The Perfect Human Diet
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lauragreenbaum wrote: »This documentary came out a few years ago, and I'm sure there has been discussion on it here on MFP in the past. But, has anyone else seen it recently? I just watched it on Hulu and it was very interesting. It examines the human diet from an evolutionary perspective. Basically, meat, fish, green vegetables, berries and nuts are what we ate for 2 million years and what made us evolve into humans that we are today. When wheat, sugar, and milk was introduced, our health became much worse and we developed modern diseases (diabetes, obesity, etc). So in a proverbial nutshell:
Meat, fish, green veggies, nuts, a little fruit- GOOD
carbohydrates, wheat, grains, sugar, salt, milk- BAD
Opinions?
You have to be careful with "documentaries"...for the most part, the are one sided agenda driven drivel.
Also, tubers were a substantial part of the early human diet and much easier to get than hunting down meat. Grains were also eaten, just not farmed in the pre-agricultural era.
Obesity and diabetes are relatively new problems and don't have anything to do with the introduction of wheat, sugar, and milk. Those things were introduced eons ago and those diseases weren't prevalent by any means. Until fairly recently, obesity was a disease of the very wealthy.24 -
concordancia wrote: »When humans figured out agriculture is also when they started make great strides in civilization.
And if it were not for agriculture, our species would have probably died off...
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Considering the director and creator is a guy with 20 years of VO work and acting (which there's nothing wrong with in and of itself), it's a bit like asking your mechanic for health advice. Most of these health "documentaries" are full of garbage, biased or both. Complete waste of time.11
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MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »Considering the director and creator is a guy with 20 years of VO work and acting (which there's nothing wrong with in and of itself), it's a bit like asking your mechanic for health advice. Most of these health "documentaries" are full of garbage, biased or both. Complete waste of time.
Yep. The only documentary I can trust is "What We Do in the Shadows".7 -
concordancia wrote: »When humans figured out agriculture is also when they started make great strides in civilization.
And if it were not for agriculture, our species would have probably died off...
And for the good of other species I expect they would claim.
Actually it has only been about 50 years since the event of modern farming using GMO's and chemicals vs tilling.. Tractors initially just displaced draft animals. Our human diseases just ramped up there after but surely there is no cause and effect going on.29 -
lauragreenbaum wrote: »Thank you for all of your comments and opinions. Very interesting and I appreciate all the view points. Please note I was not necessarily advocating the findings in this documentary, just asking for opinions. I think it's all fascinating how we became who we are as human beings.
I think that gets lost here a lot of the time.
Talking about ideas is healthy. Being exposed to a wide variety of ideas, even bad ones, is also healthy. The world is full of bad ideas! Talking through stuff is like exercise for the brain. Thanks for posting.10 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »concordancia wrote: »When humans figured out agriculture is also when they started make great strides in civilization.
And if it were not for agriculture, our species would have probably died off...
And for the good of other species I expect they would claim.
Actually it has only been about 50 years since the event of modern farming using GMO's and chemicals vs tilling.. Tractors initially just displaced draft animals. Our human diseases just ramped up there after but surely there is no cause and effect going on.
Citation needed.
ETA
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GaleHawkins wrote: »concordancia wrote: »When humans figured out agriculture is also when they started make great strides in civilization.
And if it were not for agriculture, our species would have probably died off...
And for the good of other species I expect they would claim.
Actually it has only been about 50 years since the event of modern farming using GMO's and chemicals vs tilling.. Tractors initially just displaced draft animals. Our human diseases just ramped up there after but surely there is no cause and effect going on.
Where do you come up with this stuff?12 -
In my opinion only added sugar and added salt should be listed as bad. For some people (with celiac disease) wheat is bad but for the rest of us it is fine. Different people will have good reasons for not consuming certain foods so you can't generalise and say this lot is good or bad.11
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lauragreenbaum wrote: »This documentary came out a few years ago, and I'm sure there has been discussion on it here on MFP in the past. But, has anyone else seen it recently? I just watched it on Hulu and it was very interesting. It examines the human diet from an evolutionary perspective. Basically, meat, fish, green vegetables, berries and nuts are what we ate for 2 million years and what made us evolve into humans that we are today. When wheat, sugar, and milk was introduced, our health became much worse and we developed modern diseases (diabetes, obesity, etc). So in a proverbial nutshell:
Meat, fish, green veggies, nuts, a little fruit- GOOD
carbohydrates, wheat, grains, sugar, salt, milk- BAD
Opinions?
