Dr. Cate Shanahan is a board certified Family Physician. She trained in biochemistry and genetics at Cornell University before attending Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. She practiced in Hawaii for ten years where she studied ethnobotany and her healthiest patient’s culinary habits.
Luke graduated from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and earned his MFA from the University of AZ. When not writing books and blogs with Dr. Cate, he works as a writing coach and does free-lance ghost writing.
Dr Cate and Luke enjoy eating
Dr. Cate writes about the experiences that lead her to write Deep Nutrition and Food Rules:
In high school I competed in cross country and track at an international level and earned myself a four-year college athletic scholarship. But in college, my once-indestructible body started falling apart.
Sports Injuries I Suffered From
- Shin splints
- Achilles tendonitis
- Illeotibial band syndrome
- Patello-femoral pain
- Ankle impingement syndrome
- Pulled muscles
I was almost as intrigued with trying to solve the mystery of why I was the team member who kept getting sidelined by shin splints, tendonitis, and other sports injuries as I was frustrated by the fact of being injured. To learn more, after graduating I enrolled in Cornell University’s Molecular Biology program in hopes of somehow getting to the root of recurring sports injuries and being able to help competitive athletes like myself.
That was in the 1980s, when biotechnology was in its adolescence. I soon learned that genes are every bit as dynamic and alive as you and I, responding on a minute to minute basis to the world around them, and it was obvious to me that technology would never evolve to the point where it could keep up with the complexity of our inner biology. So I left graduate school to attend medical school in hopes of getting to the root of illness from the clinical angle.
Medical School Does Not Get to the Root of Illness
I started med school knowing that malnutrition could change human DNA, but by the time I left I’d learned so little about nutrition that I pretty much forgot about my goal of getting to the root of illness. I did learn that the problems I had could all be attributed to weak collagen in my joints and muscles, but had no idea why this problem affected me and not any of my parents or grandparents.
Only when I relocated to Hawaii, the state with the longest lifespan in the US, did I realize that I was immersed in a culture of healthy people who could teach me the secrets of what I’ve come to call “genetic wealth.”
Common External Signs of Genetic Wealth (Men and Women)
- Strong joints
- Fertility
- No grey hair by age 50
- Strong nails
- Limbs proportioned according to the Golden Ratio
- Long nose, high cheekbones, full lips, and strong jaw
Many of my patients were employed at the Hawaiian resorts. These women, in their 50s and 60s, worked all day long lifting, scrubbing, bending, reaching, and then when they got home they kept on going, making dinner for their husbands or chasing after the grandchildren they cared for. These women typically had beautiful skin, supple joints, and few if any grey hairs. Every last one had grown up in a rural area where they were raised as their parents and grandparents had been on home-grown fresh foods prepared according to simple traditional culinary techniques.
Traditional food is not what we think it is.
Everything I learned about diet in medical journals was turned on its head by my experience in Hawaii. Animals are actually easier to raise than vegetables, requiring only pastureland and water, and so many of my patients also raised their own goats, pigs, and chickens, and caught fish. I realized I was seeing firsthand the kinds of practical food-gathering, storing, and cooking solutions that our ancestors used throughout history; I was learning the foods that made us human.
Over the years I spent in Hawaii, I studied culinary traditions practiced by my patients, and found a world of delicious food and incredible sources of nutrients that is hidden from most Americans. I wrote Deep Nutrition to begin to draw the connections I’d discovered between food and beauty and genes and health.
Ironically, some of the poorest people in the world eat the best foods. We call them subsistence farmers and uneducated, but they are masters of self sufficiency and posses skills that few of of us educated in America can even understand.
Today, I work at the Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa, CA where I have the privilege of being able to bring the old-fashioned country doctor ideals from rural Kauai to a modern medical practice an hour from San Francisco. I enjoy teaching people to shop, cook, and eat according to the traditional principles our bodies have evolved to depend on. Every day after work I watch Luke cook up a delicious meal, and sometimes I wash the dishes.
Make an appointment to see Dr. Cate by calling
Dr. Shanahan’s office at the Queen of the Valley Medical Center
980 Trancas Street, Suite 10
707 251 3681
Frequently Asked Questions:
What ages do you treat? At my current location I see children and adults from age 6 and up. In my future location (sometime in 2012) I plan to see all ages.
