Modern
Stone Age food

Your body craves nutrients cavemen ate.

This week's recipe: Stone Age Salad

hat's the best diet? The one our early ancestors ate, as shown by studying Stone Age (paleolithic) humans who lived 40,000 years ago, says S. Boyd Eaton, M.D., an Emory University "evolutionary nutrition" expert.

We could more efficiently get rid of heart disease, cancer, arthritis, diabetes, obesity and other chronic diseases by changing our diet to fit our genes than by using sophisticated gene therapy, says James V. Neel, a prominent geneticist at the University of Michigan.

We have departed so far from Stone Age eating that 55 percent of the American diet is "new food" not eaten by our ancestors.

EAT MORE "ORIGINAL" FOOD

Fruits and vegetables. Stone Age humans ate three times more of a wide variety of fruits and vegetables than we do. Fruits and vegetables (along with legumes and nuts) provided a startling 65 percent of daily calories and 100 grams of fiber a day
- five times today's level. Vitamins, minerals and antioxidants were supplied in amounts people now
get only through supplements, Eaton says. Modern research clearly shows that heavy consumers of fruits and vegetables have less cancer, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and other chronic ills.

Lean meat. Stone Age ancestors ate 35 percent of their calories in protein - two to three times what's recommended today. The difference: Their protein came from lean wild game and fish, as well as from plants. But modern meat, especially red meat, is rich in hazardous saturated fats. White meat poultry, without skin, is a good Stone Age meat equivalent, low in fat and a good source of protein, says Eaton. Fish, notably fatty salmon, sardines, mackerel and herring, are critical in mimicking a Stone Age diet. Fish contain high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, tragically lacking in modern diets.

Legumes and nuts. Nuts have a bad rap because of their fat, but they are an "original" food, with fats attuned to our genes. Nuts and legumes supply high-grade vegetable protein, plentiful in Stone Age diets. A modern drawback: Canned dried beans and salted nuts are high in sodium, incompatible with Stone Age genes. Cook your own beans without salt, thoroughly rinse canned beans, and buy unsalted nuts.

EAT LESS "NEW" FOOD

Grains, cereals, pasta, bread. These arrived only 10,000 years ago. Grains may not be harmful in themselves, says Eaton, but they fill us up so we don't seek out far-more- nourishing Stone Age foods. Some research has linked grains, notably wheat, to arthritis, gastrointestinal problems, headaches and depression, perhaps indicating subtle allergic food reactions.

Dairy products. Cavemen didn't drink milk because animals were not yet domesticated. Milk products may hurt body functioning by adding high burdens of saturated fats and discordant proteins.

Refined sugar. Rather than honey and fruits, today's main sweet is 120 pounds of refined sugar
a year per person. Evidence shows sugar drives up blood levels of insulin, glucose and triglycerides, known factors in diabetes and heart disease.

Processed oils. A dramatic change
is our high consumption of processed vegetable oil and shortening. An overload of polyunsaturated fats, including hydrogenated and trans fats, promotes cancer, inflammation, high cholesterol and heart disease.

Stone Age Diet:

65% fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, honey

35% lean game, eggs, wild fowl, fish, shellfish

American Diet:

55% "new" foods: cereal grains, milk, milk products, sugar, sweeteners,
processed fats, alcohol

28% fatty meat, poultry, eggs, fish, shellfish

17% fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts

Note: True, the average American lives longer than the average caveman did. Early humans died young from infections, injuries and complications of childbirth that modern medicine easily handles, says evolutionary nutrition expert S. Boyd Eaton. "Nowadays, foods are killing us."

NUTRITION TIPS:

Take a supplement.
As insurance, Eaton takes a multivitamin-mineral supplement and one or two fish oil capsules a day.

Pile on potassium. Our Stone Age ancestors got 7,000mg potassium and 600mg sodium
daily, compared with
our 2,500mg potassium and 4,000mg sodium.
We are the only free-living mammals that eat more sodium than potassium. Studies link high-sodium, low-potassium diets to high blood pressure, strokes and heart disease.

-- Interview with S.Boyd Eaton, M.D., an anthropologist at Emory University and expert on "evolutionary nutrition."