These are ingredients that Indigenous peoples have lived without for thousands of years. Prior to the introduction of these foods, Native peoples lived virtually disease free and in harmony with the Mother Earth. 

By identifying these products you’re putting them on your food radar to be conscious of when you’re out and about. The idea is to get to the point where you’re not consuming any of these foods or substances. 

IDENTIFYING HARMFUL FOODS

• gluten products
•  wheat products
• alcohol products
• dairy products
• corn based products
• soy products
• products containing high fructose corn syrup (sodas, energy drinks, alcohol)
• products containing refined sugar (maltodextrin, sucrose, mycose, dextrose, as well as a plethora of other synonyms for sugar)
• fried foods cooked in hydrogenated oils like sunflower oil, corn oil, and wesson oil
• pastries
• donuts
• products with labels like 'fat free’ and 'low fat products’

IDENTIFYING ANCESTRAL FOODS

• Ancestral foods are local and organic, non GMO, seasonal, and environmentally sustainable.

• AF is mostly processed at home, with our hands.

• AF eating is cultural. Native people can role model this way of
   eating, as we are the closest to the earth, and bring this foodway to
   tribes and the larger world community
• Our ancestors would recognize AF foods and AF ingredients. They
   could make these foods with little instruction.
• AF foods are any foods that can be fished, hunted, or collected from
   a nest.
• AF foods are any foods that can be harvested from the earth or water
   and tossed fresh into a salad.
• AF foods are foods that indigenous people enjoyed for tens of
   thousands of years before agriculture, before contact with European
   colonists.
• AF foods and drinks need little or no labeling, minimal packaging,
   very few ingredients, and have undergone minimal travel.
• AF foods nourish the mind/body/heart/spirit.
• AF foods are low glycemic - with carbohydrate rich foods like yams
   and sweet potatoes for high activity levels and athletes.
• They are naturally low anti-nutrients, nutrient-dense, dairy-free, and lack the addictive factors of processed foods and carbohydrate-rich foods and drinks introduced at contact.
• Eating AF is treating food as sacred, knowing the farmers and origins of the foods, knowing the paths the food has taken from the source (wild, farmed, or gardened) to the table, thanking the food, Mother Earth, and Creator.
• Eating AF is sharing food and the wellness that it brings with the community. 
• AF foods should contain less than 4-5 ingredients if it is in a package. All the ingredients are real foods. Ancestral foods never contain artificial substances/poisons like chemicals, flavors, hydrogenated, maltodextrin, sugar, yeast, corn syrup, or other broken parts of whole foods.
• AF foods are usually a single, whole ingredient such as fish, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds.

• Your ancestor, or an indigenous ancestor from around the world, they could identify the food and prepare something healthy with it. * with the exception of certain hybridized components, such as coconut oil. 

Thank you to Regina & Andy at Native Paleo for the contribution of this information.