On Mon, 3 Jun 2002 10:54:56 -0700, Johnny Battle
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>And this article in Beyond Veg. web site says Paleo brains were larger
>than ours:
>
>http://www.beyondveg.com/billings-t/comp-anat/comp-anat-4b.shtml#dietary
>
>>From what I understand, brain size directly relates to intelligence, at
>least among contemporary humans.
>
>John B

This article has a wealth of interesting information about Paleo diet,
far beyond the interesting subject pointed out by John B.  Recommended !

The major point is:

" The data that human brain size has fallen 11% in the last 35,000
years--with the bulk of that decrease (8%) coming in the last 10,000
years--furnishes, by extension, suggestive, potential corroborative
support for the hypotheses explored earlier in this section that
increasing brain development earlier in human evolution is correlated
positively with the level of animal food in the diet. It also indicates
that animal food may be a key component of dietary quality (DQ) that
cannot be fully substituted for by increasing other components in the
diet in its absence (such as grains). "

But I was also interested to note the statement:

" Advent of cooking may have promoted further encephalization by
reducing digestive energy required. Finally, in what will be
controversial to raw-fooders, Aiello and Wheeler, after arguing that the
first major increase in encephalization was due to increased consumption
of animal foods, next propose that the second major increase in brain
size (with the appearance of archaic Homo sapiens) was due to the
appearance of cooking practices. (Archaic Homo sapiens coincides with a
timeframe of roughly 100,000 to 400,000 years ago.) "


--
Cheers,

Ken
[log in to unmask]