proof is in the pudding

There’s been a cheeky photo comparison circulating the internet, comparing these two food-obsessed ladies: Gillian McKeith (age 51) and Nigella Lawson (6 months off 51)

Here’s another pic …a little cruel really:

Gillian McKeith: mostly-Vegetarian health “guru”, and host of UK TV series You Are What You Eat, big on mung beans, raw vegetables, “superfoods” and poo analysis, vegetable oils and foods loaded with pro-inflammatory PUFAs (polyunsaturated fats; nuts, seeds, grains, legumes), rice milk, soy milk, “health bars”, rigorous exercise and all manner of supplements.  Low-fat and cholesterol-free all the way.

Nigella Lawson: celebrity cook, loves full-fat dairy, butter, chocolate, lamb shanks, prawns, cheese, sweet fruits, custard, jellies, pâté and plenty of salt.  She also takes immense pleasure in eating and preparing food, relishes in sleeping-in and takes inspiration from recreating traditional recipes passed down to her from her mother and grandmother.

Although it’s a bit of a nasty attack at poor wrinkled Gillian, it’s actually a perfect example of the physical result of two very contrasting diets.  Yes indeed: You are what you eat.  But even more than that, consider the bigger picture; you also are what your parents ate.  Epigenetics (the study of heritable changes in gene expression) explores the connection between our bodies, our DNA and the food that connects both to the outside world, and how the dietary and lifestyle choices we make affects gene expression.

Nigella exemplifies what Dr Catherine Shanahan describes as ‘genetic wealth‘ in her book Deep Nutrition, and that outer beauty, facial symmetry and structure is directly correlated to health, proper organ function and well-ordered growth; all a result of optimal nutrition.  “Beauty is not incidental, not an accident of fate“.   Malformed asymetric features with poor collagen structure, crowded teeth, lack of general ‘radiance’ and premature ageing … all the things we perceive to be ‘unattractive’ are the result of nutritional deprivation, and a loss of epigenetic programming.

In the 70’s, Dr Marquardt studied great works of art, sculptures of ‘beautiful’ subjects and the ‘rules of beauty’ in architecture to find a common link, and that link was mathematics, connected to gene expression.  Famous Dentist Weston A Price found on his journeys to remote indigenous populations around the world that those with the best teeth, wide jaw structure, broad-set eyes and overall most striking facial appearance, were also the most robustly healthy and fertile, devoid of cavities, cancer and the common cold.  These people all predominantly ate (for generations and generations) naturally “organic” animal products including offal, fresh fruits, unfluoridated water, whole dairy and/or bone broth, sea foods if accessible (particularly shellfish), and the majority of their fats were saturated.  No culture was vegetarian, had rice milk, flaxseed oil or muesli bars.

See a previous post where I explain the link between wrinkling, cellulite and collagen break-down with components found in bone-broth and gelatin here.

Not only is what we eat important when considering our immediate health and ultimate longevity, but even more so, for the health of your off-spring: girls, you have the ability to either suppress or normalise the genetic expression you will pass onto your future babies.  General health as well as facial degeneration develop from poor nutrition; the effects so powerful it can be seen in the space of a single generation.  Pre-conception nutrition is so so important.  Get onto it ASAP!

I’m by no means saying that Nigella’s diet is “ideal”, she is definitely more than just a wee bit ‘rotund’ due to too many cupcakes, bread puddings and other thyroid-supressing floury treats, but just consider how the effects of her staple ingredients, the butter, eggs, milk, cheese etc., all interestingly ‘pro-thyroid’ foods (those shunned by Ms McKeith and most other conventional, politically-correct health ‘nuts’) are so blatantly reflected in her undeniable beauty.  And due to her genetics, from generations of home-cooking ladies, her excess weight goes to all the right places (this is also no coincidence) making her the classic ‘hourglass’ – 2005 London study showed that ‘Apples’ had double the mortality of ‘Hourglass’ shaped-women, and this is linked to genetics also. No wonder she’s dubbed the “Domestic Goddess”.

To make the most of your genetic potential and give your offspring the best start to life, the dietary solution is very much person-specific (dependant on you and your parents’ health background, the level of metabolic ‘damage’ you’ve inherited and created, and the symptoms you present with), but the general idea is to get back to more traditional foods and ditch the sad rabbit food, packaged pseudo-health-foods, and the other obvious non-food junk foods of course.

Age and reproduce beautifully.