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How To Be Beautiful: Care About Your Kids

How to be Beautiful: Care About Your Kids

This week I got a letter from a newlywed couple telling me how happy they were to learn the specific dietary changes they can make to better ensure the health of their future baby. Most people who read Deep Nutrition, I’m happy to say, wind up liking it. But every once in a while we get a hate mail or a negative review on Amazon explaining in explicit detail exactly why we should pack our bags and return to whatever corner of Hell we came from.

Okay that’s not exactly true. Truth be told, so far the “haters”—as the kids like to say—never tell us exactly why they find fault with our book, our message, or our science. They will go so far as to say that the (30 or so) pages of Deep Nutrition that discuss the relationship between physiologic growth, physical attractiveness, and human health have no business being in the book.

What they do tell us is that there is something wrong, something very very wrong, even pornographic, about indulging in the unseemly discussion of the standards of physical beauty. One can feel a little like Kevin Bacon’s character in the movie Footloose dealing with a town of well-meaning folk who know that no good can come from teenagers dancing to that rock and roll music.

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Kobe Bryant

It helped. I feel great.

"It’s helped. I feel great."

Kobe Bryant
NBA baskeball player
megyn kelly

This has been life changing

"Let me tell you this has been life-changing. I have all of her books, in audible and ebooks! I have gotten rid of all the hateful 8 oils. I have trained my body to eat its own previously toxic body fat. Download that pod it's a game changer!"

Megyn Kelly
Jesse Watters

Life changing

Deep Nutrition changed my life.

Jesse Watters
Fox News Primetime host

Saved my life

I would like to thank you for literally saving my life. Back in February, I had to be hospitalized while on vacation in Phoenix with an A1C of 11% and had to start taking 2 types of insulin and 2 other meds. I read the Fatburn Fix in April, and followed the program to a tee, and I’m down by 15 pounds, 6.8 A1C, and only one once weekly diabetes medicine. Prior to reading the book, it was almost impossible for me to lose weight as a diabetic. 

Leontyne Tompkins

I feel free

For the last month, I have really been reading all labels on everything. I have completely remove those 8 oils you talk about. I must tell you, I feel great! I have more energy and I am now 197 lbs (have always been around 205 to 210lbs). I eat potatoes with real butter, grass fed steak, pasta with the right toppings. I eat everything! I seem to crave less sugar. I love it! 

Robert Kirkendall

I feel so much better

I had terrible aches and pains everywhere in my body, my hands, shoulders and knees. I feel so much better and the way I feel is motivating me every day! Thank you

Mike Deb Wootan Burcin

Better than ever

I am an anesthesiologist in Orlando and a huge fan of both of your books! I have been incorporating your principles for the last 10 months and feel that my health is better than ever.

Marnie Robinson, MD

My allergies disappeared

The biggest difference for me (and a surprising one) is that my allergies have almost completely disappeared! This is a big deal for me, because I’ve had allergies most of my life and they have often affected what I do which is a teaching music in [a public school district].  In general, I feel much better and have more consistent energy throughout the day.

Erica Turrell

Heart Palpitations have Stopped

I’ve lost 20+ pounds (also fasting 16-24 hours daily) and haven’t had palpitations except for one occasion — I had a mini bag of Fritos for the first time in July. And, I feel better now on a daily basis than I ever did all through college.

Mike Wright
Deep Nutrition and Fatburn Fix reader
Mitzi Wilkinson Champion

I’ve lost over 50 pounds

I’ve lost over 50 pounds. I’m 56 years old. Cutting processed food and unhealthy fats from my diet was one of the first things I did on my health recovery journey...I went cold turkey off the bad oils. Emptied my pantry into the trash and just started eating real food

Mitzi Wilkinson Champion

Knowledge I didn’t know I needed

Your Fatburn Fix book is amazing, my friend. Thank you! I’m an Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and I know my stuff. This is the extra layer of knowledge I didn’t know I needed. Well done!

Jennifer Dillman
Fatburn Fix reader

Lost a solid 20 lbs and my bloodwork is great

I have lost a solid 20 lbs and my bloodwork (after 3 months of eating your way) was even better! I was metabolically healthy (per your book) before I read your book, but barely. Lowering my weight, sealed the deal! I have been talking about you and your book to anyone who will listen...Thank you for all you’ve done and what you continue to do! You are changing lives for the better!

