Fat and Salt

It is quite clear that our diets have changed significantly since the agricultural and industrial evolution. One of the important changes is the addition of trans-fats and salts, two components that were present at a much lower rate in the caveman diet.

There even are modern-day analogues to the diet, for example the indigenous tribes of the Amazon area. These people consumes very little salt and – lo and behold – they are not troubled by hypertension (or high blood pressure).

Trans-fats and salt are two nutrients that were added to our diets in roughly the last century. Both of them have a myriad of detrimental effects on human health. Therefore, proponents of the caveman diet are pleading to switch the focus of dietary research from present eating habits to ancient eating habits, which are almost extinct, expect in the case of the pygmies and other indigenous tribes.

This idea knows a growing number of supporters, including several members of the scientific community.

Food and DNA

The contrast in food habits between our present diet and our ancestral diet is rather large, considering that Homo sapiens has only been around for roughly 150,000 to 200,000 years. This might seem a long time, but in evolutionary terms this is the blink of an eye.

This means that genetically we are still very similar to our caveman ancestors. Human DNA changes in an average pace of roughly a half percent per million years (of course, some regions change faster than others). So, our DNA is very similar to the DNA that was carried by human beings tens of thousands of years ago.

Basically, our genes are not adapted to a life of little exercise and a lot of food. Modern day man is not ‘built’ to thrive on a diet which is rich in refined food and contains little fiber, minerals and vitamins. This is why our current eating pattern is a major (though not the only) cause of several health conditions, such as diabetes, heart problems, certain types of cancer and even some neurological conditions.

Understanding our genetic ‘food heritage’ can help us in living a longer and healthier life.

References

• Cordain, L. (2002). The Paleo Diet: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Food You Were Designed to Eat. Wiley.
• Nachman, M.W. & Cromwell, S.L. (2000). Estimate of the Mutation Rate per Nucleotide in Humans. Genetics. 156, pp. 297 – 304.
• Oliver, W.J.; Cohen, E.L. & Neel, J.V. (1975). Blood pressure, sodium intake and sodium related hormones in the Yanomamo Indians, a “no-salt” culture. Circulation. 52, pp. 146 – 151.