Why the Paleo diet is too simplistic

[firecat]

This article talks about how humans vary in how many copies we have of a gene that codes for a carbohydrate-processing enzyme. Humans who live in societies where starch is a major part of the diet tend to have more copies.

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/12/11/amylase-and-human-evolution/

When I say the Paleo diet is too simplistic, I mean that this is evidence human digestion has evolved since the introduction of agriculture. If you are on the Paleo diet and feel happy and healthy, that's cool.

Comments

[laughingrat]

Well you know, I was just ruminating on it some more and I realized that the countries that adopted American foods (beans, tomatoes, potatoes, squash, etc.) are the ones with more delicious vegetarian foodways (Italy has good bean recipes for instance, and India and the Middle East as well), so it's maybe a matter of spotting these tasty things and adapting cuisine accordingly, too? Other European countries adopted the potato, but not as much the other veg, is the impression I get from my rather patchy history knowledge. Potatoes are wonderful, but not exactly inspirational when it comes to making a rich and varied culinary palette.

The bean question is interesting because favas, lentils, and chickpeas were (I'm 99% sure I read this in a book by Aliza Green, I swear) the only legumes native to the "Old World," so all those other beans were a new exciting thing...and...HA! Of course. The Mediterranean, the Middle East, India...spices. They had unparalleled access to spices that, the further west and north you went, got more and more rare.

I feel like all of these things together sort of gesture at why England and the US have a rather meh vegetarian cuisine, but don't fully explain it.

[firecat]

Spices, very good point.

I love essays that trace the history of a particular product:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/How-the-Potato-Changed-the-World.html

[supermouse]

I think it's a combination of the colder climate meaning fatty foods are preferred; the difficulty of growing many fatty plant foods in Northern Europe, meaning animal fats are easier to get hold of; the need to eat preserved food only for several months of the year; a wish to showcase some foods they produced very well (for example, English roast beef being served very simply to enjoy its rich flavour), and probably many other things I haven't even thought of.