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Full disclosure. I am one of those "crazy people" who think grains and complex carbohydrates are killing us, and that a high fat diet, moderate protein, low car

by robchez 16y ago

Full disclosure. I am one of those "crazy people" who think grains and complex carbohydrates are killing us, and that a high fat diet, moderate protein, low carbohydrate is ideal. I really believe cancer IS a modern world disease, however my definition of modern world goes beyond the Egyptians and back to the first people who ever started eating wheat and grains. I would be surprised if the Egyptians DIDN'T have a host of cancers due to there consumption of wheat and grain grown in the Nile. Cancer is a product of the small failures in the cellular replication system, however, we are accelerating the amount of replication by putting ourselves into modes of chronic hyper-insulinism through all the carbohydrate rich diets we are eating. Add to the chronic inflammation we have put our bodies into, causing our white bloodcells to attack healthy cells, then forcing again even more cell replication, we are essentially giving cancer a better odd at occurring. (This is a gross over-simplification as I am getting ready to sleep, but I could go on about Insulin Like Growth Factors etc.) Also, in regards to everyone discussing that we live a lot longer than our ancestors. Again this is true to our ancestors going back to the agricultural revolution, but there are studies shown[1] that our hunter-gatherer brethren had lifespans not unlike hours. [1] http://www.anth.ucsb.edu/faculty/gurven/papers/GurvenKaplan2007pdr.pdf http://www.anth.ucsb.edu/faculty/gurven/papers/GurvenKaplan2...

cristoperb 16y ago
> our hunter-gatherer brethren had lifespans not unlike hours Sounds like a fairly short lifespan to me ;)
hugh3 16y ago
Have you actually read that 46-page paper you posted? Because I'm only up to page six, but it appears to directly contradict you: "Among traditional hunter-gatherers, the average life expectancy at birth varies from 21 to 37 years; the proportion surviving to age 45 varies between 26 percent and 43 percent" Reading onwards, this should give pause to anyone who wants to go on about the awesomeness of hunter-gatherer diets: Gastrointestinal illnesses account for 5-18 percent of deaths... Diarrhea coupled with malnutrition remains one of the most significant causes of infant and early child deaths among foragers and peasant populations...
- robchez 16y ago
  The way I understood it was that the average life expectancy was low, due to the high rate of infant mortality. But the mode of the age data is up in the 60's-70's. I.e those who didn't die from infection, or being eaten alive actually lived similar lives to us. edit: Article quote Page 29: The data show that modal adult life span is 68–78 years, and that it was not uncommon for individuals to reach these ages, suggesting that inferences based on paleodemographic reconstruc-tion are unreliable.

by robchez 16y ago

cristoperb 16y ago

> our hunter-gatherer brethren had lifespans not unlike hours Sounds like a fairly short lifespan to me ;)

hugh3 16y ago

Have you actually read that 46-page paper you posted? Because I'm only up to page six, but it appears to directly contradict you: "Among traditional hunter-gatherers, the average life expectancy at birth varies from 21 to 37 years; the proportion surviving to age 45 varies between 26 percent and 43 percent" Reading onwards, this should give pause to anyone who wants to go on about the awesomeness of hunter-gatherer diets: Gastrointestinal illnesses account for 5-18 percent of deaths... Diarrhea coupled with malnutrition remains one of the most significant causes of infant and early child deaths among foragers and peasant populations...

robchez 16y ago
The way I understood it was that the average life expectancy was low, due to the high rate of infant mortality. But the mode of the age data is up in the 60's-70's. I.e those who didn't die from infection, or being eaten alive actually lived similar lives to us. edit: Article quote Page 29: The data show that modal adult life span is 68–78 years, and that it was not uncommon for individuals to reach these ages, suggesting that inferences based on paleodemographic reconstruc-tion are unreliable.