The Jungle Effect by Daphne Miller

The Jungle Effect by Daphne Miller

Pizza, pasta, hamburgers, sushi, tacos, and french fries . . . whether our ancestors were born in Madrid, Malaysia, or Mexico, chances are our daily food choices come from all around the globe. Unfortunately, we have taken some of the worst aspects of our varied ancestral menus to turn healthy cuisine into not-so-healthy junk food. Where did we go wrong?

Why is it that non-Western immigrants are so much more susceptible to diabetes and other diet-related chronic diseases than white Americans? How is it possible that relatively poor native populations in Mexico and Africa have such low levels of the chronic diseases that plague the United States? What is the secret behind the extremely low rate of clinical depression in Iceland--a country where dreary weather is the norm? The Jungle Effect has the life-changing answers to these important questions, and many more.

Dr. Daphne Miller undertook a worldwide quest to find diets that are both delicious and healthy. Written in a style reminiscent of Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver, this book is filled with inspiring stories from Dr. Miller's patients, quirky travel adventures, interviews with world-renowned food experts, delicious (yet authentic) indigenous recipes, and valuable diet secrets that will stick with you for a lifetime.

Whether it's the heart-healthy Cretan diet, with its reliance on olive oil and fresh vegetables; the antidepression Icelandic diet and its extremely high levels of Omega 3s; the age-defying Okinawa diet and its emphasis on vegetables and fish; or the other diets explored herein, everyone who reads this book will come away with the secrets of a longer, healthier life and the recipes necessary to put those secrets into effect.

Daphne Miller, M.D., is a family medicine professor at the University of California, San Francisco, as well as a practicing physician and author. Her writing and teaching over the last decade has focused on the intersection of biomedicine and the natural world. Her first book, The Jungle Effect, was widely appreciated and covers her dietary adventures as she goes to traditional tribes throughout the world. Miller has a medical degree from Harvard University and an undergraduate degree from Brown University. He is a contributing columnist for the Washington Post as well as other newspapers and magazines. Berkeley, California is where she lives and gardens.