Is the popular hunter-gatherer's diet really right for your body type?

Childbirth was much easier, quicker, and less painful before the agricultural revolution. Did the diet of hunter-gatherers have anything to do with the greater pelvic depth size of pre-agricultural women and some modern women on what scientists call the original pre-agricultural foods Inuit diet of Arctic peoples today?

What has food got to do with it? Did the phytates from a diet too high in grains prevent minerals from being absorbed into the bloodstreams of more modern populations? Was that what caused the drastic reduction of pelvic size and more painful childbirths?

Pelvic inlet depth and average stature of any group of people in modern, historical, and prehistorical times are markers of interest, if you overlook the life expectancy data due to war, accidents or epidemics unrelated to daily diet, according to the August 2008 article, "Life Expectancy and Growth of Paleolithic vs. Neolithic Humans."

Why has the human pelvis gone from very large (easier childbirth) to tiny (painful childbirth, longer labors) and now is growing larger again, for some, but not for all? But in modern times, females still haven't reached the large pelvis size that it was 30,000 to 9,000 years ago.

One can see from the data that looks at the changing size of the pelvic depth, the life span, and the height of men and women at the nutrition and physical degeneration site, that things are rarely as clear-cut as dietary purists would like them to be. For any period in time, there is good and there is bad.

What you need to look at, for example, is pelvic inlet depth. These are both markers of nutritional status during development. Basically, thousands of years ago, childbirth had been easier, quicker, and a lot less painful. Pelvic inlet depth is a measure of the size of the pelvic canal through which a baby would pass during birth. The difference shows up in both males and females.

Regarding birth, stature and pelvic inlet depth declined tremendously with adoption of agriculture. There's no way in modern times that most female pelvic depth size levels match the large room that paleolithic women had.

Exceptions might be found, not where they would be expected, not in Africa, for example, where the diet is mostly cereal-grains based today, but with Arctic peoples that are following original diets rather than standard Western diets. Check out the article, "Beyond Vegetarianism."

Nutritionists have to ask the question: Do grain-based diets interfere with normal skeletal development? There are plenty of studies. Nutritional anthropologists and archaeologists have long written about how the adoption of grains coincided with smaller pelvis sizes in men and women, shortening of height stature, thinner bones, and crooked, cavity-ridden teeth.

Archaeologists that study human fossils point out that skeletal changes are sometimes used as evidence that grains were adopted in a particular region historically. What nutritional anthropologists do also is to study populations as they transition from traditional diets to lots of processed foods rich in white flour, sugar, and corn products along with other types of processed foods, such as certain processed cheeses or nondairy 'milk' substitutes further processed with aluminum.

What's striking is the change in pelvic inlet depth. Why is modern childbirth so painful and long, especially with the first pregnancy? Could diet over thousands of years have set women up so they can no longer deliver their own babies in a short space of time without the type of pain most have reported in journals before the invention of anesthesia, for example, from medieval times until the turn of the present century?

In Western society, birth takes much longer and has evolved into a dangerous situation. How many women have the type of pelvic depth to go through childbirth without the aid of modern medicine and without the type of pain that seemed to develop in more modern times--say the last 1,000 years?

Without the aid of modern medicine, the rising number of C-sections required to save the life of the baby and the mother seems to be increasing. How many women can honestly say they and/or their infant(s) would have survived birth without medical intervention? Could diet over the last ten thousand years have played a role in the evolving pelvis depth size--getting smaller over time?

Modern times shows women evolving a much narrower pelvic inlet than what existed in ancient and also prehistoric times among human beings. For example, before agriculture, a hunter-gatherer woman's pelvis inlet was much larger than the pelvis inlet size of a modern woman. Archaeologists can put fossil human skeletons side by side and compare how female pelvis size has been changing throughout history and prehistory.

If you speak with doctors visiting traditional societies not on a diet of cereal grains, there's a relative ease of childbirth among many of these hunter-gather societies, for example among Inuits and other Arctic peoples, and various other North Asian populations that live on a diet similar to Inuits. You can check out these observations from the book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.

If you look through this book, check out the numbers for average stature and pelvic inlet depth. These are both markers of nutritional status during development.

