The aquatic ape hypothesis and it's effect on paleolithic diets

[coma]

A brief background for anyone unfamiliar with the hypothesis, the aquatic ape theory suggests that rather than a strict savannah phase in our evolution as traditionally believed, we had a period during which our evolution developed towards an aquatic environment, such as near the coast and around rivers and lakes.

Pointers towards the theory include our similarity as mammals to pachyderms, hairless, thicker skin, a philtrum to prevent water getting into your nostrils and so on. Other pointers are hair growth in a streamlined direction of growth, descended larynx and hooded nose. There's also evidence that a seafood diet rich in DHA could have been necessary for our growth in intelligence.

Anyway, my thinking with this theory was along the lines of the paleolithic diet, the theory being timed about the Pleistocene period should fit the diet perfectly. Since there is still a lot of physical evidence of this period if it is correct, it should still have a strong bearing on the dietary requirements of the modern human being. We already know the beneficial effect of including seafood in your diet, but most people following a paleo diet are probably looking at a more mammal/bird basis for their daily diet when maybe the amount of fish should be higher? This would certainly be beneficial from a fat ratio perspective of a poly/sat fat split, particularly with wild fish and certainly supports the evidence that a limited amount of monosaturated fats should be consumed.

If you can find a copy of the book I'd recommend it, it's an interesting read and a theory with plenty of evidence for it.

[Ripped Barbarian]

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt!

http://forum.myprotein.co.uk/diet-nu...thic-diet.html

It's been something i've incorporated in my diet layout for a couple of years.
My freezer is always stocked up with treats from the sea.

[coma]

You did a much better job of explaining the diet! How are you finding it since you made the change?

[hailtotheking]

Interesting concept. Will have to add it to my reading list.

[Ripped Barbarian]

Quote

You did a much better job of explaining the diet! How are you finding it since you made the change?

Well, when i initially went on the diet it was the time when i was also the leanest, it's certainly good for low bodyfat.

I went 'total' coastal paleo which was a bit of a mistake, after a few weeks of eating mussels, fish with vegetables and roots you really start to hate the soggy, fishy taste of the diet, you must include a variety of foods to make it enjoyable.

Thing is i have always eaten fish and loved seafood, so it's not like i saw many health benefits compared to someone who has been chronically deprived of omega 3, iodine, selenium etc.

-------

On the topic of 'aquatic ape' i think the idea that we are somehow aquatic and totally evolved to eating coastal foods is ********, i do however know that our ancestors took advantage of seafoods, along with other foods in the paleolithic era.

The most common fare were shellfish, fish themselves which require spearing etc were only really used later in the paleolithic.

I believe most of out 'aquatic' features are a result of land based ancestors rather than aquatic features.
(hairless to help sweat rather than because we are some sort of dolphin etc)

Still, many seafoods, nutrient density wise are pretty hard to beat! just have to be a bit careful dodging bioaccumalated toxins, both natural and manmade.
I stick to very clean sources to allow me to eat larger amounts of seafood without problem.

-Greenland prawn
-Pacific salmon
-NZ mussels
-Atlantic herring milt
-Pacific flying fish
etc etc etc.

[coma]

Interesting, the theory always seemed more based around rivers, lakes and wetlands than strictly coastal, so I wouldn't have interpreted it as a completely seafood diet. Interestingly the theory fits really nicely with so many elements of other scientific disciplines too, even geology and atmospheric science which tell us that east Africa at the time was wet with expanding terrestrial lakes and river systems, whereas present day thoery was based on the area being a lot closer to todays conditions.

[Ripped Barbarian]

Yeah, certainly fresh water is involved in a big way.

Many of the foods are nutritionally similar however, the problem with freshwater foods these days is pollution, most freshwater fish have many times the PCB, dioxin, pesticide load that wild sea fish do.

It's certainly easier to spear fish in a river than off shore.

[al-209]

I recently put the aquatic ape hypothesis to a raw vegan. I backed it up with this article. He called me an unethical murderous barbarian, who had been fooled by the "disney version" of world history and then compared me to a nazi paedophile. Talk about touchy!

[hailtotheking]

Its interesting, because the book i'm reading at the mo, 'Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies' by Jared Diamond, mentions that evidence from the earliest hunter gatherer sites indicates that making seafood a common part of the diet happened far later than land animal meat-eating, possibly because early hunter-gatheres found it a complete nightmare catching decent-sized fish and seafood, until they developed decent fishing equipment for the job.

[al-209]

Perhaps the increase in available DHA from the land animals gave them the brain power required to make said tools..Which made even more DHA available, eventually leading to the creation of internet forum software...