Evolution Rx: A Physician's Guide to Harnessing Our Innate Capacity for Health and Healing »

William Meller, M.D., is a board-certified internist who runs a successful medical practice and clinic in Santa Barbara, CA, where he coordinates three busy medical centers. He has been published in The Journal of the American Medical Association and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, among other publications.

A revolutionary-yet simple and practical-guide to staying fit and healthy based on evolutionary medicine.

Countless books and nutrition experts have advised modern readers to adopt the best of the "cave-man diet" that avoids processed foods and refined carbohydrates. But how and what people eat is only the beginning of what the study of human evolution can teach us about overall health and well-being. Based on the latest research in the burgeoning field of evolutionary medicine, Evolution Rx provides readers with not only an understanding of the underlying science of this discipline but with a practical means to making nutritional and lifestyle changes that address a wide range of topics from exercise and injury prevention to allergies, heart health, cancer, Alzheimer's, and more:

• Why eating more fat, not less, can fuel weight loss
• Why human bodies can't register fullness when eating carbohydrates-and what to do about it
• Why getting more sun leads to better health
• Why stretching before exercise-or after an injury- is a bad idea
• Why children should be encouraged to get dirty

Provocative, science-based, and practical, Evolution Rx presents a new and powerful way to understand the human body and how to promote vibrant health.

Introduction ix

Time Line of Human Evolution xxi

1 The Primal Diet: Your Stone Age Body's Wants and Needs 1

2 Germ Warfare: New Strategies in an Ancient Battle 25

3 Allergies and the Dirt Age: Taming the Hyperactive Immune System 61

4 Toxins: The Good, the Bad, and the Indifferent 85

5 Rough and Tumble: Injuries and How We Heal 119

6 Sunrise, Sunset: Why You Need More Sun and Sleep 151

7 The Urge to Merge: Dating, Mating, and Reproduction 171

8 Evolution from the Neck Up: Sorting Out the Mental Toolbox 193

9 Flawed Heritage: When Good Genes Go Bad 237

10 Living Longer: The Evolution of Aging Well 261

Sources and Further Reading 289

Acknowledgments 299

Index 301