What made the pelvic inlet depth decline? Was it the adoption of agriculture? Currently, is pelvic depth still declining? It's not how wide the hips are, because hunter-gatherer human women in prehistoric times had narrow hips. Before humans, female Home Erectus had wide, swaying hips. But pre-agriculture human women had narrow hips that were deep from front to back. It's the pelvic inlet depth, the measurement from front to back, not from side to side. Ask your OBGYN.

Why did a Neolithic, agricultural age diet emphasizing a high level of cooked grains coincide with a shortening of stature, thinner bones and crooked, cavity-ridden teeth?

Archaeologists look at fossil skeletons decline in stature to tell whether the people were eating grains at that period in history. Eating grains as white flour mixed with sweets quickly developed in ancient times. People used flour mixed with honey and fruit. They fermented the fruit to make the bread rise.

The ultimate result, say some archaeologists is that in modern times, males and females both have a narrower pelvic inlet than our ancestors. For further information, read the chapter in the book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, pertaining to the ease of birth of Arctic peoples before they ate foods of modern civilization compared to the problems their grand daughters are having now with birth and protracted, painful labors that was not reported in their societies before modern foods were introduced.

The book notes the following information recorded by the doctor who delivered babies in the Arctic, "One Eskimo woman who had married twice, her last husband being a white man, reported to Dr. Romig and myself that she had given birth to twenty-six children and that several of them had been born during the night and that she had not bothered to waken her husband, but had introduced him to the new baby in the morning."

The author of the book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, also refers to "Dr. Romig, the superintendent of the government hospital for Eskimos and Indians at Anchorage, Alaska." According to the book, Dr. Romig "stated that in his thirty-six years among the Eskimos, he had never been able to arrive in time to see a normal birth by a primitive Eskimo woman."

Basically, nutritionists want to ask how nutrition contributes to physical degeneration in several generations. What foods in particular are involved? Is it processed, Western foods? But aren't those foods supposed to get rid of the bacteria? More information has to be researched. But what is clear is that childbirth has become more difficult and more painful due to the declining pelvis depth size from previous generations to the present ones.

Only since the 1980s, according to the table comparing life span, pelvic size, and height from 30,000 years ago to the present that you can check out at the article, Paleopathology at the Origins of Agriculture, has the pelvic depth of men and women increased somewhat, but is still behind the larger size it had been in hunter-gatherer times 30,000 years ago until the dawn of agriculture 9,000 years ago.

The question is why does pelvis depth size get larger in hunter-gatherer times, and smaller at the dawn of agriculture, and larger again after 1980? Why did it shrink so small between 1800 and 1920? How is nutrition related to physical degeneration and more important, how can we make nutrition to be related to physical regeneration? It's fascinating research to look at how nutrition is linked to physical changes over time, especially at it pertains to childbirth.

If you think about it, it's almost as if humankind got kicked out of the hunter-gather Garden of Eden where childbirth was less painful and quicker, with less complications. Was the reason that the animals in the pre-agricultural world had been eaten almost to extinction?

The age of agriculture saw childbirth with increased pain for women, decreased stature, less robust bones, and for both, plowing the earth to reap one's bread by the sweat of one's brow. But what type of nutrition is causing women's pelvic depth to increase again in the last 30 years? And will it ever get back to the size it was 30,000 years ago when childbirth, say the archaeologists, was easier? On another note, check out the Hunters & Gatherers video on Google video.

Which Diet is better when tailored to your own body's needs?

Which diet is healthier--for you--customized, and tailored for your own body--vegan, raw foods or the mainstream diet of your culture and location? That all depends upon how your body reacts to the diet you find healthiest.

How does your diet make you feel as far as your health? If for the past 50,000 years, your particular genetic expression and signature did well on a specific type of diet, will it do as well today on the very different approaches to foods?

Or are you basically healthier on a plant-based diet? It all depends on how your blood chemistry processes what food you eat.

Some people have a specific gene variant that allows their blood to remove excess cholesterol. Other people have a specific enzyme or chemical in their bloodstream, through inheritance that makes their blood thicker than most people, and they don't have the ability to remove cholesterol from animal products.

