double trouble? dairy and grainsrich plant foods (greens). If you continue to eat a higher meat pro-
tein diet, you may have to take more calcium when stopping dairy
products to balance the calcium spill triggered by the higher meat
intake.
Grains—Why the Controversy?
Since standing agriculture is only about ten thousand years old,
grain consumption is relatively new on the human evolutionary
scene.^17 As we discussed in the last chapter, our simian ancestors
were tree dwellers, eating vegetation and fruit. Our Paleolithic an-
cestors may have only had some wild grains to chew on. So grains
weren’t a significant part of their diet, if at all. Some people think
that for those “evolutionary reasons,” grains are something we
shouldn’t eat; others think whole grain is a perfect fuel source.
What we can say about this controversy is that most successful
aging populations around the world consume some type of staple
grain product on a regular basis. The Okinawan Centenarians (Oki-
nawa, Japan) consume white and brown rice, wheat (udon), millet,
and buckwheat (soba) noodles; Sardinians (Italy) consume wheat
bread; Nicoyans (Costa Rica) consume calcium- and magnesium-
rich corn (maize) tortillas and rice; Hunzans (Pakistan) consume
a variety of whole grains (wheat, millet, barley, buckwheat); Vilca-
bambans (Ecuador) consume whole grains, corn, quinoa, wheat,
and barley; Abkhasians (part of northern Georgia; formerly part
of the USSR) consume a cornmeal mash called abista; and Seventh
Day Adventists (United States) consume whole grains.^18
The grains eaten by these people provide optimal fuel to sup-
port their daily hard work and activity. Grains are also cheap and
easy to produce. If these healthy cultures can eat these grains, then
they can’t be bad for you in the way and form in which these popu-
lations consume them.