[DannyTN]

[Gamecock]

"...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."

Or presumably chocolate éclairs.

[Pearls Before Swine]

“opportunist” = scavenger?

[ClearCase_guy]

I think the scientists missed the point. People were not dieting — they just ate what was around (so, yes, opportunistic). No hot dogs, no white bread. Healthier without “trying” to be healthier.

[Vince Ferrer]

Good article. We project onto people in the past a lot of silly notions that say a lot more about us than them. For instance natives didn’t eat every part of a buffalo because they were hippie environmentalists. They did it because they were poor, and using every bit of the dead buffalo they already had was less effort than chasing another one.

[kosciusko51]

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."

Exactly.

[tophat9000]

and so if man was an opportunist during paleo times what paleo opportunities were there?...it’s not like there was fields of processed grain and food laying around your opportunity

[publius911]

Its followers forgo grains and processed foods in favor of meat, fish and vegetables.

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!

[pabianice]

Who is stupid enough to believe prehistoric man “dieted”? He spent his entire life trying to find anything to eat — anything.

[vpintheak]

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...

[minnesota_bound]

You think? There were no 7-11’s around for some HoHo’s and Ding Dongs.

[left that other site]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....BACON!