text: The Roots Of Mental Longevity | Tribune Content Agency (August 5, 2019)
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  But diet practices, it turns out, are as polarized as politics, and people often define themselves by what they don't eat–meat, gluten, dairy, carbohydrates. Achieving the healthiest intake may well be a challenge to one's identity as well as one's larder.
  There are growing signs of balance. A paleo diet nods to the hunter-gatherer way of life and has gained a huge following. It eliminates foods born from the invention of agriculture and instead relies on an array of meats, vegetables, and nuts–although in many incarnations it little resembles our ancestors' plant-based menu.A 2018 Neilsen survey, published in the journal Nutrients, found that 14 percent of Americans eat plant proteins predominantly–and the vast majority of them do not label themselves vegetarian, vegan, or anything. People seem to be plowing ahead on their own to honor their dietary roots.