Posted on 12/19/2014 8:55:32 AM PST by Gamecock
ATLANTA, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- A new survey by anthropologists calls into question the scientific and historical justification for the paleo diet. Early man, they say, was an opportunist, not a nutritionist or dieter. By now, most people have heard of the paleo diet. The popular diet is named for the Paleolithic Age, the expansive period of prehistory characterized by so-called cavemen and primitive stone tools. Its followers forgo grains and processed foods in favor of meat, fish and vegetables.
Its emphasis on protein and whole foods isn't without merit, but its genesis is based on the idea that humans were at their physical and nutritional best some 10,000 and 2.5 million years ago -- before the modern diet was corrupted by the advent of agriculture.
While the new scientific paper -- compiled by researchers at Georgia State University and published in the Quarterly Review of Biology -- doesn't attack the paleo diet's nutritional validity, it does question the logic of attributing any single nutritional philosophy to ancient man.
"Based on evidence that's been gathered over many decades, there's very little evidence that any early hominids had very specialized diets or there were specific food categories that seemed particularly important, with only a few possible exceptions," anthropologist Ken Sayers said in a press release.
Sayers and his colleagues say early man ate what he ate based on availability. The percentage of protein included in the diets of paleolithic peoples (and other other nutritional details) likely varied from place to place, depending on climate and geology.
Furthermore, Sayers argues, today's fruits and vegetables are entirely different than the types of things people were finding in the fields and forests thousands of years ago.
Most scientists agree that assuming ancient man was in any way healthier than modern man is misguided. Paleolithic people had short lifespans, never living long enough to become susceptible diseases like cancer and other so-called "diseases of affluence."
"Throughout the vast majority of our evolutionary history, balancing the diet was not a big issue," Sayers said. "They were simply acquiring enough calories to survive and reproduce. Everyone would agree that ancestral diets didn't include Twinkies, but I'm sure our ancestors would have eaten them if they grew on trees."
“Basically a diet very heavy in grains only came about around 10,000 years ago and humans have not yet evolved to respond well to that diet.”
They why do we have molars designed to grind grain?
Molars are designed for grinding all food (try eating a steak without using your molars).
You can google paleo for beginners and have all your questions answered in a few minutes if you are actually interested.
It has only been for the last 70 or so years that big AG and their government cronies have convinced Americans to eat rancid hydrogenated seed oils(margarine) instead of lard or butter from animals.
That is why you cant buy beef broth in the supermarket, only “beef flavored hydrolyzed vegetable protein” for instance.
What’s that quote again? “Nasty, brutish, and short.”
It has only been for the last 70 or so years that big AG and their government cronies have convinced Americans to eat rancid hydrogenated seed oils(margarine) instead of lard or butter from animals.Most of the information used for those decisions were compiled by scientists...the same type of folks that conducted the study in this thread's title.
Anthropology is not among my favorite "sciences," and most anthropologists are narrowly educated fools.
They often remind me of Mark Twain observation of "... such large returns in conjecture from such small investment in fact."
They are delusional, and more often than not treat their own or familiar theory as fact.
Of course the Paleos took the path of least resistance! They weren't stupid.
D'OH!
Agriculture and searching for health food stores is work!
If you need an explanation (and you're over 12), no explanation is possible.
Ayup.
I beg to differ on the beef broth. If you go to a high end market you can find real beef broth, it just costs more than it does to make it yourself. It also tends to be loaded with sodium and crap like Bisphenol since it comes from a can or mylar lined, small plastic jug.
Hobbes' "State of Nature," i.e. Paleo.
Hey, these guys are dogmatic religionist zealots.
Don't confuse them with facts
They are not content with just "doing their thing."
They must coerce the rest of us into also "doing their thing."
They can eat skunk rear ends for all I care, so long as they leave me alone.
Who is stupid enough to believe prehistoric man “dieted”? He spent his entire life trying to find anything to eat — anything.
Not disputing the time line, even though I think it is bull-cocka:
Basically, people were the same then, as they are now. Color me amazed...
You’re right.
My daughter is very into Paleo and I’ve never once heard her attribute the diet to ancient wisdom or any crap like that. They look at what foods were available - in season - and understand that this is what human’s evolved to eat. The jump into agriculture was much too alien and fast for the human body to adapt to properly.
Yes. Early humans were opportunistic. And that meant that they didn’t have access to white flour or refined sugar. We’re still opportunistic eaters, which is why we’ll dig into cake if it’s sitting on the counter.
Yes, same type of scientist that are peddling global warming.
Exactly. That is a picture of beef flavored broth made with hydrolyzed vegetable protein instead of beef.
I was referring to the average supermarket. But they don’t sell it at Wegmans for instance though I’m sure some others have it as you suggest.
I make my own from grass feed beef bones right from the farm.
Real bone broth is becoming more and more popular as people reject the fake food the government and food marketers have been lying to them about all these years.
There is a bone broth cafe just opened up in NYC.
Maybe look up the word “diet” in the dictionary. It’s not just about losing weight!
Bingo!
It’s worse than that. The Indians killed the American Bison indiscriminately. If they needed a horn, they’d kill one and just take the horns. They were so plentiful Indians didn’t need to worry. It’s the pre-Columbian version of the Tragedy of the Commons.
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