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Based on what? Its well know that people's taste adapt to the sorts of foods they eat on a daily basis, that is why foods differ so much from culture to culture. If one starts to eat healthy whole foods on a daily basis those foods will become "normal" and the process fatty, sugary, etc junk will not. Its also well know that fatty/sugary foods elicit addictive responses, so once again, if you eliminate these foods from your diet your relationship with them will change. But for those not raised with healthy eating habits there is a transitional period where the healthy foods will taste bland and the fatty/sugary/salty junk will elicit an addictive response.
Most diets are based on some sort of active calorie restriction, not major lifestyle changes. So the fact that most people fail at dieting doesn't mean that most people wouldn't adapt to a healthier lifestyle. So few people try to adopt healthy lifestyle's that its hard to say how hard it is to transition from a unhealthy diet to a healthy one. Obvious the best thing is to start when young.....
If you're trying to lose weight and starving, you're doing it wrong. Protein and healthy fats keep you feeling fuller for much longer rather than carbs which we burn through more quickly. You can still eat enough to feel full, but it's important to eat the right things. High protein, super high veggies, some fats, some carbs.
There is a link to why Americans have bigger portion sizes and eat more than people in other nations. Before the 20th century, meat was rare among most Europeans, except the upper-class and rich. Former immigrants and family members would write to letters to Europeans, stating that there was a lot more food available in America and you can eat all you want. Because of this, America was known as "feastland" which shaped the culture to eat a lot. Interestingly this was on the history channel.
So why has obesity only become an epidemic in the last 20-30 years? Well thanks to factory farms we have even bigger portion sizes. Processed food became the mecca because it's tasty and convenient- most of which is full of sugar, fat, sodium. Processed foods contain additional chemicals as dyes and preservatives, which in some studies have shown to disrupt cell metabolism and thyroid stimulation, and most likely contributing to obesity. I find the issue of added chemicals to food very underlooked by nutritionists and dietitians, especially when in some studies they have shown to contribute to obesity.
Anecdotal evidence here- I limit my intake of processed foods and it's never been easier to maintain a healthy weight. I find so many people who claim to be on a diet, snacking on 90 calorie Special K bars, Baked Chips, Wheat Thins, Weight Watchers Cream Cheese, low fat ice cream..all processed junk instead of fruits, veggies, nuts.
I agree 100%. If everyone just quit eating crap that comes in a box, and stick to foods without ingredient lists, we would be a far healthier society.
Our Inuvik ancestors ate whale blubber, seal, and other fatty meats. Our ancestors living near the equator ate tropical fruits. Our European ancestors ate lots of grains. Our Asian ancestors had rice as a staple in meals What do all these diets have in common? None of their food is extremely processed. All wholesome for the most part.
Obesity epidemic started when processed foods with added chemicals became the norm, along with outrageous portion sizes. But like I said, chemically processed food contributing to obesity is underlooked, probably because corporations benefit so much from producing processed food.
Our Inuvik ancestors ate whale blubber, seal, and other fatty meats. Our ancestors living near the equator ate tropical fruits. Our European ancestors ate lots of grains. Our Asian ancestors had rice as a staple in meals What do all these diets have in common? None of their food is extremely processed. All wholesome for the most part.
Obesity epidemic started when processed foods with added chemicals became the norm, along with outrageous portion sizes. But like I said, chemically processed food contributing to obesity is underlooked, probably because corporations benefit so much from producing processed food.
Our Inuvik ancestors ate whale blubber, seal, and other fatty meats. Our ancestors living near the equator ate tropical fruits. Our European ancestors ate lots of grains. Our Asian ancestors had rice as a staple in meals What do all these diets have in common? None of their food is extremely processed. All wholesome for the most part.
Obesity epidemic started when processed foods with added chemicals became the norm, along with outrageous portion sizes. But like I said, chemically processed food contributing to obesity is underlooked, probably because corporations benefit so much from producing processed food.
There is more to this than simply the foods they ate. What ELSE did all these people have in common? They didn't spend 8 hours/day, 5-6 days/week at a desk. They didn't spend another 2-4 hours/day watching TV. They didn't communicate with their neighbors via phone. The pattern: they got off their butts and MOVED all day long.
This is what gets me when people defend Paleo, "it's what our ancient ancestors ate like." No, humans evolved in Africa where the climate was warm and ate lots of fruit, potatoes, squash in addition to meat. The idea that humans were running around in the ice age with fur cloths with the wooly mammoths, always hunting animals and eating nothing but raw meat was invented by Hollywood.
Humans evolved in lots of places eating lots of different things, and those in Africa definitely didn't eat any squash or potatoes because those are native to the new world. Humans mostly ate whatever was available that would keep them alive.
Most humans likely ate a lot of insects, grubs, greens, roots and tubers, seeds, nuts, eggs, mushrooms, herbs, leaves, and allium species. Wild fruit when they could find it, but go walk through the woods and see how much wild fruit you can find. Not much in temperate climates, and it's mostly small berries.