So where do the fats go? Into their arteries years faster than it would for those people who have that genetic variation allowing them to eat as much meat and fat as they want without their cholesterol being deposited into lesions in their arteries. It's basically genetic.

For those who do best on plant-based vegan, raw food diets because they have the genes that do well on that diet, it's good to know that more vegan, raw foods cafes are opening. And even if they are not in your area, you can still learn how to prepare the type of foods that your body needs. The moral of this is everybody's different.

Some need animal protein, and some don't do well on it. But everyone needs a balanced diet that is tailored to his or her genetic expression. How do you know?

Just ask yourself how does your body feel on a particular diet. For the raw, vegan foods people, here are some cafes and eateries in Sacramento. You can prepare similar foods at home in your own area. Eat what your body requires. Should you eat in a Paleolithic style (animal protein, some berries, some root vegetables) or more in a Neolithic style (plant-based with some fish high in Omega 3 fatty acids)?

Are you as an individual healthier on a Paleolilthic diet of grassfed meats and blueberries with a few root vegetables in season? Check out the site, Paleolithic diet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The Paleo Diet is the modern diet that simulates the nutrition of our evolutionary heritage - an ancestral, Paleolithic diet.

Remember that in those early times, most people had blood type O, which is a thin blood type. The thicker blood type A evolved later and does well on more plant and fish-based diets. B type blood is similar to O, and has more balance and less extreme as far as how cholesterol from meat is removed from the bloodstream. Type AB is similar to type A.

Whether you have or have not read the medical studies on blood types and how they remove fats from the blood depending on various gene variants, choose your diet based on what makes your body operate in the healthiest manner.

Not all Neolithic people were on plant-based diets. Some were consuming red meat and few grains or other vegetables. Check out the site, "Bone Analysis Suggests Neolithic People Preferred Meat."

Here are resources on the Paleolithic and Neolithic type diets. The only idealistic diet that works is the one that's customized to your body's needs. Some body types respond to an iron-reduced cereal-based Neolithic diet with specific diseases. See the site, "Hemochromatosis: a Neolithic adaptation to cereal grain diets." That's why diets need to be customized to what your genes require.

Would you rather eat at a raw, vegan eatery or a restaurant that emphasizes meat or seafood when you dine outside your home? Which food makes you feel well?

Raw, Vegan and Vegetarian-Friendly Cafes

For the raw, vegan foods people, here are some cafes and eateries in Sacramento. You can prepare similar foods at home in your own area. Eat what your body requires. Should you eat in a Paleolithic style (animal protein, some berries, some root vegetables) or more in a Neolithic style (plant-based with some fish high in Omega 3 fatty acids)?

If you're looking for totally raw, vegan food in Sacramento, try the Art of Food cafe and Tonic Bar on Del Paso Blvd.Instead of a stove, they have two dehydrators. To read the latest interview with chef Richard Hemsley, check out the December 13, 2009 Sacramento Bee article, "If you can't stand heated food, welcome to this kitchen," by Gina Kim. The cafe offers raw, vegan food--no animal products.

Food is never heated more than to 105 degrees, unless you order a cup of hot tea. Besides food, you can order tonics from the tonic bar. Read the reviews online for the Art of Food Cafe and Tonic Bar located at 1825 Del Paso Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95815. This highly recommended cafe has exquisite raw, vegan food. Also, the visual imagery is pleasing to the eye with fresco artwork wall murals.

What type of raw vegan food can you order at the Art of Food cafe? Try the delicious coconut curry soup with kelp noodles. Or taste the exquisite ceviche made from mushrooms. If you're looking for ethnic food, try the tostada created from a cultured corn shell under a Mexican-style sunflower pate. Or if you like raw vegan Italian food, try the lasagna with the pasta made from zucchini and includes almond cheese.

Or to introduce you to raw, vegan food, try the spring rolls and soup. If you're going on a vegan, raw diet, what percentage is healthy? You could start with a 50 to 66 percent vegan raw diet, say for the earlier hours of the day, and then at night eat mainstream-style food.

That all depends on whether you belong to raw, vegan clubs, vegetarian associations, or other groups that meet and eat. And there are numerous vegetarian clubs in Sacramento. Next time you want a social setting for raw, vegan food, try the Art of Food Cafe.

