Diet and Geography

[O-Train]

Weird thread name but hear me out. I've had some good discussions in the past about the diets of people in various parts of the world. For example, Inuit people have a diet very high in protein and fat and they have very few health problems associated with this. Some cultures are entirely vegetarian and once again, very healthy.

When you take one of these people and you introduce them to a different diet, a typical North American diet for example. Even though the diet could be what a nutrionist considers optimal, and healthy...they end up with increased adverse health conditions.

What I'm getting at is that I think where a person lives, and where they trace their linage back to is important when considering what they should be eating. So maybe a person of european decent shouldn't be eating the same as a person of asian decent.

It makes me wonder if, lets say your ancestors have been eating (for example) beef and potatoes for hundreds of years. Or maybe it's rice and fish for thousands of years. Should the diets of our ancestors be taken into account when we select dietary choices for ourselves? Are the food choices themselves important or does it have more to do with the macronutrient breakdown? Do people adapt and evolve over time to better utilize the foods they eat regularly? If so, is it important over a lengthy period of time or does the adaptation occur quickly?

Just some things to think about and discuss.

[macka]

You know I have been pondering this for a while. I was also looking at another factor. Work. If you are of a hunter gatherer background, farmer or herder, you work long hours. Most of our health problems are related to lack of exercise, plus an improper diet. Our bodies are designed for a certain amount of work or exercise to maintain it at peak condition. We just don't do that anymore in most countries. I think that our dependence on mass production has also lowered the quality of food we eat. There are so many factors to look at but I think your right with pegging genetics at #1. Our bodies don't adapt overnight but maybe over a million years they will.

[MMASTAR]

These are some of the theories behind the paleo diet. A diet that eats only what our hunter gatherer ancestors ate according to anthropologists. Did you know humans never ate grains until 10000 years ago? Diet was mostly lean meat, because everything was wild and never had the feedlot animals we have now, veggies, and not tubers,(like potatoes, ect.) As they were quite small small and much harder to find back then, and a few nuts and berries. Plus man had to wotk for everything he ate back then. There are some interesting theories there.

[nisser]

There's no doubt in my mind that our bodies have evolved to feast primarily on protein and fat. Organized agriculture didn't evolve until ~6000 years ago and prior to that we ate what we caught (ie. game).

Also keep in mind that fruits and vegetables were NOTHING like they are right now. Apples were much smaller, generally bitter...bananas were a fraction of the size of current ones etc...

The diet probably consisted of only trace carbs and occasional lucky bush of tiny strawberries.

[JifeLacket]

IMO all we really need is protein and fats.. like said above.. The body loves using fat as energy, and when we need glycogen, a portion of the protein we eat gets converted. The conversion of protein to glycogen also requires more energy so one would stay leaner. You can still get fat/put on weight if all you eat is protein/fat.. The 'modern day' carbs are awesome for the athletes/bb'er types because of the super fast absoption rates. So one could take those when needed ie. post workout obviously, and then watch the intake of them throughout the day when they are not needed for energy/replenishment.

[macka]

There's no doubt in my mind that our bodies have evolved to feast primarily on protein and fat. Organized agriculture didn't evolve until ~6000 years ago and prior to that we ate what we caught (ie. game).

Also keep in mind that fruits and vegetables were NOTHING like they are right now. Apples were much smaller, generally bitter...bananas were a fraction of the size of current ones etc...

The diet probably consisted of only trace carbs and occasional lucky bush of tiny strawberries.

Organized agriculture in the early stages was based around the local village, and it was mostly for fibre for clothing and feeding the animals we domesticated. Food for humans came much later. A lot of wild fruits are smaller for sure, but much better for you as they aren't exposed per say to toxins like bug spray and artificial fertilisers.

[tiramisu]

My dear Italian wife thrives on carbs. My northern European ass thrives on meat and fat. There's all kinds of dogs and you wouldn't expect a pug to be a rottie why do do people have this stupid idea that everyone is the same?

[Ritch]

How`s this for diet and geography? People everywhere now are fat...

[declan]

How`s this for diet and geography? People everywhere now are fat...

Not everywhere bro. Take a step to any of our deeply deprived or war torn third world countries and you will be glad you have clean water on your toilet;)

[buildinthaskinnys]

Humans are omnivores essentially, but if you compare us to the other animals, carnivores, herbivores and omnivores on the planet earth, we actually resemble herbivores more than anything else. And Considering our saliva contains an enzyme for digesting carbohydrates already I would lean to the side that we werent designed to eat as much meat as people are eating today.

[ubcpower]

All i know is that having been at my UNiversity for 6+ years, I am convinced that people from the asian orient have faster metabolisms and are able handle carbs much more effectively than others is a reality. And i attribute this to generations and thousands of years of eating rice as a staple in their diet. But i mean this is obvious and has been proven with a lot of different cultures (ex Norther Inuet and Nanavut Peoples with their High fat diets and problems now with diabetes ..etc)

[nisser]

All i know is that having been at my UNiversity for 6+ years, I am convinced that people from the asian orient have faster metabolisms and are able handle carbs much more effectively than others is a reality. And i attribute this to generations and thousands of years of eating rice as a staple in their diet. But i mean this is obvious and has been proven with a lot of different cultures (ex Norther Inuet and Nanavut Peoples with their High fat diets and problems now with diabetes ..etc)

They don't really eat much though...yes they do eat rice but look at their portions. It's like a tiny handful + some shavings of pork. And they don't really snack on shit throughtout the day...maybe a piece of fruit and that's about it.

