Primal Body-Primal Mind
Primal Body-Primal Mind: Empower Your Total Health The Way Evolution Intended (…And Didn’t)
by Nora Gedgaudas CNS, CNT
This has been on my “must read” list for a while.
Well, I finally got to it this week.
Let me just say: you have got to read this book!!
Even if you think you are not interested in paleolithic nutrition, Primal Body-Primal Mind has critical information in it that will matter to everybody who is interested in optimal health. It tells the story of human history, from a nutritional point of view, from about 40,000 years ago up to the disastrous effects of the high-sugar, high-starch, low-fat diet that is now recommended by medical authorities in the United States.
This book has the most in-depth, yet understandable explanation of insulin and leptin management that I have ever read, and I’ve read a few. It is certainly simplified for non-scientists, but the detail really deepened my understanding of how insulin and leptin management interacts not only with eating habits but with overall health and longevity.
Primal Body-Primal Mind recommends the reduction, and even the flat out elimination, of all foods that harm us. It also goes into great detail about nutrients we do need to eat, and how we can get enough of them today.
Primal Body-Primal Mind is not just about cavemen, nutrition, carbs, hormones (leptin, insulin, etc), and intermittant fasting. It is a book about LIVING WELL, and how to feed your body and your brain to live the highest quality life possible.
Part 1: Primal Body
Primal Body-Primal Mind is extremely well written.
The organization is logical, and yet is so easy to read because it flows like a story. Indeed Nora Gedgaudas tells the story of human nutrition, from big picture to small detail, in an entertaining way. I never felt like I was reading ad copy for a diet program, like I do in so many other nutritional program books. I was totally engaged in the story of how my body came to need the nutrients it does and how I can get them today.
Nora Gedgaudas does not mince words. She tells it like she sees it.
This alone is so refreshing, I would recommend this book just for this.
I hate reading a diet book that tells me I can eat my favorite foods, go to my favorite restaurants, etc. and still lose weight (or regain my health, or flatten my abs) on their program. How stupid do these authors think I am?
I think it was Ben Franklin who said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” If I don’t actually change my diet, what makes them think I should expect better results?
There is none of that insanity in Primal Body-Primal Mind. Nora Gedgaudas tells us point blank: stop eating poison, and start eating nutrients! Stop eating sugar and starch and processed chemicals, and start eating natural protein and fat. And, perhaps my favorite: Stop eating every five minutes and give your body a chance to function!
Primal Body-Primal Mind explains what we really have to do to “go primal.” That is, to eat the way our paleolithic (stone age) ancestors ate about 40,000 years ago. And it explains WHY we would want to. In a word: LONGEVITY. Not just length of life, but quality of life. Most of us want both. Primal Body-Primal Mind tells us how to get both.
Nora Gedgaudas lives her message. She is not a fake.
OK. I admit that I do not know the author. I have never met her. I did hear her on a recent interview on Jimmy Moore’s Livin’ La Vida Low Carb podcast show. And I saw her on some internet videos.
It is very easy to tell by listening to her talk about nutrition that she is genuinely passionate about the nutritional principles in her book. She looks and sounds vibrant and healthy from what I can tell. I have heard that people who see her actually ask her “what she does” because she looks so vibrant and full of life.
Part 2: Primal Mind
Primal Body-Primal Mind includes some fascinating information about our brains.
In addition to being an expert in nutrition, Nora Gedgaudas is a Clinical Neurofeedback Specialist. Nora Gedgaudas has done some amazing work with children with autism, as well as business professionals striving for optimal performace.
WHAT IS NEUROFEEDBACK?
Neurofeedback, also known as Brainwave Biofeedback, EEG Biofeedback, Neurobiofeedback or Neurotherapy, is an extremely powerful, yet non-invasive means of exercising, strengthening and regulating the central nervous system. It is an exciting innovation in the regulation and mediation of neurological stress.
Clipped from Introduction to Neurofeedback. For more information, check out the author’s Neurofeedback website.
I found this part so fascinating, I felt like moving to Portland, where Nora Gedgaudas has a professional practice, and see what neurofeedback could do for me. I fall somewhere in between autism and optimal, so I figured I could probably benefit from the process.
This experience and expertise really enables Nora Gedgaudas to draw some interesting conclusions about certain nutritional deficiencies and excesses we typically suffer from and related disorders of the brain.
Part 2, about the primal mind, makes this book absolutely unique among paleolithic nutrition books. Primal Body-Primal Mind is about so much more than nutrition, or weight loss, or any single health topic. Like I said at the top: It is a book about LIVING WELL, and how to feed your body and your brain to live the highest quality life possible.
Part 3: Paradise Lost
Part 3 is brief, and contains some information about our food supply, and other modern-day situations to be aware of.
Like did you know that “the FDA approved irradiation of all commercially sold spinach and lettuce — without any consumer labeling whatsoever”? So how many nutrients are left in our lettuce after that irradiation? And even if our lettuce does have its nutrients in tact, what is the radiation in my food doing to my body? I find this somewhat frightening.
There is also some information about EMF (electro-magnetic field) Pollution. Some people do not believe that EMFs actually cause any harm. Dr. Joseph Mercola is one health expert who is very concerned and outspoken about EMF Pollution. If you are interested in reading his opinion, go to mercola.com and search on “EMF” for a TON of information. I am just beginning to learn about EMFs and their effect on us, so I certainly don’t know one way or the other.
My advice: EDUCATE YOURSELF!
Appendices
There is so much information in this book, it could be overwhelming! And what to do first? The various appendices list prioritized steps to help you get started, sample menus and food lists, a guide to supplementation, a resource list and more.
About the Author
Nora Gedgaudas is recognized by the Nutritional Therapy Association as a Certified Nutritional Therapist (CNT) and is also Board-certified in Holistic Nutrition® through the National Association of Nutritional Professionals (NANP). She maintains a private practice in Portland, Oregon as both a CNT and a Board-certified Clinical Neurofeedback Specialist (CNS).
Clipped from About (Primal Body-Primal Mind website). For further information about the author, check out her website: Primal Body-Primal Mind
Check out Nora Gedgaudas’s websites:
Listen to Nora Gedgaudas on Jimmy Moore’s Livin’ La Vida Low Carb Show
Buy the book from Amazon
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I get as many books as I can as digital content these days, so I am very happy to recommend the Adobe Digital Edtions eBook version of Primal Body Primal Mind, available through Powell’s Books. I don’t have any affiliate link set up with Powell’s, so I recommend that you buy through the author’s link. Hopefully she gets a commission for the sale in addition to her author royalty.
My Previous Posts about Leptin and Intermittant Fasting
I have already posted about what a big difference it made to my health when I learned some of the fundamentals about managing insulin and leptin levels. If you missed these posts about leptin, insulin, hunger, meal timing and intermittant fasting, check out these links:
Lovin’ It Low Carb
Ramona Denton
*Amazon links are affliate links. Using these links to purchase your books from Amazon will allow me to receive a commission on the sale.
I’ve reposted some of her work from her blog. Wow , her linguistics carry a punch. I’d love to hear that straight forward talk in a whole book. Thanks for the review!
Hi Rachel!! Yes, I’m so glad I finally read this book! So many scientific writers use long, involved sentences thinking that complex statements make them sound smarter or something. This book was written very simply, for the complexity of some of the information. It was refreshingly straighforward, and the message really came through… And it made sense!