Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T15:18:40.041Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The ancestral human diet: what was it and should it be a paradigm for contemporary nutrition?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2007

S. Boyd Eaton
S. Boyd Eaton*
Affiliation:
Departments of Anthropology and Radiology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30327, USA
*
Corresponding author: Professor S. Boyd Eaton, fax +1 404 352 2529, email [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Awareness of the ancestral human diet might advance traditional nutrition science. The human genome has hardly changed since the emergence of behaviourally-modern humans in East Africa 100–50×103 years ago; genetically, man remains adapted for the foods consumed then. The best available estimates suggest that those ancestors obtained about 35% of their dietary energy from fats, 35% from carbohydrates and 30% from protein. Saturated fats contributed approximately 7·5% total energy and harmful trans-fatty acids contributed negligible amounts. Polyunsaturated fat intake was high, with n−6:n−3 approaching 2:1 (v. 10:1 today). Cholesterol consumption was substantial, perhaps 480 mg/d. Carbohydrate came from uncultivated fruits and vegetables, approximately 50% energy intake as compared with the present level of 16% energy intake for Americans. High fruit and vegetable intake and minimal grain and dairy consumption made ancestral diets base-yielding, unlike today's acid-producing pattern. Honey comprised 2–3% energy intake as compared with the 15% added sugars contribute currently. Fibre consumption was high, perhaps 100 g/d, but phytate content was minimal. Vitamin, mineral and (probably) phytochemical intake was typically 1·5 to eight times that of today except for that of Na, generally <1000 mg/d, i.e. much less than that of K. The field of nutrition science suffers from the absence of a unifying hypothesis on which to build a dietary strategy for prevention; there is no Kuhnian paradigm, which some researchers believe to be a prerequisite for progress in any scientific discipline. An understanding of human evolutionary experience and its relevance to contemporary nutritional requirements may address this critical deficiency.

Keywords

Human evolutionDietary recommendationsAncestral human dietHealth promotion
Type
Opening Lecture
Information
Proceedings of the Nutrition Society , Volume 65 , Issue 1 , February 2006 , pp. 1 - 6
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 2006

