Todd Moody <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>.... My wife, on the other hand, was
>constantly hungry on Neanderthin and ate a lot more than normal.

>..... She was eating a lot of food  -- more than I
>was eating sometimes, and  I'm a lot bigger.  She said it was
>because she constantly felt hungry an hour or so after eating.

>....The question is why was she eating so much food.  I don't know
>the answer, but clearly her body wanted something that it wasn't
>getting.

Hello List,
hello Todd, reading your posts about your wife and the various responses
i couldn't resist responding too. This strongly reminds me of my thoughts on
*why* people are really eating so much:
(for ex when gaining or not loosing weight):
Because exactely what you mentioned:
   "the body wants something that it in't getting".
Most of the time this will be some minerals or vitamins, sometimes simply energy.

I'm convinced that our bodies *are* smart, in getting what they need.
Our bodies drive our cravings and hunger to get enough of the  about 40 essentials of
which _each_one_ may be the main driving factor.

Regarding this, it is very important to find out about natural ways of nutrition
that supply all "vitamins" (essentials) sufficiently and adequately.
If your wife is using about 2200 kcal, then the question is:
Do the 2200 kcal of energy in her diet bring enough of Vitamin B1,B2,folic acid
or calcium with them?
Or does she have to eat more stuff (and energy) just to get more of some essentials.
IMHO in true paleolithic times, the limiting factor was the energy (kcal) and
*not* the micronutrients, in most cases.
(Thanks for mentioning
  http://www.cast.uark.edu/local/icaes/conferences/wburg/posters/nconklin/conklin.html
 on australopithecus nutrition and it's pith consume)

Looking at various diets with paleolithic ingredients i discovered, that
the more plant seeds (nuts...) a diet contains, the easier is it to "get all of it".
(an addition to the donators of C and A: fresh green).

If someone is tending to go to the "ice age winter" nutrition style (more meat),
then very big amounts (3 lbs/day) and consumation of organ meats are necessary.

I found the following tool to make nice printable lists, but ignoring
for example folic acid, Vitamin E, and w-3 fats of course:

 http://www.ag.uiuc.edu/~food-lab/nat/mainnat.html

regards

Amadeus