Processed to Primal: Prepare Plants, Unlock Superfoods, Reclaim Health

Processed to Primal: Prepare Plants, Unlock Superfoods, Reclaim Health

Ancestral Nutrition
August 22, 2025•6 min read

From Processed to Primal: Preparing Plants, Unlocking Superfoods, and Reclaiming Your Ancestral Health

Feeling Tired, Foggy, or Inflamed? It Might Be Hidden Toxins in Your Food

If you’ve been struggling with fatigue, stubborn weight gain, brain fog, bloating, or joint pain, you’re not alone. Millions of Americans deal with these symptoms daily—and most are told it’s just “aging” or bad luck in their genetics. But the truth is far different.

The real culprit often lies in the modern food supply. Today, we’re eating more processed foods than at any other point in human history:

  • Seed oils (soybean, canola, corn) linked to chronic inflammation and insulin resistance (Shanahan, Deep Nutrition, 2017).

  • Refined sugars & flours that spike blood sugar and drive metabolic disease (Berg, 2021).

  • Plant defense chemicals like oxalates and lectins that irritate the gut, block nutrient absorption, and inflame the joints (Saladino, The Carnivore Code, 2020).

Dr. Gary Brecka warns that our “toxic modern food environment accelerates methylation damage, depletes nutrients, and ages us at the cellular level” (Brecka, Ultimate Human Podcast, 2023).

The result? A body that feels like it’s breaking down long before it should.

But here’s the good news: humans already figured out how to prevent this—thousands of years ago.

1. Preparing Plants the Ancestral Way

Plants evolved toxins as self-defense. Oxalates form crystals that cause kidney stones and joint pain (Norton, Oxalate Overload, 2019), while lectins can irritate the gut lining and drive autoimmune reactions (Chaffee, 2022).

Our ancestors developed preparation techniques to neutralize these compounds:

  • Soaking beans and grains reduces lectins and phytates (Schindler, Eat Like a Human, 2021).

  • Sprouting seeds activates enzymes that boost vitamins and minerals.

  • Fermenting vegetables adds probiotics and breaks down antinutrients.

  • Cooking tubers and roots denatures toxins, making them safe to eat.

As Dr. Bill Schindler explains: “The key to safe plant consumption is in the processing—soaking, sprouting, fermenting. These ancient practices made plants food, not poison.”

👉 For a deep dive, see my post on oxalates and lectins.

2. Ancestral Superfoods: The Original Power Foods

While plants needed preparation, our ancestors also relied heavily on animal-based superfoods—nutrient-dense, bioavailable, and vital for survival.

  • Liver & organs: Dr. Paul Saladino calls them “nature’s multivitamins,” supplying retinol, K2, heme iron, and B vitamins in perfect ratios.

  • Bone broth & collagen: Supports connective tissue, gut repair, and skin health (Nutrients Journal, 2019).

  • Wild fish & shellfish: Rich in DHA and EPA, critical for brain health and reduced inflammation (Huberman Lab Podcast, 2022).

  • Eggs: Complete protein plus choline for hormone and brain function (Lyon, Forever Strong, 2023).

  • Fermented foods: Provide probiotics for the gut-brain connection (Schindler, 2021).

By contrast, modern “superfoods” like kale smoothies or almond bars often contain high oxalates and seed oils, causing more harm than good.

Dr. Shawn Baker, author of The Carnivore Diet, reminds us: “Animal foods built us, plant foods can sometimes harm us—but they must always be prepared properly.”

3. The Mind-Body Connection: Nutrition, Hormones & Mental Clarity

Food is more than fuel—it directly impacts mood, cognition, and hormone balance.

  • Protein-first eating stabilizes blood sugar and feeds neurotransmitters (Lyon, 2023).

  • Omega-3s from fish reduce brain inflammation and improve focus (Huberman, 2022).

  • Collagen and glycine improve deep sleep and recovery (Asprey, Super Human, 2019).

  • Fermented foods support gut health, which influences serotonin production (Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2021).

Dr. Mindy Pelz notes: “When women fast and fuel with the right foods, their brains light up—they gain mental clarity that they didn’t know was possible.”

4. Transitioning from Processed to Primal: A 30-Day Plan

Dr. Ken Berry says it plainly: “The human body doesn’t need a new diet—it needs us to stop poisoning it with fake food.”

