Don Wiss wrote: >>I believe that nuts and eggs could be gathered at the same time as fruits, no? >Well maybe. Eggs would have only been available for a few weeks in the >spring. Fruits may not have been available that early in the season. Then >nuts come in the fall. Some fruit would still be available, but later in >the fall it would have only been nuts. I would expect that nuts were stored >and eaten for a while after being harvested from the tree. Does it apply for tropical countries as well, i.e. are a whole category of foods (like fruits, or nuts, eggs) available only seasonally? Other naive question: how come we can (nowadays) obtain hen eggs all year round? Stefan: > That's exactly what I doubt. Mixed meals require more energy to digest > IMHO. Are they really more efficient? If the body uses its own muscle tissues for protein, or protein from food to produce glucose, there is a loss; on the other hand, when you don't mix your foods, digestion is more efficient. So, unless we find a way to measure each effect, we won't obtain any precise answer to your question... More important perhaps is the hormonal balance. Mixed meals put less stress on insulin production [for instance, the Zone diet consists of 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat *at each meal*, which is impossible to obtain if you have fruit-only meals]. Our ancestors certainly didn't have to worry about insulin, since most of their foods were low carb and/or low glycemic index. Best wishes, Jean-Louis [log in to unmask]