What did our primitive hunter-gatherer ancestors live on? The prehistoric diet - the diet that sustained the human race throughout two million years of evolution has intrigued scientists for decades.
Now, based on paleobiologists and archeologists reports experts are trying to link the past with a health prescription for the future. How much of the information obtained from back then can be applied to now?
You haven't changed in 50,000 years!
It’s true, our bodies now live in a world they’re not supposed to be in. Extensive and conclusive research of our ancestral past shows that in 50,000 years, genetically and physically we haven’t changed one bit.[9] Physiologically and cosmetically we are virtually identical to those that walked before us tens of thousands of years ago. We’re just a little less hairy...well some of us!
The vast majority of our existence on this planet, some 120,000 generations we have lived as hunter-gatherers; nomadic people that lived in small groups off the environment around them. And it appears that we were pretty damn good at it. Fossil studies show our ancestors to be lean, tall, strong and muscular [1] They were very active, robust people that covered hundreds of miles weekly for food.[3] Hunting, running, digging, climbing were habitual, daily activities. Back then we were intelligent; we spoke to each other, had intimate family relationships and close-knit social communities. [5]
We survived this way (as hunter-gatherers) through six ice-ages, well over 100,000 generations! [9] It was a more universal and far more long-lasting existence than any other on this earth (including our present). [5] To put things in perspective; only 300 human generations have been agriculturists (farmers) and a mere 10 have lived what we call the industrial age. Only one generation has been exposed to computers. Therefore, in terms of the big picture, our current form of existence is but a blink of an eye in the time scale of human evolution. Over 95% of our time on earth has seen us live a completely different way to our current lifestyle.
What does all this mean?
Basically, here we are trying to live in the 21st century with 40,000 year-old genes! [5]
Our bodies now are the same as they were then. Except ‘then’ was a world we were meant to be in. [5] Even the slightest adaptation in human genetics takes thousands of years, and due to the lightning speed of technological advancement, our bodies now find themselves in a world they’re not designed to be in. The result of this is that in our last two generations on this planet (less than 200 years) we have managed to disease ourselves with more illnesses and ailments than the entire 130 000 generations that preceded us! [2,3]
What went wrong?
A rapidly accumulating amount of research now confirms our problem is a direct result of the way we live; our level of inactivity, the type of food we provide our bodies and our environment. [1-9] In our last two generations on this planet (less than 200 years), we have managed to disease ourselves with more illnesses and ailments than the entire 130 000 generations that preceded us!
What is natural?
Interestingly, many of the foods we consider natural and should be a big part of a healthy, balanced diet, are in fact quite foreign to our genetic make-up. [1,8]
Most of the vegetables and fruits we consume today are botanically new. [8] The wheat, corn, potatoes, squash and pumpkin we eat today were unknown only 10 000 years ago, (a millisecond in human evolution terms).[8] Bread and pasta are foods that have become a ‘corner-stone’ of modern nutrition, yet they were unheard of until 8000 years ago.[5] Bread especially, because of its biblical documentation is perceived as an essential, ‘staple food’ of our diet. However on the time scale of human existence, the introduction of breads, pasta and other processed grains is not even a micro-second! They are in fact, a very late, artificial phenomenon.
Health authorities such as the Australian and American Heart Associations and other influential bodies instruct us to draw from the four basic food groups; 1) Meat and fish,2) vegetables and fruit, 3) milk and dairy products and 4) breads and cereals. With two or more servings from each group per day considered a balanced diet. [5] Yet before the introduction of agriculture (95% of our existence) we functioned fantastically well eating from just the first 2 groups.[7,8]
The grains, vegetables and fruits that are now part of mainstream nutrition are genetically completely different to what our ancestors consumed. The biggest shift from a long-standing paleolithic eating-pattern occurred with introduction of agriculture.[4] This way of life limited the variety and array of plant foods we consume. Only a handful of plants, that were easiest to cultivate were chosen and the rest abandoned.
Slowly those cultivated became physically different from their wild forms and their nutrient properties altered as well.[8] For example wheat cultivation began in the Near-East over 10 000 years ago and it’s use quickly spread to areas where it had never previously grown.[4,5] Within a few thousand years an entirely new hybrid was formed to better withstand the cold, had more gluten and the kernels held fast so that fewer were lost during harvest.[5] Other grains underwent similar transformation, corn for example 4000 years ago had tiny ‘ears’ only about an inch long.[8]
The dietary changes that agriculture provided came at a cost. Agriculture is essential, it provides food for an ever-exploding population. However as the wild strains were repeatedly and selectively bred, many foods declined in their nutritional quality.[8] For example; wild einkorn wheat has 50% more protein than does hard red winter wheat (the most common grown in developed countries).[8] The average ascorbic acid (vitamin C) content of 64 vegetables eaten by our ancestors was about 30mg/100gm and apparently 440mg of vitamin C would have been a typical day’s intake for paleolithic people.[7] That’s five times more than what Australians now consume, and over seven times the current recommendation. [5]
Just from plant food alone, our ancestors achieved calcium intakes of 1460-2000gms per day.[6] The current calcium recommendations range from 400 to 1500mg/day while the average Australian consumes around 740mgs. Even with all our abundant sources this is less than half of our predecessor’s calcium intake, we’re not even close! Equal amounts of documentation show many of the wild plant foods previously consumed contained far higher concentrations of vitamins such as B12, B6, folic acid and minerals such as iron, potassium and magnesium than their modern day, cultivated forms.[1,4,5,7]
Present day levels of meat consumption is only about a third of the consumption of people 35 000 years ago.[9] The Cro-Magnons; a human species that existed for over 10 times longer than we, consumed a diet that was (at times) up to 80% flesh food. [1] The Cro-Magnons were healthy, robust people; they had massive bone structure and on average they stood almost 6 feet tall (height is a perfect indication of optimal nutrient intake). [2]
However, obviously the meats of the animals they consumed were a lot different to what we consume today. The wild game our ancestors ate contained less than 4grams of fat per 100grams. Compared to domestic meats of, on average 29grams per 100grams. [1] The ratio’s of fats held within the meat was different too. [1] The fats of the animals paleolithic people hunted were at least 32% polyunsaturated (the good fats).[7] Today the fat of domesticated animals is often around 7% good fat. [7]
Hunters and gatherers consumed only about one-sixth the sodium that typical Australians do, even those on 80% meat diets.[5] This is about a third the amount considered acceptable by the Australian Dept. of Agriculture. Cholesterol intake of these people was also extraordinarily high. Far more cholesterol was consumed back then than is recommended by all health authorities. However, because of their ultra-high fibre intake and the type of fats they consumed, these people were literally immune from any form of cardiovascular disease. [5]
In a nutshell, the human species that existed for thousands of years longer than we, ate the following:
- Three times the protein.
