Glossary of
Ancestral Health Terms
Adaptation:
The process by which organisms adjust to their environment in ways that enhance survival, often a central concept in ancestral health when discussing the body's responses to diet, activity, and lifestyle changes over time.
Ancestral Diet:
A diet that mimics the nutritional patterns of our pre-agricultural ancestors, often focusing on whole, unprocessed foods like meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds.
Anthropology:
The study of human societies, cultures, and their development, often used in ancestral health to understand traditional lifestyles and how they impact health.
Autoimmunity:
A condition where the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues. In ancestral health, it's often discussed in the context of diet and lifestyle factors that may prevent or mitigate autoimmune diseases.
Bioavailability:
The extent to which nutrients can be absorbed and utilized by the body, a key concern when choosing nutrient-dense foods in an ancestral diet.
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Biomimicry:
The practice of modeling modern human behavior and systems after those found in nature, often referenced in ancestral health in terms of mimicking the natural movement, diet, and environment of our ancestors.
Circadian Rhythm:
The natural, internal process that regulates the sleep-wake cycle and repeats roughly every 24 hours. Maintaining a rhythm that aligns with nature is emphasized in ancestral health for optimal well-being.
Cold Exposure:
The practice of exposing the body to cold temperatures, which is thought to mimic the environmental challenges faced by early humans and promote resilience and metabolic health.
Disease of Civilization:
Chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity that are believed to arise from modern lifestyles, often discussed in contrast to the health of hunter-gatherer societies.
Epigenetics:
The study of changes in gene expression that do not involve alterations to the DNA sequence. Ancestral health often focuses on how lifestyle and diet influence epigenetic factors.
Evolutionary Biology:
The study of the evolutionary processes that produced the diversity of life on Earth. In ancestral health, this field helps explain why certain dietary and lifestyle patterns are better suited to human health.
Functional Movement:
Movements that are natural to human physiology and were used in daily life by our ancestors, such as squatting, lifting, running, and climbing, which ancestral health promotes to avoid modern movement-related dysfunctions.
Gut Microbiome:
The community of microorganisms living in the digestive tract, whose balance is influenced by diet and environment. In ancestral health, maintaining a diverse microbiome is linked to overall health and longevity.
Holistic Health:
An approach to health that considers the whole person—body, mind, spirit, and emotions—in the pursuit of optimal wellness, aligning with the ancestral health philosophy of addressing multiple factors like diet, sleep, movement, and stress.
Hunter-Gatherer:
Referring to societies that rely on hunting animals and gathering wild plants for food, often used as a model in ancestral health for understanding the diets and lifestyles that shaped human evolution.
Intermittent Fasting:
A dietary pattern that cycles between periods of eating and fasting, reflecting ancestral eating habits where food wasn’t always available and believed to offer metabolic and longevity benefits.
Lifestyle Diseases:
Illnesses that result from modern, sedentary lifestyles, processed foods, and other habits alien to ancestral ways of living, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and obesity.
Metabolic Flexibility:
The ability of the body to efficiently switch between using carbohydrates and fats for energy. Ancestral health promotes practices like fasting and varied diets to enhance this flexibility.
Nutrient Density:
The concentration of essential nutrients in a food relative to its calorie content. Ancestral diets prioritize nutrient-dense foods, such as organ meats, vegetables, and seafood.
Natural Movement:
Physical activity that mimics the movements of early humans, like climbing, walking, lifting, and squatting, which ancestral health advocates for overall physical well-being.
Paleo Diet:
A diet based on foods presumed to have been eaten by early humans, focusing on meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, and excluding processed foods, grains, and dairy.
Sleep Hygiene:
Practices that support healthy, restorative sleep, which is emphasized in ancestral health as key to overall wellness, often including alignment with natural light cycles.
Stress Adaptation:
The body's ability to adapt to both acute and chronic stress, with ancestral health promoting practices like cold exposure, fasting, and physical exertion to build resilience.
Sustainability:
Living in a way that supports the long-term health of the planet and future generations, often aligned with ancestral health principles through the use of sustainable farming, hunting, and gathering practices.
Traditional Diets:
Diets that reflect the food habits of indigenous and historical cultures, which ancestral health advocates as models for nutrient-dense and health-promoting eating patterns.
Wild Foods:
Foods found and harvested in nature, such as wild game, fish, nuts, seeds, fruits, and vegetables, which are central to the ancestral health model due to their nutrient richness and lack of industrial processing.