Natural Human Diet

[G. Adams]

I've put this here instead of general disc. as I intended because as long as it stays on course it should be focused on the shift in society from our natural diet to the modern one.

What is a natural diet for humans? It would seem logical to me that we should eat as nature intended if we want out bodies to run as well as possible. I know we have a particularly adaptable digestive system and can consume almost anything it seems, but if we want to have ideal health system we should eat as close as we can to our natural diet.

I'll add bits to this as I go along, it'll take too long and be too daunting a post for anyone to read if I do it all in one go.

[Mr.Vicchio]

Define our natuaral diet....

Last time I checked the natural diet meatn eating fresh fruits, vegatables and meats.

Just asking to see if we are on the same page or not.

[G. Adams]

Thats actually exactly what I had in mind, and was going to get onto.

I was hoping others would put forward their ideas of a natural human diet, and I could Socratically try and change their minds.

Any chance you've read WA Price, or even less chance, know who Anthony Bova is?

[Mr.Vicchio]

No, I've read the "Texas Barbaque Guide to Mesquite Grilling" though, does that count?

Seriously though, no I haven't read much on the subject of human diet and such.

[Morgan_Freeman]

Maybe we should eat a diet scientifically determined to be the healthiest one, not just whatever is most "natural".

[G. Adams]

Okay, well you seem to have a good grasp of what it is already without having read the big studies on it.

I'd argue a natural human diet is around 60-80% fruit and veg, with the rest being made up of animal product and fish. I say animal product on purpose, because most people don't eat organ meats, even though liver is the best part to eat, health wise. There should be little to no grain input, and nothing refined, like sugar or white flour.

Also, we should be eating as much as possible raw. We are the only creature on the entire planet that cooks it's food, which should show you how unnatural it is. I know it would be dangerous to eat much meat raw, but I'm thinking about veg(which most people boil to nothing and drain the water away, along with it most of the vitamens and minerals), fish and eggs (I wouldn't try eating battery farmed rubbish raw mind, only organic and free range). And even with meat, people should try and keep it as rare as they can bare.

Oh, and raw milk (unpasteurised and unhomogenised) too. Although milk isn't entirely neccesary if the rest of your diet is good, we are afterall the only species that drink milk after we finish nursing. And thats another thing, it's a worrying trend that children arn't nursed and when they are not long enough.

[Mr.Vicchio]

I Smoke my corn (from the farmers market when its open) in the husk. Let me tell you what, there is NO greater way to eat corn then mesquite smoked, Do it as you put the steaks on the grill :)


I use olive oil to cook chicken and pork, and rarely eat "fried" foods.

I agree that the less cooked food is, the healthier, but that being said, you CAN cook food and still eat healthy. Just compensate say, a well cooked dinner with a lunch of say.. salad (I don't use salad dressing unless I am at a nice resturant then I have a Ceasar.. it's a vice but hey)

I learned most of this stuff as a kid in the early 80's in school. And it stuck with me.

[G. Adams]

I don't see the need to compromise one meal, it's easy enough to eat mostly raw food and enjoy your food. Steam veg if you have to cook it at all, although I prefer mine raw anyway. Fish you can "cook" without actually putting to the flame by using lemon juice. The only things I would cook are meats and chicken, but then rare is better, even if just from a purely taste angle. Stop being a wuss about the blood on your plate, sissy.

I'm also wondering if I can get healthy blood to add to my diet, other than black pudding, it has a great mineral content. The Masai traditionally mix cows blood with raw milk for a highly nutritious meal.

I'm surprised you got taught this. I was always taught that god damned pyramid, and to eat low fat. Eating low fat foods all the time just gives you a Vitamen A and D deficiency.

[The Dunedan]

Historically speaking, the most "natural" diet for humans, IE the one which was consumed by those who lived longest ( before medical care was a factor ) was one which was heavy in red meat, fish, whole-grain or multi-grain flour, and natural sugars such as those occurring in fresh fruit and honey.

It's the appearance and consumption of large amounts of processed flour and sugar that makes the difference; 100 years ago heart disease basically didn't exist. No historical evidence suggests its' presence in the medieval or rennesance worlds either, despite the fact that people were consuming HUGE amounts of meat, fat, unrefined starch, and alchohol. We're now discovering ( or re-discovering ) that this is the healthiest diet for Humans; thank you Dr. Atkins. Increasing ones' intake ot such high-protein, high-white-fat foods leads to weight loss, lower blood pressure, lower triglycerides...in general, and acorss-the-board improvement: PROVIDED that one cuts down on or eliminates processed carbohydrates and flour.

[ShOuLdEr]

I like to think "natural" would be what we would be forced to eat without the things we have. Humans started making tools a long time ago i know but what i mean is just your hands and your feet and your mouth. What would you eat then? meat would be hard to come by and complicated to eat because we do not have sharp teeth...we are not very fast so food would be hard to catch.....we have little natural camoflauge as well so it would be hard to suprise prey. We would be reduced to bugs and vegatables and maybe some scavenge because i do think we would be great scavengers.

[G. Adams]

I'd argue that grains of any kind are not part of our natural diet. Grains must be cooked to be edible, and as cooking itself is not natural, eating grains is not really natural.

