Tapping into nature and the power of protein to tell us what to eat, when to eat, how to control weight and how to live longer.

How is it that a baboon, a cat and a locust instinctively know what to eat for balanced nutrition, and we humans can’t seem to figure it out?

Mixing a nutritionally balanced diet, with a precise ratio of protein to carbohydrate, seems daunting, but animals, from apes to cockroaches, all manage it instinctively. It comes down to the essential role of appetite to communicate the body’s needs to the brain. Humans have this ability too, but our appetites have been hijacked in the modern food environment, causing obesity and the serious diseases that come with it.

David Raubenheimer and Stephen J. Simpson have been studying appetite in animals, transforming the science of nutrition with their findings. In Eat Like the Animals they take us on a journey from jungle to laboratory and back to our own kitchens to understand how and why we eat, how appetites are fed and regulated, and how, in the end, it all comes down to protein.

Armed with this knowledge, they explain simple steps you can take towards eating a more natural diet for optimal health and a longer life.