Posted on 12/09/2004 10:44:58 AM PST by Helms
- 03-22-2004, 07:40 PM
By Gilien Silsby and Gia Scafidi
When our human ancestors started eating meat, evolution served up a healthy bonus - the development of genes that offset high cholesterol and chronic diseases associated with a meat-rich diet, according to a new USC study. Those ancestors also started living longer than ever before - an unexpected evolutionary twist.
The research by USC professors Caleb Finch and Craig Stanford appeared in the Quarterly Review of Biology.
"At some point - probably about 2 1/2 million years ago - meat eating became important to humans," said Stanford, chair of the anthropology department in the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, "and when that happened, everything changed."
"Meat contains cholesterol and fat, not to mention potential parasites and diseases like Mad Cow," he said. "We believe humans evolved to resist these kinds of things. Mad Cow disease - which probably goes back millions of years - would have wiped out the species if we hadn't developed meat-tolerant genes."
Finch, the paper's lead author, and Stanford found unexpected treasure troves in research ranging from chronic disease in great apes to the evolution of the human diet. They also focused on several genes, including apolipoprotein E (apoE), which decreases the risk of Alzheimer's and vascular disease in aging human adults.
Chimpanzees - which eat more meat than any other great ape, but are still largely vegetarian - served as an ideal comparison because they carry a different variation of the apoE gene, yet lack human ancestors' resistance to diseases associated with a meat-rich diet.
While chimpanzees have a shorter life span compared to humans, they demonstrate accelerated physical and cerebral development, remain fertile into old age and experience few brain-aging changes relative to the devastation of Alzheimer's seen in humans today. Finch and Stanford argued that the new human apoE variants protected the chimpanzees.
In a series of "evolutionary tradeoffs," the researchers said, humans lost some advantages over those primates, but gained a higher tolerance to meat, slower aging and longer lifespan.
Still, if humans developed genes to compensate for a meat-rich diet, why do so many now suffer from high cholesterol and vascular disease?
The answer is a lack of exercise and moderation, according to the researchers.
"This shift to a diet rich in meat and fat occurred at a time when the population was dominated by hunters and gatherers," said Finch, a USC University Professor and holder of the ARCO-William F. Kieschnick Chair in the Neurobiology of Aging.
"The level of physical activity among these human ancestors was much higher than most of us have ever known," he said. "Whether humans today, with our sedentary lifestyle, remain highly tolerant to meat eating remains an open question researchers are looking into."
Stanford, co-director of the university's Goodall Research Center, said that modern-day humans "tend to gorge ourselves with meat and fat."
"For example, our ancestors only ate bird eggs in the spring when they were available," he said. "Now we eat them year-round. They may have hunted one deer a season and eaten it over several months. We can go to the supermarket and buy as much meat as we want."
"I think we can learn a lesson from this," Stanford said. "Eating meat is fine, but in moderation and with a lot of exercise."
Not 2.5 million years ago. Back in those days, they didn't even have fire (or if they did, it was "just barely"). I'm sure "advanced" preservation methods like drying, salting, etc. only developed MUCH later.
</sarcasm>
They DID however, have an abunance of salts.
And let us not forget those wicker shields, to protect them selves from the cacti.
But wait, what did they do about the carnivorous plants? Could they not defend themselves with kindness from the Venus Fly Traps???
(gigglesnort)
I'll agree, he is a moron. But being around him is different. He's nice, forgiving, and fairly well mannered. He's a good guy, he's just stupid is all.
Curious ... what kind of vegetarian are you ? and do you eat mushrooms ?
how can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?
Take THAT PETA!!!!!!!!!!
??????????
I didn't scratch and crawl my way to the top of the food chain to eat a bowl of salad.
As soon as humans learned to use simple tools then hunting and trapping would become relatively easy. If you can throw a stick you can take rabbits, squirrels, and birds. If you can sharpen a spear you can take porcupines and fish. If you can dig a pit you can take large game. Omnivores eat anything they can get their hands on and keep eating it until its gone. The idea that they only killed one deer per season is ludicrous. Native American hunters took a deer or similar sized animal once a week. Moreover, low fat game such as rabbit and deer are high protein with high levels of healthy CLA (a fat which prevents heart disease and cancer). Even Inuit who dined on high fat arctic game avoided heart disease because of EPA and DHA which are healthy omega3 fats.
Actually She didn't. She changed her mind later.
Silly PETA .....
OK..... That took me a minute.....
I always wondered how dead cats, dogs, and armadillos tasted...
I would have figured any coastal peoples would have had the disticnt advantage of salt when compared to the minimal fire as per the post i was responding to.
I should have worded it differently.
The creationists and vegans struck down with one stone. I love it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
