My New Favorite Book

This is one of those books that I swear I want to clear my schedule so that I can just sit down and read it til I’m done. My good friend Elizabeth told me about this book that was written by her doctor– that I might be interested in it. WOW! It’s called The Jungle Effect, but Daphne Miller, MD. (2008) It’s part travel log, part culinary anthropology and part cookbook.

Dr. Daphne sets about researching the diets in the epidemiological “Cold Spots” around the world. Some places are “Hot Spots” for diseases like heart disease (guess where) and other places are the opposite. Dr. Daphne actually travels to these cold-spot locales (Copper Canyon, Mexico, Crete, Iceland, Cameroon and Okinawa) to see what the people are eating and reports back on the virtues of food systems that have evolved over the millenia.

One wonders how she had two kids, finished med school, established her practice and cooked dinner every night, all while jetting around the globe to research the thesis of this book. (Hopefully her next book will give us tips on how to be a wonder mom.)

Ancestral food can keep you healthy. That’s the bottom line. But does it have to be YOUR ancestors? Aren’t we all mutts by now? And how do we sustain the transition to seemingly esoteric food? These are all questions she addresses head on. I am a BIG fan already, and I’m not even done with this book. This woman has a clue and you will be hearing more about her in the coming years.

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