Could you elaborate on how a paleo diet and lifestyle change reproduction?
Thanks.
-Rob in <lubbock


>From: Robert Wolf <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Evolutionary Fitness Discussion List
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: [EVOLUTIONARY-FITNESS] Diet and thermogenesis
>Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 21:00:51 -0500
>
>This is my $0.02 on this touchy topic which I hope is helpfull and is MY
>opinion.
>  One of the unique features of EF is its rejection of mechanistic high
>volume activity as well as a nutrient poor carbohydrate rich diet.  One can
>think of few activities which destroy the power law more thouroughly than
>does subsistence farming.  High levels of activity conducted over extended
>periods of time combined with a nutrinet poor diet produce a metabolic
>state
>which is prime for muscle loss and fat gain.  A nuance of this situation
>which is often over looked is the lack of chromium and essential fatty
>acids
>in the diet which enhance a hyperinsulinemic state.  Body fat, whether on
>men or women, is estrogenic particularly the fat deposited in the lower
>stomach, hips and back (which is correlated with insulin resistence).  An
>increased estrogen level extends the time a woman is able to conceive which
>is much of the reason why agriculturalists have such a higher birth rate
>than do HG's.  The Professors statement that it is "easy" to avoid needs to
>be taken in proper context.  Most first world countries have the rescources
>and infrastructure to provide a diet consistent with that found in
>preagricultural times.  A shift towards this tyoe of diet combined with a
>randomized active lifestyle WOULD make obesity as it is experienced
>currently a rarity rather than the norm.  In less developed countries
>lacking the infrastructure to provide different food and living conditions
>this will in fact be anything but "easy" but it is still consistent with
>the
>ideas of EF ( as I understand them). It is perhaps woth mentioning that we
>and our prehuman ancestors had a very stable population for millions of
>years prior to the advent of agriculture.  We are very nearly to the point
>of eating ourselves off this planet in only 10,000 years.
>As to the venuses which were mentioned it is generally accepted that the
>female form depected in these figures symbolized pregnancy, not obesity.
>This point is supported by the state of current HG's who if they cary ectra
>body fat it is distributed rather evenly throughout the body, not isolated
>to the abdomen which, as mentioned above, is indicitive of an insulin
>resistent state which in our past would have been virtually impossible to
>attain.
>Finally, perhaps the single greatest blow women have suffered in regards to
>status and societal power was agriculture.  Compared to modern societies
>HG's had very little gender differences.  Men played a central role in
>child
>rearing.  Women hunted, granted less frequently than men, but in few
>cultures was there a prohibition against it.  Perhaps most importantly
>women
>had a level of reproductive freedom unknown for thousands of years as they
>were less likely to have child after child.  One of the most empowering
>things a modern woman could do is eat and exercise in acordance with our
>genetic heritage in such a way which makes birthcontrol a much more
>controlable thing.

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