The Evolution of Diet

An anonymous reader writes Here's a story from National Geographic that looks at the historical diets of people from around the world and what that diet might look like in the future. From the article: "So far studies of foragers like the Tsimane, Arctic Inuit, and Hadza have found that these peoples traditionally didn't develop high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, or cardiovascular disease. 'A lot of people believe there is a discordance between what we eat today and what our ancestors evolved to eat,' says paleoanthropologist Peter Ungar of the University of Arkansas. The notion that we're trapped in Stone Age bodies in a fast-food world is driving the current craze for Paleolithic diets. The popularity of these so-called caveman or Stone Age diets is based on the idea that modern humans evolved to eat the way hunter-gatherers did during the Paleolithic—the period from about 2.6 million years ago to the start of the agricultural revolution—and that our genes haven't had enough time to adapt to farmed foods."

Evolution...

[msauve]

How is the human race ever going to develop the genes needed for a modern diet unless we let fatty burgers, salty fries, and sugary drinks kill off the weak ones before they breed so the gene pool can improve?

If you're eating a "stone age diet," you're part of the problem.

Re:There's something to it

[antifoidulus]

That's why I only eat the meat I catch using nothing but a club. Chasing those damn deer through the parking lot does really help keep off the fat, and keeps the neighbors talking.

Re:What?

[ColdWetDog]

Obviously not. They didn't have the metric system in the Paleolithic era.

put a label on it.

[PopeRatzo]

I'm pretty sure our ancestors didn't evolve to eat corn that was licensed by Monsanto. Just a thought.

But I understand GMO foods are going to totally fix world hunger, which is why they're primarily sold in the US, where judging from the girth of people I see on the street, everybody's hungry as hell.

Diet guaranteed to prevent age-related diseases

[penguinoid]

There is a simple, easy to follow diet that will prevent you from developing any age-related diseases. Just eat as much as you like of whatever you like, plus a lethal dose of poison when you turn ~30. You will not get any of the age-related diseases, much like people in the old days when hardly anyone died from age-related causes. If you want to be even healthier, get rid of all the devices that save you physical labor and grow/hunt your own food, plus if you don't cheat by using fertilizers and irrigation you'll automatically go on a year-long diet every so often.

Or, you could avoid foods that are low on fiber or high in fructose, and occasionally exercise.

Re: Correlation Does Not Imply Causation

[Loki_666]

Don't tempt me... it is a mother-in-law we are talking about.