[nisser]

Humans are omnivores essentially, but if you compare us to the other animals, carnivores, herbivores and omnivores on the planet earth, we actually resemble herbivores more than anything else. And Considering our saliva contains an enzyme for digesting carbohydrates already I would lean to the side that we werent designed to eat as much meat as people are eating today.

That's ridiculous. What do you think they relied on throughout the year? You can't get strawberries year round.

They hunted...this is an undisputed fact. There's no other way to meet their demand.

[buildinthaskinnys]

What part is ridiculous? The fact that we are omnivorous? Or the fact that if you compare us to all other animals we really do resemble herbivores more than carnivores or Omnivores?.

I think humans adapted slowly to a higher protein diet in the form of meat over milleniums but essentially we werent designed originally to eat meat. Its amazing what can happen over the course of millions of years though.

One should really stick to food that you are comfortable with and if possible what your family as far back as you can remember goes, as inherited traits are passed from generation to generation.

[buildinthaskinnys]

Facial Muscles

CARNIVORE: Reduced to allow wide mouth gape
HERBIVORE: Well-developed
OMNIVORE: Reduced
HUMAN: Well-developed

Jaw Type

CARNIVORE: Angle not expanded
HERBIVORE: Expanded angle
OMNIVORE: Angle not expanded
HUMAN: Expanded angle

Jaw Joint Location

CARNIVORE: On same plane as molar teeth
HERBIVORE: Above the plane of the molars
OMNIVORE: On same plane as molar teeth
HUMAN: Above the plane of the molars

Jaw Motion

CARNIVORE: Shearing; minimal side-to-side motion
HERBIVORE: No shear; good side-to-side, front-to-back
OMNIVORE: Shearing; minimal side-to-side
HUMAN: No shear; good side-to-side, front-to-back

Major Jaw Muscles

CARNIVORE: Temporalis
HERBIVORE: Masseter and pterygoids
OMNIVORE: Temporalis
HUMAN: Masseter and pterygoids

Mouth Opening vs. Head Size

CARNIVORE: Large
HERBIVORE: Small
OMNIVORE: Large
HUMAN: Small

Teeth: Incisors

CARNIVORE: Short and pointed
HERBIVORE: Broad, flattened and spade shaped
OMNIVORE: Short and pointed
HUMAN: Broad, flattened and spade shaped

Teeth: Canines

CARNIVORE: Long, sharp and curved
HERBIVORE: Dull and short or long (for defense), or none
OMNIVORE: Long, sharp and curved
HUMAN: Short and blunted

Teeth: Molars

CARNIVORE: Sharp, jagged and blade shaped
HERBIVORE: Flattened with cusps vs complex surface
OMNIVORE: Sharp blades and/or flattened
HUMAN: Flattened with nodular cusps

Chewing

CARNIVORE: None; swallows food whole
HERBIVORE: Extensive chewing necessary
OMNIVORE: Swallows food whole and/or simple crushing
HUMAN: Extensive chewing necessary

Saliva

CARNIVORE: No digestive enzymes
HERBIVORE: Carbohydrate digesting enzymes
OMNIVORE: No digestive enzymes
HUMAN: Carbohydrate digesting enzymes

Stomach Type

CARNIVORE: Simple
HERBIVORE: Simple or multiple chambers
OMNIVORE: Simple
HUMAN: Simple

Stomach Acidity

CARNIVORE: Less than or equal to pH 1 with food in stomach
HERBIVORE: pH 4 to 5 with food in stomach
OMNIVORE: Less than or equal to pH 1 with food in stomach
HUMAN: pH 4 to 5 with food in stomach

Stomach Capacity

CARNIVORE: 60% to 70% of total volume of digestive tract
HERBIVORE: Less than 30% of total volume of digestive tract
OMNIVORE: 60% to 70% of total volume of digestive tract
HUMAN: 21% to 27% of total volume of digestive tract

Length of Small Intestine

CARNIVORE: 3 to 6 times body length
HERBIVORE: 10 to more than 12 times body length
OMNIVORE: 4 to 6 times body length
HUMAN: 10 to 11 times body length

Colon

CARNIVORE: Simple, short and smooth
HERBIVORE: Long, complex; may be sacculated
OMNIVORE: Simple, short and smooth
HUMAN: Long, sacculated

Liver

CARNIVORE: Can detoxify vitamin A
HERBIVORE: Cannot detoxify vitamin A
OMNIVORE: Can detoxify vitamin A
HUMAN: Cannot detoxify vitamin A

Kidney

CARNIVORE: Extremely concentrated urine
HERBIVORE: Moderately concentrated urine
OMNIVORE: Extremely concentrated urine
HUMAN: Moderately concentrated urine

Nails

CARNIVORE: Sharp claws
HERBIVORE: Flattened nails or blunt hooves
OMNIVORE: Sharp claws
HUMAN: Flattened nails

[macka]

If you look at other animals in our genus, they are essentially herbivores, and a lot of them derive their protein sources from insects. Seeing that early man was more of a tropical/arid region dweller, plants year round were easy to get to. When man migrated to northern climes, they adapted their diets to each area. Inuit and their Russian counter parts eat high fat diets but they are adapted to it. Look how fast our bodies can adapt to keto diets. As for the diabetes issues they are having, it is a relatively new disease for them. Since we introduced fast/frozen/processed foods.