Customer Reviews

Metabolic Man: Ten Thousand Years from Eden (The Long Search for a Personal Nutrition From our Forest Origins to the Supermarkets of Today)

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I have recommended this book to everyone I know. Leery of Peter D'Amato's theories on blood typing, which appear to have little, if any, foundation in science or archeology, I happened upon this book by accident, and found a survey of the real truth behind metabolic typing. The theory is sound, without any question, and Metabolic Man describes in detail various methods by which one can discover their type, and different systems (including that of Ayurvedic medicine) by which metabolic types are categorized. This is an excellent starting point for those who wish to optimize their diets, and a book anyone with an interest in their health should read.

Ten Thousand Years From Eden: The Long Search For A Personal Nutrition From Our Forest Origins To The Supermarkets Of Today by nutrition expert and retired academician Charles Heizer Wharton is a detailed, college-level study of human nutrition from the perspective of an ecologist. From the origin of human beings with a hunter/gatherer system of food gathering and consumption practices, to achieving the best nutrition from today's complex, market-heavy and artificially flavored world of foods and beverages, Ten Thousand Years From Eden is as practical for modern readers as it is amazing for everyone with an interest in the history of the human diet. Ten Thousand Years From Eden is a unique and highly recommended addition to students of nutrition, human evolution, human ecology, and contemporary food habits in a post-industrial age.

What should we eat? What's healthy? Do we rely on the USDA food pyramid, marketing from food manufacturers, or our doctors to help us decide what foods are healthy? Or should our food choices be based on our traditional cultural diets, which may in turn be based on the foods to which our ancestors had access.

Metabolic Man attempts to show how our biology is the key determinant in what foods are health-promoting, and that everybody's biology is different depending on their ancestry, genetics, and how they metabolize fuel.

Wharton writes: "In many areas of the world, the traditional agriculture and diets that evolved enabled indigenous groups to adapt to local soils and climates in harmony and health with the almost complete absence of degenerative disease. This working bond between people and their sustainably fertile soils was broken by cash-crop agriculture, migration into towns, the abandonment of traditional diets and the purchase of foods from distribution centers out of their control. With dietary needs now provided by taste and convenience, refined and processed foods provided by profit-motivated industry replaced the nutrient-rich productivity of subsistence farms and gardens. Some human cultures were able to adapt their Paleolithic bodies to endemic disease and novel high-energy plant foods. But substituting our own quality control over that of nature's set the stage in some affluent nations for a litany of health problems. Faced with an almost daily indulgence in an unlimited supply of tasty and concentrated calories, we prepared our Paleolithic bodies for starvation that never came. The end result has been a national epidemic of chronic obesity, a growing rise in degenerative disease, and rapid aging."

Part 1 discusses the evolution of man, mankind's primitive food, human physiology, the affect of agriculture on societies and land, sustainable agricultural practices, traditional diets, nutritional content of food based on the soil, and genetic changes in the human genome.

Part 2 summarizes the theories of several experts in biochemical individuality: e.g., parasympathetic vs. sympathetic dominant; slow oxidizers vs. fast oxidizers. The saying, "One man's meat is another man's poison," is aptly demonstrated by the work of Roger Williams, PhD; Henry Bieler, MD; William Donald Kelley, DDS; George Watson, PHD; Melvin Page, DDS; Elliot Abravanel, MD; John Lawder, MD; Rudolf Wiley, PHD; Deepak Chopra, MD; William Wolcott, DC; Sherry Rogers, MD; Guy Schenker, DC; David Watts, PhD; James D'Adamo, ND; Peter D'Adamo, ND; Ann Louise Gittleman, MS, ND; Jay Cooper, MS; and Kenneth Baum with Richard Trubo.

While many students of nutrition and government agencies would tell you there's one optimum diet for all, this book shows that this simply is not the case. Metabolic Man can help you find ways to optimize your personal dietary for maximum health based on your unique genetics and ancestry.

This book is absolutely amazing! Wharton discusses the history of food and agriculture eating foods like your ancestors. I was amazed to find that my favorite foods are common fare in my ancestral home. This book is a must have for anyone interested in nutrition.

There may be a few interesting ideas hiding in here, but wading through the misspellings, repetitive information, bad organization, and sloppy science just isn't worth it. Can anybody be ancestrally pure-blooded in 21st century America? Are people "types" or individuals? Who says that blood-types evolved only a few thousand years ago? Can 20 or 30 generations of living anywhere really trump millions of years of vertebrate evolution? Were American Indians really the human pinnacle of nature-understanding spirituality? Don't waste your $20- on this.