1. The document discusses hunter-gatherer diets and lifestyles in the Paleolithic era compared to modern diets and lifestyles. Hunter-gatherers ate lean meats, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds and were highly active, which protected against diseases.
2. Studies show that when indigenous populations adopt Western diets and sedentary lifestyles, they experience increased rates of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers. For example, Pima Indians and Australian Aborigines saw these health issues rise after changing their traditional diets and activities.
3. While genetically adapted to Paleolithic diets, humans now eat highly processed foods, get less physical activity, and
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5.
6. 1. The paleolithic age
old stone age: 2million years
2. Mesolithic age
Middle stone age: at the end of the last ice
age era, 10000 years
3. Neolithic age
New stone age 9000-7000 BC
Britannica Encyclopedia 2010
The stone age
7. 1. Paleothic period
2.6 million years – 10,000 years ago
2. Agricultural revolution
10,000 years ago
3. Industrial revolution
200 years ago
4. Western dominance
200 years ago
5. American dominance
50 years ago
Britannica Encyclopedia 2011
Mankind’s journey through time
9. Discordance Hypothesis
The prevalence in modern
societies of many chronic
diseases is the consequence of
a mismatch between modern
dietary patterns and the type of
diet that our species evolved to
eat as prehistoric hunter-
gatherer
10. Eaton SB & Konnor M
N. Engl J. Med 312, 283-289
Paleolithic peoples
11. Eaton SB & Konnor M
N. Engl J. Med 312, 283-289
They lived in small clans, or groups
12. 1. Nomadic hunters and gatherers
2. Sheltered in caves
3. Used fire and fashioned stone tools
4. Food scarcity
5. Adaption to starvation
Eaton SB & Konnor M
N. Engl J. Med 312, 283-289
Paleolithic peoples
13. • Long history
• Momentum after 1985
• S. Boyd Eaton, MD, and
Melvin J. Konner, MD
• Seminal paper in New
England Journal of
Medicine
• ”Paleolithic nutrition”
S. Boyd Eaton, MD
Paleolithic nutrition
14. • Seminal paper from
2000
• 229 hunter-gatherer
societies
• 73% obtained 56-65%
of the energy from
animal foods
Loren Cordain, PhD
Paleolithic nutrition
17. • Mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, marine
species
• Everything edible on the animal carcass was
eaten
• Non-domesticated animals lack fat deposits in
muscles
• Even liver and brain while rich in cholesterol
and fat were also rich in long chain n-6 and
• n-3 fatty acids
UCLA center for human nutrition, 101
Introduction to nutrition in western civilization
Animal Foods
18. • Uncultivated plants and honey
• Rich in fiber, low in sodium, rich in
calcium
• Magnesium and potassium
• Low energy density, low glycemic index
UCLA center for human nutrition, 101
Introduction to nutrition in western civilization
Plant Foods
19. – Large animals are
preferred over small animals
– Animal foods are almost
always preferred over plant
foods
• because of their increased
energy yield
Whenever and whereever it was
ecologically possible, hunter-
gatherers always preferred
animal food over plant food
No doubt that hunter-gatherers
favored the fattiest part of the
animals they hunted and killed
The Hunter-Gatherers Diet
Food Preferences
20. • Calorie dense food
• Depot fat
• Organ meats
• Fatty insects
• Honey
UCLA center for human nutrition, 101
Introduction to nutrition in western civilization
The Hunter-Gatherers Diet
Food Preferences
21. Food consumed
immediately by gorging and
wastage rare. Would gorge
2 to 3 kg of animal after
successful hunt. Would also
gorge on honey, eggs,
insects or fat.
UCLA center for human nutrition, 101
Introduction to nutrition in western civilization
The Hunter-Gatherers Diet
Eating Patterns
22. 1- Protein, high and lean
2- Carbohydrates: moderate
3- Total fat: moderate
4- Saturated fat: moderate
5- Monounsaturated: High
6- Polyunsaturated: moderate
Mayo Clinic Proc, 2004
Food of the Hunter-Gatherers
23. 7- Omega-3 fat: moderate
8- Fiber: High
9- Fruits and vegetables: high
10- Nuts and seeds: moderate
11- Salt: low
12- Refined sugars: low
13- Glycemic load: low
Mayo Clinic Proc, 2004
Food of the Hunter-Gatherers
24. 1. Lean protein
2. High fiber
3. High vitamins
4. High minerals
5. High anti-oxidants
6. No refined grains and sugars
Mayo Clinic Proc, 2004
Real food not synthetic
food
25. 1. 2-3 times more fiber
2. 2 times more poly and mono fats
3. 4 times more omega-3 fats
4. 60-70% less saturated fats
5. 2-3 times more protein
6. 3-4 more times k
7. 4-5 times less Na
The paleolithic diet
vs.the western diet
Mayo Clinic Proc, 2004
28. The paradoxical
nature of the Hunter
diets:
Meat based yet not
atherogenic
Eur J Clin Nut, 2002
56, 542-552
Can meat be
cardioprotective?
29. 1. Meat-based HG diet were nonatherogenic
2. In western diets were atherogenic
3. The flesh of wild game contain about 2-4%
fat with high levels of mono and omega 3
fats
4. Domestic meats, contain 20-25% fat, rich
in saturated fat.
Eur J Clin Nut, 2002
56, 542-552
Can meat be cardioprotective?
