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(Comparative Anatomy and Physiology Brought Up to Date--continued, Part 8B)

Hunter-Gatherers: Examples of Healthy Omnivores

A major point often overlooked by dietary advocates eager to condemn all omnivore diets (based primarily on clinical research that by default normally utilizes the SAD/SWD diet as the "control" omnivore diet) in order to "sell" their favorite (raw/veg*n) diet is that healthy omnivore/faunivore diets do in fact exist. Besides the apparent anomaly that occasional individuals appear to thrive on the deservedly maligned SAD diet, hunter-gatherers (who have by now all but disappeared or assimilated Western lifestyles) provide examples of healthy omnivore/faunivore diets.

HEALTH AND DISEASE IN HUNTER-GATHERERS


Environmental factors



Chronic and degenerative diseases



Biomarkers

The biomarkers for hunter-gatherers following traditional lifestyles reflect a high level of health and physical fitness. Eaton et al. [1988] report that the aerobic fitness of male hunter-gatherers is in the superior to excellent range. The triceps skinfold measurements for young males range from 4.6-5.5 mm in hunter-gatherers compared to 11.2 mm for Westerners. Diabetes prevalence is 1.2-1.9% in hunter-gatherers versus 3-10% for Westerners. Finally, serum cholesterol levels for hunter-gatherers are astonishingly low by modern standards--in the 101-146 mg/dl range. (See Eaton et al. [1988, pp. 742-745] for the tables the preceding data comes from.)



Health status of the Aborigines of Australia: O'Dea [1991]

O'Dea [1991] provides additional insight into the health of Australian aborigines, pre-Westernization, when they followed their traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Below is Table 1 from O'Dea [1991, p. 234]:

Table: Health of Australian Aborigines as hunter-gatherers.

Recognizing that we are all the descendants of hunter-gatherers, the negative impact on modern hunter-gatherers when they adopt Western diet and lifestyles may provide insight into factors behind the health problems that afflict those of us whose hunter-gatherer ancestry is more recent. The standard Western diet is dramatically different from the hunter-gatherer evolutionary diet. O'Dea [1991, p. 237] provides the following summary comparison table:

Comparison of lifestyle and diet of Australian Aborigines as hunter-gatherers and after westernization.

The hunter-gatherer diet of the Aborigines was low in fat (lean meat from wild animals) and simple carbohydrates like sugar. Further, considerable energy was required to obtain such foods (i.e., those high in fat or sugar) in the wild, especially in the arid outback of Australia. In contrast, the diet of Westernized Aborigines is high in fat from domesticated animals and in simple carbohydrates (refined sugars, e.g., sucrose, fructose from corn syrup). Also, little effort is required to obtain such foods in today's modern society--just go to the store and buy it (much easier than hunting for your meal).

Impact of Western diet on Aborigines. Once Aborigines switch to a Western diet and lifestyle, they frequently develop the problems common on Western diets: adult-onset diabetes, coronary heart disease (CHD), hyperinsulinemia, high blood pressure, obesity, etc. The incidence of such diseases increases as the degree of Westernization increases in Aborigine communities. As an example, O'Dea [1991, p. 239] observes that:

In the 20-50 year age group, the prevalence of diabetes is ten times higher in Aborigines than in Australians of European ancestry. Although fewer data are available, the prevalence of CHD and hypertension is also considerably higher in Aborigines (Wise et al. 1976; Bastian 1979), and hypertriglyceridemia [high triglycerides] is a striking feature of the lipid profile in all Westernized Aboriginal communities in which it has been measured (O'Dea et al. 1980, 1982, 1988, 1990; O'Dea 1984).



In summary, despite implicit assumptions to the contrary by many raw/veg*n diet advocates, healthy omnivore/faunivore diets do in fact exist, and the diets of hunter-gatherers pre-Westernization are good examples thereof.

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(Which Omnivore Diet? The "Omnivorism = Western Diet" Fallacy)

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SEE REFERENCE LIST


SEE TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR:
PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 4 PART 5 PART 6 PART 7 PART 8 PART 9

GO TO PART 1 - Brief Overview: What is the Relevance of Comparative Anatomical and Physiological "Proofs"?

GO TO PART 2 - Looking at Ape Diets: Myths, Realities, and Rationalizations

GO TO PART 3 - The Fossil-Record Evidence about Human Diet

GO TO PART 4 - Intelligence, Evolution of the Human Brain, and Diet

GO TO PART 5 - Limitations on Comparative Dietary Proofs

GO TO PART 6 - What Comparative Anatomy Does and Doesn't Tell Us about Human Diet

GO TO PART 7 - Insights about Human Nutrition & Digestion from Comparative Physiology

GO TO PART 8 - Further Issues in the Debate over Omnivorous vs. Vegetarian Diets

GO TO PART 9 - Conclusions: The End, or The Beginning of a New Approach to Your Diet?

Back to Research-Based Appraisals of Alternative Diet Lore

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