By Rik de Raynor
When Homo Erectus, a nomadic hunter-gatherer, invented the skill of cooking, it transformed the food into being a much greater source of energy for the brain whilst simultaneously reducing the energy required by the body to extract it. Some experts believe that this helped the human brain to grow into who we are today. When agriculture and the domestication of crops emerged 10,000 years ago, we created a plentiful and predictable food supply resulting in a population boom.
As the world reaches 2050, there will be an additional two billion mouths to feed and the question of what diet is best is taking on new urgency. One consisting of meat and dairy is now, undeniably, having dramatic and unsustainable effects on the environment and our health and it is a diet that’s increasing across the globe.
Anthropologists have long wondered if, through the process of evolution, we have exchanged our healthier diets and stronger bodies for food security? Despite a population boom during the advent of farming, humans began to see far more disease and even began to shrink in stature. This has led many to conclude that a Paleolithic diet is the most suitable to our genetics.
Genetically speaking, we are not what we eat but what our ancestors ate and scientists are urgently trying to study the diets of hunter gatherers as a means to improve upon global issues.
But, what actually was a Paleolithic diet? Outdated science and a slurry of misconceptions have led to the concept of the modern Caveman, or Paleo diet being far too meat and fish heavy and inaccurately tells us to avoid all grains. Hunter Gatherers may have been meat driven societies but their primitive tools meant a low success rate and would often live off a small handful of meat a week. Most energy was obtained by the foragers, usually the women and children who stayed behind. Plant starch molecules on fossilised teeth and stone tools suggest that we have been eating grains and tubers for at least 100,000 years – far long enough to have evolved the ability to digest them.
Societal and psychological decisions also play a role in our modern way of seeing meat within the diet. It’s a sign of affluence! It brings the family together on a Sunday lunch! Then there’s the decades of lobbying and misleading marketing …
The current recommendation for protein consumption is 0.75g per kg of body weight, per day. Most western diets show that we consume almost twice the animal protein that we need – at great cost to the planet. It is a misconception that you cannot get enough protein on a vegetarian or vegan diet. The EPIC-Oxford Study shows that although vegetarians and vegans consume less protein than their carnivorous counterparts, they are still within the remits of their requirements. It advises us to eat a variety of plant-based proteins in order to increase the range of nutrients consumed, help with food sustainability and reduce the risk of diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Rik is the owner of The Sustainable Kitchen, Bingham
Visit www.thesk.co.uk