Those pre-agrarian, pre-metal tool hominids also ate their share of insects and grubs, so I assume this "perfect" diet includes those. And no turning your nose up at raw meat, or raw organs for that matter. And I'm sure they happily ate eggs when they came across a birds nest.5 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »GaleHawkins wrote: »concordancia wrote: »When humans figured out agriculture is also when they started make great strides in civilization.
And if it were not for agriculture, our species would have probably died off...
And for the good of other species I expect they would claim.
Actually it has only been about 50 years since the event of modern farming using GMO's and chemicals vs tilling.. Tractors initially just displaced draft animals. Our human diseases just ramped up there after but surely there is no cause and effect going on.
Where do you come up with this stuff?
https://youtu.be/X0C3DHp36zc 4 -
The prevailing consensus today is that we have eaten grains all along. I don't remember the exact number but archaeologists just recently found the oldest evidence of bread baking and it's well over 40,000 years old. There's a reason we have multiple genes for digesting starch and that our saliva actually starts breaking it down in our mouths. Starch and grains have been a large part of our diet throughout our history.
OK, but the timeline you're talking about is roughly one one-hundredth of that mentioned in the OP. I don't agree with the arguments cited from the documentary, but that's no reason to make irrelevant arguments.3 -
QoLmatters wrote: »In my opinion only added sugar and added salt should be listed as bad. For some people (with celiac disease) wheat is bad but for the rest of us it is fine. Different people will have good reasons for not consuming certain foods so you can't generalise and say this lot is good or bad.
I just went out and bought some salt tabs to put in my water. They're called Nuun. It's summer time, and riding a bike is sweaty work. You should see how much salt I add to my food! BP is 115/70, I'm 41 years old.12 -
QoLmatters wrote: »In my opinion only added sugar and added salt should be listed as bad. For some people (with celiac disease) wheat is bad but for the rest of us it is fine. Different people will have good reasons for not consuming certain foods so you can't generalise and say this lot is good or bad.
This is an oversimplification as well. While certain foods with these things may overall not be beneficial for most people, that's not always the case. The protein bars I eat at breakfast have a good amount of added sugar. It's what makes them taste editable. But they also have a good macro mix, vitamins and minerals, and fiber. They help keep me filled in the morning with bit many calories. They are positive for me, even with added sugar. Another example is sports drinks. I don't normally drink sports drinks as part of my daily routine, but during a hike or other long exercise, the added sugar (as well as added salt) in sports drinks are very beneficial to me.
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Tacklewasher wrote: »GaleHawkins wrote: »concordancia wrote: »When humans figured out agriculture is also when they started make great strides in civilization.
And if it were not for agriculture, our species would have probably died off...
And for the good of other species I expect they would claim.
Actually it has only been about 50 years since the event of modern farming using GMO's and chemicals vs tilling.. Tractors initially just displaced draft animals. Our human diseases just ramped up there after but surely there is no cause and effect going on.
Where do you come up with this stuff?
I started driving a tractor 63 years ago then a few years later was following a mule in the tobacco patch so just came from on the job training. I was 23 when Roundup came on the market and took shower in it when trying to unclog spray nozzles on the fly. Plot your diabetes numbers starting 50 years ago and note the trend line. I was at ground zero of modern farming practices. If one looks at long term history we know advanced human races tend to become extinct so with our lower life expectancy trend current in place we may be doing ourselves in as well.22 -
NorthCascades wrote: »QoLmatters wrote: »In my opinion only added sugar and added salt should be listed as bad. For some people (with celiac disease) wheat is bad but for the rest of us it is fine. Different people will have good reasons for not consuming certain foods so you can't generalise and say this lot is good or bad.
I just went out and bought some salt tabs to put in my water. They're called Nuun. It's summer time, and riding a bike is sweaty work. You should see how much salt I add to my food! BP is 115/70, I'm 41 years old.
I have high blood pressure and aim to eat less than 2000mg a day of sodium which is higher than the Australian Heart Foundation recommends. https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/healthy-eating/food-and-nutrition/salt/sodium-and-salt-converter
I admit I add 1/2 tsp of sugar to my tea which makes my doctor upset because she worries about diabetes which I'm glad to say I don't have.
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GaleHawkins wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »GaleHawkins wrote: »concordancia wrote: »When humans figured out agriculture is also when they started make great strides in civilization.
And if it were not for agriculture, our species would have probably died off...
And for the good of other species I expect they would claim.
