There has been a lot of controversy on this list surrounding Cordain's
fat consumption recommendations. As far as I can see the available
data supports Cordain's position.

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Let's look at the overall quantity of fat in farmed beef.

grain-fed steer, trimmed:   5.6% fat
pasture-fed steer, trimmed: 2.6% fat
typical game meat:          2.2% fat

Obvious conclusion: by eating the commonly available grain-fed beef
you're consuming AT LEAST twice as much fat as a hunter gatherer.
I say "at least" because if you don't trim all peripheral fat you
will be consuming even more. Whole-carcass beef is around 23% fat,
which is more than 10 times the proportion of fat found in game meat.

I have previously posted to this list an analysis comparing fat
content of farmed and game meats found in the USDA database.
My conclusion then was that farmed meats contain more than twice
the fats of game meat right across the board -- beef, poultry,
pork and even farmed fish.

It seems to me that it is absolutely necessary to choose low fat
cuts of meat if you are to have any chance of mimicking a hunter
gatherer diet. Which is just what Cordain recommends.

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Now let's look at the fat profile, conveniently ignoring the
controversial issue of total fat consumption.

                        SFA     MFA     PFA     SFA:MFA:PFA
grain-fed steer         46.1    46.6    7.3        5:5:1
pasture-fed steer       46.2    42.8    10.9       5:4:1
typical game meat       43.9    29.8    26.3       4:3:3

The startling figures here are the ratios of SFA:MFA:PFA.

It is obvious that by eating grain-fed beef (and to a lesser extent
pasture-fed beef) you will be consuming fats in completely different
ratios than if you were eating game meats. Of particular concern is
the paltry amount of PFAs you will be consuming.

Add into this the fact that hunter gatherers also consume parts of the
animal other than just the muscle meat. Some examples are: bone marrow
(SFA:MFP:PFA of 2:6:1), brain (3:3:2) and organ meats (typically
between 2:2:1 and 3:3:2 for items such as heart, brain and pancreas).

From this you can see that the ratio of SFA:PFA in a hunter-gatherer
diet could be no greater than 2:1. The ratio of MFA:PFA would be also
be around 2:1. This contrasts starkly with the ratio in beef of 4:1 or
5:1.

Furthermore, the ratio of n-6:n-3 fats in grain-fed beef is 5:1. This
is double the typical 2:1 to 3:1 ratio found in game meats and offal.
The ratio in pasture-fed beef is similar to game meat.

There is no doubt that a typical modern meat is deficient in PFAs
when compared with game meats, so some addition of PFA is required.
And since most meat consumed will be grain-fed, it will contain
far greater levels of n-6 fats. I imagine this is why Cordain
recommends supplementing with n-3 PFAs.

I agree with critics that marinating meat in n-3 fats prior to
cooking is unwise, but that's not the issue here. There are other
ways of supplementing n-3 PFAs.

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Sumamry:

I can see no conspiracy in Cordain's recommendations. I don't believe
he is "adjusting" his dietary recommendations due to the popular
appeal (mass hysteria?) surrounding the low fat diet.

It is simply that hunter gatherers consumed much less fat than is
readily available in cuts of meat from the local butcher, and they
consumed lots more PFAs than is found in modern meats.

Can anyone explain to me where they feel Cordain has gone astray,
and present some supporting evidence for their argument?

 ...Richard.

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Figures from:

Cordain, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2002) 56, 181-191

USDA Nutrient Database SR14