We’ve all read about the Okinawa and Mediterranean diets, usually promoted as weight-loss remedies. But in addition to their slim figures, Okinawans have a very low rate of breast and prostate cancer, while Cretans enjoy a low rate of heart disease. What in the diets prevents these diseases? Could we adopt these diets as our own to live healthier lives?

That’s what Daphne Miller, a doctor in San Francisco, set out to investigate in her book, “The Jungle Effect.” Miller travels to the “cold spots” — places with a low incidence of a certain disease — all over the world to figure out what in that region’s diet serves to protect its residents from common ailments in the U.S.

Got a family history of diabetes? Then read the chapter on Copper Canyon, Mexico. Depression? See what the Icelandic people eat; they’re a happy bunch, despite the fact that their country’s cold and dark for big chunks of the year.

In each chapter devoted to one of six “cold spots,” Miller combines the story of a patient of hers suffering from a common disease with the story of her own foodie travel to the cold spot for that disease. The end of each chapter has instructions — organized into basic, intermediate, and advanced levels — for mimicking the diet of that cold spot. Plus, lots of recipes are included in the back.

Some very clear commonalities emerge in the diets of all six of these cold spots. For example, meat is rarely the main dish in any of these places. Animal products are generally used very sparingly, much like a condiment. And all use primarily unprocessed organic, local ingredients that are grown or raised sustainably. Turns out, a disease-free diet’s also an earth-friendly diet that sounds quite similar to Michael Pollan’s haiku-esque advice: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

Adopting any of these diets by the letter, however, will take some serious lifestyle changes for many people. In addition to just eating different food, would-be cold-spot dieters will need to hunt down unfamiliar ingredients — like nopales or horta — as well as cook them according to precise instructions. After all, it’s not just the individual ingredients that make up a cold-spot diet, according to Miller. It’s the food “synergy” — or the combinations of these ingredients — that works the magic.

But you don’t have to change your entire to benefit from reading “The Jungle Effect.” In fact, Miller offers lots of easy-to-implement, practical tips in her sidebars, with titles like “How to choose a slow release corn tortilla,” or “How to buy olive oil.” As both foodies and dietitians know, not all tortillas are made equal.

Herein lies the difference between, say, the burrito I get at a typical restaurant in L.A. and an authentic burrito as made in Copper Canyon, Mexico. The former’s usually humongous, cooked with a lot of lard and oil, stuffed with factory farmed meats and cheeses, then wrapped up in a pizza-sized white flour tortilla. In contrast, Miller discribes the Copper Canyon burrito as “no larger than a big cigar,” stuffed with black beans, red chili sauce, and a little shredded meat and wrapped in a handmade corn tortilla.

Whether or not you decide any of the specific cold spot diets are for you, “The Jungle Effect” will likely inspire you to cook more often, using fresh, in-season, local ingredients. And you’ll likely start paying attention to product ingredient lists, which’ll help you avoid unhealthy fats and colorings and preservatives. It’s no secret at this point that that what passes as food at many grocery stores isn’t really food at all. Kraft even got sued for its “guacamole” which contains just 2% avocado. What’s the other 98%? Partially hydrogenated soybean and coconut oils, corn syrup, whey and food starch. Yummy….

[crossposted on BlogHer]

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