Ancestral Diet... eating right for your origins

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  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    auddii wrote: »
    I'm Scotch-Irish. So potatoes, haggis, whiskey, beer and I am good to go apparently.

    Potatoes are from the Andes. Try again!

    Pretty sure people who are 80-90 living in Ireland did in fact eat potatoes.

    But their ancestors did not, as potatoes only came to Ireland sometime after 1530. That's not very far back.

    Potatoes, tomatoes, peppers/chiles, chocolate...none of those things existed in Europe until they were introduced from the new world.

    You didn't read the thread or the article did you?
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    The article also makes the blanket statement that you should never eat foods that were introduced in the past 100 years. So fellow Americans, stop eating zucchini (introduced to the US in 1921). It's alright because you still get to eat ice cream sandwiches, potato chips and Dr Pepper.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited February 2016
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    auddii wrote: »
    I'm Scotch-Irish. So potatoes, haggis, whiskey, beer and I am good to go apparently.

    Potatoes are from the Andes. Try again!

    Pretty sure people who are 80-90 living in Ireland did in fact eat potatoes.

    But their ancestors did not, as potatoes only came to Ireland sometime after 1530. That's not very far back.

    Potatoes, tomatoes, peppers/chiles, chocolate...none of those things existed in Europe until they were introduced from the new world.

    I mentioned that way back in the thread. But OP's article said grandparents, so people have been talking about various ancestors. I don't know how all of my specific ancestors ate 10,000 years ago or whatever, no one does.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    Pretty sure my grandparents and great grandparents ate more home cooked and home grown foods than people do now. Their diet was probably more limited. They all died before I was born as the result of some illness or disease. Did their diet... my ancestral diet... really give them a health edge?
    As far as I can tell I don't have a problem eating and digesting foods historically common to other cutures or regions.
    I think the idea of eating more fresh food, locally available has merit but trying to duplicate the way your ancestors ate 100 or 1000 years ago is unnecessary. Obviously if you are allergic or intolerant to something don't eat it.
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
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    auddii wrote: »
    I'm Scotch-Irish. So potatoes, haggis, whiskey, beer and I am good to go apparently.

    Potatoes are from the Andes. Try again!

    Pretty sure people who are 80-90 living in Ireland did in fact eat potatoes.

    But their ancestors did not, as potatoes only came to Ireland sometime after 1530. That's not very far back.

    Potatoes, tomatoes, peppers/chiles, chocolate...none of those things existed in Europe until they were introduced from the new world.

    So how far back in history need my ancestors to have eaten a food before it's good for me?
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
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    If I'm stuck eating like my grandparents, it's Charles' Chips, gummy spearmint leaves and orange slices, ice cream, fast food, and WAY overcooked meat on the one side, liver, scrapple, various canned veg and meat and chopped salad on the other.

    I'm screwed.

    Oh, and regarding genetic homogeneity, very few cultures come anywhere close. It's one of the bugaboos of immunology research. There's so much diversity it's difficult to find treatments that work consistently for large portions of the population. But, if anyone's looking for a population that has a decent degree of homogeneity, some of the stricter Amish groups are a good place to start.
  • lisalsd1
    lisalsd1 Posts: 1,521 Member
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    The haggis and potatoes I'm cool with. Whatever the Vikings ate (fermented fish product?), I'm less cool with.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    I get all the tacos and kielbasa!! Falafel and chorizo!! Chocolatl!
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    I get all the tacos and kielbasa!! Falafel and chorizo!! Chocolatl!
    That's it, you're adopting me. That's how this works, right?
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    auddii wrote: »
    I get all the tacos and kielbasa!! Falafel and chorizo!! Chocolatl!
    That's it, you're adopting me. That's how this works, right?

    Join the family!!
  • levitateme
    levitateme Posts: 999 Member
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    I didn't read the whole thread, but I wanted to chime in. What people eat by region has had to do with the climate of the area and the foods that could be grown there for centuries. Rice in monsoon climates, olives and wine in Mediterranean climates, root vegetables and cabbage in wet/dry colder climates, etc, etc.. It's the same reason we have different skin colors, hair colors and textures, heights, and eye shapes - temperature, excess or lack of sun exposure, desert living - our ancestry dictates our distinct characteristics. But anyway, people of different countries have cultural eating habits that reflect our past. It doesn't mean that people are "meant" to eat anything. In modern industrialized nations, all of that crap went out the window anyway.

    Also, Lactose tolerance is a mutation, and proof of evolution.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    According to 23andMe, I am 3% Neanderthal. Not sure what to make of this but I know I really hate the Paleo diet. Carbs FTW!

  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    How about we're all human beings and if you go back far enough we share a common ancestor.
    Eat what you're not allergic to. Ancestral diet is a ridiculous concept.

    Yep! Pretty simple really. People come up with far too many rules and regulations and/or excuses. Eat what suits you and your lifestyle!

  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
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    This makes me feel bad for people born into cannibal tribes.
    3xz2BtrwQ2wIBeciAw.gif

    Well I mean...I guess if it's got like....a missionary's foot in or something, then hey
    ZVR87gcbHL8kM.gif


    Damn, my grandparents and great-grandparents were missionaries.

    Does that mean I'll get eaten?

    Probably, according to the latest in woo "science".
  • protoplasmica
    protoplasmica Posts: 12 Member
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    This is rubbish. My family is from India but even as little as a 1,000 years ago India didn't exist and it's people were mostly soldiers from other places (in the case of my family - Tibet, Taiwan, Nepal, Egypt, Iran though I look very Indian).
  • Mischievous_Rascal
    Mischievous_Rascal Posts: 1,791 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    It never ceases to amaze me how people can fall for the idea that an ideal diet comes from a time when the average life span was 30-ish years old.

    What about her specific points about rice and dairy?

    Really? I am 100% of European descent and can't have dairy but rice is just fine. Your statement makes no sense.

  • thankyou4thevenom
    thankyou4thevenom Posts: 1,581 Member
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    I dare you to just try taking my Mango from me.
  • crazyjerseygirl
    crazyjerseygirl Posts: 1,252 Member
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    I get all the tacos and kielbasa!! Falafel and chorizo!! Chocolatl!

    You are quite the perfect mix!
    Let's see I get lots of Ham products (polish) but my husband is Jewish so does that mean my kid can't eat anything???
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    edited February 2016
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    I get all the tacos and kielbasa!! Falafel and chorizo!! Chocolatl!

    You are quite the perfect mix!
    Let's see I get lots of Ham products (polish) but my husband is Jewish so does that mean my kid can't eat anything???

    I'm partially a Jewish pole, so I hope not. Kielbasa for the kids, too. Latkes for everyone.
  • trina1049
    trina1049 Posts: 593 Member
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    Eating like my grand and great grand parents put 52 extra pounds on me, but I've cornered the market on pasta, olive oil, tomatoes, and garlic. It's all mine. Oh, wait -- pasta is really from China, darn you, Marco Polo! I do like Chinese food though.