Most of the wild fruits are smaller, less sweet, and more bitter than modern cultivars too. And highly seasonal and not available for very long. They probably sun-dried these fruits if they had a surplus, but for the most part there probably wasn't much of one. A lot of these fruits were probably partially fermented, intentionally or not. Many common fruits and nuts are also poisonous in their wild forms, e.g. wild almonds. Olives aren't edible unless they're fermented or brined.
Meat and fish consumption probably depended highly on location. In northern latitudes they ate more meat, especially in the winter and during the ice ages. In many places, humans were such effective hunters that they wiped out our nearly wiped out numerous species.
Quote:
. A consequence of human migrations into new regions of the world has been the extinction of many animal species indigenous to those areas. By 11,000 years ago, human hunters in the New World apparently had played a part in the extermination of 135 species of mammals, including 3/4 of the larger ones (mammoths, mastodons, giant sloths, etc.). Most of these extinctions apparently occurred within a few hundred years. It is likely that the rapidly changing climate at the end of the last ice age was a contributing factor. However, the addition of human hunters with spears to the existing top predators (mostly saber-toothed cats, lions, and dire-wolves) very likely disrupted the equilibrium between large herbivores and their predators. As a consequence there was a major ecosystem disruption resulting in the rapid decline of both non-human carnivores and their prey. Humans were very likely the trigger that set off this "trophic cascade". Unlike most other major predators, people survived by switching their food quest to smaller animals and plants.
Following the arrival of aboriginal people in Australia and Polynesians in New Zealand there were similar dramatic animal extinctions. In both of these cases humans apparently were directly responsible for wiping out easily hunted species. Large vulnerable marsupials were the main victims in Australia. Within 5,000 years following the arrival of humans, approximately 90% of the marsupial species larger than a domesticated cat had become extinct there. In New Zealand, it was mostly large flightless birds that were driven to extinction by human hunters following their arrival in the 10th-13th centuries A.D.
http://anthro.palomar.edu/homo2/mod_homo_4.htm
The meat they ate was leaner and had lower omega 6 to omega 3 ratios though. And they ate a lot of liver, bone marrow, and other things besides just muscle tissue.
Places near rivers and lakes, lots of fresh water fish. Near coasts, a lot of salt water fish. Since early civilizations started around rivers and coasts, there was probably a lot of fish.
Grains probably weren't a major part of the diet until about 11,000-12,000 years ago starting in the fertile crescent. They require a lot of processing to become usable. Starting with flax, primitive types of wheat, and barley, along with certain pulses. And then later rye, oats, corn, amaranth, quinoa (latter 2 not being real grains), etc. Corn as we know it didn't even exist 10,000 years ago. Its ancestors looked more like sorghum/milo. And then fermented foods, alcohol, vinegars, etc.
But widespread lactose tolerance in many European groups shows that natural selection can happen very quickly with respect to diet. Humans have only been consuming dairy from other animals for about 10,000 years if I remember correctly, and the selective pressure was enough to produce widespread lactose tolerance in certain populations.
So the moral of the story is that humans are extremely adaptable and can do well on a wide variety of foods. My European ancestors never ate tomatoes, rice, or turkeys but I seem to do just fine on them. So I think the typical Paleo view is somewhat flawed in that respect, but there is definitely merit in considering the evolutionary aspect of it. "Nothing makes sense except in the light of evolution."
Last edited by EugeneOnegin; 04-27-2013 at 05:59 PM..
Our Inuvik ancestors ate whale blubber, seal, and other fatty meats. Our ancestors living near the equator ate tropical fruits. Our European ancestors ate lots of grains. Our Asian ancestors had rice as a staple in meals What do all these diets have in common? None of their food is extremely processed. All wholesome for the most part.
Obesity epidemic started when processed foods with added chemicals became the norm, along with outrageous portion sizes. But like I said, chemically processed food contributing to obesity is underlooked, probably because corporations benefit so much from producing processed food.
I agree with this 100%. The vegetarians and Paleo people are always going back and forth but in reality both can be very healthy diets. And both can be very unhealthy diets. There's more than one way to eat healthy.
Average the two and you get something similar to the Mediterranean diet, which to me is closest to the ideal diet. In reality there isn't one ideal diet, because it varies from person to person. The ideal diet for me might not be the same as the ideal diet for someone else, but the most important thing is to cut out the processed foods.
I'd love to hear about any one of the numerous societies where the entire society subsists on very high carbohydrate diets, with absolutely zero percent of the population being overweight.
Do tell!
No really. I want to know which society this is. Is it "the society of people who live in my house?" Or is it the Eskimos, or is it the Moors...or the hundreds of people living in neighboring kibbutzes near Jerusalem? Or is it Californians? Or maybe oh - I know - the society of people who live in Upper Manhattan!
I can't wait to hear about your mystical mythical society of high-carb zero-overweight peoples.
thank God for you!!!!!
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