The Hunter Gatherer Diet

[pmcd9]

I was having breakfast with a friend the other morning in a little coffeehouse that serves omelettes and such.  She knew the owner, a gay guy and they were chit chating at the check out counter while we paid our bill.  He told her that he was on the paleo diet.  She asked what that was and he said "you can only eat that hunter gatherers eat like in the paleolithic age."  So she shot back, "oh so you don't eat any processed foods." 

I thought to myself, no, that's not right at all.  I didn't say anything to her because she's always very certain even when she's completely wrong so you know, why bother.  She's the same woman that says her blood sugar levels are low when she actually means I'm hungry. She sounded pretty intrigued by this.  I think she might try it.

Without Googling Hunter Gatherer diet I am going to go out on a limb and say that this is a smart sounding diet for dumb people to follow.  What do y'all think.

But I am intrigued by the idea of eating a simpler diet.  More grilling, more raw food. less bread.  Yeah, I might become a hunter gatherer too.

[greenkoolayd]

no dairy.  no sugar.  no grains.  lots of meat.  lots of fruits and vegetables.  easy.

i have a friend who changed his eating habits to the paleo- thing.  dude eats an obscene amount of eggs.

[wombat]

I don't have the time right now to dig up the stuff I've read that casts a critical eye on this diet, but it seems to me that unless you are getting as much physical activity as a primitive hunter-gatherer, it might not be a good idea to eat like one.

[Victoria Waterfield]

I don't have the time right now to dig up the stuff I've read that casts a critical eye on this diet, but it seems to me that unless you are getting as much physical activity as a primitive hunter-gatherer, it might not be a good idea to eat like one.

Unless you have the parasitic load of a primitive hunter-gatherer, as well.

[littlefallsmets]

Oh man. Cans of non-paleo soda for V-Money and W-Bomb!

[pmcd9]

Unless you have the parasitic load of a primitive hunter-gatherer, as well.

Everything is processed.  Even the stuff that's not processed.

It's almost completely impossible to have a true hunter gatherer diet.  Where are you gonna get meat for instance that isn't grain fed?  You can't even eat venison because it's all corn fed.  And what about veggies?  A true hunter gatherer would only eat veggies that grew naturally within his very small sphere of travel.  And then only when in season.

For me to be a true hunter gatherer where I live I would have to subsist almost entirely on squirrel, raccoon, possum, cat, and pigeon.  And if I'm lucky I might find some berries in the spring.

[wombat]

That is another good point. Something I read about how the Inuit can be healthy despite basically eating mostly blubber talked about how the fats in wild animals are totally different, and not just in quantity.

[lprkn]

I've read a couple of the books.

I get where they're coming from, but it seems to me that a true hunter-gatherer diet would vary so wildly in practice depending on region and season. A traditional Inuit's diet would be so far from a traditional Amazonian rainforest dude's diet. It seems problematic to come out and say, "Your ancestors ate this."

A hunter-gatherer eats whatever is edible, basically.

The "paleo" people seem to vary wildly in practice. All the way from pretty much "only meat and berries," to "no processed stuff."

We're omnivores. As long as we expend about the same amount of energy we take in and avoid processed stuff, we should be okay.

[greenkoolayd]

as for me, i think eating more protein/vegetables and scaling back on the bread is a great idea.

ill be damned if im going to give up ice cream and cheese, though.  fuck that.

[miles]

I haven't read any books on these diets or stuff like raw food diets, but what irritates me when I talk to practitioners of these diets is this almost a priori claim that, at least when it comes to diets, ancient is better. That is so obviously false when applied to many other things. I know there is actual research behind these diets, but I don't hear about that when I talk to people who are following the diets. It's more like, "of course it's healthier to eat raw food because that's what humans originally did," which is kind of retarded.

Clearly there are huge problems with the modern industrial diet, but that doesn't mean we need to start over.

[Nabubrush]

If you're eating paleo, you should probably be doing crossfit.

[lprkn]

Yeah, they were definitely the early adopters. It's kind of a cult, sometimes.

[wombat]

It's more like, "of course it's healthier to eat raw food because that's what humans originally did," which is kind of retarded.

Yeah, well, what humans originally did was die in childbirth and of infections and other diseases that we can treat now so we live long enough for bad diet to catch up with us.

Don't get me started on people who think what is "natural" is always better. Nature is always trying to kill us. Nature is not always good for you. Snake venom is natural, ebola virus is natural, tornados are natural. There is a reason we invented civilization.

[smick]

If you're eating paleo, you should probably be doing crossfit.

When I and a paleo eater sit down to eat we make up a single, reasonable omnivore.

[Asherdan]

Yeah, well, what humans originally did was die in childbirth and of infections and other diseases that we can treat now so we live long enough for bad diet to catch up with us.

Don't get me started on people who think what is "natural" is always better. Nature is always trying to kill us. Nature is not always good for you. Snake venom is natural, ebola virus is natural, tornados are natural. There is a reason we invented civilization.

Thank you wombles. I swear to jeebus I lay that kind of rap on some asshole at least once a week.

I blame this bullshit on us accidentally domesticating ourselves. People be getting used to doing the sheeple thing, yo.