- Double the essential fats.
- No refined carbohydrates, ie. breads, pasta, cereals, and sugars. (Damn hard to get a muffin back then; no bakeries 20 000 years ago!)
Yet had the energy to travel hundreds of miles a week on foot, often carrying heavy objects.
- Their calcium intake was twice what ours is, (even without consuming dairy)
- Sodium intake less than one-quarter.
- They ate five to ten times the amount of fibre we do.
- No incidence of colon or any other type of cancer is documented in our ancestors.
- Their calories were nutritionally dense; high in essential oils, amino acids, vitamins and minerals.
Combine past with present for optimal health
Sanitation, immunization, antibiotics, medical analysis, screening and surgery now ensure our basic health. However, because of our genetically foreign diet and life style we have invented many diseases to which our stone-age ancestors were completely immune.[2] Diseases such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, type-2 diabetes and cancer were non existent (and still are) in hunter-gather existence.[2]
Obviously it is impractical for most of us to go back to living as our ancestors did. Nor do I think we want to. I am probably guilty of glorifying a time in history when infant death-rates were at least half. Injury, infection and constant hunger were a way of life in an incredibly harsh environment.[5,7,9] For these people, exercise was obligatory; traveling vast distances on foot carrying cumbersome loads was the norm. Their remains show chronic wear and tear in the joints and crippling arthritis was common.[1]
It is now impossible to eat the exact same foods that our ancestors ate (some 120 000 generations). Aside from the botanical differences, from an environmental (and sustainable) perspective there's also a pretty good argument for a reduction in red meat consumption.
Thankfully, we are fortunate that our genes do not know or care where the necessary components for optimal nutrition come from.[3-5] There’s nothing wrong with increasing fruit and vegetable intake and reducing processed, refined meats and carbohydrates, eating more sustainable sources of lean proteins as well as increasing physical activity. Keep food ratios low in bad fats, sodium and processed foods.[5-9] Every calorie (kilojoule) consumed should be nutritionally dense [8,9] These aspects not only reflect a Paelolithic prescription they form the foundations of Metabolically Precise eating.
By Dr. Paul Cribb PhD. CSCS, FISSN
mp-body.com
References
1. Konner M, Eaton SB. Paleolithic nutrition: twenty-five years later. Nutr Clin Pract. 2010 Dec;25(6):594-602.
2. Lindeberg S. Paleolithic diets as a model for prevention and treatment of Western disease.
Am J Hum Biol. 2012 Mar-Apr;24(2):110-5.
3. O'Keefe JH Jr, Cordain L. Cardiovascular disease resulting from a diet and lifestyle at odds with our Paleolithic genome: how to become a 21st-century hunter-gatherer. Mayo Clin Proc. 2004 Jan;79(1):101-8.
4. Angel, J.L. Health as a critical factor in the changes from hunting to developed farming in the Eastern Mediterranean. In Paleopathology at the origins of agriculture. New York:Academic Press:51-73, 1984
Schoeninger, M.J. Diet and the evolution of modern form in the middle east. Am.J.Phys.Anth.58:37-52,1982.
5. Eaton SB, Konner MJ, Cordain L. Diet-dependent acid load, Paleolithic [corrected] nutrition, and evolutionary health promotion. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Feb;91(2):295-7.
6. Eaton, S.B. and Nelson,D.A., Calcium in evolutionary perspective. Am.J.Clin.Nutr. 54 (1Suppl):281S-287S, 1991.
7. Eaton, S.B., Eaton, S.B., 3rd,M.J.Konner and M.Shostack. An evolutionary perspective enhances understanding of human nutritional requirements. J.Nutri.126(6):1732-40,1996
8. Eaton,S.B. & Cordain C., Evolutionary aspects of diet: old genes, new fuels. Nutritional changes since agriculture. World Rev Nutr Diet.81:26-37,1997
9. Cordain L, Eaton SB, Miller JB, Mann N, Hill K. The paradoxical nature of hunter-gatherer diets: meat-based, yet non-atherogenic. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2002 Mar;56 Suppl 1:S42-52. Review.