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Cavemen
I've been pondering for some reason today, about cavemen.
Well, more about a couple different things that claim to be "better" because "that's how our ancestors did it." The Atkins diet, for one. The other was some weird person who has some kind of enmity toward toilets, and blames them for all sorts of back problems and stuff. They both base their argument on, basically, "back before (the agricultural revolution/toilets), people lived healthier lives, were happier, and suchlike." Which, frankly, is patent lunacy.
Our caveman ancestors didn't live happier, healthier lives. They lived one or two bad hunts from starvation. If you live to thirty, you were ANCIENT. An insane number of women and children died in childbirth. They lived in CAVES, thus why they're called cavemen. Caves without cable, air conditioning, or doors, mostly. That's not an earthly paradise. They weren't healthier, they were in general, malnourished. A simple cut could lead to an infection that could kill you. No toothbrushes, shampoo, or even soap, generally. Gah. Just listing the minor everyday things that could kill you, and the diseases, not to mention the bigger, nastier, predators, makes one wonder why people idealize this.
Well, I guess they're looking more toward a "garden of Eden" type thing, rather than reality of how life back then was. Frankly, cavemen probably would see the modern world as a heaven, food readily available, not dead by thirty, medical care, toilets....Sheesh.
"But the Atkins diet works!" Well, yes and no. Sorta.
The Atkins diet makes you lose weight in the inital stage for one simple reason. Most Americans get a significant percent of their daily calories from carbohydrates. I don't have any specific numbers, but I'd guess at LEAST 1/3 to 1/2. And carbs are one of the most efficient source of energy for the body, behind fats and sugars. So, if you cut out all those carbohydrates, even if you eat $amount more meat or stuff, you end up cutting out probably at least a third of your daily calories. So you eat less. Essentially, you're starving yourself. So...when you don't feed your body enough, you lose weight! Wow, what a concept.
Of course, you lose a bunch of other important things when you cut things out suddenly like that, it's really not good for your body. If you want to lose weight, two things are best. First, get up and exercise. Even just walk for like fifteen minutes a day, really. Second, cut out fats, and sugars, THEN cut down on carbs. Seriously, people, sheesh. Just eat healthier, fad diet things really aren't the way to go.
Well, more about a couple different things that claim to be "better" because "that's how our ancestors did it." The Atkins diet, for one. The other was some weird person who has some kind of enmity toward toilets, and blames them for all sorts of back problems and stuff. They both base their argument on, basically, "back before (the agricultural revolution/toilets), people lived healthier lives, were happier, and suchlike." Which, frankly, is patent lunacy.
Our caveman ancestors didn't live happier, healthier lives. They lived one or two bad hunts from starvation. If you live to thirty, you were ANCIENT. An insane number of women and children died in childbirth. They lived in CAVES, thus why they're called cavemen. Caves without cable, air conditioning, or doors, mostly. That's not an earthly paradise. They weren't healthier, they were in general, malnourished. A simple cut could lead to an infection that could kill you. No toothbrushes, shampoo, or even soap, generally. Gah. Just listing the minor everyday things that could kill you, and the diseases, not to mention the bigger, nastier, predators, makes one wonder why people idealize this.
Well, I guess they're looking more toward a "garden of Eden" type thing, rather than reality of how life back then was. Frankly, cavemen probably would see the modern world as a heaven, food readily available, not dead by thirty, medical care, toilets....Sheesh.
"But the Atkins diet works!" Well, yes and no. Sorta.
The Atkins diet makes you lose weight in the inital stage for one simple reason. Most Americans get a significant percent of their daily calories from carbohydrates. I don't have any specific numbers, but I'd guess at LEAST 1/3 to 1/2. And carbs are one of the most efficient source of energy for the body, behind fats and sugars. So, if you cut out all those carbohydrates, even if you eat $amount more meat or stuff, you end up cutting out probably at least a third of your daily calories. So you eat less. Essentially, you're starving yourself. So...when you don't feed your body enough, you lose weight! Wow, what a concept.
