New diet fads seem to crop up every couple of years or so. I'm sure you can remember a few: the low-carb diet, the Atkins diet, South-Beach diet, the Zone diet, the Raw diet, etc.... Each of these diets have their perks, but ultimately fail (in my opinion) when compared with simply eating your fruits and vegetables, exercising, and not eating too much in general. I chose to read Paleofantasy, by Marlene Zuk, because it allows me to take a look at the latest dietary fad--the Paleo-diet--from the perspective of an evolutionary biologist. Also, I am familiar with some of Zuk's scientific writing, and am interested to see how her style changes when writing for the public.
Basically, proponents of the paleo-diet argue that modern humans are fatter and sicker than our pre-agriculture ancestors because we are eating foods that are unsuitable to our evolutionary history. They argue that our dietary requirements evolved 200,000 years ago with the dawn of humans, and that our modern diets stray away from these requirements. If we could go back to eating what our ancestors ate, we would be more in line with what we are adapted to digest and use for energy, and many of the world's health problems will go away. On first glimpse, this might sound logical. After all, evolution can have a powerful affect on a species' optimal diet. But with a closer reading, and a little biology, Zuk shows how this argument is pure fantasy.
She argues that humans didn't just stop evolving after we emerged 200,000 years ago, and that to make a diet that is based on what our ancestors ate is discounting any evolution that has occurred in humans since then. For example, the Paleo-diet says that we shouldn't eat milk and gluten because our ancestors couldn't digest them. But, as Zuk argues, humans have drank cow's milk and harvested wheat for thousands of years, and in this time span, many of us have become adapted to eat it.
I chose this book because I have heard friends and acquaintances discuss the Paleo-diet, with most of them advocating it. I look forward to using an informed evolutionary perspective to discount the psuedo-scientific foundation of this latest dietary fad.
Phil,
ReplyDeleteI am also interested to hear more about how the author argues for the evolution of our nutrition and dietary habits. The paleo diet has been a very popular fad for a while now. I have had many friends tell me they were eating closer to the way our ancestors did and feel great! I wonder what the true effects of this dietary switch is? In my opinion, the reduction of processed foods that comes with the paleo diet seems to be the true healthier change. I am interested to see what aspects of the diet the author discredits. I am not sure that eating more gluten over the years has benefited our overall health even though we may have adapted to consuming it. There were also some costs to farming these foods such as gluten allergies and lactose intolerance. Now, more than ever, dietary-related health issues such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity (especially in the US) are widespread throughout all ages and demographics. We are moving into a new realm of consumption that the human body has never experienced before.