Charles Alban wrote this (to Don, my husband):
This discussion of various diet deficiencies overlooks one major fact....
"primitive" peoples do not suffer from deficiency diseases, or at
least have a very low likelihood of such, is that they eat from a far wider
range of foodstuffs than we do....

This means that all these abstruse calculations on nutrient intake are moot,
because with a very wide coverage of foodstuffs, be it all kinds of roots,
tubers, leaves, shoots, seeds, berries, nuts, wild game, fish, shellfish,
and the most important one that everyone always leaves out, INSECTS, you
will cover all the bases.

You simply have to eat as wide a range of different foods as possible. This
means you have to be an adventurous eater!  Native peoples get probably half
of their protein and fat intake from insects.

My reply:
I think you missed something!  The deficiencies Don noted arose when eating
vegetarian and vegan diets.   The problem was not a lack of variety of plant
foods!  About 8 or 9 years ago my husband and I counted that we ate more
than 60 different plant foods in a given week.  The problem was a lack of
animal foods when we ate diets that included little or no animal source
foods!  Wild game, fish, and shellfish are not included in vegetarian and
vegan diets!!!!

As for adventurousness, my husband is one of the most adventurous eaters I
know.  He is not picky.  We ate and still eat a wide variety of leafy
greens, roots, shoots, vegetable fruits, vine vegetables, seeds, berries,
stone fruits and other fruits, nuts, sea vegetables, herbs, and spices.
Back in our vegan, vegetarian, and near vegetarian days, we also ate a very
wide variety of whole grains and beans, much wider than most folks we knew.
We varied what we ate with the seasons, buying as much locally grown produce
as possible.

We currently eat a variety of different types of fish, poultry, and red
meats, and at least two different kinds of eggs, in addition to the
diversity of plants we eat each day.  We do not dispute the importance of
having a broad base of foods from which to choose.  We encourage people to
broaden their diets all the time.  Don was speaking out about the problems
with diets that exclude *animal* source foods.  Don was also responding to
Amadeus' incessant arguments or postings asserting that people can get all
the protein they need from this or that vegetable food, if they simply meet
their calorie needs.

We've both eaten about 17 different plant and animal foods today so far
(over breakfast and lunch), and will consume another 6 to 8 varieties at
dinner.  We do believe that variety is the spice of life when it comes to
food.

Rachel
(posting for Don, who is working!)