On Tue, 2 Sep 1997, Loren Cordain wrote:

> Thus, there appears to be a dose response
> with protein/CHO mixtures and from the data, it can probably be
> interpreted  that there is a dose response effect with pure protein.
> Fat/CHO mixtures cause a greater rise in insulin that CHO meals alone,
> presumably because of the stimulatory effect of fat upon glucose
> dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP) (2).   Thus, as Todd has
> surmised, there is a dose dependent effect of dietary protein upon
> glucagon secretion which is largely independent of either CHO or Fat.

Thank you for this clarification.  The picture that seems to
emerge from the data is that humans tolerate dietary fat quite
well (assuming that the fat is not deficient in certain fatty
acids) when carbohydrate intake is moderate.  To think of it in
another way, if either fat intake or carbohydrate intake is high,
then the presence of the other macronutrient in large amounts
becomes problematic.  Current low-fat dietary "wisdom" takes for
granted high levels of dietary carbohydrate, and the safest way
to eat lots of carbs is to eat very little fat along with them.

Health seems to require a trade-off between fats and carbs, as
well as sufficient consumption of protein.  I am not a scientist,
but this picture certainly causes me to wonder what evolutionary
pressures might bring about this trade-off condition.  The answer
that suggests itself is this:  The human body would "prefer" to
run on animal protein and fat, primarily, but because hunting is
a dicey thing, backup systems are needed.  So, when animal
protein and fat are not available, we can eke out a living on
carbs.  During certain seasons, we might be able to do little
better than lean meat and carbs, but what would normally never
happen to a hunter-gatherer, I suppose, is to have a long-term a
diet composed mainly of carbs and fats.

So, if we have a fair idea of what components of the civilized
diet are conducive to CHD, it is interesting to ask whether it is
even possible to have a CHD-prone diet without resorting to
agricultural foods...

Todd Moody
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