Of course, you lose a bunch of other important things when you cut things out suddenly like that, it's really not good for your body. If you want to lose weight, two things are best. First, get up and exercise. Even just walk for like fifteen minutes a day, really. Second, cut out fats, and sugars, THEN cut down on carbs. Seriously, people, sheesh. Just eat healthier, fad diet things really aren't the way to go.
no subject
And while the Atkins diet is "teh evil", I've been on the Addicted to Carbs diet... And I've lost bunches of weight and I've been as healthy as I normally am (more so, as I can actually move more and faster for longer). So... diets important. Exercise is also very important.
no subject
They died of diseases and they died of predation, they died of exposure, and starvation, and careless accidesnt -- they lived short, nasty, brutal lives by our standards, but they didn't rot their teeth with processesed sugars. They didn't /over/eat like we do. They were much stronger than we are - heck, look back at the pioneers for an example of that. Likely, they had constitutions that were much more impressive than ours. They didn't die of being unhealthy. They died of incredibly harsh conditions. And saying that "Because they lived in caves and got eaten by sabertoothed tigers, everything about their lifestyles was bad" is throwing the baby out with the bathwater, and sloppy thinking and logic.
However, cavemen don't apply to the Atkins diet at all. Don't make the mistake of thinking the cavemen didn't eat anything but meat. Oh no, they will have eaten wild grains and fruits and berries and roots. We are, after all, biologically omnivores.
And carbohydrates = complex sugars. The digestive system breaks them down into sugar. Sugar is to be avoided - that's part of the deal.
And indeed, the Atkins diet isn't healthy in the long term. The concept is approximately sound for weight loss -- the last calories your body will use for energy are those in protein, because it prefers to reserve protein for building and repairing the body. And it is true that we take in too many processed sugars. Dentists have been telling us this for years. But your kidneys can only handle so much protein, and there's lots of critical nutrition in things other than meat. Also, too much meat, too little fiber (which is often associated with starchy (IE, carbohydrate rich) foods... well, it'll give you constipation from hell.
And of course, when you do manage to expunge your wastes, the odor will kill ya. Meat eater dung is really foul. It is leavened by the fruits and vegetables we eat.
Now, if you want a healthy diet that WORKS:
Eat one round, large meal. You must have dairy, meat, starch, vegetable. Two starches is just fine - though do try to limit the fat. Don't add big pats of butter or plump scoops of mayo or oil based dressings. Replace mayo with mustard, and fatty salad dressings with vinegar based dressings. Try a little red wine vinegar and some grated parmesan cheese on a salad. I usually make my big meal dinner, because that's a family meal for us. Fill the rest of your cravings with popcorn -- no butter, salt if you want it (of course in moderation). Popcorn has minimal calories (about 20 per cup!), and is very high in fiber. It is, actually, healthfood, at least without butter. Do not eat junkfood. Do not eat candy. Do not eat icecream. Eat popcorn. Eat more popcorn. Eat most popcorn.
You can make that popcorn with an airpopper, or a reuseable microwave popper (which is what I use, because it gets crisper corn.) I generally spritz the corn with a light spray of canola oil, which adds a few calories, but makes the corn crunch even better.
More on Cavemen Diets
Anyway, about cavemen again. Yes, cavemen were healthier than the average cubicle worker, for many of the reasons you mentioned, Leti, less overeating, more exercise, and more strength. However, they didn't overeat, because in much of the world, they were quite close to starvation. Under-nourishment was much more of a problem on a regular basis, I'd say.
Another thing, of course, is they lived in a very different environment, and they were stronger, because they had to be, otherwise they'd end up dead. I don't think there's any way to have accurate specifics on deaths and such, but the number of cavemen that died young, as in preteen, would probably be quite high, especially as babies. So only the strongest ones would even survive long enough to do much of anything, much less breed. Brute strength and constitution were required to survive childhood. The VAST majority of the people alive today would have died back then. Childhood diseases, broken limbs, or just lack of nourishment.
Another, sorta-related thing, is comparing cavemen and modern humans is sorta like comparing dogs and wolves. Or any domesticated animal and their wild counterparts. Domesticated animals tend to become physically weaker a bit, and have more refined bone structure and stuff, and this applies to humans too. Basically, we domesticated ourselves, when we invented civilization. Which gives an entirely separate set of pressures that work on survival, as opposed to the ones cavemen faced. Unfortunately, the pressures we face change a good bit faster than evolution can keep up with, especially these days, so we've still got lots of caveman bits running about, in our bodies and brains.