Missy Cramer
FatBurn Fix reader

Lost 20 lbs I could never shed

I love your Fatburn Fix!  Has helped me so so much!  I have had the dreaded weight all my life - 20 or so pounds I could never shed.  I have lost that now. I only eat 2 meals a day lunch and dinner with a glass of milk or cappuccino around 4 to hold me over. No snacking and not bad oils.  It has been the key to unlocking my fatburn.  I work out in the am and believe I am burning fat for energy not from food!

Lauren Smith

I feel great

My waist is four inches smaller. I feel great and many of the minor aches and pains that I had (knees and lower back) are gone. Also, my muscle tone is amazing, even though I have not increased my workout routine.

Richard Janelle
Completed Dr Cate's online course
Kent Matthes

The go-to for strength and conditioning coaches

Whenever I advise my clients about eating to perform I go straight to what I have learned from Dr. Cate. Her book Deep Nutrition has become the go-to for strength and conditioning coaches across the country.

Kent Matthes
Major League Baseball Agent with WME Sports
Ken D Berry

Dismantles the lie

Dr. Cate dismantles the lie that seed oils are healthy, which may the biggest lie about nutrition and health because it’s so insidious.  

Ken D Berry, MD
Author of Lies My Doctor Told Me
Dr. Drew Pinsky

She knows the chemistry

Dr. Cate alerts us to the harms of seed oils and she’s convincing because she knows the chemistry better than anyone.

Dr. Drew Pinskey, MD
Globally recognized internal medicine and addiction medicine specialist, media personality, LoveLine Host, and New York Times bestselling author
Kelly Starrett

No one is better at communicating nutritional truth

Dr. Cate has had the single greatest impact on how we talk to people about fueling for both performance or durability. While we all are a little unique, the foundational principles of human nutrition are immutable. If you are looking to create a more durable, resilient body, no one is better at communicating nutritional truth than Dr. Cate.

Dr. Kelly Starrett
Physiotherapist coach and New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author
Brian Lenkzes

Highly recommend The Fatburn Fix

Dr. Shanahan has had a significant impact on my practice of medicine. I am known as a Low Carb Doctor, but I never really appreciated the negative effects of processed seed oils on the health of my patients. I highly recommend The Fatburn Fix to my patients and have a loaner copy in my waiting room. It is amazing how quickly blood sugars and overall health improves with cutting seed oils. It is not just about the carbs!

Dr. Brian Lenkzes, MD
CEO of LowCarbMD San Diego, co-host of Low Carb MD Podcast and host of Life's Best Medicine Podcast
Chris Kaman

Respected in the sports world

Dr. Cate reordered my diet when I was with the L.A. Lakers, and the benefits, for me personally, were felt immediately and have served me to this day. I’ve come to take real food so seriously I started a small family farm. I know of no M.D./nutritionist more respected in the sports world than Dr. Cate Shanahan.

Chris Kaman
NBA Player
Mark Sisson

Brought seed oil issue front and center

Cate brought the seed oil issue front and center. Healthy fats matter. So much so that I created an entire product line to swap out bad fats with good.

Mark Sisson
Founding Father of the Primal/Paleo Movement
Dallas Hartwig

Optimal health starts with food

If you want to understand how optimal health starts with food, start with Dr. Cate. Her book Deep Nutrition leaves you with an appreciation of the profound relationship between our genes and the planet, inspiring us to be good shepherds of both.

Dallas Hartwig
Attribution author of The Whole 30
Dwight Howard

Helped me with endurance

Deep Nutrition really helped me with endurance. I started to feel better as a player. I was able to run more, I was able to be more active …and I just decided to keep going with it to this day.

Dwight Howard
NBA Player
Paul Grewal

Silver bullet for me

Dr Cate’s teachings helped me lose 60 pounds like it was nothing. It was like a silver bullet for me.

Paul Grewal, MD 
Dr Grewal Internal Medicine, MD, author of Genius Foods
Joesph Mercola

Radically improve your health…

Dr. Shanahan has provided a solid reference that deserves a place in the library of anyone who is seriously interested in nutrition. Her perspective on the vital role that healthy fat has in our diet is novel and, if implemented, can radically improve your health.