What are your office hours? 8:30-5 Monday through Friday. On Wednesday, the office is open but I do not schedule appointments.
Will I see patients in the hospital? I work hard to keep you out of the hospital, but if you need to be admitted you will be well taken care of by Queen of the Valley’s excellent hospitalists. I often visit my patients during their hospital stays to provide additional continuity of care.
What happens after hours? If you have an emergency, please call 911. If you have an urgent medical question, the answering service will put you through to the physician on call. If you need medication refills, please wait until the next business day.
For bulk book-buying requests, speaking engagements, or suggestions for future blog topics, email Dr. Cate at:
Admin [at} DrCate [dot} com
It looks funny to prevent spam, by ‘at’ I mean @ and by ‘dot’ I mean .
[...] About The Authors [...]
[...] IN EPISODE 459 – Support our sponsor: QuestBars – Support our sponsor: GetYourHealthTested.com – Dr. Catey Shanahan bio – Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food – Food Rules: A Doctor’s Guide to [...]
[...] Shanahan “Bone Broths: The Missing Link in the Evolution of the Modern Superathlete” (Blog / website [...]
[...] been listening to a lot of podcasts. This one on Underground Wellness featured Dr. Cate Shanahan, the author of Deep [...]
I have Deep Nutrition Need a list of foods that are easily available in this area. What kind of bread ?? What are the BEST VEGGIES? What calorie rich foods are best ? Rice?
Wheat? other? Are there any sweetners that are acceptable?? Truvia??
Great Ricipe for cooking Liver—-Saute 2 hr in whole milk. bake with onion one hr and add bacon on top last. milk eases livers strong harsh flavor.
deep Nutrition answers most of the questions that I Have on diet and the WHY. I need more help with the specifics of what is OK to include in the diet.
Kay
Most of your answers boil down to source and tradition. If you know that the source was healthy soil and there is a tradition of using the food, then the only issue is one of balance. Food Rules actually addresses this sort of thing, and you can read the whole thing in an afternoon. I have one happy tale about a woman who read it on the beach, changed her diet, lost 30 lbs and got off her bp and diabetes meds. You can do it, just take the time to learn your local resources.
Hi, am really enjoying your Deep Nutrition book and haven’t been able to put it down! It really lines up to all that I have researched and come to believe in my nutrition practice and what I’ve been sharing with my clients over the last 10 years or so. My question to you is this…we have Stickler’s syndrome (connective tissue disorder – defective collagen chromosome) in our family with my siblings and my generation of children having the most profound symptoms – I have two children with strong characteristics of the syndrome including cleft palate, pierre robin (sp?), retina & ear issues, legg perthes, and loose joints. What I have come to see is that as long as we eat only those foods we tolerate well (staying off all starches & sugars and fast foods and eating foods rich in protein like range fed meats, lots of veggies and some fruits) we can reduce symptoms substantially. This is interesting because due to science explanation of this syndrome, it is a degenerative issue and they claim there is nothing that can be done to halt the progression of degeneration. I have seen something very different due to eating healthy foods and cutting all those that create inflammation and add’l stress on body and genes (??) What are your thoughts on this? Would love to hear!!
Thank you for your great research and getting this info out into our world – people need to wake up and see that when our health suffers, it’s not some “mysterious” issue that only a “qualified MD” can figure out! It’s all down to what we are putting into the hole in our mouths and how our bodies are digesting, assimilating and eliminating it. THe GUT is the ROOT of all disharmony and thereby symptoms = disease. I have found no one wants to look too closely at food because they don’t want to have to give up their “comfort, addictive” foods! So much easier to stay ignorant…so sad! We live here in Oahu HI (just moved here 6 weeks ago) and cannot believe the amount of obesity here and extremely unhealthy individuals! But yet, unlike what you experienced in Kauai – there are fast food restaurants on every corner (just in our little town there are probably 12!! And bakeries everywhere! Unfortunately due to the HIGH cost of living and the low wages, most people can only afford these HIGH carb/fat fast foods! Very sad. God sent us here and I am praying that there is something I can do to help…
Blessings over you and your work!
Sue
The Healing Path
THPath.com
[...] About The Authors [...]
