Evolution Rx: A Practical Guide to Harnessing Our Innate Capacity for Health and Healing

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Penguin, 2009 - Health & Fitness - 309 pages
A revolutionary—yet simple and practical—guide to staying fit and healthy based on evolutionary medicine.

Countless books and nutrition experts have advised modern readers to adopt the best of the “cave-man diet” that avoids processed foods and refined carbohydrates. But how and what people eat is only the beginning of what the study of human evolution can teach us about overall health and well-being. Based on the latest research in the burgeoning field of evolutionary medicine, Evolution Rx provides readers with not only an understanding of the underlying science of this discipline but with a practical means to making nutritional and lifestyle changes that address a wide range of topics from exercise and injury prevention to allergies, heart health, cancer, AlzheimerÂ's, and more:

• Why eating more fat, not less, can fuel weight loss
• Why human bodies canÂ't register fullness when eating carbohydrates—and what to do about it
• Why getting more sun leads to better health
• Why stretching before exercise—or after an injury— is a bad idea
• Why children should be encouraged to get dirty

Provocative, science-based, and practical, Evolution Rx presents a new and powerful way to understand the human body and how to promote vibrant health.
 

Contents

The Primal Diet
1
Germ Warfare
25
Allergies and the Dirt Age
61
Toxins
85
Rough and Tumble
119
Sunrise Sunset
151
The Urge to Merge
171
Evolution from the Neck Up
193
Flawed Heritage
237
Living Longer
261
Sources and Further Reading
289
Acknowledgments
299
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About the author (2009)

William Meller, M.D., is a board-certified internist who runs a successful medical practice and clinic in Santa Barbara, CA, where he coordinates three busy medical centers. He has been published in The Journal of the American Medical Association and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, among other publications.

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