AHS17

Gary Taubes’ 2002 article in “The New York Times Magazine” illuminated the gap between research-based knowledge and the public perception of what constitutes a “healthy diet,” particularly regarding dietary fat. Members of the Ancestral Health community are justifiably critical of the received wisdom of what the healthy diet, but have we sufficiently deconstructed the various narratives regarding diet, nutrition, health and food production? What were the movements and philosophies that influenced the “conventional wisdom” in the first place? Are they still operating within society in general and the Ancestral Health community in particular? Are opinions and belief systems not fundamental to Ancestral Health unintentionally and unjustifiably part of our message? To develop a clear, evidence-base message of Ancestral Health going forward, we must examine these concepts and, if warranted, cull them. Failure to do so threatens to discredit the fact-based messages of Ancestral Health.