The Natural Diet of Humans
The question of the natural diet of humans has been debated for centuries if not millenia. In the scientific age, the typical way of approaching this subject is through comparative anatomy and physiology between humans and representative species of the generally accepted categories of feeding behavior…carnivore, herbivore, frugivore (fruit eater), granivore, piscivore (fish eater), omnivore, etc. Even though humans behave as if they are omnivores, from a biological standpoint we might not be. When things such as tooth and jaw structure, stomach and intestinal structure and physiology, hand forms and general body forms are compared, it is clear that humans are most closely related to the great apes such as gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans and others. So it seems natural to focus on the eating behavior of the great apes to surmise a natural diet of humans.
Unfortunately, from studying the great apes it becomes apparent that they do not all have identical diets. Some occasionally eat meat, others are entirely vegetarian. Some eat more fruit and less leafy greens, some eat more leafy greens and less fruit. Nuts, eggs, insects all come into play. This variety would imply that the natural human diet might differ in part from other great apes and include foods which they don’t eat.
There are also competing theories as to the evolutionary pathways of humans. The generally accepted belief is that we came out of the trees and went to the grasslands. However there is something called the Aquatic Ape Theory which claims humans came out of the trees and went to the beach! There are some anatomical and physiological aspects of humans which indicate at some point in our evolution we spent a significant part of our day in the ocean looking for fish, seaweed and shellfish.
It is my personal opinion that the Aquatic Ape Theory is largely correct. Humans are tropical great apes which came out of the trees and went to the beach! The diet that I propose as being the natural diet of humans reflects this belief.
Foods which are natural to humans must meet the following criteria…
1. The food must come from a tropical forest or tropical ocean coastline.
2. The food must be good and healthy for us both in the short term and the long term. We must be able to eat the food for many years and not have it cause health problems such as heart disease or diabetes. Long-term detrimental effect is an indication that our bodies have not evolved to handle the food properly and it is therefore not a natural food of our species.
3. All foods must be edible raw, uncooked and relatively unprocessed.
As a general guideline I recommend eating approximately…
10% by mass CONCENTRATED FAT AND PROTEIN SOURCES such as nuts, coconuts, eggs, earthworms, grubs, fish, meaty parts of insects, shellfish (cook if desired for food safety)
30% by mass FRUIT
60% by mass LEAFY GREEN VEGETABLES such as lettuces, herbs, dandelion greens, curly endive, seaweed and soft stalk vegetables such as celery
This diet is relatively high in vitamins and minerals and relatively low in calories…nutrient dense, calorie poor. It requires eating several pounds of food per day. It has adequate amounts of fat, protein, carbohydrates, soluble and insoluble fiber. It does not include grain, beans or starchy root vegetables. These may or may not be healthy additions to the human diet but they are not part of the natural diet of humans. In fact most beans are deadly poisonous to humans if not cooked thoroughly. The percentages listed are approximate and can vary due to activity level, age, climate, time of year. Highly active people may need a higher percentage of fruit or concentrated fat and protein sources to satisfy their calorie requirements. They may also need to eat a greater quantity of food overall. This may also be true of people living in cold climate regions.
Today some of these foods are not frequently eaten raw due to food safety issues. However, before the harnessing of fire, they would have been eaten raw. (Though sushi is eaten raw in modern times it is typically frozen before being eaten to kill any parasitic organisms it might be infected with.)
I recommend you read the book “Natural Eating” by Geoff Bond and the book “The Natural Food of Man” by Hereward Carrington. You might also want to research the Aquatic Ape Theory.
A Note on Cooking:
Humans should eat a raw food diet. If for some reason you want to cook your food, probably for food safety reasons, I would suggest a low temperature moist heat method of cooking. This means boiling or steaming. Soups and Stews are the Royal Road when it comes to cooking. Put your food in a pot of water and boil it. Then eat the food and drink the broth.
The reason for using a low temperature moist heat method of cooking is that it prevents burning. Burned food of any sort is cancer causing. Burnt sugar, starch, protein and fat are all carcinogenic. If you must cook using high heat then marinate your meat in an acid based marinade before cooking and make a special effort not to burn the food. The marinade reduces the quantity of cancer causing chemicals formed during the cooking process.
To take this essay in a weird direction I want to acknowledge that there are some people who believe humans might actually be some sort of Alien Ape Hybrid. This would imply that there is no entirely natural diet of humans because we are not an entirely natural species. We lack certain foods on this planet that are more in alignment with the alien part of our heritage. Think this is a ridiculous idea? You might want to research it by reading some books such as “The 12th Planet” by Zecharia Sitchin. You might also want to research the modern alien abduction phenomenon. Frequently abductees claim to have been experimented on from a genetic reproductive standpoint. It is possible the alien ape hybridization of our species is currently ongoing!
Photos and Graphic Courtesy of…
authoritynutrition.com
thescienceofeating.com
reuters.com
pinterest.com
alysondunlop.com