The Cro-Magnon Diet: How Cavemen Survived

Cro-Magnon man, through no fault of his own, adopted a healthy diet that kept him and his entire Cro-Magnon family healthy.

Another fad diet?

Sir, no, not another fad diet! It seems there are as many diet plans as there are fat people, myself included. No, I am not what I consider obese. I weigh 185 pounds and am 6 feet tall. But I have a large intestine. Many doctors agree that people come in three forms:
* slim and cropped
* pear shape
* apple-shaped

Of course we all want to be slim and stylish, good! But recent government figures suggest that two-thirds of the population is overweight. According to the US Air Force height and weight chart, I could weigh up to 205 pounds at my height. But the large intestine is a problem.

The dangers of the figure “in the form of an apple”

The intestine puts me in the apple-shaped category. The apple body shape (body fat is stored around the middle, i.e. the abdomen, chest and surrounding internal organs such as the heart) is linked to health problems such as coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure high blood pressure and gallbladder disease.

Doctors say that the pear shape (fat is stored around the hips, away from vital organs) is much safer, although it is an undesirable state. To live a healthy life, we must be aware of two factors: diet and exercise. There’s that word again: diet. I have never officially been on a diet, until recently (more on that in a minute). I try to eat healthy foods, but like the majority of the population, I often turn to junk food and occasionally fast food. I bet you thought junk food is FAST FOOD, or vice versa. Not so, say many nutritionists. Certain fast foods can be healthier than those we prepare in the kitchen at home. But that is also another story.

The caveman diet

So what does all this have to do with Cro-Magnons, the cavemen? Just this: I came across one of those pay-per-click ads on a TV station’s website. It featured a cartoon of a fat woman promoting a way to get rid of belly fat. So I clicked and saw a very interesting video. The narrator said that we should eat like cavemen (and cavewomen) ate. Paleontologists (bone collectors) say that Cro-Magnons were mostly muscular, slender beings, and had very little body fat. The unintentional diet they followed was one of necessity. Yes, the market is full of all kinds of diets, some involving supplements (diet pills that ultimately don’t work), fad diets, low-carb diets, high-fat diets, etc.

Try to imagine what those ancestors of ours ate. During the warmer months, they found abundant supplies of fresh plant material: fruits (mainly berries) and a wide variety of wild vegetables. In winter they ate meat, and they could easily choose lean meat because they had the whole animal to choose from. Many believe that Cro-Magnons varied their diet and calorie intake from day to day. They rarely ate the same meals two days in a row.

So they discovered, 30,000 years ago, a “fat burning” plant honestly? Of course not. The body is the furnace, it burns (converts) food into useful nutrients. Food, by itself, doesn’t burn anything, so be careful with these “Fat Burning Plans.” They probably won’t hurt you (at least I don’t think they will), but they’ll drain your wallet, and they’ll still make you fat.

The human body is not a machine

Your body is not a machine… but it easily adapts to what you feed it. If you feed him the same thing every day, your body says, “Hey… there’s no need to burn this food. I think I’ll store it as fat!” oops! Therein lies the problem. This is exactly what happens when you eat the ‘typical’ Western diet: you end up with too much sugar and starchy carbohydrates, as well as unhealthy fats…and not the healthy fats we need for good health.

The ancients had lots of healthy fats! Worst of all, we basically get the same calories every day. Many of today’s fad diets require that caloric intake be calculated based on height, weight, and age. I found a nifty calorie counter on about.com that says that at my age, I should eat foods that provide 2,146 calories per day. But if you’re starting to believe that this caveman diet is real and you stick to the calorie number on the calculator, your body will say, “I’m used to this… No thanks…”

Be flexible on caloric intake

Well, I need to be flexible from day to day on my caloric intake and specific foods to eat… but I need to vary these foods and not eat the same thing day after day. That doesn’t seem too difficult. In fact, it sounds so easy a caveman could do it!