Paleolithic and Modern Diet - Essay Example

Paleolithic and Modern Diet Introduction Paleolithic diet is the original diet that can be traced through a million of years ago and currently used to a higher degree by the 84 tribes of hunters and gatherer in today world. Their diet is full if non-processed food products but the foods in their natural state. This diet was able to alienate diseases such as cancer, depression, heart diseases, hypertension, schizophrenia, diabetes and Arthritis. (Vany, 2010)1Their diet was coded on for in the human genes. This diet has numerous differences with the current diet in the civilized world. This diet is also known as caveman diet in reference to the historical existence of the diet. The basic of Paleolithic diet involved the intake of foods such as chicken, meat, fish, eggs, fruits; vegetables mainly root vegetables with the exclusion of potatoes and sweat potatoes, berries and nuts. This diet excluded the raw products and foods such as grains, beans, potatoes, dairy products, salt and sugar. The reason for their exclusion was in the basis that they contained toxin in their natural uncooked state. In this times, cooking was neither part of lifestyle nor known technique of food preparation hence the foods couldn’t be cooked. It is evident that the Paleo diet provides the best results. This diet improves the blood lipids, loss of weight and reduces the autoimmunity pain. The diet has stood the scientific scrutiny test. The diet removed the foods that are not fit for diet and increases the dietary intake of minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. The Paleo diet helps in efficient workouts, stabilizes blood sugar, burns out fats that are stored and helps in energy balancing throughout the day. This diet gives clear skin and better breath, improves the patterns of sleep and provides anti-inflammatory aspect of the body. Key Differences There are numerous basic differences between the current diet and the caveman’s diet. In the early days when food was eaten raw, grains, legumes and some root plants could not be eaten. In the introduction of cooking though fire, the technology to boil was not in existence hence the only introduced options were toasting and roasting. This technique could only work on meats and a few nuts and grains. The only sugar products that were consumed by then were non-refined which included honey as a major source. The early food consumption varied depending on the geographical area. However, most of the dietary foods were at percentage of half animal foods and a bigger portion was of animal origin. The diet also included a larger portion of vegetation which composed o6 pounds of their daily consumption. In comparison the current diet, the fat type that is consumed is very different. Presently, human beings have a less intake of Omega-3 fats. This fat is thought to be found only in oily fish and seeds such as flax. However, research has it that game meats contain omega-3 fat in a higher percentage than the domestic animals. Greens also have this fat in a small amount. In the understanding of ancient people eating a lot of greens then gives a clear indication that they could get this fat in a good percentage. The indication of game meat having more omega-3 fats is based on the fact that they consume a lot of greens too. (Simopoulos & Cleland, 2003) The current generation consumes a lot of saturated fat and omega-6 fat. The saturated fat is based on the fact that fattening of cattle meat is through the consumption of corn and grain by the animals. A large number of the saturated fat also comes from dairy products which the Paleolithic people did not consume. The current consumption of omega-6 fats has increase drastically due to the reduction and extinction of omega-3 fats. This is caused by the introduction of soybean oil and seed oils like corn oil into the diet. The ancient people consumed a diet that comprised of about 20 to 36 protein percentage. This kind of data was recommended at its upper ranging end. The percentage may have varied depending on the season and geography. However, the consumption of fiber diet that ranges from 100 to 200 grams was the standard. The variation was based on the climatic conditions of the area which determined the quantity of consumption hence determine the amount of fiber intake. One cannot despite the evidence of Paleolithic people consuming a diet that had less glycemic in comparison to the present generation. Their carbohydrate was full of calories at 20 to 40 percent and all had no processed grains or sugar. In terms of minerals and vitamin consumption, the current diet has served for diluting the nutritive concentration in the diet. The nutritional density of the grains is very low in comparison with the vegetables, seafood and vegetables. Cooking oils and the added sugar are the cause of destroying the nutrients. (Hublin & Richards, 2002) Benefits The ancient people had a variety of food to take especially vegetables and fruits. It is estimated that they could consume over 100 different kinds of foods annually. This cannot be achieved in the present generation. Therefore, the basic healthy balanced diet tenancy that can be accrued through the consumption of a wide variety of foods cannot be achieved by the current generation people. In a number of research work, it has been identified that some substances like phytic acid found in grain, other foods and legumes has an effect on the nutrient absorption. Some molecules known as lectins are also said to contribute to a state in the gut where large molecules are allowed to pass into the blood stream from the intestines. This contributes to autoimmune conditions and allergies. This condition is known as leaky gut. However this condition is resolved and does not exist in the modern dietary pattern doe to processed foods. The human diet type that is recommended in the USDA’s food pyramid has a clear increasing evidence of discordance with the previous ancient diet. There are more proves that the food pyramid has numerous emissions of serious nutritional demands. This is based on the relation between the consumption of omega-6 in relation to consumption of Omega-3 which averages to about 12:1 in ratio. The original ration on the fats was ranging from 1:1 to 3:1. (Shankar & Srivastava, 2012)2 Human dietary requirements should be immensely identical to the caveman’s diet. This is due to the fact that human genome has experienced minimal change from the past years after the introduction of behavioral modern humans. Fossil records indicate that there is possibility that the introduction of agriculture was due to environmental pressure. This included the population density and easy hunted game depletion. The extinction of large mammals all over the world also contributed to the introduction of agriculture. Conclusion There are a number of challenges that affects the current generation in the need to divert back to the Paleolithic diet. The first obstacles are the understanding of variety of Paleolithic diets that were in existence in the early days. There is also the aspect of evolution in millions of years which make it difficult to track down to the original species and food kinds. The evolution and technology that has occurred in the past years makes it almost impossible to obtain the exact Paleolithic diet. This is because the original stuff in in extinction in the current world. The changes in human health and dietary needs has resulted to the different dietitian recommendation hence the change might not be conducive nor acceptable by many. However, the new Paleo diet imitation involves consumption of large quantities of meat. This may unfortunately ignore the health risks that are associated with meat eating, ethical issues related to increased animal food demands and environmentally looming crisis that makes eating a lower ecological imperative on food chain. It is therefore prudent to understand and prioritize the connection between food and medicine. In this context, food should possess medicinal values while medicines too should possess healthy dietary values. Bibliography Hublin, J.-J., & Richards, M. P. (2002). The evolution of Himinin Diets: Intergrating Approaches to the Study of Palaelithic Subsistence. New York: Springer. Shankar, S., & Srivastava, R. K. (2012). Nutrition, Diet and Cancer. New York: Springer. Simopoulos, A. P., & Cleland, L. G. (2003). Omega- 6/Omega - 3 Essential Fatty Acid Ratio: The Scientific Evidence. Switzerland: Karger AG. Vany, A. D. (2010). The New Evolution Diet: What Our Paleolithic Ancestors Can Teach Us About Weight loss, Fitness and Aging. United States: Rodale. Read More