The Paleo diet is designed to resemble what human hunter-gatherer ancestors ate thousands of years ago. It is also called an ancestral diet and a Caveman diet. It tends to be a meat heavy diet, and some promote "beef, butter, bacon, and eggs" as the key components of a proper human diet.
Do we know what was actually eaten thousands of years ago? New research has found that plant foods were a large component of "Paleo" diets, at least in the locale studied.
STUDY
Taforalt, Morocco is a cave in Morococ and possibly the oldest cemetery in North Africa. It contains at least the remains of 34 adolescent and adults from 14,000-15,000 years ago and possible much longer.
Researchers used an "multi-isotopic approach", and measured zinc (δ66Zn) and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) analysis on dental enamel, bulk carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) and sulfur (δ34S) isotope analysis on dentin and bone collagen, and single amino acid analysis on human and faunal remains. Isotopes are tiny chemical markers of the food we eat that get stored in our bones and teeth. They can be preserved for thousands of years. By studying them, we can learn directly about the diets of ancient humans.
The results unequivocally demonstrated a substantial plant-based component in the diets of these hunter-gatherers. The research indicated that while the Iberomaurusians did consume some meat, their diet relied heavily on wild plants which they might have stored to provide a food supply through the year.
This distinct dietary pattern challenges the prevailing notion of high reliance on animal proteins among pre-agricultural human groups.
Thee findings challenge the traditional view that a heavy reliance on plant-based diets started only with agriculture.
The Iberomaurusians were consuming a lot of wild plants 8,000 years before farming began in Morocco.
This suggests that early humans were more adaptable and resourceful in their dietary habits than previously thought.
The optimal ancestral diet can be environmentally friendly too and emphasize whole plant foods.