Dr. Joseph Mercola
Author of Fat for Fuel and Founder of Mercola.com
Dave Aspery

Pull up a chair…

I have based my work on the idea that getting the right kinds of healthy fats into your body and avoiding the worst fats is essential to optimal health. I've interviewed dozens of the world's top experts about this, and I know of no one who speaks more eloquently on this topic than Dr Cate. If she’s talking fats, pull up a chair. Take notes.

Dave Asprey
Author of the Bulletproof Diet

The key to unlocking my fatburn

I love your Fatburn Fix!  Has helped me so so much!  I have had the dreaded weight all my life - 20 or so pounds I could never shed.  I have lost that now. I only eat 2 meals a day lunch and dinner with a glass of milk or cappuccino around 4 to hold me over. No snacking and not bad oils.  It has been the key to unlocking my fatburn.  

Lauren Smith

Saved my life

I would like to thank you for literally saving my life. Back in February, I had to be hospitalized while on vacation in Phoenix with an A1C of 11% and had to start taking 2 types of insulin and 2 other meds. I read the Fatburn Fix in April, and followed the program to a tee, and I’m down by 15 pounds, 6.8 A1C, and only one once weekly diabetes medicine. 

Leontyne Tompkins

> Tears of joy

 I'm crying tears of joy and appreciation for all you've done for me and my health! Without Deep Nutrition and Fatburn Fix, I would literally still be in the vicious cycle I'd been fighting all my life! In a nutshell - I am no longer a compulsive overeating addict suffering under the crushing 'thumb' of all food and alcohol.     

Penni Wicks

 

Discussions about looks are a little like pornography, in that those who would proscribe them aren’t exactly sure, or at least fail to articulate, why they are so offensive. Just as with Justice Potter Stewart in his famous description of pornography, they don’t care to specify what characteristics qualify a scientific discussion worthy of open debate. They just know when it’s something we shouldn’t oughta be talkin’ about. In other words, they know it when they see it.

And so far, we’ve been happy to let them get away with that. Well, suffice it to say, our generosity in this matter has now been spent. We are frankly tired of allowing these peanut-gallery naysayers to lob half-baked criticisms into our backyard like so many homemade scud misiles. Enough is enough. It’s time to put this matter to rest.

If you are a fan of Deep Nutrition, you well understand that there is nothing “selfish” or “shallow” or “superficial” or “self-serving” about providing information to allow caring parents to better ensure the health and happiness of their children. And there is nothing, at least nothing we can think of, wrong with parents exploiting this information to help improve their family’s quality of life.

For those who think that height, good looks, and athleticism don’t bestow immeasurable benefits to their children, we invite you to watch the news, pick up a newspaper, or just go outside and talk to people about how, for example, the ongoing political process of determining the two opposing candidates for the Democratic and Republican parties will once again boil down to a battle between the tallest, best-looking people on the ballots.

What’s true of politics is true of the job interview, the casting call, the college entrance evaluation, and on and on. Studies have consistently shown that these rules apply every bit as much to the kindergarden classroom as they do to the world of showbusiness. It’s a jungle out there. We’re not saying this is how things should be, just that this is the way things are. To quote William Munny in Unforgiven: Deserve’s got nothing to do with it.

Of course, we don’t really get into all the social benefits of good looks in Deep Nutrition. We restrict our discussion to the relationships between unimpeded growth, beauty, and dynamic symmetry (proportion). If you’ve read the book you’ll remember that we say what’s true for a growing plant is true for a horse is true for a human being. When things grow right they tend to be pretty. And generally speaking they tend to be healthy too.

These are generalizations, of course. As with any rule, there are exceptions. But by and large, growth in nature follows this mathematic paradigm.

You would think that people who have a problem with this would take the matter upstairs—as in all the way to the top. Like all scientists, we don’t make the rules, we merely observe and record them. As I said in the opening, this hasn’t stopped a smattering of people from taking up the issue with us. Not many, but enough to warrant this post.

So if there are any others out there who have read Deep Nutrition who would like to present objections, exceptions, or demurs to the scientific claims regarding physical attractiveness in the 30 or so pages of our book, we now formally invite you to air your concerns. Now is your chance to explain to us and our readers how it is wrong or, as one person recently wrote, “morally reprensible,” to suggest that there may be some benefit for mothers-to-be to follow a dietary regime best suited to the production of a beautiful, healthy baby.

