature to form hypotheses, it makes testable assumptions and predictions along with being open to refinement through newly acquired data. Paleo is constantly changing as new information comes to light since it is rooted in the scientific method. This may make it seem sometimes that Paleo recommendations vacillate but like any theory it is open to refinement. Fad diets are constructed from anecdotes and suffer from individual variability and are generally not sustainable. They can also be loosely based on government recommendations for health which have been shown to be flawed and falsely modified to support corporate profit.

Paleo is More than Just Food
The Paleo diet was coined to describe a set of ideas about diet that would address issues with nutrition, metabolism and disease in modern society using anthropological and biochemical data. The use of the word "Paleo" belies the implications that it sets forth about the way that we view not only food but the way we live our lives. This diet can undergo modification to tailor individual sensitivities and genetics making it better to refer to the Paleo diet as the "Ancestral Template". The Ancestral Template makes a much clearer impression of what the aims of the diet/lifestyle are. It provides us with an evolutionary lens to examine the choices that we make in our lives and consequently our food choices.

The reason I prefer Ancestral Template is it points out the fact that its not just the common ancestors of all humans but also the ones that were evolving in disparate groups over the past few thousand years as well. This means taking into account not only how our common human relatives were adapted to their environments but also the variations in populations separated for thousands of years around the globe. Human beings exhibit adaptive radiation to the point where humans are found in all environments around the world. To say that everyone should follow Paleo canonically would be a poorly thought recommendation. Individual variation makes any global recommendations only a starting point with certain foods being more tolerated than others due to individual genetics and environment. This is why personal experimentation is so important to determine how Paleo fits into your life with your genetics.

The Ancestral Template makes assumptions about our optimal lifestyle through observing human behavior and understanding our common biology and physiological needs and constraints. The ideas promoted by the Ancestral Template are arguably all designed to make a person feel happy, adjusted and productive.
A short list of these practices: avoid anti-nutrients, reduce inflammation, exercise with movements that humans are mechanically designed for including sprinting/running/walking, reduce stress, sleep when it is dark, enjoy community and get adequate sunlight exposure.

The human experience is filled with choices with most of them made with partial information. Our health has been under investigation by humans possibly for as long as humans have cohabitated. Shamans and mystics were needed to heal humans when there was little information about the nature of disease as humans used their experiences to heal to the best of their ability. As more information came to light the use of medicinal plants and concoctions were applied to healing. Each discovery created new levels of health for humans. Science has given us the opportunity to evaluate and understand topics in depth to levels that no humans have ever had the ability to do. Antibiotics, vaccines and modern medicines are examples of how discovery can lead to new ways of understanding disease. Modern medicine  is our most powerful tool for cases of catastrophe but performs poorly in preventing disease. Applying the evolutionary lens to human health provides us with a set of practices to promote health before disease strikes.

Extending the ideas of the Ancestral Template to our relationships with the organisms we interact with adds another thread to a rich and vibrant tapestry of human health. Humans are animals and exist as part of an ecological web in which they evolved alongside all other organisms.

The Ecological Mindset: Beyond Paleo
The Ancestral Template attempts to look for the most ecological solution to the problem of understanding human health. This template is an extension of a greater principle at work I will term the ecological mindset; a way to view the world and our interactions with it to produce the most harmonious and sustainable outcomes. For instance, the ecology of our bodies consist of  a trillion of our own cells and a 10-fold greater number of other species' cells. These complex interactions create our metabolism, determine our mood, our sense of well-being and our overall health. Discord in the community we call self creates disease. When examining our choices in life we must examine the effects that our choices can have on this community called self along with the community of interactions outside of our self. Understanding what makes these communities operate at maximum efficiency will produce the best possible humans with healthy relationships. This is the goal of the ecological based mindset.

Adopting an ecological mindset is applicable to all areas of our life and has implications on our social, political and economic structures. Using a discriminate eye and thinking of ourselves as interconnected with the environment and within ourselves promotes a world filled with well-adjusted, energetic, friendly, healthy and happy people. Practicing the Ancestral Template and basing our life choices with an ecological mindset can be used to create a better world for all humans. It creates by working in harmony with our biology and ecology. Creating more efficient energy capture systems by promoting natural processes, using our environment to promote human health while creating self perpetuating systems underlies the ecological mindset. This mode of thinking puts emphasis on creating well-being in all systems  including our own local systems (i.e. our bodies, communities, cities). Ultimately the cost of this mentality is self examination, internal reflection and critical examination of all our actions and the impact they have on our ecology.
References:
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1. HarvardSchool of Pubic Health: the Nutrition Source,
Food Pyramids and Plates: What should you really eat? 2014
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/pyramid-full-story/
2. The Paleo Diet: Loren Cordain 2002

