At the 2nd Annual Ancestral Health Symposium 2012 (AHS12), Georgia Ede, M.D. gave her presentation titled "Little Shop of Horrors? The Risks and Benefits of Eating Plants".
Bio:
Georgia Ede, M.D., is the only psychiatrist at Harvard University offering nutrition consults to patients seeking an alternative to medications. She successfully applies modified Paleolithic dietary principles not only to the treatment of mood disorders, but also to “Mystery Syndromes”, such as Fibromyalgia, IBS, and Chronic Fatigue.
Abstract:
Plant-based diets are often touted as healthy, and yet many plants contain clever protective chemicals, carefully crafted by evolutionary forces over millennia, to serve the needs of the plant, rather than to nourish the human body. Many of these compounds are potentially toxic to animal cells, and include naturally-occurring pesticides, mineral chelators, and antibiotics.
Understanding what is lurking inside the vegetables we eat can be very useful in managing “mystery syndrome” symptoms that do not respond to a traditional Paleo Diet, such as Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Drawing upon scientific literature in the fields of medicine, botany, and toxicology, as well as upon my own personal and clinical experience, this presentation groups familiar foods into botanical families (crucifers, seeds, nightshades, etc) and introduces the audience to the potential risks and benefits of each. This talk is designed to be engaging, fun, and provocative.