We get letters every day from parents thanking us for helping them navigate the ever-shifting currents of dietary advice. They like knowing what’s best for their kids. That makes me happy. As a doctor, I know how lucky I am to have the chance to help so many people I’ve never even met. But today I’m speaking directly to those readers who would have me lock away this critical information rather than communicate it to those hoping to put it to use. Let’s hear your side of the story. But this time with specifics.

Speak directly to that newlywed couple who just wrote me, the ones dreaming of their beautiful baby. Comment now or forever hold your peace.

With over two decades of clinical experience and expertise in genetic and biochemical research, Dr. Cate can help you to reverse metabolic disease and reshape your body.

Please note: Please do not share personal medical information in a comment on our posts. It will be deleted due to HIPAA regulations.

This Post Has 59 Comments

  1. I know this is an old post, but the only thing that makes me uncomfortable with this is that there my be a sense of blame if the baby is not born perfect. I have a friend who is in her early 60s who recently began a huge dietary shift. I would love to hand her a copy of your book but I can’t-she has a daughter in her 30s who was born with several birth defects. I am thinking she would blame herself (if she doesn’t already). When I read something, I imagine how different people would interpret it. When people say “I’m a cancer survivor, I won.” I feel badly for the family members of those who died of cancer. Maybe I’m too sensitive!

    That aside, I love the book.

  2. Hi Cate, I read the book and the only thing I didn’t get was the tallness thing. I thought of the case of Japanese people which I remember you mentioned briefly, which have been eating mostly nutritious food for centuries (until recently probably) and also have the highest life expectancy in the world, however they’re also quite short and have been for centuries, I imagine.
    Another issue I had was, whenever I’ve seen “reconstructions” of paleo-man based on their skulls, I never thought they were particularly attractive and they were the most healthy era right?

    I apologize to the Japanese if I’ve made any generalizations or demonstrated the depth of my ignorance, but these were the only issues that came to my mind in this chapter.

  3. I LOVED Deep Nutrition – it all made so much sense to me. Since childhood I’ve been interested in food and nutrition (that is what becomes of a child when food is scarce and of poor quality). Your book made me glad that my parents didn’t feed me a standard diet – glad that my parents neglected to feed me much at all rather than feeding me harmful foods. Both of my parents grew up in the country in Australia – where food is much better quality than elsewhere in the world. My father is a genius and my mother had movie-star good looks. I’m the second sibling – my older brother got the genius IQ and the good looks (but he also has Asperger’s Syndrome). I could have done with some of his genetic advantages, but I feel pretty satisfied with my lot.

    I have five daughters and they are all beautiful and intelligent (by anyone’s standards). I attribute this to my attention to nutrition over the years. Now I’m over 40 I’m concerned with anti-aging foods and safeguarding my children’s children.

    Thank you for the work you do! My girls are also embracing the food rules and taking good care of their genetic heritage. The only thing I wish is that I’d read your book 20 years ago!

  4. …work 70 years ago, but the food industry ignored/disregarded it for profit, and even the whole science of nutrition kept peddling what Gary Taubes refers to as pseudoscience. I can see how some people find the beauty=good parts of DN uncomfortable, but they’re missing the point entirely, and you are right to talk about this crucial issue. Don’t let naysayers (and their unsubstantiated objections) get to you – you’re a hero, keep up the good work!

  5. I read Deep Nutrition over the winter vacation, and it was when we went to the local shrine for New Years (I live in Japan) that I looked at the crowd and it really hit me: how malnourished everyone looked, with sallow skin and hunched shoulders, hardly anybody looked healthy at all! And then reading Weston Price shortly after really hammered the point home, that we’d ALL be beautiful, fit, strong and healthy if we only ate right. It made me pretty angry, realising that Price published his…

  6. Dear Dr. Cate:

    I have read your book Deep Nutrition & I have a quick question regarding the chapter on sugars: is the difference between unrefined and refined sugars comparable to the difference between say brown rice and white rice? The popular view these days is that unrefined sugars are a lot better for you & I am just curious about how much sugar intake per week/month you feel can be part of a healthy diet.

    Thank you!
    Mia

    1. Mia
      Good question. Sugar is sugar. We wrote an entire chapter in Deep Nutrition, Chapter 9 entitled Sickly Sweet: How Carbohydrate-Rich Diets Block Metabolic Function, to address the confusion and it also answers your other questions.