As an adult I have often forgotten and then been reminded of the important lessons I have learned when I was a child. Important topics about the nature of reality, kindness, caring, sharing, personal development and a love for the environment are all covered by popular children's stories. I would like to provide a list of the most influential books and stories from my childhood that can change the world if taken to heart.1.) The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
This story teaches us the value of selflessness and the ability to find happiness in ourselves from creating happiness in others. The book is simple yet effective at conveying one of the most important keys to happiness in life. Its evocative producing a deep emotional connection to the sessile protagonist. The tree gives all it can to manifest happiness in the small boy who comes to play with the tree. As the boy grows older he begins to lose sight of what brings him happiness and eventually falls into the grips of materialism to fulfill his desires. This story can make even the strongest of men shed a tear as the story progresses to its ultimate conclusion.
Teaching people about the truths in life can be as simple as a story about a boy and his tree. The importance of giving rather than receiving is something that can not be stressed enough in life. We are taught as children to share our toys with our friends, clean up after ourselves and to play nice. All of these things accomplish the task of manifesting happiness in those around us. It is not stressed enough that when we make others happy that we too can share in that happiness. It all to often becomes a game in which happiness for ourselves is separate from other's happiness and dependent on the actions that we perform to improve our status, obtain new possessions or improve our position. It has been shown that money and material possessions can only increase happiness up to a certain point by alleviating the stress of financial burden after which increases in wealth causes no increase in overall satisfaction in life. In recent years new research into happiness has revealed that the modern American is by no means happier than individuals in some of the poorest places on earth. The dream of capitalism is that we can obtain a better position in life through materialism and therefore increase our overall happiness. This is indeed false. The story of 'The Giving Tree' shows us that we can give and give until there is no more to give and still achieve happiness. Possessions do not contain happiness as it can not be quantified and distilled down into a measurable product. Happiness comes from within all of us and can be manifested infinitely without bounds. I believe that we should all take the message of 'The Giving Tree' to heart and start teaching ourselves and others the value of finding joy from producing happiness in others.
2.) The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

The Lorax is a character that lives in the forest of Truffula trees, a tree that is capable of making a versatile product know as "Thneeds". The Lorax represents the voice of the forest and its inhabitants, speaking out against any who might bring harm to the forest. Told in retrospect, the story begins with a boy asking the Once-ler how the area has become so delapidated. It begins with the arrival of the antagonist the Once-ler and so begins the ominous decline and eventual eradication of the Truffula trees due to over-harvesting. The Once-ler produces Thneeds from the Truffula trees which begin to grow in popularity. In order to keep up with demand the Once-ler increases his production and industrializes his operation. This in turn cause the extradition of the forest inhabitants via the destruction of their environment. The eventual over-harvesting leads to the detriment of the environment and the eventual extinction of the Truffula tree. A glimmer of hope is left at the end of the story as the Once-ler has a change of heart and realizes the folly of his actions. The final hope lies in a single seed that the Once-ler hands to the boy which was can one day restore the Truffula trees to the area.
The message of conservation and responsibility ring loud and true through the small orange protagonist. The Lorax can be viewed as a true 'tree hugger' speaking out against deforestation and over-consumption. The story also highlights the role that capitalism plays in destroying our environment; produce to consume. This cycle of production and consumption exhibits no upper bound as long as resources are plentiful. This model however is unsustainable and is exemplified by the destruction of the Truffula tree and the inhabitants of the Truffula forest. Modern day correlates can be made when looking at the ever growing use of palm oil for industrial and consumer products. Increased demand of palm oil has led to the destruction of habitats for many animals including orangutans (another orange creature displaced by deforestation). There are many more examples of this wanton destruction in the name of profit including the pollution of rivers, desertification and other forms of wildlife habitat destruction. The story of the Lorax is a cautionary tale to say the least. It tells us all of the woes of capitalism along with teaching us that there is a need for personal responsibility and ethics when practicing business. Unsustainable business models are exactly that, unsustainable. Let us all remember the story of the Lorax when we conduct ourselves in an ecological and ethical manner and not be blinded by dreams of fortune which is fleeting .
3.) Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi

