Reviewed: ‘Primal Cure’ by Steve Bennett

Welcome back to A Balanced Belly Book Club. Each month, we review a different gut health/healthy lifestyle book. June’s book is Primal Cure by Steve Bennett; and it’s reviewed by Bexie Jones, an IBD sufferer. You can find previous reviews below…

Reviewed: Clever Gut Diet

Reviewed: Good Gut Guide

Reviewed: Gut Makeover

Primal Cure: The secret to weight loss and a healthy long life that government, food and pharmaceuticals corporations might not want us to know by Steven Bennett

What is ‘Primal Cure’ by Steve Bennett?

Steve Bennett is an author and has pulled together research to consider what he believes is the ideal dietary lifestyle for humans.  Within the book, Steve has gone into depth to explore the evolution of diet in humans and the role of proteins, carbohydrates and diet, the role of nutrients, minerals and vitamins, the ideal food groups to eat and avoid and the impact chemical exposure has on our gut microbiome and our general wellbeing.

Steve advocates following a ketogenic diet with limited carbohydrates and periods of intermittent fasting as the way forward to minimise the development of modern diseases.  He touches on these within his book and talks about cancer, diet-related illneses such as diabetes, obesity, neurological and autoimmune illnesses.   He also puts into context his thoughts the role of the government in addressing dietary requirements in the western world, mainly USA and UK and why we should take responsibility for our own health. 

What I Liked About

 I felt Steve had a lovely writing style and the book was well formatted, colourful and easy to read.  Although this was a book loaded with information and research, I felt when reading this, it was more of a personal conversation with Steve and I felt fully engaged and wanting to read more.  Steve’s writing style made the book easy to digest and he explained concepts really well that were easy to understand and grasp.  I also felt the topics flowed well into each other and the explanations go into great depth.  When reading and reflecting on each chapter, I felt Steve answered everything I needed to know. 

I like the approach Steve takes to introduce the Primal cure and starts by giving some history into the human diet.  By understanding they way we used to eat, it made sense to me to consider how we have evolved physically, emotionally and spiritually and how are eating habits have changed.  

Having tried several diets over the years and dabbled in intermittent fasting, paleo, plant-based lifestyle, Steve drew on some points that felt familiar to me in terms of relating this to our historical patterns on living as well as the research of the benefits to wellbeing, to which I have also personally experienced. It gave me an opportunity to reflect on my own eating style and whether at this moment I was eating in relation to my DNA or eating for pleasure.  Hate to admit, but much of my eating is based on pleasure!

I found Steve’s explanation of fats, proteins and carbohydrates detailed and interesting.  The thought of giving up carbs (my comfort food L) does terrify me, however in his explanation into how the body works and responds and the impact it has on the pancreas, immune system, metabolism and gut microbiome, this all resonated with me.

  I also found Steve’s explanation of the gut microbiome fascinating and I learnt much from this chapter, such as 80% of the immune system being in the gut! Also, a bacteria called Fermincutes and its impact on the bodie’s ability to lose weight.  The way that Steve pulls the information and research together has made me question the state of our food chain today and question the government’s interest and role in society’s health.  Steve does voice strong opinions the government’s genuine interest in good food vs what the government earnings through taxes.  I will keep (the majority of) my own views to myself on this matter, however, one thing I will say is I find it interesting the government’s recent stance to reduce sugar in our soft drinks yet replaced them with more chemical sweeteners……

What I Didn’t Like About It

As mentioned above, Steve does draw on research demonstrating his views and will refer to particular researchers, other authors or studies.  However, I would have preferred to have seen a reference list in his book.  It would have been easier to have had a reference so I  could access further reading more easily and read on if I wanted to. 

Steve’s use of research was (in my opinion) lacking in the area where he talks about autoimmune diseases.  As I have an autoimmune disease, I read this area carefully and found that whilst Steve gives a testimony on his wife’s autoimmune experience, he does not appear to refer to any research that backs up his opinion that this diet could help and support those with autoimmune illnesses.  

I found Steve’s thinking a bit too simple when discussing this topic and diet being a significant factor as autoimmune illnesses are individual in how it affects the person, unpredictable in nature in terms of what part of the body your immune system attacks and certainly not always a diet-related illness. 

 I also felt this section was particularly short in comparison to the depths he gives to other topics and I felt he had made a blanket statement over an illness that has much more complexity to it.  Right at the end of the book admits he has no formal qualifications in nutrition (page 388).  This had disappointed me in some ways, as it made me question how selective Steve was being in the references he was using.  But if I’m honest, made some sense when I saw the what he had written on diseases as for those who have an autoimmune illness, there is no “one size fits all” approach.  For those who do have a health condition and want to follow this lifestyle, I would recommend you still seek advice from your doctors who know you and your health best. 

Finally, Steve has gone into great depth to talk about the food groups that can be eaten within the primal cure lifestyle and dedicates a whole chapter into explaining the benefits of these food groups.  However, one thing you will not find in the book is a starter plan.  Whereas this is fine for some people, there will be others who may need a helping hand.  

Overall Verdict

Despite Steve not having any formal qualification, I felt he had pulled together a good, informative book that explains how the body works and why diet can help in preventing modern diseases.  There is much detail in this book which in my opinion, can be a good starting point for anyone where this information is new to them.  I do plan to try Steve’s primal cure, however, this is more because much of what he has written, I am already familiar with and have already tried under different diets and lifestyles.  I have also picked up some valuable knowledge on the gut microbiome and this is an area I plan to do more research on.  However, I would recommend that additional reading should be done if considering following this lifestyle so others can gain a well-balanced view. 

You can buy ‘Primal Cure’ here.