The only species to be able to eat grains in their natural state are birds. Mammals do not. Their unnaturalness makes them more difficult to digest. If you want to eat for health, you should be trying to put little stress on the system. If you look at other species that are similar to ours, Chimps and Orangutans, you see that they have a largely fruit and veg diet, supplementing it with meats. The great importance of meat in their diets can be seen in the fact that while they will often share the fruit they find, they will jealously guard the meat they get.

Another thing with grains is that they contain phytic acid, which limits the uptake of minerals and vitamens. Some very healthy peoples had a limited intake of whole grains, but they treated them in a special way to neutralise the acids, and also encourage enzymes development within them to make them more easily digestible.

[G. Adams]

Quote by: ShOuLdEr I like to think "natural" would be what we would be forced to eat without the things we have. Humans started making tools a long time ago i know but what i mean is just your hands and your feet and your mouth. What would you eat then? meat would be hard to come by and complicated to eat because we do not have sharp teeth...we are not very fast so food would be hard to catch.....we have little natural camoflauge as well so it would be hard to suprise prey. We would be reduced to bugs and vegatables and maybe some scavenge because i do think we would be great scavengers.

On meat...

We were eating meat before we became Homo Sapiens, in fact it was the change from a vegetarian diet to an omniverous one that took us from ostrolopithicus (spelling?).

Looking at teeth, no we do not have the rows of canines that carnivores do to tear meat apart, but we do have a set of canines, which would suggest we are adapted to eat meat, just not as the staple of our diet. Nor do we have almost totally flattened teeth as herbivores do, which would suggest we are not natural vegetarians.

Our development of colour vision also shows how we should be predmoninantly fruit eaters, which we developed so as to better choose safe fruits to eat.

[castille]

Well by natural, we should discard ALL of our tools (including clothes), and use our bare hands to hunt.

Whose up for rabbit chasing?

[G. Adams]

I was arguing for natural diet, not natural methods. Few people would understand the techniques of hunting animals down with very basic methods, never mind have the physical fitness neccesary to chase down prey as we used to.

[castille]

Well if people aren't willing to get their food naturally, whats the point of a natural diet?

The problem with a natural diet is that our bodies may not be able to adapt, having been used to "unnatural" food for over 5000 years.

By the way, do you really eat 100% raw meat? I don't mean "rare steak", I mean just grabbing an animal and ripping it apart with your teeth while it's still alive.

[SlySpy]

I think the best diet that has been proven to work has got to be the diet acquired by the older Okinawan generations of fruits, vegetables, seafood, and low-glycemic index grain products.
In fact, this diet has a torrent of scientific backing, one of which deals with the energy needed to digest foods of different glycemic indexes. In Okinawa, where this diet originates, aborigines can live well into their hundreds while maintaining the lowest rates of obesity, cancer, heart-disease, and stroke in the world.
Of course, the type of lifestyle also has an important part of a healthy life and a dynamic, active, stress-free lifestyle should be the goal.

[Gregory]

I for one do want to start taking "Matrix Pills."


I'm fine as is.

[G. Adams]

Quote by: castille Well if people aren't willing to get their food naturally, whats the point of a natural diet? The problem with a natural diet is that our bodies may not be able to adapt, having been used to "unnatural" food for over 5000 years. By the way, do you really eat 100% raw meat? I don't mean "rare steak", I mean just grabbing an animal and ripping it apart with your teeth while it's still alive.

The point of a natural diet is it should, when coupled with a healthy lifestyle, provide the best diet.

Perhaps, but I'll be finding out. I'll tell you if i get any bad reactions.

I don't usually eat meat raw, although I do make smooties with raw liver occaisionally. I'm still trying to find a decent recipe for it, so far it's drinkable, no better. I have eaten raw meat straight off the animal once i've killed it, but only with rabbit, it's one of the few game meats I can get my hands on in this country. I eat raw eggs in smoothies too.

[castille]

It might have been healthy for our ancestors 40,000 years ago, but unless someone comes up with a diet that is natural and healthy for us, we wouldn't be used to it.

Simple example: Many Americans come to China, go to a restaurant that doesn't specifically cater for foreigners, and end up sick. The reason is their bodies aren't used to the conditions/bacteria in China.

Not every country is clean, in a lot of countries most raw meat would end up full of bacteria, or even disease. Cooking and processing at least gets rid of potential dangers slightly.

[MerlinsByte]

A natural diet for humans? That would be anything. In the primitive world without the death delaying effects of "modern medicine" and comforts, the average life span was around 40 years.

Man was designed for 150 years +. However something has happened to our genetic make up. Also our environment has changed.Thus reducing this fantastic potential of a centuries, or millennial life span to, just as the good book says, 70 years, or there bouts. The life span of man shall be three score and ten (70 years). I've not averaged out the worlds life span but it would be close to 60-70 years I suspect?


I don't eat meat for personal reasons, but we have all manner of teeth to deal with a wide variety of foods opposed to say a wolf or big cat.

Eat what you want in moderation and you will live to be a hunder...ahhh' 70, at least.



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