Review Paleolithic nutrition revisited: A twelve-year retrospective on its nature and implications

A multidisciplinary reconstruction of Palaeolithic nutrition that holds promise for the prevention and treatment of diseases of civilisation

“…These outcomes contrasted with the average American diet at the time, that consisted of 12 en% protein, 46 en% carbohydrate and 42 en% fat, with a polyunsaturated:saturated fat ratio of 0·44 and a fibre intake of 20 g/d. After 25 years of additional study, Konner & Eaton confirmed their previous findings by estimating that the Palaeolithic diet provided 25 -30 en% protein, 35-40 en% carbohydrate and 20 -35 en% fat (433) , while the polyunsaturated:saturated fat ratio was 1·40 (434) . Moreover, they concluded that 'it has become clear since our initial publications that marine, lacustrine, and riverine species were important sources of animal flesh during the evolution of modern Homo sapiens, and may have played a role in the evolution of brain ontogeny' (433) .…”

“…In a meticulous analysis of worldwide hunter -gatherer diets, Cordain et al (148,436) estimated that the most plausible percentages of total energy from dietary macronutrients would be 19-35 en% from protein, 22 -40 en% from carbohydrate and 28-58 en% from fat, which reflects a markedly higher contribution of dietary fat, a similar amount of protein, but a lower contribution of carbohydrates, compared with earlier estimates from Eaton & Konner (8,434) . The main differences were explained by the assumption that, wherever it was ecologically possible, hunter -gatherers would have consumed 45-65 % of total energy from animal foods (148) , while in the earlier estimations (8,434) only 35 % derived from animal foods.…”

Meat nutritional composition and nutritive role in the human diet

“…It is possible to sum up the profile of meat consumption during human evolution in four periods: the first could be characterized by a opportunist hunting; while in the second, hunting had grown to a bigger scale and lasted 2 to 3 million years; in the third period, men started to domesticate animals and plants, which had began 10,000 years ago; during the fourth and Meat Science 93 (2013) [586][587][588][589][590][591][592] last period studies determined that meat contained compounds which could increase disease risk (Larsen, 2003). Eaton and Konner (1997) stated that human genes had not changed since the Paleolithic period. Human beings are animals, submitted to the same environmental pressure as other animals and living species (Zucoloto, 2011).…”

Why and how to implement sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium changes in food items and diets?

“…32 Hence, moderate supplementation of the current diets with potassium, calcium, and magnesium can be considered safe for the population. Unlike in most other countries, in Finland, a progressive and marked decrease in the average intake of salt has taken place during the past three decades (Figure 3).…”