Posted: 8/27/2015 8:10:45 PM EDT
[#5]
Quote History Quoted: So, calorie-dense foods had a positive impact on humanity at a time when starvation was a real threat and humanity adapted to become more adept at digesting starches.
Today, is lack of caloric intake a bigger threat to the average American's health than obesity and its consequences? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quote History Quoted:Quoted:Quoted:Quoted:
FFS At least read the article before you make a spurious attack. It was reported in the Quarterly Review of Biology, and attributed to such in the article. There are numerous scientific articles indicating the likely inclusion of various foodstuffs by primitive hunter gatherers. That being said, most sources had not been bred up as our modern fruits and starch tubers have been.
This raises an interesting point, on which I agree with the "you can't recreate the caveman diet" crowd, as misguided as the argument may be. Many of the fruits and vegetables that we have now didn't exist, and I have to seriously wonder what plants our ancestors could have actually eaten. The apple was originally more like a crabapple, and not terribly pleasant to eat. Broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage, and turnips were all bred from the wild mustard plant. I have to wonder if the same could even be said for tubers- that they originally carried a rare but (by comparison to modern crops) paltry amount of starch until bred into modern yams and potatoes. A brief Google search says "at least in some instances". Yep. By volume, and in concert with higher ratios of insoluble fiber and other indigestible carbohydrate, glycemic load overall would have been reduced. But humans ate whatever they can get their hands on, including starchy tubers. Ripe fruits contain little starch, and although smaller, still would have been consumed in quantity. Look at how fruits, wild berries etch are sought by all animals. The question has become why are humans unique amongst primates in genetic changes allowing digestion of starch more efficiently. Research that suggests multiple copies of amylase genes, which is what you see in populations consuming starches, since there a survival benefit, existed well before modern humans. So at some level, starches had an impact regardless of the nascent form the starch plants exhibited, for a time well before intentional cultivation. Other Primates have much fewer copies, as they eat primarily ripe fruit, containing relatively little starch. So this seems to draw a difference between our ancestors. So, calorie-dense foods had a positive impact on humanity at a time when starvation was a real threat and humanity adapted to become more adept at digesting starches. Today, is lack of caloric intake a bigger threat to the average American's health than obesity and its consequences? A better question to ask is why get invested in defending a "diet" based on a demonstrably false food palette concept. One that never existed, nor could it be replicated today as examples are no longer extant. If a particular diet works for an individual, great, eat it. But lets not claim a particular diets efficacy is based on human adaption, when what evidence exists is to the contrary. The issue with total caloric intake has less to do with carbs in the diet than it does portion size and types of carbs. Humans have been eating caloric dense foods for a long time, yet obesity has only become endemic recently. For the most part because Americans do less and eat more. 50 years ago most American diets wouldnt be considered particularly healthy today, and certainly wouldnt be considered "paleo", but obesity wasnt rampant. No need to reinvent the wheel. Regardless, any attempt to eat more naturally and with better balance should be encouraged. Not sure what your question is suppose to ferret out.
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