The Genealogy of Plant Foods

by Nathaniel Altman

• ISBN13: 9798888503096
• ISBN10: 8888503099
• eBook ISBN(s): 9798888503102
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2026-01-13
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• More Book Details

Summary

Reveals the origins, uses, and medicinal properties of over 100 plant foods

• Offers entries of 106 plant foods, including their origins, histories, and religious significance as well as culinary and medicinal uses

• Covers an extensive range of fruits, vegetables, grains, pulses, nuts and seeds, herbs and spices as well as “specialty” foods like chocolate, pasta, sugar, coffee, and tea

• Provides nutritional and healing properties, based on the latest scientific findings on nutriceuticals and phytochemicals, to present each food as a medicine

The last major study of plant foods, Origin of Cultivated Plants, was first published in 1885. Since then scientists, historians, and anthropologists have learned so much more. The Genealogy of Plant Foods fills the knowledge gap for readers today who seek to learn about the plant foods upon which we depend.

Drawing on peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals, Nathaniel Altman offers accounts of the genealogy, histories, and nutritional and medicinal properties of 106 plant foods—foods that physically and spiritually sustain us. He includes fruits, vegetables, grains, pulses, nuts and seeds, herbs, and spices as well as “specialty” foods like chocolate, pasta, sugar, coffee, and tea. Readers will learn the genealogical story of these plant foods, along with the ways our ancestors prepared, ate, and used them as medicine.

Learn how the avocado, yam, lentil, and other foods detailed in this book migrated from their places of origin to where they can be found today, along with their mythological powers, spiritual significance, and the ancient and modern festivals held in their honor. The author discusses each plant’s nutritional and healing properties, based on the latest scientific findings on nutraceuticals and phytochemicals, to present each food as a medicine. Readers will learn the effects each food has on preventing chronic health conditions and how they can use the medicinal properties of these foods for their own personal wellness.

Author Biography

Nathaniel Altman is the author of The Honey Prescription, Healing Springs, and The New Oxygen Prescription as well as many books on diet, alternative healing, metaphysics, and relationships. He has appeared on more than 150 podcasts, radio, and television programs, and his articles have appeared in major venues. He lives in Brooklyn.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Tracing a New Genealogy

Botany 101: Taxonomy and Cultivation

Nutrition 101: Key Dietary Components

Fruits

Apple • Apricot • Avocado

Banana / Plantain • Blackberry • Blueberry

Cherry • Coconut • Cranberry

Date • Dragon Fruit

Fig • Grape • Guava

Kiwifruit • Lemon • Lime

Mango • Melon

Olive • Orange

Papaya • Peach and Nectarine • Pear

Persimmon • Pineapple • Plum

Pomegranate • Pomelo and Grapefruit

Raspberry • Strawberry

Watermelon

Vegetables

Artichoke • Asparagus

Beet • Broccoli • Brussels Sprouts

Cabbage • Carrot • Cauliflower • Celery

Collard Greens • Corn and Maize • Cucumber

Eggplant • Endive

Garlic • Green Bean • Green Pea

Kale • Kohlrabi

Leek • Lettuce

Mushroom • Okra • Onion

Pepper • Potato • Radish

Spinach • Squash and Pumpkin • Sweet Potato

Swiss Chard • Tomato • Turnip • Yam

Herbs and Spices

Basil • Black Pepper

Chive • Coriander and Cilantro • Dill

Mint • Oregano

Parsley • Rosemary

Sage • Thyme

Grains

Amaranth

Barley • Buckwheat

Oats • Quinoa

Rice • Rye

Wheat

Pulses

Bean • Chickpea

Lentil

Soybean

Nuts and Seeds

Almond

Cashew • Chestnut

Hazelnut

Macadamia

Peanut • Pecan • Pistachio • Pumpkin Seed

Sesame Seed • Sunflower Seed

Walnut

Other Foods

Chocolate • Coffee

Pasta

Sugarcane

Tea

Index