There is a video floating around Facebook of a woman who is 70 and looks about 40 and appears to also have tons of energy. Her husband never ate the same way and has aged in a more typical fashion. He says its odd when they go out because people think she is his daughter when the truth is that she is only four years younger than he is.
She is not paleo but rather a raw vegan who does not eat grain either.
Look, the paleo argument on its face makes a lot of logical sense. We did not evolve to eat cool ranch corn chips, barbecue sauce, or creme filled chocolate snack cakes. Feed that stuff to primates in the zoo and they don’t do well. Our ancestors ate some combination of wild game, fruit, vegetables, nuts, beans and seeds. They did not consume dairy past the age of five and without modern agriculture they ate very few grains.
I am not saying that my ancestors never got lucky with a slingshot. I just have a pretty good idea that with a slingshot, some pointy sticks, and their uncorrected vision, it probably didn’t happen on a daily or even weekly basis. Also prior to the Iron Age, I am not sure how happy I would be trying to cut up a bison using only sharpened rocks. I think my ancestors probably decided that it was too difficult and just went back to catching fish and shellfish and eating lots of nuts, fruit and veggies.
I think this is how humans are supposed to eat…for many reasons
First, humans are primates and even omnivorous primates make meat a small part of their diet. Chimpanzees eat insects and other small animals, but not every day. Bears are another close genetic relative and they also stick to fish and fruit for the most part. You don’t see bears stealing cows very often. There is probably a reason for that.
I look at our teeth. We have the teeth of vegetarian animals. Quite simply, our teeth seemed ill designed to eat raw animals other than fish. We have a lot of molars. I don’t see my teeth doing any too well with raw brisket. Especially off a wild buffalo. And I don’t think cooking it on a stick would help much. I would need a stew, which means pottery which means…not paleo. I am unaware of any pottery that predates farming.
I also have noticed that most remaining indigenous people who eat a animal protein heavy diet eat a lot of fish. Yes the Inuit eat all animal products but the animals are fish and occasionally sea lions. There are indigenous Africans who eat wild game but it is not most of what they eat and these are very lean, somewhat chewy animals. Stop by an Ethiopian restaurant sometime. The food is flavorful, varied and largely vegan.
Finally, I look at our health. We have lifestyle diseases that get worse with increased consumption of sugar and animal products. European health improved drastically during World War 2 when meat and sugar were rationed. Watch Forks over Knives for the details. People have experienced marvelous improvements in health when they restrict their consumption of meat, sugar and processed foods. The island of centenarians in Greece is populated by people who eat meat twice a month and fish twice a week.
They eat mostly vegetables and pulses.
I agree with the paleo people that neither dairy nor grain nor sugar would be part of an ideal human diet. But I don’t think bacon would be typical either. Go to Florida sometime and see a wild boar. They are fast, smart and ornery. That is not something I would want to take on. I think our diet was intended to be plant based. I see a past with sweet potatoes and onions and greens and fruit. I see a fair amount of fish, some turtles and rabbits and occasionally some crazy kids would bring home to the village a large mammal with hooves and then there would be a party.
Just probably not every day.