      1. Thanks, Dr. Cate! I will reread the chapter (it is very dense). One last question: what about liquor, wine, and beer? These break down into sugars so how does that fit into the equation?

  7. I’m not sure if this is the place to ask but thought it fit. I’m 7 weeks pregnant and can’t stomach much in the way of food. Is it okay to eat whatever you can stomach simply to be eating or should I look at things like Diclectin to manage nausea and eat better? And I use whatever lightly, I dot mean pocessed junk, an example is today all I can stomach is fruit. Yesterday it was mostly bread, soaked of course.

    What do you think of Diclectin?

    Thanks so much!!

  8. I just want to say thanks for the amazing work you two are doing. I’m currently studying holistic nutrition and I can honestly say that of all the books I’ve read yours is one of the absolute best. You’ve done a great job at breathing new life into, and expanding upon the discoveries of Dr. Weston Price. Eventually understanding of the strong relationship between diet, craniofacial development, health, and athleticism will be common knowledge, but only because of work like this 🙂

  9. This part of the book did make me feel a tad squirmy. When I stop to investigate the source of these feelings I think it is the possibility that maybe we are judging “beautiful people” as more valuable. In fact that is not what you were saying at all. I think the people that were upset by this part of the book perhaps didn’t process what you were really trying to say. I LOVE your book and what to buy cases of them and pass them out to everyone I know. Keep up the good work.

  10. Dr. Cate, I love your book Deep Nutrition for many reasons. I heard you first on a blog talk radio Underground Wellness and immediately bought your book. I have already had my children, but I am working on ‘keeping’ the eggs healthy of my two daughter’s. (I have son to as well) Your book taught me things I had never heard of before with regard to facial structures and birth order, just to name a few. I appreciate your perspective and your insight. I show this book to anybody and everybody!

  11. Awesome! Keep us posted on the consult forum and how it will work! This is all so interesting to me and the information out there is vast and confusing! Thanks again!

  12. So how does this work? Does MTHFR get turned off and on relative to diet? Is supplementation necessary for people with the defect or can food alone trigger a change? I’d love to support my children the best way possible. Now, of course, it’s all with food. Completely whole, fresh, organic, grass-fed, etc. My 2 1/2 year old has been a GAPS eater since birth, so never any grains. Would love to understand genetic defects and epigenetics more given this example! Invaluable info! Thanks!!

    1. These are good and important questions. I will be available to address exactly this kind of individualized issue in a consult forum that will be available on a limited basis starting in May.

  13. Recently I found out I am compound heterozygous for MTHFR. SO, I’m wondering what that means from an epigenetic perspective? It correlated with my health history AND with organic acids testing showing a need for the b vitamins even though I was taking prenatals. Then 4 years later, taking prenatals that used the methyl forms, the test showed improvement, however my diet had also become more paleo/WAP. My oldests OAT is similar to mine, and obviously did not get the methyl Bs from my prenatals

  14. She and her two sisters ruined the health of their later years due to their religious adherence to the low-fat recommendations of the powers that be. The three of them had quite strong self discipline. Such an unhappy irony that in seeking the best for their health, they got ill health and, they have all passed away now, most likely died before their time given the importance of fat in the body.

  15. I have a confession:

    I grew up in a very stressful environment. Turns out, study after study shows that when animals, including humans, grow up in a stressful environment, the stress negatively impacts mood, memory and intelligence.

    I could respond like this: “What’s this! Are these researches saying I’m stupid? Is that it? As if I haven’t gone though enough, now I’m stupid?!?”

    That is, I could make it all about me. Alternatively, I could help promote low-stress environments for children.-LS

    1. And the same can be said about gestational diabetes, smoking, alcohol, and drug use—all of which have been associated with birth defects, lowered IQ, low birth weight, and increased health problems for the remainder of their lives.

      1. Dr Cate and Luke,

        You are making some great points about what is already known about optimal conditions for healthy gestation. So of course it follows that the nutrition information you have in your book leads to optimal gestational HEALTH in addition to, or expressed by, the optimal, or beautiful, facial structure. It is about beauty, yes, nothing wrong with wanting the best for one’s baby, but it is also about heartiness and healthiness.

        Thanks for an intriguing avenue of information.

      2. You and Luke use words like “associated.” Just because boats are present when bridges go up, does not mean they are the CAUSE. Just because you claim nutrition creates a differentiation in appearance does not make it so. It is not necessarily the “cause although it may be present.

