## Metadata - Author: [[Jenny Goodman]] - Full Title: Staying Alive in Toxic Times - Category: #books ## Highlights - In essence, Ecological Medicine has two major aspects: Nutritional Medicine – putting the good stuff back in to the body, and Environmental Medicine – taking the bad stuff out. ([Location 88](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08PV2JKNW&location=88)) - In the polluted 21st century, we live surrounded by artificial chemicals which our bodies are not evolved to cope with. Some 80,000–100,000 have been synthesised since the Industrial Revolution. They are in common use, and find their way into our air, water, soil and food, and thence into us. ([Location 91](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08PV2JKNW&location=91)) - compared to our millions of years living in forests and caves, the past 10,000 years of agriculture are but a fleeting moment, and the most recent 250 years of industrialisation are briefer still. ([Location 217](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08PV2JKNW&location=217)) - How many different species of vegetable do you eat in a year? Your ancient ancestors could add two zeroes to that figure. One of the reasons that food allergies have become so common is simply that people are eating the same foods, day in, day out. In China they are developing allergies to rice, in the UK to wheat, in the USA to maize/sweetcorn. ([Location 233](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08PV2JKNW&location=233)) - But hey – those of us who do eat meat are wasting most of the animal! We cut off the fat, thereby losing the vital, fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. We throw out the highly nutritious liver, heart, kidneys and brain, calling it “offal”. We chuck out the adrenal gland, which contains Vitamin C; that’s how the traditional Inuit and other northern peoples got their Vitamin C in the long Arctic winter, by eating the whole seal, adrenal gland and all. ([Location 285](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08PV2JKNW&location=285)) - green leaves contain many essential nutrients, including the vital mineral magnesium, one atom of which sits at the heart of each molecule of chlorophyll ([Location 354](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08PV2JKNW&location=354)) - Should you have your green leafy veg raw or cooked? Both! Raw means that the Vitamin C and other antioxidants are not destroyed. Cooked means that your gut will be better able to absorb the magnesium and other minerals. Digestion-wise, it’s best to have salad at lunch and cooked veg at dinner. And, of course, seasonally, to have more salad in summer and more cooked veg in winter. ([Location 358](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08PV2JKNW&location=358)) - On the whole, it’s better to get the majority of your carbohydrates from root veg rather than from grains. This is the evolutionary perspective again. The fact is, we have been digging up root veg and cooking them ever since we discovered fire a million years ago, whereas we have only been eating grains since we settled down and started farming a mere 10,000 years ago. ([Location 689](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08PV2JKNW&location=689)) - The majority of mammals can make their own Vitamin C, from glucose. But humans, guinea pigs and fruit bats can’t; we need to eat some every day. ([Location 748](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08PV2JKNW&location=748)) - Muscle action is a “Yin-Yang” affair; calcium enables muscles to contract, and magnesium enables them to stretch and relax. They work in tandem. But contrary to popular belief, most of us need more magnesium, not more calcium. And too much calcium can push magnesium out of the body, and clog the blood vessels of the heart. ([Location 824](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08PV2JKNW&location=824))