On Sat, 11 Sep 1999, Don Wiss wrote:

> Possibly as the taller people are the ones with fewer generations of
> ancestors eating Neolithic foods. As we know, humans shrank in height after
> Neolithic foods were introduced. But why do larger dogs die younger?

You know, I am willing to accept the premise that people who
avoid Neolithic (and later) foods are healthier, but I still
wonder whether there is any real evidence that they live longer.
According to what I read, in the USA the mean life expectancy is
76 and still creeping up, despite our heavy reliance on processed
foods, hydrogenated oils, and other bad stuff.  Since the 1970s
heart disease rates have gone down, for reasons that remain
mysterious, after having peaked in the 1940-60 period.

Obviously we don't have enough information to speak of the mean
life expectancy of people in the actual paleolithic period, and
such information wouldn't mean much if we did have it, given the
vast non-dietary differences in living conditions.  But I wonder
if we have anything solid to indicate that contemporary
near-paleolitch hunter-gatherers have a greater life expectancy
that what is typical in the developed world.  Does anyone have
any information about this?

Todd Moody
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