Authors: Catherine Shanahan MD and Luke Shanahan
ISBN: 10: 0-615-22838-0

 Click Here To Purchase Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food

Since having read Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food, I have acquired a whole new perception of the meaning of eugenics. While certain historical applications of this philosophy have perhaps given us a negative impression of the basic meaning of this word, Webster’s Dictionary defines eugenic as “concerned with or encouraging the production of healthy children.” If eugenics is entered into responsibly, with humanity and with the natural order in mind, it would seem to be a very commendable goal.

On page 5 of Deep Nutrition authors Catherine and Luke Shanahan write; “Believe it or not, designer babies aren’t a new idea. People “designed” babies in ancient times. No, they didn’t aim for a particular eye or hair color; their goal was more practical – to give birth to healthy, bright, and happy babies. Their tools were not high technology in the typical sense of the word, of course. Their tool was biology, combined with their own common sense wisdom and careful observation.” The authors express how the sharing of this vital knowledge, gained from observation, was necessary for the survival of the human race and that “without this nurturing wisdom, we – as we are presently defined – would never have made it this far.”

The Shanahans explain to the reader how our genes are affected by just about everything we do, what we eat and breathe and even the way we think. These effects, whether good or bad, are passed on to the next generation. Research suggests that most medical problems, which we attribute to heredity, do not stem from inescapable gene mutations. Instead, our genes malfunction due to the negative environmental factors which they are exposed to. The authors express just how complex this system is and because of this complexity, humans will never be able to develop a technological fix to address our many ills which result from disobeying nature’s laws.

The third chapter is devoted to the subject of dynamic symmetry and how the concept of geometry, relating to facial structure, determines beauty, health, intelligence and even disposition. The book includes photos of modern day beauties and points out what proportions make these faces appear beautiful to us. Think back to high school. What human characteristics determined popularity? The first criteria one thinks of would be beauty. However, usually the attractive people were also intelligent and athletic.

Catherine and Luke Shanahan hypothesize that when we search for attractive mates, it is not just the aesthetics we are concerned about but that there is something innate within us which recognizes this proportioned facial structure as an indication of health and stability. Perhaps we are given this intuition to help perpetuate robust genetics.

Deep Nutrition stresses the importance of maternal nutrition and the correct spacing of siblings for the worthy objective of producing children of sound mind and body. Not only do the children and parents benefit from taking maternal nutrition seriously but the healthy survival of society as a whole is at stake. Nutrient dense soil is discussed as the foundation that all life is built upon. If our soil becomes depleted of all nutrients and life, we will ultimately assume the same fate. We are already seeing evidence of the deterioration in the health of recent generations. Each generation appears to be sicklier than the one before it. The authors state that many of today’s parents actually accept this ill health as normal. Asthma, ADD, frequent ear infections, autism, and allergies are now very common and these diseases should be a signal to us that something has gone very wrong. We need to acknowledge this grievous state of affairs before we can begin to change things for the better. I would like to include a sobering quote from the last part of the book. “What I see is a massive campaign of nutrition-related disinformation that has reordered our relationship with food and reprogrammed our physiologies. Industry has moved past selling sickness and learned how to create it. Whether by intent or simply fortuitous coincidence, today’s definition of a healthy diet enables corporations to sell us cheap, easily stored foods that will put more money in their pockets and more people in the hospital.” Despite the enormity of this problem, readers are not left with the impression of a hopeless situation but are given the tools to turn the situation around.

The Shanahans present part of the solution in their “four pillars of world cuisine”. These pillars consist of cooking and eating meat with the bone, fermenting and sprouting foods, including organ meats in our diet and making sure that our food is fresh and unadulterated. There is also quite a thick chapter revealing the truths about “good fats” and “bad fats”. In this chapter the authors explain how we have been misled concerning the nutritional propaganda put forth by the institutions which will profit from the products sold and the diseases which were created through this false information. They also thoroughly discuss how the bad fats negatively affect our bodies and what benefits are gained from consuming the good fats. The detrimental effects of sugar are covered in chapter 9.  All of these scientific concepts are presented in such an understandable manner and with such creativity that it has helped to spur me into positive action involving my own diet.

I have barely touched upon the wealth of information found in this book. I believe that even those readers who are very familiar with the works of Weston Price will still discover much new and fascinating information within these pages. I enjoyed Deep Nutrition so much that I honestly did not want to finish it. This book is among my top 5 nutrition favorites and I highly recommend it.

 Click Here To Purchase Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food