Quote:
Originally Posted by Lindy
I follow a high protein and low carb (paleolithic diet) lifestyle.
|
You probably should make sure you're not eating as
homo erectus likely did.
Quote:
|
I eat salad veggies, broccoli, cabbage, squash, mushrooms, etc. I love berries, grapes, nuts, and cantaloupe. I avoid potatoes, wheat, corn, rice and other high starch agricultural products. I avoid high fructose corn sweetener in particular, and sugar in general.
|
I'm pretty sure the paleolithic diet featured tubers and seeds. That would allow potatoes, I guess. (Sweet potatoes are king.) Do you eat seeds?
Quote:
|
I am a proud carnivore [...]
|
That's impossible, because you're an omnivore.
Quote:
|
This is the diet that humans, over 4 million years, evolved (Happy 200th, Charles Darwin!) to eat . That is 200,000 generations.
|
Homo sapiens have been traced back only as far as the late paleolithic era. A distinct difference between us and other forms of humans is our brain size. The larger brain that we have has a large glucose and fat demand, which is why carbohydrates and healthy fats are important to our diet.
Quote:
|
Agriculture has only been around for a few hundred generations. Whether we like it or not even the vegans among us genetically ARE carnivores.
|
The vegans are also omnivores, just like you. They are able to subsist on plant-based foods exclusively, and many of them are healthier than a lot of North American "carnivores." Far too many cases of heart disease and certain cancers can be largely attributed to imbalances in the diet related to a high proportion of animal food consumption.
In labs and in studies, several agricultural foods have proven to be beneficial to a number of functions within the human body. As I've pointed out, evidence shows that tubers were featured even in the paleolithic diet. The consumption of legumes and whole grains has played a pivotal role in the transition from paleolithic to neolithic society. It allowed for the food security of essential plant materials needed for growing energy demands for both the brain and the rest of the body. This is why many consider the advent of agriculture the greatest event in human history.
Quote:
|
As far as "footprint" goes, the problem is not in the size of our footprints, it is in the number of them. In other words, there's too many of us. And for that we can thank agriculture.
|
That's one way to look at it. Personally, I like to see human evolution as an ongoing process. And if it requires us to shift our dietary habits (as omnivorous generalists are wont to do) to something more responsible (and, frankly, healthier for the most part), then I see it as the way to go. The human body does not require meat and/or dairy for every meal.