There are no definitive rules for the ancestral diet, but the following are the most common guidelines based on the type of diets that healthy primitive/traditional people have consumed.

1. Cookware – Use stainless steel, cast iron, glass, ceramic, or good quality enamelware from reputable brands that have been tested for toxic metals. Avoid non-stick cookware which contains endocrine disrupters that mimic hormones and cause many health issues such as cancer, thyroid problems, and sex hormone (testosterone/estrogen) imbalance for both men and women. Use cooking and food-prep tools made from wood, stainless-steel, or natural rubber.
2. Food Storage – Whenever possible, use glass, natural rubber, or silicone instead of plastic storage containers (which also contain harmful endocrine disrupters.)
3. Food Quality – Meat and other animal-based foods like dairy and eggs must be:

• 100% grass-fed and finished.
• pastured and free to graze.
• non-CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operation.)
• never fed corn, soy, or non-organic GMO grains.
• never given growth hormones, antibiotics, or other toxins.

         OR

• wild game or wild-caught seafood.

4. Fruits and Vegetables – Consume fresh or frozen, whole fruits and vegetables, or those preserved by drying. (organic/biodynamic, non-GMO, and pesticide-free)
5. Natural Salt – Healthy ancestral people consumed naturally occurring salt which contains important trace minerals.
6. Ancestral Fat Ratio – The total fat content of ancestral diets varies from 30-80% of calories, but healthy ancestral people all eat a very specific ratio of fats.

• Saturated and monounsaturated fats are consumed liberally, and polyunsaturated fats are limited to around 4% of total calories.
• Ancestral diets contain an equal proportion (around a 1:1 ratio) of polyunsaturated omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids.
• Learn everything you need to know about the ancestral fat ratio and how to eat it in the Reverse-Age & Heal Training.

7. Nutrient Density – Consume foods that have the highest content of bioavailable nutrients compared to calories or weight. This includes organ meats, seafood, beef, lamb, full-fat dairy, butter, & eggs, and organic or biodynamic, local fruits and vegetables.
8. Sacred Foods – Animal foods with the very highest nutrient density are considered sacred and prioritized for pregnant/nursing mothers, growing children, and parents-to-be. These could also be considered healing foods. The five sacred foods are liver, bone marrow, spring butter, fish roe, and small fatty fish.
9. Raw Animal Foods – Healthy ancestral people all consume some animal foods raw, e.g., sushi, carpaccio, steak tartare, oysters on the half shell, or caviar. If you’re squeamish about raw meat, the easiest way to get some raw animal food into your diet is by eating raw butter and dairy or just lightly searing a steak.
10. Raw Dairy & Eggs – Consume full-fat dairy and eggs from animals with all the qualifications listed in #1 above. Eggs are kept at room temperature from farm to table to preserve nutrient quality. If you’re curious about pathogens in raw dairy, read this article series by Chris Kresser where he’s compiled the actual data and shares his results.
11. Clean Water Source – Use fluoride-free, filtered water, glass-bottled spring water, or raw natural spring water (from a tested source) for cooking and drinking.
12. Collagen & Gelatin – Healthy ancestral people consume all parts of the animal – nose to tail, slow-cooking the tough cuts of meat and bones until the connective tissue becomes soft and edible. Examples include bone broth, real chicken soup, and braised meats like lamb shanks, oxtail, or brisket.
13. Fermented Foods – Ancestral people preserved foods through fermentation. (e.g., sauerkraut, kimchi, cheese, yogurt, kefir, natto, and naturally cured salami)
14. Preparing Grains, Beans, Nuts, & Seeds – Healthy ancestral people carefully prepare their grains, beans, nuts, and seeds to remove anti-nutrients that interfere with the absorption of minerals. They fermented and soaked these foods, and removed the fibrous bran and germ. (Examples include sourdough bread and sprouted nuts.) Some ancestral peoples have avoided grains and beans entirely because of their difficult digestibility and inflammatory nature, and because they don’t contain any essential nutrients that can’t be found in other food sources.