Considering the world's problems is a heavy task. It's dreadful to see what
people do to each other. Diet may be responsible for a lot of it. I draw the
distinction between antisocial and delinquent behaviours which seem to
benefit no-one, as opposed to war like tendencies between tribes on a
territorial basis which may be more "normal" evolutionarily.
Consider the following statements which I will elaborate on:
1.Diet affects neurodevelopment.
2.Diet affects intelligence (I.Q.)
3.Factors affecting intelligence can have an even bigger effect on
behaviour.
4. The biggest change in brain size has been a reduction from 1500 cc prior
to the time of the agricultural revolution to 1350 cc . This is diet related
not genetic.
Elaboration:
1. Neurodevelopment and cell migration are clearly affected by nutrition.
Neurons have very high metabolic needs and are sensitive to nutritional
status. This is best known by the effect on maternal folate status on neural
tube defects. Which bodily tissue do you think would be most sensitive to
lifetime nutritional status? I'd vote for neural tissue.
2. Breast feeding has been shown to benefit I.Q. Fatty acid intake has also
been implicated
http://www.beyondveg.com/billings-t/comp-anat/comp-anat-7h.shtml
3. I give you the comparison with low level lead poisoning where I.Q. is
reduced by lead. Studies into the effects on lead on behaviour have shown it
has a far more profound effect on behaviour than on I.Q.. It is a major
cause of antisocial and delinquent behaviour and lead poisoned children have
been tracked longitudinally from preschool for many years and the behaviours
can persist. Ie anything having an adverse effect on I.Q. can be expected
to have an adverse effect on behaviour. Refs below.
It is not a big leap to say that if diet affects I.Q., then it must affect
behaviour, and probably adversely.
4. There is no doubt that brain size fell on the Neolithic Diet. from around
1500 cc to 1350 cc. So what effect does this have on I.Q., what effect does
this have on behaviour? HUGE in my opinion.
Obviously, I.Q. must go up in a given individual, with a 10% increase in
brain volume (not to mention brain quality) If the average I.Q. went to
120, would that justify a paleo diet, what about 130, 140, 150? I suppose 5
points is enough to justify breast feeding.
Would the list care to estimate the effect on I.Q.?
Diet affects I.Q., which means diet severely affects behaviour. Caveman were
smarter because they
were feeding their brains better! If you want a world of peace, the quickest
route is through a diet that encourages better behaviour and more
intelligence.
What advice are you going to give someone whose child is affected by
neurodevelopmental insult?eg lead poisoning, autism. Perhaps a paleodiet
could be considered. If you have a better neurodevelopmental diet, please
let me know.
Reference
i.e. Reference: Christopher B. Ruff et al, Body mass and Encephalization in
Pleistocene Homo (letter)Nature Vol 387 8 May 1997 pp173-176
The relevant data:
Years ago. Cranial capacity (cc)
current worldwide 1349
current Pecos Peublo 1308+/-23
10000-21000 1466
21000-35000 1517
36000-75000 1498
90000 1501
100000-150000 1354
200000-300000 1186
400000-500000 1090
600000-1,150,000 856
1,200,000-1,800,000 914
Needleman, Herbert L. et al, "Bone Lead Levels and Delinquent Behavior,"
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION Vol. 275, No. 5 (February 7,
1996), pgs. 363-369.
Rachel's health and Environment Weekly
http://www.monitor.net/rachel/rehw-index.html issues 529,318,294,214,189,3
Alan L. Mendelsohn, Benard P. Dreyer, Arthur H. Fierman, Carolyn M. Rosen,
Lori A. Legano, Hillary A. Kruger, Sylvia W. Lim, and Cheryl D. Courtlandt
"Low-Level Lead Exposure and Behavior in Early Childhood"
Pediatrics 1998; 101: e10. http://intl.pediatrics.org/content/vol101/issue3/
I'm aware that the number of convolutions on the surface of the brain is as
important as its size in determining intelligence, but have no data on this.
However, what is clear is that there has been no substantial change in the
genome in the last 10,000 years so this change is environmental ie diet, not
genetic.
Ben Balzer
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