        As a Dr. Myself of a different type I welcome a debate with you…publicly. although I am a Psychologist and have much to say to this. I am not saying I disagree with you…I just feel you both are far too linear…

        1. …in your thinking. I applaud your thinking outside the box to some degree. However there is much more to it. I challenge you to a debate on this. In a forum that has no character limitation so we can either write or speak (preferable) in real time.

  16. I think that in general we can agree on who is attractive, but beauty is, in part, subjective. I think it’s difficult to put a solid scientific value on something like this. Clearly this is a delicate subject and should be treated as such and I think you have done a good job. I am so glad that you allow your readers to have a chance to respond. I want to thank you for the tremendous amount of work you did in writing it; reading it has been life-changing for me!

  17. I love the book, but I must admit I think this chapter hasn’t sat well with me for a few reasons. It’s easy to see how (taken out of context) someone could apply the idea that people who are unattractive are therefore not as intelligent/healthy and therefore not as valuable as human beings. The other thing inconsistency in my mind is the amount of unattractive people I have met that are highly intelligent and vice versa.

  18. Sounds like we all agree: Being a “hotty” physically is incommensurate to our value as human beings. Trust me: physically, I’m no prize. I wound up with Cate, beautiful inside and out, not because of what I look like but because of who I am, and who I endeavor to become.

    My young years were tough. And my list of physical issues didn’t help matters much. But what they gave me was the opportunity to learn, to help that one child, the one who will be born 10 months from now. It’s all about her. -L

  19. Hi Dr. Cate,

    I ordered your book after hearing you on the Ask The Low Carb experts podcast. On low low/carb version of the paleo diet, I have lost and 40 pounds and am have maintained it for a year. I’m still getting healthier and although the weight loss has slowed, I’m definetely getting a better body composition.

    I love your book. Although the sections on beauty makes us uncomfortable, especially those of us who are not beautiful, the points were well argued. Real beauty = health.

  20. I’ll just say, finally, that my mother was obviously well nourished as she had very healthy kids and I remember her focus on nutritional health throughout my childhood. But this was a woman so devoted to her family’s health that she abandoned her “old irish ways” banished fats, switched to margarine and did all the “good things” from the intrusive government guidelines. She ruined the health of her own later years and her 5 kids struggle untethered to any tradition in the nutritional wasteland

    1. Jayne
      Your story is so very common. I hope she is still healthy enough that she can still share some good recipes and kitchen tips?

  21. Oh, and another thing, when my son as a preteen required braces and then most of his friends did also, I kept on wondering why nobody’s teeth fit in their jaws anymore. I knew very few people with braces when I was a kid. Sooo, your book helped me figure that one out.

    It is maddening that this information was know via Weston Price, but the government, rather than leaving us alone to seek nutrition along the lines of our grandmothers, fed us the crappy advice that hurt our children’s health.

  22. Luke and Dr Cate, I found that part of your book compelling, fascinating and so sad as I could have done so much better for my dear son. Although, I do see having him as a gift of fertility from my inadvertently eating low carb to lose weight (after years of infertility we had actually given up when we found ourselves expecting). So, I think there is a powerful low carb connection for the heartbreaking struggle with infertility some couples have.

  23. I actually thought your discussion of beauty as a natural indicator of health to be out-of-the-box, but abstract at first. No other low-carb book I’ve read so far makes this connection so straightforward and logical. However, I’ve also lived this transformation myself via dietary changes: at my heaviest, 16 months (and 150+ pounds ago), a friend said I looked like Russel (the chubby boy scout) from the animated movie “Up”; that same person now says I look like the Filipino Dean Cain (Superman!).

  24. I don’t think you’re advocating plastic surgery and focus on externals…you’re just explaining how we can help our babies. I like to focus on whole health and internal beauty (truth, attitude, generosity, etc.). I think your desire to help people shows you, too, focus on the many different aspects of beauty and goodness. Even Jesus wasn’t attractive physically, but there was never a man/God like Him! 🙂

  25. Thanks, Luke and Dr. Cate, Some of our children are adopted. People tell me they are beautiful. Obviously, I couldn’t control what happened before their birth…but doesn’t their diet after birth matter too? They have good teeth and strong bodies and I think following the lifestyle outlined in your book helps. Could people respond negatively because they think you’re referring to creating a perfect gene pool like Hitler? Obviously, mentally challenged and unattractive people deserve respect.