This is a book that needs very little explanation. Everyone poops. Period. Thats the message delivered throughout this short 27 page book. It shows various animals performing the act of defecating, hippos, lions, alligators, rabbits, you name it and it is pooping.
A story about defecation may seem uninspired at first but on closer examination there is a fundamental message that is most often forgotten in modern culture, we are all the same. We all poop is  a great way to deliver a powerful message. Individuals lead seemingly very diverse lives, CEO of a powerful Fortune 500 company, street peddler in Venezuela, a conductor of a symphony. What do they all have in common? Whoever you may be (or whatever) as long as you are a biological organism you will possess the need to intake energy and expel waste. This commonality underlies all living systems and unifies all organisms under this unifying banner. As children grow up they begin to become trained that what goes on in the bathroom is private and personal. A person may even begin to become ashamed about the most natural of human occurences. It is so natural that next to sleeping we will spend more time on the toilet than any other activity. Creating an understanding of how each human is living a life that is analogous to our own is vitally important to manifest an understanding of how to treat one another in our daily lives. Each individual could easily be us only living a different life under different circumstances. This idea can bring about a feeling of compassion and empathy that is not possible when each individual is viewed as disparate from our own personal experience.
4.) Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

Green eggs and ham is the story of a tenacious little fellow who wishes to open the eyes (and tastebuds) of a reluctant friend to new experiences. The story details the opposition to trying a somewhat odd colored pair of eggs paired with a not so unusual slice of ham. Various locales and conditions are proposed in order to facilitate the sampling of the proposed dish but all are met with disdain and intractable replies. The story ultimately concludes with the tasting of the green eggs and ham and the unexpected enjoyment by the friend pressured to do so.
Although the methods of the green and eggs advocate may be questionable the point of the story is still viable. The openness to try new things is one that will generally lead to a more rich and fulfilling life. Everything in life at one point was tried for the first time. Some things are quite important and useful, like walking, talking and breathing for example. Others are more acquired like sushi, chocolate covered beetles, coffee and many of 'delicacies'. Keeping an open mind and finding experiences that make life rich and meaningful are essential to creating a life worth living. Having opportunities for growth accompanied by fear of the unknown are commonplace and should be embraced if one ever wishes to grow as a human being. Most fears are irrational and provide nothing to enhance our experience of reality. Freeing ourselves from our irrational fears can open up many new opportunities that otherwise would have been left unexplored. The fear of the unknown can manifest itself in all forms. The fear of jumping out of an airplane, the fear to workout, the fear of tasting a new dish and the list goes on and on. Each of these all have a perceived level of   danger associated with them and each will lead to new experiences once the initial fear has been conquered. Creating new opportunities is essential to vitality and the human experience. Experience life for what it is and be open to new possibilities in all of their various forms to have a more rich and fulfilling life (even when colored green).
In SummaryI am sure that there are a ton of books that could fill the place of the ones I have listed. I believe that these books exemplify how a simple message can be packaged in a small space and can lead to profound changes in thinking and activity. If all of us could take the messages we learned as children and take them to heart we can impact massive change in both ourselves and our society. Lets remember to give more than we receive, be willing to try new things, protect our planet earth and the environment in which we live and always remember that we are all the same (yes, we all poop).

Our ecology is a complex network, it is networks of networks and is comprised of actions that each appear to have little to no impact in creating global changes. Small changes can has a huge impact in our lives and is an idea developed and used by chaos theory to describe how seemingly small variations in initial conditions can produce drastically different outcomes over time. Small to large is the theme and is an important idea to developing mindfulness as it shows how each one of us is an integral piece in the global ecology.

Small to Big and Back Again

Small things can influence the environment at large in many ways. An example taken from inside our bodies are hormones. Hormones are small molecules or proteins that can affect global changes within organisms. When compared to many other biologically active molecules, the number of hormone molecules able to elicit a response is infinitesimal when compared to the number of molecules required for many other drugs to have action. This ability to elicit large scale changes from a small amount of signal is due to the fact that hormones belong to a class of molecules that signal for genes to become active. This activity means that a single hormone molecule may create thousands of mRNA transcripts (RNA that codes for proteins) and each of those transcripts can be translated into thousands of individual proteins. These effects are critical for regulating essential functions in our bodies with disruption in any of these pathways resulting in the loss of critical signaling and sensing capabilities. At the level of the organism these signals coalesce to create our mood, our sense of well being, energy level, alertness, libido and even our perception of time and space itself. These small numbers of molecules while almost undetectable within any individual cell (besides those that produce them) create the world around us by coloring our perception. When our hormones are dysregulated we suffer from disease and depression and our view of the world is altered in a negative way. Whereas when we operate at full potential the world seems vibrant and alive, we walk with a smile on our face and song in our hearts, unaware that our bodies are doing the things that they were meant to do. It is all too common for disease to be the normal state that we live our in, causing us to seek out ways to affect our mood with stimulants, sugar, pharmaceuticals, sex or anything else that artificially brings our systems temporarily closer to a semblance of health. Keeping in mind that little interactions are actually shaping the world we live in is where the ecological mindset can be applied to our health.

