Gary Paul Nabhan is a nature writer who enjoys an international reputation and has long been committed to protecting biodiversity and social and cultural diversity. Many famous magazines, including The New York Times and Time Magazine, rated him as a pioneer of the localized diet movement and thought that he had made creative contributions to the protection of community culture and food diversity.

? 2. 1 genetic defects

Is "genetic defect" necessarily a defect?

Sardinia is a high incidence area of malaria. In order to adapt to this disease, most residents in Sardinia have mutated into G6PD deficiency patients with low G6PD enzyme activity. This disease will affect the normal oxidation of red blood cells, but it will also prevent plasmodium from getting enough energy in red blood cells, so it cannot grow and reproduce. Vicia faba, the staple food of residents, contains two strong oxidants, Vicia faba pyrimidine and Isouridine, which eventually destroys the stability of erythrocyte membrane, makes red blood cells more easily destroyed and prevents the reproduction of plasmodium.

Gene mutation is sometimes described as a "genetic defect", but the author thinks that it is not so much a defect as an adaptation to a special environment. Evolutionary pressures such as food choice, disease and environmental pressure will lead to gene changes and selection. Traditional food can better ensure the health of the body through epigenetic regulation mechanism.

2.2 Best recipes

? Is there a omnipotent best recipe?

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Whether it's a recipe that takes a region famous for its "health" as an example, or a recipe that traces back to the source as a gimmick to locate ancient healthy recipes and thinks that the food and genes were in harmony at that time, it is obliterating the differences between people. Even the same food has different effects on people in different environments. Real healthy food is a traditional food that matches the living environment and genes.

Taking olive oil, which is widely used in Crete's traditional diet, as an example, on the one hand, the adaptability of genetic level to eating habits is expounded, so that people with different genetic backgrounds can improve their lipid clearance rate after 3-4 weeks. On the other hand, the differences between them are expounded. Under different genetic backgrounds, the same food may have different benefits for us. Different people carry different alleles and have different levels of absorption and metabolism of the same lipid food. Even if we eat the same amount, we may not be able to absorb the nutrients we need like Crete.

2.3 Super Tasters and Slow Tasters

? The slow taster has a high capsaicin content because of eating a lot of peppers for a long time, and his endorphin system is already overloaded, so he can't release more endorphins to relieve pain, while the super taster has a very strong pain tolerance.

? Why are peppers spicy? Targeted threats.

The disseminators of pepper seeds are mainly birds, and their VR 1 channels will only be activated under the stimulation of a large number of peppers. Mammals, on the other hand, do not play a role in the spread of pepper seeds, but the signal transduction channel VR 1 channel that feels pain in the body will feel burning after ingesting capsaicin. Therefore, in order to scare away animals that are not conducive to population reproduction, pepper achieves the goal of directional threat by producing a large amount of capsaicin, which keeps mammals that are not conducive to reproduction away from themselves and does not pose a threat to birds that are conducive to reproduction.

3. 1 Everyone's eating habits are the result of ancestors adapting to the original environment;

3.2.？ When we leave the environment where we are familiar with genes and live elsewhere, we will have double changes in heredity and social identity;

3.3 Targeted dietary structure adjustment is the simplest and best way to solve the problem of genetic defects;

3.4.？ For a specific social and natural environment, a genetic defect is likely to be the cause of another competitive advantage at the same time, and their coexistence is the result of adaptation balance, so it is blind, rude and dangerous to use genetic technology to correct genes;

3.5.？ The greatest significance of traditional culture is that it closely combines genes, diet and lifestyle to keep people's health in the best state, which is also the reason why this traditional culture will be handed down;

3.6. Science itself cannot guarantee that we live healthier lives. We should be deeply aware of what affects our health and find the best solution by examining the relationship between food, genes and customs.