1. New paper @AnnualReviews Nutrition w @briwood1 on hunter-gatherer and Paleolithic diets. 🧵of highlights
TLDR “Paleo” diets probably aren’t. Variation is the point.
annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.114…
TLDR “Paleo” diets probably aren’t. Variation is the point.
annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.114…
2.First, anat & phys: Humans often touted as having small GI tracts. Evidence says… sort of. We’re in the primate spectrum. Total length = primate. Large intestine= primate w high diet quality. Not carnivore.
⚫️=primates 🔺=human
⚫️=primates 🔺=human
3.Stomach ph? Really low for humans, similar to scavengers, not like carnivores. Why so low? @bendormiki argues Paleo humans fed on large game for days, had to deal w high pathogen loads. Maybe. Could also be scavenging old carcasses from other carnivores, etc.
4.We also note archeological evidence for plants in the diet at Paleo sites like Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel and lots of starch / grain microfossils in dental calculus of Neanderthals and humans.
5. Now onto the meat (or potatoes) of the paper: diet evidence from living hunter gatherers. We took a deep dive into the data groups around the globe. Here’s the main themes:
6.Variability across space: For groups in tropical and temperate latitudes, LOTS of variability in the mix of plants and animals in the diet. Using 260+ groups from Murdock’s Atlas, we see groups hover around 50/50 plants/animals with tons of variation.
7.Variability across time: We consolidated 20y of published Hadza @hadzafund data into 2.5 yrs of continuous observation. % of meat in the diet fluctuates wildly over days/weeks/months
8.Effects of recent cultural changes: Pastoralism (e.g. Maasai), Arctic Living, and Farming are each ~12,000 yr old or less. Pastoralism and Arctic living ⬆️meat in the diet. Fishing also ⬆️ meat.
Farming ⬆️ plants.
Farming ⬆️ plants.
9. “Paleo” diet arguments based on the Maasai / pastoralists or on Arctic cultures thus biased toward more meat, and based on cultures no more ancient (or Paleo) than farming
10.Are fruits only seasonally available for hunter-gatherers? Doesn’t seem that way. Hadza, for example, eat fruits (berries and baobab, mostly) all year. Oh, and A LOT of honey, which in terms of macros is just sugar and water.
11.In fact, Hadza macronutrient intake is HIGHER carb and lower fat than the typical American diet. Protein intake ~60 to 240 g/d. @tednaiman
12.And it’s not just the Hadza. Reviewing the data from S America and Australia, lots of plants eaten, including starchy veg
13.We also explore how farming changed the qualities of the foods we eat.
PLANTS: Cultivation size but fiber, protein, micronutrients. Carbs and total energy/g generally similar to wild foods
Source: wikipedia
PLANTS: Cultivation size but fiber, protein, micronutrients. Carbs and total energy/g generally similar to wild foods
Source: wikipedia
14.ANIMALS: Farmed livestock have TWICE the fat content of wild game species. Saturated fat content is also double that of wild animals.
15.3 take home messages with all this: First, you can’t go home again. Even if you want to eat “Paleo” you can’t unless you hunt and gather wild foods. Farmed foods are fundamentally different than their Paleo ancestors.
16.Second, there is and never was a singular Paleo diet. Variation is the norm both within and between groups. This breadth far exceeds the breadth of every “Paleo” diet I’ve come across, tho I haven’t done an exhaustive search
17.Finally, we see no evidence of ‘carnivory’ or low carb diets as the norm for Paleolithic or living hunter-gatherers. If low carb works for you, great! But the Maasai, Inuit, etc are not the norm and no more Paleo than farming
should say: cultivation INCREASES size but DECREASES protein, micronutrients, and fiber
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