    1. Diet matters always, as I’m sure you know. There’s much growing to be done after birth and much can be accomplished, even making up for past deficiencies in some cases, by following a nutrient dense diet.

  26. Thanks everyone for your uplifting comments. It’s nice to hear. I didn’t get my teeth pulled like Kathy did. They took the file to mine, grinding off the edges of my teeth to make room. Twice.

    Cate and I had one goal with those first chapters: to convince parents good nutrition will bear great benefits for their kids. Many find the argument compelling. The idea that anyone would choose to block that message in the name of political correctness is disturbing. We’re for healthy children, period.

  27. Ultimately I was able to obtain straightening via the LVI method, but it required crowning of all my teeth. I really believe there is a relationship between tooth loss and health, as well as beauty. If there is any way to endow a child, even in the preconception period, with a beautiful smile, I would certainly go for it! (P.S. ‘My mother grew up in rural North Dakota in the 1930’s and ’40’s — she had a gorgeous smile!)

  28. The major positive for me in your book was that of obtaining a broad smile with a full set of teeth. As a teenager, my mouth required the pulling of 8 teeth to “make room” via the “railroad-track” type of braces. Yet I continued to suffer the erosion of front teeth (top, which were crowned, then the bottom, which were softer than the crowns). Ultimately the pressure on these crowns resulted in their coming off, because of the bad bite. (continued)

  29. After 20 years, I left Washington DC and returned to my small rural hometown. Your book very much answered for me the question I raised every time I drove through my hometown…the question was, why did so many people look/appear abnormal? I was very perplexed with this for quite a while…the facial deformities were so rampant. I am trying to put this gently, but the lack of proper deep nutrition has created a highly-visible, startling decline in physical attractiveness in the population.

  30. I am happy that somebody finaly wrote about this topic, which was known before (in western societes) mainly to ‘bold and beautiful’.

  31. Whenever “Truth” is found it upsets those who refuse to adapt, and those who dislike Freedom of Speech unless it parrots their beliefs. The earth is flat and the earth is at the center of the universe, of course they are! Truth is not an object that can be possessed but rather a value that must always be pursued. Please continue your Quest for Truth because those of us that share in your odyssey are extremely grateful for your thoughtful and continued quest for truth and wisdom.

  32. …very crooked teeth, hearing problems, retina detachment issues, etc. But you can tell by looking at us all that we all suffer the same issues…you can visually see that there are problems. I think what people are griping about, is that they are taking what you said out of context…
    I’ve talked with all my kids about the importance of eating correctly for their children to come for this very reason. I am grateful for your great explanation of this and believe it makes PERFECT sense!

  33. Your book is excellent, and doing whatever we can for the health of the next generation is hugely important. But I admit that the chapter in question makes me a little uncomfortable. Honestly, I think it comes down to the use of celebrity photos, no matter how well they make your point. I have no problem with the photos of the four anonymous beauties of different ethnic backgrounds. But I find myself imagining, oh, Nicky Hilton, Googling herself late some night, and… do you see what I mean?

    1. Yes. And believe me we struggled with the question of how to make the point without making people feel bad, not to mention my own younger siblings.

      In the end, Luke said that as a younger sibling himself, who had to wear heavy, thick glasses and painful braces (both of which he had to pay for with his paper route money) while his older brother endured none of this, and since growing up he had no explanation he had lived decades with the feeling that he was being punished in some way. So learning the truth was a relief. He felt it was helpful to know there was a reason that had less to do with permanent genetic damage and more to do with altered gene expression that could be optimized once re-exposed to improved nutrition.

      As for me, I like the way Luke looks!

      1. Having posted that, I thought about what I could have suggested you do instead. Everything I came up with required A LOT of time and some major funding. I think you are onto a very uncomfortable truth – and how difficult for a parent to confront the possibility that they have unwittingly made life harder for any of their kids. I have four; I think, “Well, my dietary ideas may have been wacko, but at least I believed in child spacing!” But I have a dear nephew going through exactly what Luke did.

