In an interview with Food Tank, physician and New York Times bestselling author Dr. Mark Hyman discusses his new book, The Pegan Diet: 21 Practical Principles for Reclaiming Your Health in a Nutritionally Confusing World.
The Pegan Diet draws attention away from debates over specific diets and focuses on the benefits of plant-based foods and high-quality meats.
Hyman’s new book outlines detailed strategies to promote the health of people and the planet. He explains how regenerative scientific principles can foster both personal and environmental health.
“I wanted to come up with a set of principles that allow us to navigate what we eat in an intelligent way based on science and common sense that aspires to be regenerative,” Hyman tells Food Tank.
Hyman also discusses how a personalized diet of whole, unprocessed, and high-quality foods most effectively leverages the medicinal powers of food.
“Food is medicine. It’s not like medicine. It’s actually a biological force that drives all the biochemistry in our body,” Hyman tells Food Tank.
Hyman notes the importance of healthy diets in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the amplified risk factors associated with poor health. He explains that healthy diets can alleviate underlying chronic diseases that make individuals more susceptible to the virus.
“In this country, we have a pandemic upon a pandemic—a pandemic of chronic disease which is underneath the pandemic of COVID-19,” says Hyman.
Hyman also acknowledges the barriers to healthy eating that some marginalized communities face. In addition to limits on time and access to healthy foods, he explains that these groups are also specifically targeted with advertisements for unhealthy foods. Hyman tells Food Tank that healthy diets can help alleviate chronic diseases and address structural issues that disproportionately affect marginalized communities.
Hyman believes that all eaters, communities, and ecosystems can benefit from the regenerative power of healthy food.
“Regenerate human health, communities, the earth, the climate, the soil, and the ecosystems that we live in.”
Watch the full conversation with Dr. Mark Hyman below:
