In my first year of studying nutrition my lecturer Jennie Brand-Miller presented the class with the idea of the Palaeolithic diet. This is not a fad diet you’ll find in WHO or Woman’s Weekly it‘s simply the diet of our ancestors, more commonly known as cavemen or hunter-gatherers.
Palaeolithic vs. Modern
The Palaeolithic diet was composed of 68% animal foods, i.e. ~50% fat, 30% protein & 20% carbohydrates. These numbers probably mean nothing to you so let’s compare them to a modern, western diet; composed of 38% animal food, i.e. 35% fat, 15% protein, 50% carbohydrates.
Palaeolithic | Modern | |
Fat (%) | 50 | 35 |
Protein (%) | 30 | 15 |
Carbohydrates (%) | 20 | 50 |
Paradox of the Palaeolithic Diet
Now you are probably thinking our diet seems the better of the two because there is lower fat, however this is not the case. Studies have observed diets of indigenous populations that have similar diets to hunter-gatherers. Results showed a high intake of animal food was linked to a low incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Now here is the paradox you were waiting for… in a western diet a high intake of animal food is linked to increasing the risk of CVD.
So why is this the case? Remember learning quantity vs. quality all those years back in science class, well this is where we apply it. If you don’t already know we have bad (saturated) fats, promoting CVD & good (unsaturated) fats protective against CVD. Therefore by having a high fat intake it could either be a high GOOD fat intake, as our ancestors preached, in comparison to the western high BAD fat diet.
As a side note we are lucky in Australia because our meat is produced from grazing animals in contrast to grain fed animals in the USA. The difference is that grazing animals are more active thus have leaner muscles, more good fats and less bad fats.
What about the Carbs?
The intake of carbohydrates again comes down to quality. To make a long story short the rise of the industrial revolution where grains started to be highly processed and refined. Why, well let’s be honest it tastes better and we can cook delicious croissants & cupcakes. However foods consisting of refined grains are quickly digested and absorbed causing a high blood glucose response, which can over time lead to insulin insensitivity (type 2 diabetes). If we learnt our eating habits from cavemen we would not consume refined grains and food would be higher in fibre eliciting a low blood glucose response and better insulin control.
Lifestyle difference
Let’s also remember cavemen were hunters. Hunting is an activity expending lots of energy thus creating an energy balance with their high-fat intake. However times have changed we no longer have to hunt all day to find our dinner we rather drive to the shops from work buy a chicken and voila. This change of lifestyle results in a lower energy expenditure so we need to ensure we meet an energy balance. If this energy balance is not met we have a positive energy i.e. energy in is more than energy out. So as you can see there is not only a difference in food intake but energy levels too that affect the onset of CVD.