        1. I would like to add that I have a large extended family in which I have seen your message confirmed many times over, from the younger “Irish twin” who really struggles, to the much younger “bonus babies” who don’t appear to be at a disadvantage at all. I often go to a bookstore that carries a cookbook by Paula Deen’s sons. One look at their photo on the cover and I had no doubt whatsoever as to which son was older, by less than three years. But it bothers me a little that this jumps out at me!

          1. We call that feeling “swallowing the red pill.” You know the movie The Matrix, with Keanu Reaves? He sees underlying patterns of the world people live in who have not yet swallowed the red pill and are not aware of the deeper truth that they live in an artificial world. Some are glad they’ve done it but some always regret swallowing the pill.

  34. I agree with Robert. Reading your book helped me to put the pieces together and made me realize that there really is a “standard” for human development. Ever since reading your book, I have paid more attention to facial features. One thing I have noticed is that the younger generation tends to have narrow faces that are devoid of distinctive features that contribute to sexual dimorphism. Sad-a whole generation raised on 2% milk and pasta that never had a chance even prior to conception

  35. Dr Cate
    As my students say, “haters gonna hate”. I would bet that no one takes your challenge much less be able to offer any proof at all that you are mistaken. Personally I thank you and give you credit for changing my life for the better. My only problem is that you are too far away for me to come to you as a patient. If I could only find a local doctor that is willing to think for themselves instead of swallowing the cw dogma. Thank you and keep stirring the waters. You are a lifeline.

  36. Dr .Cate
    I love both your books, and I have used them to teach my daughters and sons about traditional nutrition. I tell them that as they get into their reproductive years, eating a traditional diet will make a big difference in them being able to conceive and bear healthy children. I gave my daughter lots of fish and krill oil, along with other supplements before and after her pregnancy. It is a worthwhile investment. You and your child are what you eat, and as a nursing mom it is important to continue to eat well. We eat lots of traditional foods that we cook ourselves. My grandson who is 6 months old is vibrant and beautiful. I wish to share this lifestyle of optimum health with all my friends and family. But the marketing pressure and the brainwashing has been so strong that many don’t want to hear the message. They would rather suffer, and this hurts my heart, but it is their choice. It usually takes a health crisis for them to seek alternatives and become open to other ideas. With my wife she started to get alopecia, and that was her ah ha moment. She has been strictly paleo for 6 months and drinks her bone broth every day. Well her inflammation has gone down, gut health has improved, carbohydrate cravings have gone away, and her hair has grown back. Thanks for writing your book.

  37. I haven’t read the book yet (did whip through your other one though and heard you speak at the Raw Milk Symposium). I have run into this idea before in traditional food circles/WAPF etc. The way I see it is we are evolutionarily tuned (or designed) to seek mates who are “attractive”. Outer beauty is a sign of what is inside — what health a mate might expect for its partner in creating offspring.

  38. … of beauty, that there are infinite variations on the theme. If by preparation and foresight, by how we eat and live, we can give our children health, strength, beauty, and more, why would we not avail ourselves of that? It’s so easy to do, with such predictable results, for the most part. Should we ONLY start working to give our children our best AFTER they are born? I think this kind of planning for our children has political and philosophical overtones that some people don’t want to face.

      1. I agree wholeheartedly!! I love how you described in Deep Nutrition, that what we all find “innately beautiful” is a face that has a full jaw structure, wide palate, etc. These are all characteristics of a healthy body and structure…one that had enough nutrients in the womb to grow correctly! My family has Stickler’s Syndrome – we have babies that all look the same! Very narrow jaws and palates, with cleft’s in the soft palate and Pierre Roban (sp?) due to the incompletely formed jaw…

  39. … so it makes sense that a healthy human would manifest order and symmetry in the body, which the viewer would see as beauty. Why would we not wish for that in our children, even aside from the “social advantages?” Health, symmetry, order, beauty are all good things, gifts from God that, in cooperation with God, by healthy eating and healthy living, we can share with our children. Not to say there is (or should be) only one form of beauty (ie. must be blonde, blue-eyed.) That’s the marvel…

  40. Dr. Cate-I read your book and am now reading “Rules.” I think the book is great, and I have no problem with the parts about beauty, in fact, I think it confirms something I believe, in general, about the plan for nature. God designed all beings, to a greater or lesser degree, to reflect his own perfect beauty. Of course, his is spiritual, so the physical manifestations of beauty in nature can only be icons of his. I see an element of beauty in order, in symmetry, things like that…

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