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Vegetable protein was and still is less abundant than vegetable sugars, if I'm not mistaken? Agriculture eventually made that less of an issue but this was not

by eyko 6y ago

Vegetable protein was and still is less abundant than vegetable sugars, if I'm not mistaken? Agriculture eventually made that less of an issue but this was not the case until not that long ago (tens of thousands rather than hundreds of thousands of years). It's easier to eat a bug or any small prey than spend a morning gathering spinach and watercress. Humans also ate leftovers from predator kills, like the partially digested contents of herbivore stomachs that had been killed by let's say wolves. Vegetable protein was part of our diet but not by any means the main source of protein. Humans did not eat pulses until quite recently (10-15 thousand years ago?)

rewq4321 6y ago
> Vegetable protein was and still is less abundant than vegetable sugars, if I'm not mistaken? I'm no expert here, but humans do tend to need far more carbs than protein to be healthy - or at least can operate on something like 10% protein per joule of food consumed. And that's with a decent safety buffer. I think the predictions (based on natural experiments - i.e. famines) were that you could push as low as 4% before a human body can't handle it. Though I'd guess that if you get anywhere close to that your body is going to start making some significant trade-offs. Also: Don't forget about nuts and seeds. > Vegetable protein was part of our diet but not by any means the main source of protein. I think a citation (or three) is needed here.
- amanaplanacanal 6y ago
  People can be perfectly healthy on a wide range of carbohydrate intake. Native peoples in the Arctic lived almost entirely on animals, for example, whereas there were tropical island societies that lived almost entirely on plant sources.
  - rewq4321 6y ago
    > People can be perfectly healthy on a wide range of carbohydrate intake Again, citation needed there. The recommendation of all major national and international dietetics associations (based on currently available peer-reviewed studies) is that a healthy diet should consist mostly of carbohydrates. There certainly are "extreme" diets, but these seem to require at least a bit of genetic adaptation: > "a new study[0] on Inuit in Greenland suggests that Arctic peoples evolved certain genetic adaptations that allow them to consume much higher amounts of fat than most other people around the world" https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/09/17/441169188/the-secret-to-the-inuit-high-fat-diet-may-be-good-genes https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/09/17/441169188/th... [0] https://science.sciencemag.org/content/349/6254/1343 https://science.sciencemag.org/content/349/6254/1343

by eyko 6y ago

rewq4321 6y ago

> Vegetable protein was and still is less abundant than vegetable sugars, if I'm not mistaken? I'm no expert here, but humans do tend to need far more carbs than protein to be healthy - or at least can operate on something like 10% protein per joule of food consumed. And that's with a decent safety buffer. I think the predictions (based on natural experiments - i.e. famines) were that you could push as low as 4% before a human body can't handle it. Though I'd guess that if you get anywhere close to that your body is going to start making some significant trade-offs. Also: Don't forget about nuts and seeds. > Vegetable protein was part of our diet but not by any means the main source of protein. I think a citation (or three) is needed here.

amanaplanacanal 6y ago
People can be perfectly healthy on a wide range of carbohydrate intake. Native peoples in the Arctic lived almost entirely on animals, for example, whereas there were tropical island societies that lived almost entirely on plant sources.
- rewq4321 6y ago
  > People can be perfectly healthy on a wide range of carbohydrate intake Again, citation needed there. The recommendation of all major national and international dietetics associations (based on currently available peer-reviewed studies) is that a healthy diet should consist mostly of carbohydrates. There certainly are "extreme" diets, but these seem to require at least a bit of genetic adaptation: > "a new study[0] on Inuit in Greenland suggests that Arctic peoples evolved certain genetic adaptations that allow them to consume much higher amounts of fat than most other people around the world" https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/09/17/441169188/the-secret-to-the-inuit-high-fat-diet-may-be-good-genes https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/09/17/441169188/th... [0] https://science.sciencemag.org/content/349/6254/1343 https://science.sciencemag.org/content/349/6254/1343