Actually it has only been about 50 years since the event of modern farming using GMO's and chemicals vs tilling.. Tractors initially just displaced draft animals. Our human diseases just ramped up there after but surely there is no cause and effect going on.
Where do you come up with this stuff?
I started driving a tractor 63 years ago then a few years later was following a mule in the tobacco patch so just came from on the job training. I was 23 when Roundup came on the market and took shower in it when trying to unclog spray nozzles on the fly. Plot your diabetes numbers starting 50 years ago and note the trend line. I was at ground zero of modern farming practices. If one looks at long term history we know advanced human races tend to become extinct so with our lower life expectancy trend current in place we may be doing ourselves in as well.
What ‘lower life expectancy trend’? And where do you get the idea that human diseases have ‘ramped up’? This is the exact opposite of the facts.14 -
QoLmatters wrote: »In my opinion only added sugar and added salt should be listed as bad. For some people (with celiac disease) wheat is bad but for the rest of us it is fine. Different people will have good reasons for not consuming certain foods so you can't generalise and say this lot is good or bad.
Even that isn't black or white. We're evolutionally driven to seek salt and sugar (among other tastes) for a reason, because it meant important nutrients and better functions. Getting enough salt is important for electrolyte balance, and getting enough sugar optimizes energy synthesis.
Like with everything, it's not the consumption, but the overconsumption. Even if you get enough through food and don't need added salt (like you do when you have low blood pressure, it's hot, or you're eating low carb) or don't need added sugar (like you do when you need glycogen or need to increase your blood sugar quickly), making things taste good is a benefit we can't ignore because enjoying life is good for health. Reducing chronic stress has many positive health benefits, and introducing more of it unnecessarily in forms of unnecessary restrictions and fear is not exactly a good thing. It's all about balance in all things.5 -
It seems evolution forces can impact the human diet.
Is eating behavior manipulated by the gastrointestinal microbiota? Evolutionary pressures and potential mechanisms
https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4270213/
"Conclusions
Modern biology suggests that our bodies are composed of a diversity of organisms competing for nutritional resources. Evolutionary conflict between the host and microbiota may lead to cravings and cognitive conflict with regard to food choice. Exerting self-control over eating choices may be partly a matter of suppressing microbial signals that originate in the gut. Acquired tastes may be due to the acquisition of microbes that benefit from those foods. Our review suggests that one way to change eating behavior is by intervening in our microbiota....."16 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »GaleHawkins wrote: »concordancia wrote: »When humans figured out agriculture is also when they started make great strides in civilization.
And if it were not for agriculture, our species would have probably died off...
And for the good of other species I expect they would claim.
Actually it has only been about 50 years since the event of modern farming using GMO's and chemicals vs tilling.. Tractors initially just displaced draft animals. Our human diseases just ramped up there after but surely there is no cause and effect going on.
Where do you come up with this stuff?
I started driving a tractor 63 years ago then a few years later was following a mule in the tobacco patch so just came from on the job training. I was 23 when Roundup came on the market and took shower in it when trying to unclog spray nozzles on the fly. Plot your diabetes numbers starting 50 years ago and note the trend line. I was at ground zero of modern farming practices. If one looks at long term history we know advanced human races tend to become extinct so with our lower life expectancy trend current in place we may be doing ourselves in as well.
What ‘lower life expectancy trend’? And where do you get the idea that human diseases have ‘ramped up’? This is the exact opposite of the facts.
From healthcare news.
American life expectancy has dropped again. Here’s why
https://pbs.org/newshour/health/american-life-expectancy-has-dropped-again-heres-why
U.S. life expectancy declines again, a dismal trend not seen since World War I
https://washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/us-life-expectancy-declines-again-a-dismal-trend-not-seen-since-world-war-i/2018/11/28/ae58bc8c-f28c-11e8-bc79-68604ed88993_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.8cf6a3ea056b
Rates of new diagnosed cases of type 1 and type 2 diabetes on the rise among children, teens
https://nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/rates-new-diagnosed-cases-type-1-type-2-diabetes-rise-among-children-teens
Chronic diseases and conditions are on the rise
https://pwc.com/gx/en/industries/healthcare/emerging-trends-pwc-healthcare/chronic-diseases.html
........The middle class is growing; and with urbanisation accelerating, people are adopting a more sedentary lifestyle. This is pushing obesity rates and cases of diseases such as diabetes upward. According to the World Health Organization, chronic disease prevalence is expected to rise by 57% by the year 2020......
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