Nutrition Lessons from Our Ancestors

A simple, objective interpretation of the science in the areas of health and nutrition would direct us to a more primal lifestyle if we are to function optimally. Our Paleolithic ancestors had no need for counting calories or taking vitamins, and they were more dynamic and robust by far than present-day humans.

The Paleolithic-era diet was the near-perfect anti-aging diet. Unfortunately, few who

lived during this time period were able to enjoy the benefits of their "productive

longevity" diet because of infectious diseases, accidents, and deaths associated with

childbirth severely limited life expectancies. Famine was also a risk faced by Paleolithic

humans. Although food was occasionally in very short supply, that available was all-

natural and nutritious. A little-known fact is that significant famine only became a

problem when humans switched from a hunter/gatherer society to an agricultural society

[1]. The data show a reduction in height, life expectancy, and general health, even in the

Americas, as the world's inhabitants transitioned to agriculture [2].

Genetic change in humans is agonizingly slow. The result is that we are still

programmed to eat and move as our ancestors did before the advent of agriculture.

Changes in our environment and nutrition patterns have negatively affected the way our

genes are expressed. We are genetically programmed for a lifestyle that’s in direct

conflict with how we currently live in an industrialized, technologically changing world

[3]. This is the mechanism that negatively affects how our genes are expressed causing

diminished health status and the onset of disease. All is not lost; there’s much we can

do to reverse this trend. Physiologically familiar food is a direct and prominent way in

which we can reprogram our physiologies to function as they did when the healthiest

humans of all time inhabited the earth. Organic vegetation, nuts, seeds, and grass-fed,

free-range, pasture-raised meats are the only nutritional solutions that will put us back in

touch with our ancestral (genetic) heritage.

1. Berbesque JC, Marlowe FW, Shaw P, Thompson P. Hunter-gatherers have less

famine than agriculturalists. Biol Lett. 2014;10(1):20130853.

2. Wells S. Pandora’s Seed: Why the Hunter-Gatherer Holds the Key to Our Survival.

New York: Random House; 2011.

3. O'Keefe Jr. JH, Cordain L. Cardiovascular disease resulting from a diet and lifestyle

at odds with our Paleolithic genome: how to become a 21st-century hunter-gatherer.

Mayo Clin Proc. 2004;79(1):101–108.

Wayne Coolidge Jr., M.Ed. is a scholar-practitioner, author, and speaker. He owns

Healthy Dynamic Living, an innovative health promotion consulting firm.