Ancestral Diet and does it matter

(Bob M) #6

I was going to bring this up as an example. Listened to a book about the Comanches, and a lot of them basically ate meat. That’s it, for some of them. You go from that to high carb, and I can’t see that being good.

Listened to a podcast with a guy from the Sami people, who live far north and eat mainly reindeer. They do eat some fruits and the like in the summer. His grandfather die when he was around 90+ and had just cross-country skied to visit his friends. Yet his parents, who where taught to eat higher carb and not eat as much meat, died much earlier. He was trying to go back to his people’s original diet.

Now, how long does it take for a group of people to adapt to a diet? I don’t know. Can people of Asian heritage really eat rice and not want to eat bowls and bowls of it (as I do)? Maybe. If so, how long did it take them to get that way? Hundreds of years? Thousands of years?

(Chuck) #7

For my family it was a combination of all. Yes we eat lots of meat, but also lots of fruits and vegetables. We grew our own. We had a root cellar that we keep what we grew in. My grandfather smoked meat and salt preserved meat. My grandmother and mom canned fruits, vegetables and even some meats.

#8

I can do that too (why would I want much rice, it’s boring. still fun and special occasionally but only in tiny amounts) but I definitely need a lot of other food as well… :slight_smile:

–

I need WAY more meat (or some other protein, I can do vegetarianism but it’s just simpler and nicer with meat) than the amount my anchestors (just a few generations, I don’t know about the previous times) ate. They ate tons of carbs (sugar pastries too), I don’t want those. I do love fruit. My anchestors were peasants and ate everything.

#9

Nope, because very simply, they’re not us and we’re not them. Most of the “humans” back then weren’t even the same species as us, in the middle and end of the paleolithic period when Homo Sapiens started, they still weren’t completely us, they still looked more like the apes that we are than the way we look now, given how long it takes for a species to physically change, think about how different they had to be.

People should make decisions based on what THEY tolerate, and our labs says our bodies like (within reason). Not what some distant ancestor did that was very literally from a different world did.

By that logic the people with lactose issues should still consume dairy because other humans of their same species in the same time period do without issue. People need to not worry about others.

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #10

I like this perspective. And it backs up what we’re all doing here, looking for our own fix.
Our era’s issues are made even more complicated by systems that aren’t helping us. At least in other distant times our choices were less confusing.

(Bean) #11

Native Americans, thanks to the Pima, have really good data about the benefits of eating their heritage diet.

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #12

Anyone watch the ‘Desert Drifter’ videos? very sad what happened, anyhow there were corn husks everywhere, but I’m thinking these were modern (500-1000years) Native Americans.

(Chuck) #13

Don’t believe the media representation of my ancestors. That was a BS. My ancestry is Apache.

(Bean) #14

I shouldn’t believe that people whose ancestors are from North America are healthier eating foods that are not over-processed?

(That was my take away from the data, any how.)

I tend to ignore things clearly biased by dieticians with an agenda.

(Chuck) #15

I was required to go to an nutritionist when I first started using the VA, Veterans Administration, because I did have blood pressure issues at the time. The nutritionist told me I had to change my diet. The diet was all highly processed grains and skim milk and literally no meat protein. I didn’t say anything because it would not do any good. Of course I didn’t follow the diet. I got serious about my diet, what I knew works. Anytime that I vary from what I know works for me I get in trouble with my health. Also if I force my weight down to what the BMI charts say I get very unhealthy. My body has its golden weight and I can only vary it 15 pounds or my blood pressure and digestive system goes nuts. The older I get the more strictly I have to obay my body’s needs and requirements.

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #16

Wow Chuck I had no idea. To me that’s amazing! Do you have much knowledge of you ancestry? I’m fascinated but all I have is old films and Wiki … that’s why I liked the Desert Drifter. He was very respectful I thought.

