VEGAN FOOD & LIVING OCTOBER 93PALEOLITHIC DIET
people’s diet. Meat-eating may well have
made cooking necessary as raw meat is
diffi cult to chew and takes time to digest,
making the consumption in large quantities
extremely diffi cult.
In the 1980s, US anthropologists Boyd
Eaton and Melvin Konner suggested the
Paleo (Paleolithic or hunter-gatherer) diet
as a model for modern human nutrition.
Consisting of high-protein meat and fi sh
(but no dairy), it contains no fi bre, grains or
pulses in it.
The theory has been widely incorporated
into popular scientifi c and diet research,
leading to the idea that human bodies haven’t
changed since the Paleolithic period of 2.6
million to 12,000 years ago. Proponents
reckon the mismatch between the diets then
and our Western-style diets now, is to blame
for our high levels of obesity, diabetes and
heart disease.
We’ve certainly evolved to be fl exible eaters and genetic
evidence shows that we continued to evolve over the past
40,000 years, past the Paleolithic era well into the Neolithic
era when farming began. During the Neolithic period,
farming rapidly spread across Europe, reaching Britain and
Northern Europe around 6,000 years ago. These Neolithic
farmers relied on a mostly plant-based diet compared to
the Paleolithic hunter-gatherers that preceded them. In
fact, geochemical analysis of grains and pulses coming from
Neolithic sites confi rms that the early farmers of 10,000 years
ago relied much more heavily
on plant protein than was
previously thought.Digestive evolution
Evidence shows that genetic
changes occurred relatively
recently and these helped us
adapt to a more plant-based
diet. One modern adaptation
included an increased
production of amylase, an
enzyme that helps us digest starchy carbohydrates found in
cereals and grains.
A study, published in the journal Nature Ecology and
Evolution, shows how the shift in European diets after the
introduction of farming led to other genetic adaptations that
favoured the predominantly plant-based diet of that time.
Long-chain fatty acids are important for brain development
and cognitive function. Neolithic farmers probably ate less
of these than their predecessors and evidence shows that we
developed enzymes to make these long chain fats in the body
from short chain ones found widely in plant foods such as
nuts and seeds. The evidence shows that we have adapted and
changed and are not the same as our Paleolithic ancestors.Meat not make man smart
Another myth surrounding meat consumption is the idea that
‘meat made us smart’. In the 1990s, British scientists Leslie
C. Aiello and Peter Wheeler proposed the ‘expensive-tissue
hypothesis’, whereby there is a trade-off between the size ofthe digestive tract (gut) and the brain – small gut allows big
brain. If bigger brains were always better, every animal would
have them, so there must be a downside.
The brain is ‘expensive’ because it requires so much energy.
The theory is that a high-quality diet enabled us to reduce
the size of our gut, freeing up energy to increase brain size. In
other words ‘meat made us smart’. However, recent research,
published in the journal Nature, refutes this, saying a higher
quality diet coupled with the energy saved by walking
upright, growing more slowly
and reproducing later, fuelled
the growth in brain size.
Prehistoric humans ate some
meat, but it certainly didn’t
make them smart.
The science shows
that humans have more
characteristics in common
with herbivores than they
do carnivores. We are not
suited to eating raw meat
and cooked meat, even at moderate levels, is associated with
a wide range of health problems, including heart disease,
diabetes and cancer – all the modern diseases Paleo pundits
suggest meaty diets can protect against.
The idea that we are suited to a hunter-gatherer
diet, rich in meat and fi sh with no grains or pulses, is
fl awed. We know humans continued evolving past the
Palaeolithic era; we know our Neolithic ancestors
adapted to be able to digest carbohydrates; and we
now know that they relied on plant protein more
than previously thought. The research simply
doesn’t support the notion that humans were
designed to eat meat, especially in the quantities
consumed in some affl uent countries.
To fi nd out more, see Viva!’s Wheat Eaters or Meat
Eaters? guide with anatomy charts of carnivores,
herbivores, omnivores and humans, which looks at our
dietary history and explains why we consume animals at
our peril! Available at http://www.vivahealth.org.ukThe science shows that humans
have more characteristics in
common with herbivores than
they do carnivores
VIVA!
Viva!Health is
a part of the
charity Viva!. We
monitor scientifi c
research linking
diet to health and
provide accurate
information on
which you can
make informed
choices about the
food you eat.
Justine Butler is
the Senior Health
Researcher at
Viva!Health
http://www.vivahealth.
org.ukVFL17.PaleoEvolution.indd 93 07/09/2017 12:06