In 1997, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a statistical report on more than 10 million cancer patients in the world, which pointed out that at least 30-40% of these cancer patients could prevent the occurrence of cancer if they could control their food intake at an early stage. This is what human biologist Dr. Loren Cordain advocates, and Dr. Boyd Eaton and Dr. Melvin Konnor published an article titled “Paleolithic Nutrition” in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1985, stating that humans have existed on earth for more than 2 million years, and have been modern humans for about 40,000 years. In those days we ate the food of hunting societies, and it wasn’t until the industrial revolution 150 years ago that modern food handling techniques became available, and the Western diet became refined, with food stuffed in jars and boxes and thus losing nutrition. One to two centuries, a short period of time in human evolutionary history, we have not had enough time for our genes to adapt to this change, leading to a large increase in chronic disease killers like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, although the causes are unknown and rare in communities with primitive dietary habits. Yet what exactly is such a diet? Simply put, it is the consumption of most plant roots, fruits, green leaves and legumes, seeds, plus some fish. The Western diet is very different, with meat, dessert pies, French fries, cakes, milkshakes, potato chips and dips. Housewives have to be hard pressed to find primitive foods in American supermarkets other than fish and produce, and our cells are in a similar situation! The biggest difference between modern food and primitive food is also the fat content, especially saturated animal fats, which are definitely the culprit of chronic and degenerative diseases, our ancestors’ diet was quite low in fat, especially meat which is far lower than what we consume today. In addition, not only the amount of fat, but also the form of fat is important, because the original foods contained unsaturated fatty acids from plants, which is the opposite of the 99% saturated fat found in American foods today. Omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids must be balanced with Omega-3 fatty acids, which reduce the immune response, and Omega-3 fatty acids, which enhance the immune response, which are mostly found in the original foods, while the modern diet has a 25:1 ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3, in other words, violates the severity of the body’s immune system also 25 times more severe. Foods rich in Omega-6 fats that are suppressing the immune system include soybean oil, sunflower oil, cottonseed oil, and corn oil. Foods rich in Omega-3 fats are beneficial to the immune system, such as fish, seaweed, flaxseed, wild poultry and their eggs, raw walnuts and pumpkin seeds; Omega-9 is neutral to the immune system, and the best sources of Omega-9 include cold-pressed processed olive oil, which is most commonly found in Mediterranean foods. Another difference between the modern diet and the primitive diet is the phytonutrients. Of course, primitive humans did not know the biochemistry of food, but the food they instinctively consumed contained such phytonutrients, which are the words of modern nutrition research, antioxidants, bioisoflavonoids, phytonutrients, carotenoids, indoles. In fact, scientists have found over 12,000 plant-based nutrients in plants. How can we consume a colorful diet? Dr. Andrew Weil, a world-renowned herbal medicine expert who graduated from Harvard Medical School, says that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables can reduce the incidence of 15 types of cancer, including colorectal, breast, cervical and lung cancers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the American Cancer Society have released the “5 Fruits and Vegetables a Day” diet campaign, which means eating five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. But how many servings do you eat every day? Most Americans don’t. What is the top vegetable in America? French fries! In fact, “5 fruits and vegetables a day” is no longer enough, the new dietary guidelines recommend that adults should consume 10-13 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. Vegetables and fruits have different colors because of different carotenoids and 600 natural phytochemicals. Carotenoids play two important roles in health: one is to support our immune system. A well-known carotenoid is lycopene, which is found in tomatoes and beets and may prevent prostate cancer. The second benefit of carotenoids is antioxidants, which neutralize DNA-damaging free radicals, which are directly linked to aging, cancer and other diseases, and are found in vegetables and fruits to protect cells from such damage. What else is found in fruits and vegetables? Fiber. Fiber is the non-nutritive part of the whole food, and it can flush cancer-causing hormones and chemicals out of the body. Ideally, we should consume 50 grams of fiber per day, and the typical American food contains less than 5 grams of fiber. Low fiber intake is associated with the development of colorectal, breast, prostate, lymphoma and other cancers, and inadequate fiber intake may also be a major cause of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Cruciferous vegetables deserve special mention because they contain many anti-cancer ingredients such as indoles and sulfur compounds that maintain important liver functions in order to neutralize harmful hormones and carcinogens. The cruciferous family includes cabbage, broccoli, cabbage and kale, which are particularly beneficial in the prevention of breast cancer and prostate cancer. A study of American, Chinese and Japanese men found that men who ate a lot of cruciferous vegetables could indeed reduce the risk of prostate cancer by 39%. The most important principle of health is acid-alkaline balance. Cancer and most diseases prefer low pH and acidity, but the body’s recovery generally begins when the intracellular pH becomes alkaline (about 7.3-7.4). It mainly comes from the choice of diet. The ideal diet should be 80% alkaline food and 20% acidic food, that is, 80% plant food and 20% animal food, and doctors generally recommend this ratio to maintain normal weight, increase physical strength and prevent diseases. What kind of food is alkaline? Vegetables and fruits! What kind of foods are acidic? Meat, dairy and fat. A typical Western food is 99% acidic, for example, a typical American breakfast is coffee, donuts, cereal, milk, bacon and eggs are acidic food, a typical lunch is ham, cheese sandwich, burger, fries or pizza are also acidic food, and a typical dinner is steak, potatoes, chicken, rice or pasta is acidic food. Fourth, eat organic food The general perception of organic food refers to the absence of chemical and hormonal additives, but organic cultivation should not only refer to the absence of chemicals, it also includes organic planting techniques and trace elements contained in the soil, the use of blended fertilizers, rotational farming, every seven years of fallow so that the soil minerals can be preserved, because the growth of plants need to absorb 67 kinds of minerals. A study comparing organic and conventional fruits and vegetables found that organic spinach had 52% more vitamin C and more minerals. Another study compared the phenol content of grains grown using conventional and organic methods. Phenols are phytochemicals that have strong antioxidant and anti-cancer effects, and researchers found that organic grains had higher phenol content than grains grown using conventional farming techniques. Therefore, vegetables and fruits provide the body with strong energy, but people are getting busier and busier, and their diet is slowly leaning towards fast food. When food choices are defined by convenience, it means that the intake of vegetables and fruits is reduced. Finally, it is recommended that we return to a plant-based diet, and the greatest protection for health is to eat 13 servings of fruits and vegetables every day as much as possible. Hippocrates, a famous Greek physician, once said, “The power of nature within is the true healing power; let food become your medicine and let medicine become your food.”