DINING WITH CAVEMEN

One of the current hot diet crazes is the paleo-diet. Advocates of this diet believe we should replicate the diet of our cave dwelling ancestors. They claim it is a healthier and more natural diet because it contains no additives or chemicals, and it is not laced with sugar, starches and salt. As a result, it is a diet more attuned to the human body and our digestive system. On the surface it sounds reasonable. If the cavemen, who are humans in our most natural state, didn't eat it, neither should we. However, many paleontologists--the people who spend their lives studying early humans--wouild disagree with the premise.

The basic idea  of the paleo-diet is that 150,000 years ago our hunter-gather forefathers survived on meat, fruits and vegetables; therefore,  that is what the human digestive system is attuned to and designed for. By contrast, the diet advocates say we should avoid grains like oats, wheat, rice, etc.,  because humans didn't begin to consume those items until around 10,000 years ago when we began to settle in villages and  develop farming. In the paleo diet, the idea of starches, pasta, milk and milk products, and potatoes is anathema. Advocates claim these foods are responsible for diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease because the human body has not had the time to evolve and adapt to a diet of grains, starches and dairy.

In her book, Paleo Fantasy, author Marlene Zuk quotes anthropologist Katherine Milton: "The notion that humans got to a point in evolutionary history when their bodies were somehow in sync with the environment, and sometime later we went astray from those roots--whether because of agriculture or the invention of the bow and arrow, reflects a misunderstanding of evolution. What we eat and thrive on depends on our more than 30 million years of history as primates, and not a single arbitrary and more recent moment in time."

In fact,, studies have been performed on the teeth of Neanderthal remains, as well as the 2 million year old teeth of Australopithecus sedila, and remnants of grains and various starches were found in their teeth. Good thing for us they didn't floss.

Ms. Zuk also points out just how quickly the human body can evolve and adapt. It doesn't require hundreds of thousands or millions of years. For example,  prior to 20 thousand years ago, humans were essentially lactose intolerant. But starting around 20,000 years ago, humans went from hunter-gatherers to farmers. Because we began to domesticate animals and consume their milk, lactose intolerance was reduced by 90% in the span of approximately 15,000 years. So the premise that our bodies are identical to a caveman's would, to say the least, be inaccurate.

While the paleo-diet is not a harmful diet, it would be a mistake to assume that generally speaking, it is more conducive to human health than a modern day nutrious diet.We do not know if cavemen ever ate bacon.