Chasing mammoths is one of the images often depicted when people are considering the hunting techniques of our ancestors. Yet, these events were probably rather rare as smaller game is a lot easier to acquire.

Furthermore our ancestors tended to occupy regions close to the water, near seas or rivers, on the transition from wet to dry. As a result of this, a lot of fish was eaten, leading to a high dose of the healthy omega 3 fatty acids. It has been shown that these omega 3 fatty acids decrease the risk of developing heart conditions.

The Menu

The Paleolithic menu was strongly seasonal. Berries and eggs in spring and nuts, fruits and seeds in autumn. This was complemented with seafood, including seaweed and shellfish, the whole year round. This diet contained only a little carbohydrates and saturated fats.

The was also unprocessed, nothing was peeled, everything was just eaten completely. This resulted in a high ingestion of fibers. Even animals were completely used, up to the bone marrow, which incidentally contains a lot of healthy fatty acids and fibers.

Early Death

So, our early ancestors had a very healthy diet, that much is clear. But didn’t they die a lot sooner than we do now? This is an often heard comment. And it is indeed true that our predecessors lived shorter lives than we do now, with an average life expectancy of about 30 years. But it is a mistake to attribute this to their diets.

There are several other reasons that could have led to this relatively short (compared to us) lifespan:

An important contributing factor was the high child death rate. One out of every two children didn’t live to become an adult in those days.
Another major reason is the lack of medical care and hygiene. If you had an infection, or a major injury, you were pretty much screwed.

Yet, by no means our Paleolithic ancestors were small or malnourished. Female skeletons of 1,80 m (or 5 foot 11 inches) have been found, and dietary experts often use average body height as a correlate of a healthy diet. After the introduction of agriculture, this fell back to about 1,60 m (or 5 foot 3 inches). Only since the industrial revolution, this has been increasing again. Sadly, our girth has been increasing as well.

References

Cordain, L. (2002). The Paleo Diet: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Food You Were Designed to Eat. Wiley.
Kris-Etherton, P.M.; Harris, W.S. & Appel, L.J. (2003). Fish Consumption, Fish Oil, Omega 3 Fatty Acids, and Cardiovascular Disease. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology. 23, pp. 20 – 30.
Ruff, C. (2002). Variation in Human Body Size and Shape. Annual Review of Anthropology. 31, pp. 211 – 232.
Silventoinen, K. (2003). Determinants of Variation in Adult Body Height. Journal of Biosocial Science. 35, pp. 263 – 285.