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The Difference Between Our Diet and Our Ancestor's Diet

By Nitin Chhoda

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 02Jun2007
Word count: 416
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Our diet is completely different from the way our ancestors ate millions of years ago.

The average ascorbic acid (vitamin C) content of vegetables eaten by our ancestors was about 30mg/100gm and apparently 440mg of vit C would have been a typical day's intake for Paleolithic people. That's 5 times more than what Americans now consume and over 7 times the current recommendation!

From plant food alone, paleolithic people achieved calcium intakes of 1460-2000gms per day. The current calcium recommendations range from 400 to 1500mg/day while the average American consumes around 740mg. Even with all the supplements at our disposal, we are eating less than half of our predecessor's calcium intake.

Not only did our ancestors eat more meat, they also ate a different kind of meat, one that was lower in saturated fat. Present day levels of meat consumption are only about a third of the consumption of people 35000 years ago. The Cro-Magnons; a human species that existed for over 10 times longer than we have, derived at times up to 80% of there total nutritional intake from meats. The Cro-Magnons had massive bone structure; on average they stood almost 6'tall.

In addition, the meats of the animals they consumed were a lot different to today. The wild game our ancestors ate contained less than 4g of fat per 100gms, compared to domestic meats of, on average 29g per 100gms. The ratio of animals fats was different too. The fats of the animals Paleolithic people hunted were at least 32% polyunsaturated (the good fats). Today the fat of domesticated animals is only 7% good fat. The poultry industry tries to 'fatten up' the animals, which means higher profit margins and lower quality of meat.

In summary, these are the basic elements of our ancestral diet, which is part of my new book. We eat more fat and less protein than before. The fat our ancestors ate was a 'healthy type of fat'. They ate very little 'saturated fat'. It's hard to imagine our ancestors drizzled their tortilla chips with mayonnaise! We eat more refined sugars than before. Our diet has deteriorated steadily and siginificantly and its time for change. The American way of eating must see a steady reveral, back the way our ancestors ate, which is the right way. The decline in our eating habits is a sign of economic prosperity, and is counterproductive since it leads to more wealth, but also more obesity in America.

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