30. 1. Anti inflammatory
2. Algae, grasses and leaves
3. Fish and larger gazing animal
4. Meat from domesticated animals low in
omega 3 fat
5. Mediterranean diet
6. Reduce CVD risk 32-50 %
Mayo Clinic Proc, 2004
Omega 3 fat
31. • 50% of HG total fat intake
• Reduce CVD risk: 50%
• Nuts rich in:
– Mono, poly unsaturated, omega 3
– Protein
– Fiber
– antioxidents
Mayo Clinic Proc, 2004
Monounsaturated fats
35. • Physical activity: 3-5 hrs per day
spent in sustained activity. Digging,
walking briskly, chopping with stone
axe.
Eaton S, Osteoporos Int, 17(suppl 2): S2-3, 2006
Hunter-Gatherers Lifestyle
36. How is human health
when eating Paleolithic
diet and unprocessed
foods?
37. •Non-communicable diseases (cancer,
ASCVD, obesity, diabetes, hypertension)
are rare to non-existent.
•Life was short, death rates were high.
. Main causes of death include:
accidents, food shortage, predation,
parasitic disease
Hunter-gatherer health and
disease
53. Agriculture
Agriculture is thought to have
offered one principle
advantage — providing a
greater amount of food per
unit area of land — which
could feed a larger population
54. Early River Valley Civilizations
Britannica Encyclopedia 2011
The origin Agriculture
Revolution
61. 1. General health deteriorated
2. Adult height was shorter
3. Shorter life spans
4. Higher childhood mortality
5. High incidence of osteoporosis and rickets
and other vt. deficiencies
Harris .., eds 1987
Food and evolution 261-283
Agricultural grain-based diet
62. The Agriculture Revolution
People before
Relied on hunting and
gathering.
Nomads lived in small
hunting , and food
gathering groups.
Waited for migrating
animals to return each
year.
People after
Learned to farm and were able
to produce their own food.
Settled into permanent
villages.
Learned to domesticate, or
tame, animals. This provided
a dependable source of
meat.
Harris .., eds 1987
Food and evolution 261-283
65. Population growth
•10,000-years ago, < 10 mil.
• 1800, 1 bil.
there is little doubt that human
populations grew more rapidly in the first
few thousand years following the
agricultural revolution than in the few
million years preceding it
66. •Sedentary lifestyle
• Longer life
• Abundant food
• Processed food
• Degraded environment
• Increase in medical technology
The Industrial Revolution
69. • 99% of mankind’s existence on Earth
has been as a HUNTER & GATHERER!
Hunter & Gatherers
70. Today…
The human genome
is now struggling
to cope with the
vastly different
diet and lifestyle
of the modern era
71. AMJ Hum Genet 1999
The human genome has
remained largely unchanged
during the past 10,000 years.
The genes we are born with are
those that we live an die with.
72. •Eaton SB. 2006. Proc Nutrit Soc. 65(1):1-6
The human genome evolved under harsh
selection conditions over a period of 3.5
million years ~
The spontaneous mutation rate for nuclear
DNA is estimated at about 0.5% per million
years
Over the past 10,000 years, the human
genome is calculated to have changed
only 0.05% from our paleolithic ancestors
~
73. The modern human paradox
But genetically we
remain citizens of the
stone age
Socially we are a people
of the 21st
century
76. 76
The epidemic of CVD is at least in part
due to these striking discrepancies
between the diet we are designed to
eat and what we actually eat today
77. • Obesity
• Cardiovascular diseases
–CHD, stroke, hypertension
• Diabetes
• Certain cancers
–colon, prostate, breast
• Osteoporosis
• Non-infective bowel diseases
Mayo Clinic Proc, 2004
Diet-related diseases of western
lifestyle
79. • No cancer,
cardiovascular diseases,
type 2 diabetes or
dental caries
• Appears as soon as such
humans change
environment and
lifestyle, particularly
diet
Historical experience of
indigenous/traditional peoples
80. Striking replacement of infectious
disease that kills early in life with non-
communicable disease that kills late
New diseases in human history caused
by conditions of life arising during the
industrial period (smoking example).
diseases of affluence
81. Diabetes care 1999, 22: 1993+
Pima Indians
Aboriginal people
Rich Arabs
When the former hunter
adopts the westerner’s
lifestyle
83. • 1900s
–Moving to reservations caused
them to adopt western food
• 1940s and 50s
–No longer able to live off land and
were required to buy foods
Changing With Time
84. • Starch often takes up too
much of meal
• Portion sizes are much larger
• Use much more fat and salt in
cooking processes
• Lower activity level and food
patterns have caused decline in
health
Indian Diets Today
89. 89
Before European contact, hunter-gatherer population
diets approximated the Paleolithic Diet
~ Australian Aborigines ~ migrated 50,000 yrs ago
and isolated until 1778
Diet based on wild game, seafood, nuts, seeds,
yams & greens
92. Impact of 7 weeks temporary reversion to hunter
gatherer lifestyle:
• Weight Loss
• Striking improvement in glucose tolerance
• Improved insulin response
• Normalisation of dyslipidaemia
• Reduction in blood pressure
O. Dea K. Diabetes 1984:33:596
Impact Of Lifestyle Change In Australian Aborigines
On Type 2 Diabetes And CVD Risk Factors