(Chuck) #17

What i know is what my great grandmother and grandmother taught me. A lot about how the nutrition that mother earth provides is healing to the body, and spirit. I have journaled since I was old enough to read and write. I have journals going back 70 years, I am now 77. So much information on different roots, berries, mushrooms, and vegetables and fruits. Those are my journals and I have my grandmother’s journals too. So much of the information is regional. My ancestors broke off from the main tribe over 150 years ago, left Arizona and ended up in deep East Texas. In effect my ancestors fell out of the history books. My great grandmother married my great grandfather, a German immigrant. My grandmother married my grandfather, again half German and Apache. My mom’s side is Scottish, Irish and what is known as black Duch. My grandmother was from the Artic Circle of the Netherlands. My grandfather was, the Scottish, Irish. Then my first wife was Hobie and Spanard.

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #18

Aww these are precious Chuck … It’s a unique story you have. There’s a wonderful Film / Documentary somewhere in there.

(B Creighton) #19

The Paleo Diet and the Ancestral diet are really misnomers IMHO. Plants do have some issues with being eaten, and the original Paleo diet presented issues. Let’s face it. No one is going to the store and getting what was on the diet of the hunter gatherer… thankfully. Over the millennia man has vastly improved the plants he has most chosen to eat. Modern cruciferous vegetables are vastly superior to the original wild broccoli. I have some wild prickly lettuce in my yard every year… no thanks… never tried a bite of that rubbery sapped stuff. Although I try to get a good bit of my animal foods closer to the wild side, such as wild salmon and wild shrimp, venison, etc, I don’t plan to go back to much wild plant life… no thanks!!

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #20

Great point. Wild Pig, Fish etc etc would be even better right … but ever seen a wild banana? it’s inedible

#21

Wild berries are often pretty useless too… Not all, there are some super sweet ones (rosehip, for example, it’s everywhere in all winter) but the blackberries :smiley: They are just sour here, no sweetness whatsoever :smiley: Fun but that’s it.

I wouldn’t like to live on wild animals either, way too lean. But they can be very nice, sure. I do eat deer sometimes (as it’s cheaper than the cheapest beef, at least it is when I buy some)…

Foraging was always something that baffled me. When people wrote it helps so much to survive… I could forage almost zero calories, I would use up more while searching for food… And most greens are like grass to me. It’s true for almost all green leaves from anywhere, I was a vegetarian who loved vegs but avoided almost all green leaves… No wonder my keto was so carby but I could afford it. It wasn’t ideal but I got fat adaptation and that is nice.

(Philip H Kern) #22

I think this thread asks a helpful question. People construct a narrative around how people used to live and then suggest that we should behave similarly. My response, (1) the narratives are assumptions based on reconstructing evidence, not fact; (2) arguing from a narrative can’t be better, can it, than a scientific evaluation of what something does in our bodies, (3) causing me to conclude that it has more to do with marketing (if that’s the right term) than reality.

I’m sure if we could overcome some of my objections, we’d be better positioned to understand why some things are better for us than others, but for now the primary issue is what to do with regard to diet, not why it works. The issue of why is very important but not primary–the fact that we are here suggests a curiosity that goes beyond merely knowing what to do. But my hierarchy is first, what should I do, second, what does science say in support of said action, and only then, how does it fit into a supposed narrative of ancient life.

(KM) #23

My thoughts:

  1. We may be able to get a reasonably clear baseline by evaluating remains. We also have anthropological record of what didn’t work out as well, switching to an agricultural, grain based diet.

  2. The foods that our early / evolutionary ancestors ate are, as people have mentioned, really no longer available to us, regardless. All we have is clear and obvious knowledge that early humans didn’t eat packaged foods or commercial additives.

  3. It is possible that we can tweak / improve on the baseline diets. But since we can’t replicate them anyway, and areas evolved different genetics in response to the existing conditions and available food base, I think we should consider the varying baselines, and then experiment with what substitutions and amendments are either necessary or beneficial.

(Ava Carter) #24

The ancestral diet encourages eating like our early ancestors—whole, natural foods free from modern processing. Many find it helps improve energy levels, reduce inflammation, and support digestion.
Combining this way of eating with practices like 3-day fasting may amplify the benefits by mimicking the natural feast-and-famine cycles our bodies evolved with. It’s a way to reconnect with a simpler, more balanced approach to health.
Explore the 3-day fasting guide here to learn more.

(Joey) #25

Clear thoughts, well framed.