Sweating the Small Stuff

There is a notion that people that worry about the little things in life are going to be more stressed out because they are thinking about things that are really insignificant in the grand scheme of life. This may be true to some extent but the point can be made that there is no such thing as ‘small stuff’. Our life experience is ‘small stuff’ when compared to the scale of the world, the solar system, the galaxy or the universe. How small are we then? Our interaction with the barista when we go to buy our cup of coffee while brief can either be pleasant or not. This single interaction when unpleasant can change the way we interact with the next person we meet and then alter their path as well. These chains of interactions reminds me of an amusing quote, “Hitler dropped out of art school and long story short, the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on Japan.”. This makes the point that no matter how ‘small’ an event or interaction is there is still unknown ramifications that can occur in the future. I would then make the argument that it is our responsibility to make our interactions as beneficial to ourselves and to each other as possible. The interactions that we have outside ourselves may be even more important as those interactions are the ones that go on to produce the largest changes in our environment. Simply smiling and being polite to strangers is a way that we all can make the place we live in safer and more hospitable. The idea of getting more kindness back than what you put out is not magical in any sense, it is pretty straightforward even. The places we spend time the most are the places that we can expect to see the greatest changes from our actions. If you were to go to school each day and be mean and ill-tempered it wouldn’t take long before the other people around you began to treat you with disdain as day after day you bring a sour face and rude commentary. On the other hand, a person that walks with a smile and friendly face will be greeted with “hellos” and “nice to see you”. This changes the world from a cruel and uncaring place to one of love and acceptance. Simply changing the way we interact with our environment can drastically alter the way that the environment interacts with us.
This idea of interactions and the repercussions of those interactions is seen in all areas of life and needs to be fostered to create a better environment for all organisms. The way that we decide to grow food, use water or energy all need to be viewed by how the actions we take now will affect our environment in the future. Seeking the most ecological outcome is always the goal since it is the way that will create the most positive outcome for the environment which envelops ourselves. The environment is our most valuable asset since all life depends on one another to create it. The way we interact with each other and the organic and inorganic material around us molds the environment. We are inescapably tied to its fate, so much so that drastic disruptions will certainly spell our doom. While the outcome of our personal interactions may be difficult to predict due to unknown variation if we become aware of our influence on starting conditions we can help to create more positive outcomes.

Some topics are so large that there seems to be no simple solution to the problem. It is the starving children in Africa conundrum, each individual is tasked with what seems to be an insurmountable problem; the world is suffering. This suffering didn’t occur overnight, it was the culmination of centuries of poor thinking and planning. Exploitation of human life and the desire for personal gain created the suffering that we see in the world today. The human race is only now becoming globally aware of inequality and the atrocities that exist in it. Our desire to help other humans is understandable and should be a goal to strive for. Starting small can help with these larger problems too. Thinking about how do I treat the people in my local environment? How do I deal with life to make to make it more equitable for others near me? These actions can have unknown consequences as people follow by example, spreading memes of kindness and caring around the globe.
Humans have placed themselves outside of the natural world in an attempt to dominate it and relieve the stressors of survival. We no longer worry about rogue wolves roaming our cities or compete with wildlife for resources. We have become something more than nature, at least that’s what we would like to believe. We have swapped our roles as part of the natural process for a more destructive role where we consume far more resources than we put back into the earth. Once humans were far more concerned with the way they interacted with nature and now we are far more concerned with what we will do this weekend for entertainment. The onus is on humans to be stewards of our earth and treat the environment the way that it deserves to be treated, as the only one we have. The environment is a fascinating organism in itself. It provides a way to move and manage resources and provides all that we need to sustain life. If catastrophe arises, the earth will correct itself to reach equilibrium with or without humans. In order to insure our survival we need to promote an environment that views humans as a valuable resource. If humans are needed to keep a system in place then the earth will reward humans with a niche to fill. If we use our niche to create calamity for other systems then the earth will correct itself to our detriment. This autocorrecting capability of the earth is why it is so important to keep systems in place that help insure human survival. These larger systems all start from the smallest systems inside ourselves. When we create a healthy human being then we can promote health in our communities and those communities can make good decisions to support good ecological practices. If we don’t put our own health as our first priority then the earth will suffer since our own healthy systems are what ultimately create the environment at large. Start small, think deliberately about how you interact with others and your own internal dialogue. Be mindful of your actions to the point where you may think you may be going crazy (that means you’re doing it right) to help foster mindfulness. This introspection and internal reflection is necessary to create a world that can survive the coming years. Over consumption, overproduction, infinite growth models, greed, corporate gain; all things that don’t fit into the ecological mindset.

Becoming aware of how small changes effect the macroscopic world is the first step to a better world, with each positive interaction we create the next.