In a message dated 7/21/01 8:52:01 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< Overall, my impression is that we would have been something like 90%
 vegetarians and 10% meat-eaters. My feeling is that the neo-Paleo diet
 espoused on this list somewhat inverts that ratio to something like 70%/30%,
 meat to vegetables. For now, I disagree with that ratio.
  >>
I think you are forgetting the insects. Most native peoples get a large
proportion of their fat and protein from insects. The native Californians
would gather literally tons of grasshoppers and locusts at certain times of
the year. They also ate cicadas, crickets, ants, caterpillars, certain flies,
yellowjackets, etc. One problem is that these do not show up in the
archeological record, so we have almost no knowledge of how paleolithic man
would have eaten insects, but judging from ethnographic knowledge that we do
have it is a significant and easily gathered component of the hunter/gatherer
diet. Generally these insects were parched and ground to flour.

Also bear in mind that esquimos live on a diet which is almost entirely
animal and fish products, with some nuts and seeds. And they do not have any
special adaptation, as you will recall that (Norwegian?) explorer who lived
on this high animal product diet in a controlled experiment in a Canadian
hospital, and suffered no ill effects whatsoever, and in fact benefited
highly from it. Esquimos are some of the healthiest and happiest people in
the world.

My personal opinion is that mankind actually evolved on the shores of ancient
seas, rather than on interior grasslands. The healthiest native peoples are
those that live on islands, and particularly those where there is cold water,
or cold currents, since these cold seas contain the highest nutrient density.
Fishing, and digging for shellfish, is an ancient skill.

I believe this attempt to categorize peoples nutrient intake into certain
percentages is misleading, because this is a highly variable quantity, which
would be different depending on the time of the year, and on the particular
location. I think the average native persons diet would be roughly equally
split between animals, fish, insects and plants. Even native peoples living
inland would trade with the coastal dwellers to get fish, because they
recognized its high nutrient value, plus of course native, and presumably
paleo, people are highly mobile, and would quite readily travel 100 miles to
good fishing or hunting grounds.

Charles
San Diego, CA