Sorry to see you go from NH, but very happy for your patients! There are numerous conflicting bits of information in the “Paleo” world, but your illustrations of the enzyme issue with carb burning is very helpful. Have read Deep Nutrition, but I may need to read Food Rules now…..does it have recipes? I am finding it challenging to keep my proteins down and feel good. What do you suggest for satiety issues? I am almost 52 and newly diabetic this past year. Thank you for keeping onward with your mission here, and with book writing. Wishing you the best New Year ever!
Susan
Happy New Year!
Food Rules offers a rule to help satiety. Keep in mind though, if you’re diabetic and eating alot of protein, you may be burning protein by converting it to sugar first and that still will give you energy swings. You, too, may benefit by becoming a better fat burner! (See post here http://drcate.com/your-2012-weight-loss-resolution-become-a-better-fat-burner/ )
Hi Dr. Cate,
I’m currently working my way through Deep Nutrition and Food Rules simultaneously. I’m loving all the information and the great research that backs it all up. But I do have some questions, mostly regarding kiddos.
My babe is 18 months old, is it safe or okay for her to drink Kombucha, or at what age would this start?
For the mayonnaise and dressing recipes, are these safe for little ones or should I wait till she’s older?
Again for the dressing recipes, is there a guideline on how long they are good for after you make them?
And my little one is fighting some stomach bug and typically I’ve gone to the BRAT diet for that, but as carbs are a no no and I have limited her carbs from the start, what other foods would be good for her during recovery from vomiting and diarrhea?
Last one, since my little one if 18 months, but I have not been eating an entirely traditional duet and she is still nursing, is there a time line you would recommend for having baby number two. I would say 50% of my diet is traditional, and the meats I eat are from grass fed sources, but there’s still a lot of carbs and sugars too.
Thanks again for all your great work, I look forward to getting through both books and beginning our journey back into traditional foods!
Megan
Megan
I’m so glad a young mom is doing the necessary nutrition research.
Kombucha can have alchohol! And this is more likely the older it is and the longer it has been able to ferment. So its a little tricky. If you can be sure your batch has no alcohol, it would be a great bubbly fruity alternaitve to soda. I’d say until you can be sure there’s no alcohol, hold off till she’s a little older, maybe like 3-5 (or if you have any European relatives, ask them at what age they start giving kids table wine and go with that) You can gauge if it’s got enough alcohol to affect a child by drinking some on a very empty stomach and seeing if you feel it. If you don’t, probably the kid won’t…. but keep an eye on them and keep in mind that every batch is different.
Mayo made with raw egg can of course carry Salmonella, so you’ll have to use your judgement on doing it at all, and clean everything well. Dressings w/o egg or other perishables like buttermilk stay good for a very long time. Feel free to rely on your nose and sense of taste; these tools have been our faithful guides for a long, long time and the more you use them the better they serve you.
for GI issues, chicken broth and yoghurt are good bets.
And for timeing, I’d say longer is better, like 4 years. There should be a saying for babies like there is with Earnest and Gallo Wine (no wine till its time). You’re better off fortifying your body and your genes than rushing through things.
Hi Dr Shanahan,
I want to let you know that I really enjoyed your book Deep Nutrition. I apply mostly all the things you suggest and I understand why I need to do them. I have an important question for you, we are now trying to have our first child. I’m 34 years old and I am now taking every day vitamin K2 for strong bones and teeth. I’m taking also K2 to help prevent for a baby to come with a cleft labial and palate (both sides) that I have. I don’t worry much about raw food, mostly medical doctor suggest when you are pregnant to not take raw cheese, that are full of K2 (raw milk is not available in Canada). For raw meat and fish I understand why it is better not to consume them, but for raw cheese, our ancestors drank raw milk with no apparent problem. What is the best means for the security of a baby to come and to make sure K2 will not be the missing ingredient?
Thank for your answer!
Marie-Pier
Marie-Pier
K2 is light but not heat sensitive. Pasture (grass-fed) butter and full-fat cheeses (ie not ricotta) from cows fed on pasture not grain, as well as fermented foods, will be great sources of K2. Keep in mind that nutrients work together, and all are required in balance to grow a healthy baby so it’s important not to focus on just one. I wish you good luck finding good foods and for a healthy child!