THE ACACIA LEAVES hung motionless in the early dawn air.  Nearly ten feet off the ground, a young hunter peered through tree branches, surveying a grassy expanse near the Great Rift Valley.  Two other boys from his tribe also waited from nearby perches. 

They would soon be here.  They always journeyed this way; enormous herds of gazelles marching through the savanna, alongside a canopy of interspersed trees, each year following a similar path in a mass exodus toward taller grasses and more dense woodlands.

Across the grassland, Kilimanjaro awakened against a crimson morning sky; its silhouette intersected by a purple grenadier alighting on a nearby limb.  Flitting off before it could be captured, it startled the young hunter; redirecting his focus and priming his senses for the day.  Noting subtle movement in the distance, he signaled to his friends.  The herd was coming.  Now they must wait.

The young hunter examined his spear once again, just like his father had taught him to do.  Drifting off in thought, he imagined how pleased the elders would be that evening; eating fresh meat with other members of the tribe and listening to stories about the hunt………A soft whistle from one of the others interrupted his daydream.  They were here.

Nearly a hundred animals ambled toward him; the quiet of the morning punctuated by the soft sounds of ungulate feet upon the ground.  They were quite close now. 

A female below called to her fawn.  Sweet, musky scent tendrils ascended upward, infusing the young hunter’s widened nostrils with each deep inhalation.  His chest wall rose in rhythmic fashion, steadily increasing in cadence and magnitude, echoing the force of a heart beating violently within an inescapable thoracic cage.  He steadied his spear against a branch, so that trembling hands would not betray his presence. 

When a second whistle pierced the air, the young hunter leapt out to an animal below, using the full weight of his body to plunge his spear deep into the shoulder of his target; scattering the rest of the frightened herd in all directions.  Seizing its long black horns, he wrestled the creature to the ground, finishing his task with a quick knife thrust to the throat.

Through the dust, he saw that his fellow tribesmen had also been successful; although one had been quite bruised and bloodied by the kicking hooves of a desperate animal.  Lifting his quarry upon his back, the weight of the animal accentuated his own injury; an ankle sprained from a hard landing – although he hardly noticed the pain.

On the journey home, the boys practiced the hunting story they would tell others by the evening fire; just like their fathers and grandfathers before them had done, and just like their own grandchildren would continue to do for thousands of generations to follow.

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Throughout the span of humankind’s existence, our bodies have been genetically programmed to subsist on scarce amounts of food; often obtained by violent and bloody brawls with clawed and sharp-toothed creatures.  If no game was available, our distant ancestors would often wander long distances to gather wild fruits, nuts, vegetables, and insects. 

Fast forward about a hundred thousand years from the time of the above hunting story to the present day, and things have obviously changed dramatically.  For most of us, food is now abundant, delicious and not far from the couch.  There are thousands of cookbooks with great recipes, lots of treats in the cookie jar, and numerous fast food restaurants that will satiate our hunger within five minutes.  Our circumstances are vastly different, but our genetic predispositions remain the same.  It is no wonder that many of us carry at least a few more pounds than necessary.

There are always new diets and theories declaring what is healthiest for us to eat, and promising to help us get a bit leaner.  Some experts advise eating a lot of meat, while some say it is better to eat none.  Others say to eat fewer carbohydrates, some recommend that we eat more fruits, and almost all say to eat more vegetables.  Most of these diet plans will back up their ideas with studies validating their claims.  There is certainly some merit to a lot of them.  However, with so many different recommendations available, many people are really not that sure of the best way to eat healthfully. 

Throughout history, millions of people have subsisted on very basic diets.  In some regions this consisted of eating mostly a simple staple, perhaps a grain or root; in other regions, such as those occupied by the Inuit people, this involved mostly consumption of animal products.   Our bodies are quite adaptable and resilient, and can often survive on small amounts of very simple fuels.

We now, however, have the luxury of being able to find a diet where we can thrive, not just survive.  We have an advantage over our ancestors as we can now choose from an enormous variety of healthy, delicious foods that are readily available.  Many of us diminish this health advantage by consuming produce grown with synthetic pesticides, or by eating processed non-nutritious convenience foods.  Also, the factory farmed animal protein that many of us consume today is much different than the meat obtained from wild game or domesticated animals available to our more recent ancestors.  

It is a useful life maxim to not unnecessarily intervene in natural systems that have evolved over tremendously long periods of time.  Those who adhere to a Paleo type of diet (the hunter-gatherer diet of our early ancestors) follow this strategy, attempting to perpetuate ancient practices by eating foods that human digestive systems and metabolic pathways have learned to efficiently utilize over a period of two or three million years – avoiding grains, beans, and dairy products that were developed only a relatively recent ten thousand years ago when the hunter-gatherer method of obtaining food was supplanted by farming. 

Other experts think that ten thousand years has been enough time for human bodies to learn how to process these newer food groups.  Although most populations have adapted fairly well to the relatively new diet, there are some people who do not absorb or metabolize some of the newcomer foods (wheat, corn, beans and dairy products) quite as well as they do the meat, fruit and vegetable fare consumed by our more ancient ancestors.  Of note, neither the hunter-gatherer type of diet nor the subsequent agriculturally based diet included significant amounts of sugar or vegetable oils.   

Each of these diets have their benefits:  A grain based diet is very easy and inexpensive to follow, and is typically more Earth friendly and sustainable than consuming large quantities of meat – particularly on a planet with 7 billion people.  However, at an individual level, a more Paleo type of diet may be preferable or even necessary for people with food sensitivities, or intolerance to lactose or certain grains.    

In contrast to the dietary changes brought by the introduction of agriculture ten thousand years ago, the eating habits of the last one hundred years have been considerably less well tolerated.  Many people now consume highly processed packaged foods laced with sugar, high fructose corn syrup drinks, and processed meats derived from confined and medicated animals.  Their diets also often include pesticide-laden fruits and vegetables. 

The results have been disastrous – skyrocketing rates of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, cancer, and autism.   Human bodies have simply not had enough time to adapt to this new way of food production and eating; and it is unlikely that they ever will.

In a healthy diet, one eats small or moderate amounts of many different food groups; attempting to in some degree mimic the diet of his ancestors – while keeping an eye on the total quantity consumed. 

Preparing, eating, and sharing food are some of the great pleasures of life.  Should you have a big piece of Mom’s apple pie on Thanksgiving Day?  Absolutely!  Any minuscule adverse physical affect would be more than offset by an improvement in your emotional health.  Should you have a big piece of apple pie every night to remind you of Mom?  Well….probably not.

Next time:  So what does constitute a great diet?  Hint:  Start with locally grown organic plants.