The Oldest Diet NL editie

A book by Jolien Janzing

The Oldest Diet in the World

More than twenty years with MS. Fit, strong, and healthy. This is how.

Eating like a hunter-gatherer to calm inflammation, lose weight, and fight autoimmune disease.

Book cover of The Oldest Diet in the World by Jolien Janzing

Why “the oldest”?

Modern humans ate this way for 300,000 years. Everything else is new.

Agriculture arrived roughly 10,000 years ago — a blink of an eye in human history. Supermarkets, sugar and ultra-processed food arrived yesterday. Genetically, our bodies are still built for the food our ancestors hunted and gathered. That is the oldest diet in the world, and this book brings it back to your plate.

My story

The dragon sleeps

More than twenty years ago, I was diagnosed with MS. I refused to accept it. As an investigative journalist, I did what I always do: I went searching — through the science, to doctors who look at health differently, and eventually back in time, to the way hunter-gatherers ate.

The way our distant ancestors ate gave me my life back. I feel stronger and more vital than ever. I sometimes compare the disease to a fire-breathing dragon: my way of eating works like a sleeping potion. The dragon sleeps — and I dance happily around it.

“There is a way out — and it starts on your plate.”

— Jolien Janzing

What’s on your plate

Real, unprocessed food — the kind a hunter-gatherer would find

Our world changes at breakneck speed, yet genetically we have barely evolved. Our diet has drifted further than ever from what our bodies are built for. This book returns to the source.

On your plate

  • Meat and wild fish
  • Vegetables
  • Fruit, nuts and berries
  • Healthy fats — extra-virgin olive oil, avocado, and animal fats such as lard and tallow

Not on your plate

  • Processed food and fast food
  • Sugar and soft drinks
  • Grains, dairy, legumes and eggs
  • Anything a hunter-gatherer never knew

In the book you’ll find my personal journey and the stories of others, along with clear explanations, practical tips, recipes and extensive references. Not a crash diet — a way of life you can start today.

What others say

“Jolien Janzing has written this book with the passion of someone who has lived it, but also as an author who builds on facts. The result is a book well worth reading, full of no-nonsense advice on getting healthy and staying healthy.”

William Cortvriendt, MD Bestselling author of Hoe word je 100?, Lichter and Kankervrij

“With candour and courage, investigative journalist and novelist Jolien Janzing tells the story of her fight with multiple sclerosis — and how she won it. Richly documented, written for a wide readership, and a practical guide to eating the way our ancestors did.”

Peter Moulaert, MD

“This book is proof of just how much food and lifestyle shape your health. Jolien offers a powerful tool in the fight against autoimmune disease, obesity and other diseases of affluence — packed with practical advice and approachable recipes anyone can cook.”

Inge van der Helm Editor-in-chief, Paleo Magazine

“A brilliant account of how changes in lifestyle can quiet a chronic disease.”

Els Van Lathem, MD Integrative and lifestyle medicine (PNI)

“Jolien came to me for nutritional advice, but once I had heard her story I wondered whether there was anything left for me to teach her. Her approach — and her appetite for life — made a real impression on me.”

Siham Lassyane Orthomolecular nutritionist

“A wonderful book that gets to the heart of what health is really about.”

Mike Verest Founder of Leef Bewust Nederland

The book

One way out, two languages

English Book cover of The Oldest Diet in the World

The Oldest Diet in the World

Eating like a hunter-gatherer to calm inflammation, lose weight, and fight autoimmune disease. The English edition is on its way.

Published by Petit Bois Press

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Nederlands Book cover of OerFood, the Dutch original

OerFood

The Dutch original, published by Borgerhoff & Lamberigts — also available as e-book and audiobook.

Visit the Dutch site
Jolien Janzing

About Jolien

Journalist, novelist, and someone who lived it

Jolien Janzing is an author and former investigative journalist. She wrote for leading Dutch and Belgian magazines and made her name with historical novels such as Charlotte Brontë’s Secret Love (translated into English, German, French and Turkish) and Audrey & Anne. Her children’s book Atta, about a girl in prehistoric times, won multiple honours.

In The Oldest Diet in the World she combines her journalistic rigour with her own lived experience: a book that is both personal and well-founded.

Discover her literary work →

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