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The myth of the hungry caveman
In the current context where food is plentiful, most people eat according to their desire to feel fit, eat what tastes good or optimize their health. But our ancestors ate for one main reason: survival.
Until about 12,000 years ago, all humans derived their food from hunting, gathering or fishing. As foragers, they fasted until they found, took or killed their food. There was no breakfast waking up, no leftovers for lunch. According to Freedman and Pobiner, they eat opportunistically and consume everything that comes their way.
Contrary to the beliefs of the Paleo regime, no regime had prevailed; the hunter-gatherer diet depended largely on location, season, and opportunity. In the polar regions, the Eskimo communities depended on wild animal protein, while the Juhohoansi of southern Africa mainly consumed wild plants. There was no neighborhood bodega or Trader Joe's to pick up mangoes in the winter.
There is no scientific basis for our current model of "three meals a day plus snacks".
At the time, humans were not eating as much as we do now.
For the majority of human history, people took one or two meals a day. Time-restricted diets, like the 16: 8 diet or a meal a day (OMAD), mimic this ancient phenomenon.
During periods without food, the body has evolved to draw energy from fat stores. Some research shows that this ability makes us metabolically and nutritionally flexible and allows us to follow a sporadic diet.
See also: The trap that kept our ancestors from starvation can contribute to obesity
Although caverns may have eaten less in total, Freedman disputes the idea that hunters and gatherers would go regularly without food for days or weeks, questioning the idea that fasting is natural.
"In the Stone Age, when everyone was hunter-gatherer and the streams were full of fish, and yes, it depended on the climate, but the places where people were settling tend to have enough food to support them, "he added. said.
Because hunter and gatherer societies were egalitarian, there was no ruling elite or large-scale hierarchy dictating consumption, says Freedman. The communities were small and the resources relatively abundant.
"Many missing meals in history do not come from nature, but from oppression," he says. "I would test the hypothesis that because hunter gatherers are considered uncivilized people, they do not live in cities. they do not have writing; they must eat worse. "
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