References

Bang, HO & Dyerberg, J (1980) Lipid metabolism and ischemic heart disease in Greenland Eskimos. Advances in Nutrition Research 3 1–22.Google Scholar
Cordain, L, Brand-Miller, J, Eaton, SB, Mann, N, Holt, SHA & Speth, JD (2000) Plant-animal subsistence ratios and macro-nutrient energy estimations in worldwide hunter-gatherer diets. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 71, 682–692.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cordain, L, Eaton, SB, Brand-Miller, J, Mann, N & Hill, K (2002 a) The paradoxical nature of hunter-gatherer diets: meat-based, yet non-atherogenic. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 56, Suppl. 1, 542–552CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cordain, L, Eaton, SB, Sebastian, A, Mann, N, Lindeberg, S, Watkins, BA, O'Keefe, JH & Brand-Miller, J (2005) Origins and evolution of the Western diet: health implications for the 21st century. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 81 341–354.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cordain, L, Gotshall, RW, Eaton, SB (1998) Physical activity, energy expenditures and fitness: an evolutionary perspective. International Journal of Sports Medicine 19 328–335.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cordain, L, Watkins, BA, Florant, GL, Kehler, M, Rogers, L & Li, Y (2002 b) Fatty acid analysis of wild ruminant tissues: evolutionary implications for reducing diet-related chronic disease. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 56 181–191.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eaton, SB (1990) Fibre intake in prehistoric times. In Dietary Fibre Perspectives. vol. 2, Reviews and Bibliography, 2nd ed., pp. 27–40 [Leeds, AR, editor]. London: John Libby.Google Scholar
Eaton, SB (1992) Humans, lipids and evolution. Lipids 27 814–820.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eaton, SB & Cordain, L (1997) Evolutionary aspects of diet: old genes, new fuels. World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics 81 26–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eaton, SB, Cordain, L, Lindeberg, S (2002) Evolutionary health promotion: a consideration of common counterarguments. Preventive Medicine 34 119–123.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eaton, SB, Eaton, SB III (2003) An evolutionary perspective on human physical activity: implications for health. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 136A 157–159.Google Scholar
Eaton, SB, Eaton, SB III & Konner, MJ (1997) Paleolithic nutrition revisited: a twelve year retrospective. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 51 207–216.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eaton, SB, Eaton, SB III, Sinclair, AJ, Cordain, L & Mann, NJ (1998) Dietary intake of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids during the Paleolithic. World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics 83 12–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eaton, SB & Konner, M (1985) Paleolithic nutrition. A consideration of its nature and current implications. New England Journal of Medicine 312 283–289.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eaton, SB, Konner, M, Shostak, M (1988) Stone Agers in the fast lane: chronic degenerative diseases in evolutionary perspective. American Journal of Medicine 84 739–749.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eaton, SB III & Eaton, SB (2000) Consumption of trace elements and minerals by preagricultural humans. In Clinical Nutrition of the Essential Trace Elements and Minerals, pp. 37–47 [Bogden, JD and Klevay, LM, editors]. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Food and Nutrition Board, National Research Council (1989) Recommended Dietary Allowances, 10th ed. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
Frassetto, LA, Morris, RC Jr, Sellmeyer, DE, Todd, K, Sebastian, A (2001) Diet, evolution and aging. The pathophysiological effects of the post-agricultural inversion of the potassium-to-sodium and base-to-chloride ratios in the human diet. European Journal of Nutrition 40 200–213.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gould, SJ (1980) The Panda's Thumb, p. 83. Toronto, Ont: George J. McLeod.Google Scholar
Hajjar, I & Kotchen, TA (2003) Trends in prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in the United States, 1988–2000. Journal of the American Medical Association 290 199–206.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Institute of Medicine (2000) Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Selenium, and Carotenoids, p. 95. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.Google Scholar
Institute of Medicine (2002) Dietary Reference Intakes. Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.Google Scholar
Ioannidis, JPA (2005) Contradicted and initially stronger effects in highly cited clinical research. Journal of the American Medical Association 294 219–228.Google ScholarPubMed
Jenike, MR (2001) Nutritional ecology: diet, physical activity and body size. In Hunter-Gatherers. An Interdisciplinary Perspective, pp. 205–238 [Panter-Brick, C, Layton, RH and Rowley-Conwy, P, editors]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Johnson, IT (2005) Cancers of the gut and Western ills. Science 307 1839CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kritchevsky, D, Tepper, SA, Wright, S, Tso, P & Czarnecki, SK (2000) Influence of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on establishment and progression of atherosclerosis in rabbits. Journal of the American College of Nutrition 19 472S–477S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klein, RG (1999) The Human Career: Human Biological and Cultural Origins. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Kuhn, TS (1996). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 3rd ed., pp. 10–15. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDougall, I, Brown, FH, Fleagle, JG (2005) Stratigraphic placement and age of modern humans from Kibish, Ethiopia. Nature 433 733–736.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mokdad, AH, Bowman, BA, Ford, ES, Vinicor, F, Marks, JS, Koplan, JP (2001) The continuing epidemics of obesity and diabetes in the United States. Journal of the American Medical Association 286 1195–1200.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mokyr, J (2002) The Gifts of Athena, pp. 193–195. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Neel, JV (1994) Physician to the Gene Pool. New York: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Ragir, S (2000) Diet and food preparation: rethinking early hominid behavior. Evolutionary Anthropology 9 153–155.3.0.CO;2-D>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruvolo, M, Pan, D, Zehr, S, Goldberg, T, Driscoll, TR, von Dornum, M (1994) Gene trees and hominid phylogeny. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 91 8900–8904.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sebastian, A, Frassetto, LA, Sellmeyer, DE, Merriam, RL, Morris, RC (2002) Estimation of the net acid load of the diet of ancestral preagricultural Homo sapiens and their hominid ancestors. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 76 1308–1316.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sinclair, A (1992) Was the hunter-gatherer diet prothrombotic? In Essential Fatty Acids and Eicosanoids, pp. 318–324 [Sinclair, A and Gibson, R, editors]. Champaign, IL: American Oil Chemists Society.Google Scholar
Walker, A & Leakey, R (editors) (1993) Perspectives on the Nariokotome Homo erectus skeleton. In The Nariokotome Homo Erectus Skeleton, pp. 311–330. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willett, W (2002) Nutrition: The food pushers. Science 297 198–199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar