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Paleolithic Diet? Is It Relevant For Today? Professor Alana L. Jolley itsallaboutcultu re.com

Paleolithic diets

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Reasons behind, challenges for, myths about, and little-known facts surrounding the "Paleo Diet." Learn about the Paleolithic Period (then) and evolution of both humans and their food (now). From a Culture and Food Course @itsallaboutculture.com.

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Page 1: Paleolithic diets

Paleolithic Diet?

Is It Relevant

For Today?

Professor Alana L. Jolley itsallaboutculture.com

Page 2: Paleolithic diets

Origins of Human Diets

Review: Humans are Primates, too.

Page 3: Paleolithic diets

Green Genes

Review: Green plants for good health!

Page 4: Paleolithic diets

Obesity

Review: The Globalization of Obesity

Page 5: Paleolithic diets

Across Genders

Page 6: Paleolithic diets

And Across Generations

Page 7: Paleolithic diets

No Obesity Here

Why?

Page 8: Paleolithic diets

Paleolithic Age

2.5 Million – 10,000 Years Ago

Page 9: Paleolithic diets

Paleolithic Period

•Paleolithic Period: stone tools to the development of agriculture 10,000 YA

Page 10: Paleolithic diets

Paleolithic Patterns

• Nutrition depended on environment

• Available resources

• Seasonal and local

• Periods of shortages and abundance

Page 11: Paleolithic diets

Modern Patterns

BadFats

Too Much Sugar

Too Much Salt

Page 12: Paleolithic diets

Modern Patterns

Sedentary Living and Fast Foods

Page 13: Paleolithic diets

Screen Time

Processed, refined, unhealthy foods.

Page 14: Paleolithic diets

Paleolithic Foods

• Use of aquatic foods is recent, 20,000 YA

Some people lacked access to aquatic foods.

Page 15: Paleolithic diets

Cro-Magnon Period43,000 Years Ago

• Meat consumption increased

Middle Paleolithic Period

Page 16: Paleolithic diets

Over-hunting, Climate ChangePopulation Growth

• Plant consumption increased; meat consumption decreased.

Domestication of Plants

Page 17: Paleolithic diets

Paleolithic Diets

• Paleolithic diets: unlike typical diet in U.S.

• Paleolithic diets: unlike USDA Pyramids

• Paleolithic diets: affected by extreme shortages, over abundance, seasonal availability

Page 18: Paleolithic diets

Early Agriculture AlteredNutritional Patterns

• Plant food up to 90% of diet.

Page 19: Paleolithic diets

Agricultural Patterns

• Smaller body size, sedentary living, complex societies, less exercise, more calories - but more work!

Page 20: Paleolithic diets

Acquisition of Food

Hunting and Gathering(Paleolithic Period)

Supermarkets (Today)

Page 21: Paleolithic diets

Distribution of Food

Egalitariandistribution of food(Food Sharing)Paleolithic Period

Taco Taxi (Today)

Mobile Food Distribution

Page 22: Paleolithic diets

Consumption of Food Today

Too much:

FoodFatSaltSugarRefined foodsPackaged foodsCarbohydratesCalories

Over abundance of food More food availabilityNo food shortages

Page 23: Paleolithic diets

Discovering Ancient Diets

• Primate diets

• Pre-agricultural, ancestral diets, DNA

• Diets of today’s foragers (few left)

• Legacy of food adaptations over time

Page 24: Paleolithic diets

Would You Eat This?

Extreme shortages made insects important.

Page 25: Paleolithic diets

Comparing Food Pyramids

United States Dept. of Agriculture

Page 26: Paleolithic diets

Comparing Food Pyramids

Vegetarian Food Pyramid

Page 27: Paleolithic diets

Comparing Food Pyramids

Page 28: Paleolithic diets

Comparing Food Pyramids

Page 29: Paleolithic diets

Paleolithic Pyramid

• Omit Dairy

• Omit Grains

• Omit Processed

foods

Is this sustainable today for all populations?

Page 30: Paleolithic diets

Paleolithic Diets

• High cholesterol, different fat, more essential fatty acids (EFA’s)

• More polyunsaturated fats (PUFA’s) than saturated fats.

• 1/6 th of salt content in today’s diets

• A defense against some modern diseases

Page 31: Paleolithic diets

Comparative Health ThreatsPaleolithic: Modern:

No sanitation methods

Heart disease

No modern medicines

Obesity

Infections

Lethal parasite infestations

Diabetes

Cancers

Page 32: Paleolithic diets

Paleolithic Lifestyles

Hunter-gatherers

No complex societies

Egalitarian (equal access to food)

No domestication of plants/animals

Page 33: Paleolithic diets

Are We Like Them?

100% biologically like Paleolithic peoples? No.

Page 34: Paleolithic diets

Humans Have Developed

• A gene for lactose tolerance

• Thrifty genotype as a survival

mechanism against famine

• Immune systems that resist

diseases like malaria

• Microbial gut communities

unlike Paleolithic times

* Gene-food-culture interactions

Page 35: Paleolithic diets

Foods Have Changed

• Fruits, vegetables, animals have also evolved since Paleolithic times

• Humans breed animals for maximum yields of meat, eggs, and milk

• Humans plant only seeds for biggest, best, juiciest, fruits and vegetables

Page 36: Paleolithic diets

World Cuisines Have Evolved

• Surpluses created need to preserve

• Meats are dried, smoked, or frozen

• Other foods are salted, smoked, boiled

• Processing has led to additives: salt, smoke, vinegar, fermenting, chemicals

Page 37: Paleolithic diets

Diet Accordingly

• According to age

• According to needs

• According to resources

• According to budget

Page 38: Paleolithic diets

Summary

• Paleolithic diets are generalizations, not exact interpretations.

• Impossible to know exact proportions of meat and vegetables in Paleolithic times

• All Paleolithic peoples did not eat the same exact diet.

• Is a Paleolithic diet a fad, or relevant in today’s world, with billions of people?

Page 39: Paleolithic diets

Bibliography

• Culture and Food Course @itsallaboutculture.com

• Goodman, Dufour, Pelto, Nutritional Anthropology, 2000, pp. 46-75.

• Jabr, Ferris, Scientific American, 2013.• Counihan, Van Esterik, Food and Culture,

3rd Ed, 2013, pp. 435-438.• White, Tim D., Human Osteology, 2000, pp.

433-434.