Here’s how to shift back to primal eating:

Week 1: Cut processed toxins (seed oils, sugar, refined carbs).
Week 2: Add animal proteins—beef, eggs, salmon, bone broth.
Week 3: Choose low-toxin plants—cucumber, avocado, squash, berries.
Week 4: Incorporate superfoods—liver, fermented foods, collagen.

Clinical trials confirm this shift works:

  • Virta Health (2022): 60% of type 2 diabetics reversed with low-carb, ancestral-style diets.

  • DiRECT Trial (Lancet, 2018): Nearly half reversed diabetes in 6 months with whole-food interventions.

Bottom Line: It’s Not a Diet—It’s Coming Home

Keto, carnivore, vegan—these are all diets. They can help in the short term but aren’t designed for lifelong sustainability.

Ancestral eating is different. It’s not a “hack”—it’s how humans have always eaten until modern agriculture and food corporations rewrote the script.

Dr. Catherine Shanahan calls it “Deep Nutrition”—real food, prepared properly, aligned with human biology. Or as Gary Brecka says: “Your DNA isn’t broken—it’s just waiting for the right inputs to thrive.”

When you eat ancestrally, you don’t just lose weight—you reclaim resilience, energy, and clarity.

What’s Next

This is just the beginning. Coming up in future posts, I will be taking a deep dive into each of the four topics:

  • How to prepare plants safely for digestion and nutrient absorption. I'll include recipes for making pemmican, kefir, yogurt, beef jerky and fermenting foods like potatoes to make delicious food your whole family will love!

  • The ancestral superfoods that fueled human strength and longevity. From bone broth to organ meat, how do we super charge our bodies so we can not only live long, but thrive!

  • How ancestral eating supports hormones, mood, and mental clarity. In these times we are faced with so many stresses that impact how we feel so we will explore to gain back your emotional well being.

  • A simple 30-day roadmap to transition from processed to primal. It's all about baby steps - how do you navigate kids in the home, busy work schedules and all that life throws our way.

👉 And if you’re local, stop by Maximum Fitness Vacaville and ask for Coach Ron Lyons. I’d love to help you apply these principles to build your own comeback story.

References & Resources

1. Gary Brecka

2. Dr. Eric Berg

3. Dr. Shawn Baker

4. Dr. Paul Saladino

5. Dr. Ken Berry

6. Dave Asprey

7. Andrew Huberman

8. Dr. Gabrielle Lyon

9. Dr. Mindy Pelz

10. Dr. Catherine Shanahan

  • Focus: Seed oils, deep nutrition, traditional fats.

  • YouTube: (Search for interviews)

  • Website: DrCate.com

11. Dr. Anthony Chaffee

12. Dr. Bill Schindler

13. Dr. Mary Ruddick

  • Focus: Ancestral lifestyle, fermentation, reducing antinutrients

  • YouTube: @thesherlockholmesofhealth

  • Website: https://www.maryruddick.com/

Scientific Studies & Journals:

  • Virta Health (2022): Clinical outcomes of nutritional ketosis in T2D

  • DiRECT Trial (The Lancet, 2018): Remission of type 2 diabetes with diet

  • Nutrients Journal (2019): Collagen supplementation and joint health

  • Frontiers in Psychiatry (2021): Gut microbiome and mental health

  • Norton, Sally K. (Toxic Superfoods, 2023) – oxalates and plant toxins.

ancestral diet ancestral lifestyle,processed to primalprepare plantssoaking sprouting fermentingfermented foods,bone broth benefits liver nutritionoorgan meatsnutrient-dense foods
Coach Ron Lyons helps high-performing entrepreneurs scale their businesses with smart marketing, strategic automations, and cutting-edge AI tools—while optimizing their health through an ancestrally aligned lifestyle. Whether you're running an online or offline business, your success depends on leveraging technology (like CRM systems and passive income streams) just as much as honoring your biology with real food, natural movement, and deep recovery. Ready to upgrade your revenue and your resilience? Book a free consultation to build a business—and a life—that thrives.

Ron Lyons

Coach Ron Lyons helps high-performing entrepreneurs scale their businesses with smart marketing, strategic automations, and cutting-edge AI tools—while optimizing their health through an ancestrally aligned lifestyle. Whether you're running an online or offline business, your success depends on leveraging technology (like CRM systems and passive income streams) just as much as honoring your biology with real food, natural movement, and deep recovery. Ready to upgrade your revenue and your resilience? Book a free consultation to build a business—and a life—that thrives.

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