Why do some people eat raw, vegan food? One reason is because cooking kills off by heat the living food's nutritional resources. But some foods are more nutritious after cooking such as tomatoes and carrots. But they can be eaten raw as well and taste great prepared hot or cold.

Not all vegans are on raw food diets, and some raw food enthusiasts eat raw dairy products that are not pasteurized or homogenized for the health reasons they claim are there in raw animal products, for raw milk or cheese products. It all depends upon how your body reacts to raw foods.

You never know how your stomach will react to raw animal products or whether your digestive juices will be able to break down the fibers in some raw vegetables or not--for example, raw kale.

As far as the raw, vegan food offered by the Art of Food cafe, it opened in June, 2009 and presently is expanding its menu. If you're at work and don't have time to sit in a restaurant but want raw food for lunch, for example, the Art of Food Cafe has pre-ordered takeout food, a vegan line of ice creams, and general groceries such as Himalayan pink crystal salt, organic and raw nori, agave nectar, goji powder and raw cacao. Organic produce soon will be sold as well.

Take a class on raw, vegan cuisine

You can take classes on raw foods cuisine at the Art of Food cafe. Ask the cafe's owners about the classes they offer. If you participate in the numerous vegetarian and vegan food clubs in Sacramento, think of the Art of Food cafe as your possible community center where you can meet other vegans interested in raw foods, drink tea, play chess, or take classes in the benefits of raw food.

If this interests you, contact the cafe to see what plans are envisioned for the future where you can enjoy the environment, ambiance, and raw vegan food. The cafe has blenders, prayer flags, sunny walls, a mural and offers great smoothies you usually won't find around Sacramento such as the delicious hemp seed smoothies, the mesquite vanilla, the sweet hemp cream and a Peruvian root smoothie, maca.

If you're a fan of chocolate, try the refrigerated raw chocolates or the crackers and persimmon pudding. For a health salad, try the seaweed salad and hummus. The idea is to eat more healthy. There are other vegetarian, vegetarian-friendly and vegan eateries in Sacramento such as the mostly vegan Au Lac Veggie on Stockton Blvd. Try the faux-fish or the whey. Whey, a dairy-derived product, is not vegan. But the eatery is mainly vegetarian. Au Lac Veggie also serves Asian vegetarian food.

The newest vegan restaurant, the Sugar Plum Vegan Cafe, will be open early in February and will be located on K Street. What's great about vegan and vegetarian eateries is that the vegetarian clubs and community also can meet there or learn more about vegetarian, raw, and vegan foods.

The Sugar Plum Vegan Cafe will open early in February, 2010 at 2315 K St. The address had been the former location of the True Love Coffeehouse. Totally vegan food--no honey, milk,eggs, or other animal products will be served. What will be served includes vegan potato pancakes, lasagna, curry dishes, and other "home-style comfort foods."

The vegan theme here is "world fusion." Also planned for the cafe are entertainment such as live music in the dining area. But upstairs, there's going to be a small retail department with clothing sales. Everything in the store will be vegan-made.

It's delicious. The business is being started by Melissa Wilhelm with her husband Khy'em Amri. The couple have been operating a wholesale baking business for the past two years, delivering vegan foods to Whole Foods, Java City, and numerous other food businesses. For further information, see the article, "Owners hope vegan cafe's a natural fit for Sacramento," by Bob Shallit, Inside Business.

Resources: Paleolithic Diet vs. Neolithic Diet

Paleo Diet Meal Plans

Paleo: Real Diet of Man - grassfed meats

Paleolithic Diet Page (Paleo Diet, Caveman Diet, Hunter/Gatherer Diet)

Introduction to the Paleolithic Diet

The Paleo Diet | Paleolithic Diet, Paleo Diet, Caveman Diet ...

The Paleolithic Diet is best defined as what Paleolithic Age ...

Paleolithic Diet Food List - Foods Allowed on Paleo Diet ...

The Paleolthic Diet: How Our Bodies Want to be Treated

Paleolithic Diet | Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine | Find ...

Paleolithic Diet vs. Vegetarianism

The Paleolithic Diet and Its Modern Implications