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longevity (at least before colonisation by Europeans). Within Aboriginal society there is a special caste of the elderly.™ Obviously, if no old people existed, no such group would have existed. In his book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Dr Price has numerous photographs of elderly native peoples from around the world. Explorers such as Vilhjalmur Stefansson reported great longevity among the Innuit (again, before colonisation).* Similarly, the people of the Caucasus Mountains live to great ages on a diet of fatty pork and whole raw milk products. The Hunzas, also known for their robust health and longevity, drink substantial portions of goat's milk, which has a higher saturated fat content than cow's milk.** In contrast, the largely vegetarian Hindus of southern India have the shortest lifespans in the world, partly because of a lack of food but also because of a distinct lack of animal protein in their diets.” H. Leon Abrams's comments are instructive here: Vegetarians often maintain that a diet of meat and animal fat leads to. a _ premature death. Anthropological data from primitive societies do not support such contentions.* Explorers such Stefansson re lancavitv ama not saturated fats. Believing that saturated fats are dangerous to our arteries, Cordain and Eaton stay in step with current establishment nutritional thought and encourage modern peoples to eat a diet like our ancestors. This diet, they believe, was rich in lean meats and a variety of vegetables but was low in saturated fat. However, the evidence they produce to support this theory is very selective and misleading.” Saturated fats do not cause heart disease, as was shown above, and our Palaeolithic ancestors ate quite a bit of saturated fat from a variety of plant and animal sources. We learn from authoritative sources that prehistoric humans of the North American continent ate such animals as mammoth, camel, sloth, bison, mountain sheep, pronghorn antelope, beaver, elk, mule deer and llama.” Mammoth, sloth, mountain sheep, bison and beaver are fatty animals in the modern sense, in that they have a thick layer of subcutaneous fat, as do the many species of bear and wild pig whose remains have been found at Paleolithic sites throughout the world.* as Vilhjalmur ported great Vegetarians often maintain that a of subcutaneous fat, as do the diet of meat and animal fat leads many species of bear and wild to. a _ premature death. | h ilhi | pig whose remains have been Anthropological data from Exp orers such as Vi yaimur found at Paleolithic sites Primitive societies do not support Stefansson reported great throughout the world.” such contentions.’ . ° longevity among the Innuit Analysis of many types of fat in Dr Price travelled around the world before colonisation game animals like antelope, bison, in the 1920s and 1930s, investigating 5 (h ) caribou, dog, elk, moose, seal and native diets with regard to endurance Similarly, the people of the mountain sheep shows that they are and energy levels. Without excep- Caucasus Mountains live to rich in saturates and mono- tion, he found a strong correlation . unsaturates but relatively low in between diets rich in animal fats and great ages ona diet of fatty pork polyunsaturates.”> Further, while robust health and athletic ability. and whole raw milk products. buffalo and game animals may have Special foods for Swiss athletes, for lean, non-marbled muscle meats, it is example, included bowls of fresh, raw a mistake to assume that only these cream. In Africa, Dr Price discovered parts were eaten by hunter-gatherer that groups whose diets were rich in groups like the Native Americans, fatty meats and fish, and organ meats like liver, consistently car- who often hunted animals selectively for their fat and fatty ried off the prizes in athletic contests, and that meat-eating tribes organs, as the following section will show. always dominated tribes whose diets were largely vegetarian.” Anthropologists/explorers such as Vilhjalmur Stefansson It is popular in sports nutrition to recommend "carb-loading" reported that the Innuit and North American Indian tribes would for athletes to increase their endurance levels. But recent studies worry when their catches of caribou were too lean: they knew done in New York and South Africa show that the opposite is sickness would follow if they did not consume enough fat. In true: athletes who "carb-loaded" had significantly less endurance other words, these primitive peoples did not like having to eat than those who "fat-loaded" before athletic events.” lean meat. Northern Canadian Indians would also deliberately hunt older MYTH #8: The "cave man" diet was low-fat and/or male caribou and elk, for these animals carried a 50-pound slab of vegetarian. Humans evolved as vegetarians. back fat on them which the Indians would eat with relish. This Our Palaeolithic ancestors were hunter-gatherers, and three "pack fat" is highly saturated. Native Americans would also schools of thought have developed as to what their diet was like. refrain from hunting bison in the springtime (when the animals' One group argues for a high-fat and animal-based diet supple- fat stores were low, due to scarce food supply during the winter), mented with seasonal fruits, berries, nuts, root vegetables and preferring to hunt, kill and consume them in the fall when they wild grasses. The second argues that primitive peoples consumed __ were fattened up.” assorted lean meats and large amounts of plant foods. The third Explorer Samuel Hearne, writing in 1768, described how the argues that our human ancestors evolved as vegetarians. Native American tribes he came into contact with would The "lean" Palaeolithic diet approach has been argued for quite selectively hunt caribou just for the fatty parts: voraciously by Drs Loren Cordain and Boyd Eaton in a number of On the twenty-second of July, we met several strangers, popular and professional publications.’ Cordain and Eaton are whom we joined in pursuit of the caribou, which were at this believers in the "lipid hypothesis" of heart disease—the belief time so plentiful that we got everyday a sufficient number for (debunked in Myth #6; see part one) that saturated fat and dietary our support, and indeed too frequently killed several merely cholesterol contribute to heart disease. Because of this, and the for the tongues, marrow and fat. fant that Da Explorers such as Vilhjalmur Stefansson reported great longevity among the Innuit (before colonisation). Similarly, the people of the Caucasus Mountains live to MYTH #8: The "cave man" diet was low-fat and/or vegetarian. Humans evolved as vegetarians. Our Palaeolithic ancestors were hunter-gatherers, and three schools of thought have developed as to what their diet was like. One group argues for a high-fat and animal-based diet supple- mented with seasonal fruits, berries, nuts, root vegetables and wild grasses. The second argues that primitive peoples consumed assorted lean meats and large amounts of plant foods. The third argues that our human ancestors evolved as vegetarians. The "lean" Palaeolithic diet approach has been argued for quite voraciously by Drs Loren Cordain and Boyd Eaton in a number of popular and professional publications.’ Cordain and Eaton are believers in the "lipid hypothesis" of heart disease—the belief (debunked in Myth #6; see part one) that saturated fat and dietary cholesterol contribute to heart disease. Because of this, and the fact that Palaeolithic peoples or their modern equivalents did/do not suffer from heart disease, Cordain and Eaton espouse the theory that Palaeolithic peoples consumed most of their fat calories from mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated sources and While Cordain and Eaton are certainly correct in saying that our ancestors ate meat, their contentions about fat intake, as well as the type of fat consumed, are simply incorrect. 36 ¢ NEXUS JUNE - JULY 2002 www.nexusmagazine.com