Dean writes:
> Here is an attempt at constructing a modern equivalent to the diet
> humans likely evolved to eat:
> Eggs: Any variety
> Meat: Any variety.
> Nuts: Any variety, excepting peanuts and other "nuts" that are not nuts
> at all.
> Fruits: Any variety.
> Berries: Any variety.
> Vegetables: Any that do not require cooking to be comfortably edible.
> There would be almost none of any of the following:
> Cereal grains
> Beans
> Dairy products of any sort (outside of infancy)
> *Tubers
(* Perhaps an occasional treat?)
Dean is to be commended at his attempt to reconstruct a paleolithic diet
from commonly available supermarket foods. I think Ray Audette has
done quite a bit of work on this in his book , -Neanderthin-. Also, we
should not forget Boyd Eaton+s book, -The Paleolithic Prescription-
which is perhaps the first effort at re-creating ancestral diets with
modern day foods. Although in his book, Boyd originally advocated
cereal grains and low fat dairy products, I have had numerous
conversations with him indicating that this advice came about because of
his co-authors (Shostak & Konner) concerns, and he now would probably
temper or delete this advice.
Our stoneage ancestors certainly consumed wild bird eggs, however this
was only a seasonal matter and likely provided a small percentage of
their total yearly caloric consumption. Because eggs are the genetic
matter for procreation, natural selection has operated in a manner
similar to the eggs (eg seeds) of graminae (grains, grasses) by endowing
eggs (the whites primarily) with antinutrients that can have severe and
adverse effects in humans and other predators when eaten raw. Raw egg
white contains avidin, an antinutrient which impairs the metabolism of
the vitamin biotin, which is critical in carboxylase dependent reactions
such as chain elongation and desaturation of fatty acids. Avidin also
impairs the metabolism of other B vitamins. Additionally, eggs do no
spoil in their shell (even though it is permeable to bacteria) because
egg white contains an iron binding lectin (conalbumin) which can impair
iron absorption in humans (Alderton G. et al. Identification of the
bacteria-inhibiting, iron binding protein of egg white as conalbumin.
Arch Biochem 1946 11:9-13).
Based upon studies of present day hunter-gatherers, our ancestors
almost certainly ate the tubers (storage roots) of many plants. These
roots include raw, edible rhizomes, corms etc of a wide variety of
plants. The main tubers of agricultural man (potatoes, sweet potatoes,
yams, cassava etc) are inedible without cooking because of their high
anti-nutrient load and their storage form of carbohydrate. These
tubers contain huge amounts of poorly digested starch which becomes
more digestible during cooking . Additionally many, but not all
antinutrients are denatured or reduced with cooking and/or processing
(soaking in water or leaching in alkaline solutions). The difference
between wild edible roots and commercially available starchy tubers is
that, the starch content is generally much lower in wild roots and there
tends to be more stored sachharides and less toxic antinutrients.
Examples of domesticated roots which certainly should be a part of a
-modern paleolithic diet- would include carrots, beets, parsnips,
radishes, daikon, turnips or any other non-starchy root which is edible
and non-toxic in its raw state. Potatoes are clearly inedible in their
raw state and there have been more than 30 deaths reported in humans in
this century from eating raw potatoes (Slanina P. Solanine
(Glycoalkaloids) in potatoes: toxicological evaluation. Fd Chem Toxic
1990 28:759-61.).
Although Dean mentions that any fruit would be accepable on his
version of the -modern, paleolithic diet-, there may be some important
exceptions here. The glycemic response of virtually all wild fruits is
generally quite low because of low sugar, and starch contents,
bitterness and a high fiber content. Modern fruits have been selected
over the last 2-3 thousand years or more for a larger size, an increased
sugar content and a reduced fiber content (Spiegel R. Domestication of
fruit trees. In: The Origin and Domestication of Cultivated Plants. C.
Barigozzi (Ed), Therefore, many of the super market fruits we eat can
induce a hyperinsulinemic response in susceptible individuals when eaten
in excess, particularly dried fruits (raisins, dates, figs etc) and
starchy fruits (bananas). Berries and melons generally have low
effective glycemic responses.
Although Dean advocates meats, he fails to mention organ meats.
Clearly, our ancestors ate brains, marrow, kidneys, gonads, (sometimes
liver), thymus etc. Our research group is currently examining the
complete fatty acid spectrum of a wide variety of organ meats in North
American wild animals.
As for a treat, I recommend good dry white or red wine. We have
preliminary evidence to show that moderate (2 glasses ) consumption of
wine does not promote weight gain and may in fact increase insulin
sensitivity so as to help prevent symptoms of syndrome X (Cordain L. et
al. Influence of moderate daily wine consumption upon body weight
regulation and metabolism in healthy free living males. J Am Coll Nutr
1997 16: in press.). Additionally, moderate wine consumption has been
shown to reduce the mortality from CHD and the phytochemicals in wine
have antineoplastic effects and a wide variety of other health promoting
effects.
Cordially,
Loren Cordain, Ph.D.
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