In an experiment filed for BBC2, nine volunteers were moved in a tented enclosure at Paignton Zoo in Devon, England to live on an ape-like, hunter-gatherer type of diet for two weeks to see what effect a mostly raw, low saturated fat, plant-based diet would have on their blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
The volunteers ranged in ages from 36-48 and they are up to 5kg of raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and honey a day. Typical foods included: Broccoli, carrots, radishes,cabbage, tomatoes, watercress, strawberries, apricots, bananas, mangoes, melons, figs, plums and hazelnuts. Clearly the food was from all over the world and not just one region, but the meal plan did meet the daily nutritional and calorie requirements recommended for adults. Volunteers also drank water and, in the second week, were given "standard portions of cooked oily fish... a nod to a more hunter-gatherer lifestyle" of humans.
Volunteers did not report any loss of energy overall as a result of the diet, although there were "moments unhappiness and grumpiness" due to the living situation and there was a noticeable gas (farting) problem. Aside from that, the participants were in good spirits for most of the experiment and, to top it off, they experienced a number of health benefits. They lost an average of nearly 10 lbs, improved both their blood pressure from an average of 140/83 to 122/76 and decreased their cholesterol levels by 23%.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-13-2007 @ 8:06PM
barb said...
I'm almost certain that the ancestral environment in which we evolved did not provide us with tropical fruits such as mangoes alongside mild-climate vegetables like cabbage and broccoli. Nor did it allow us to eat summer fruits like strawberries in the same three days as autumnal produce like hazelnuts. By all means cut out the processed foods, but dressing it up as some faddy 'evo diet' is just more nutritional nonsense.
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1-13-2007 @ 8:06PM
Megan said...
"up to 5kg of raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and honey a day....there was a noticeable gas (farting) problem."
That's 11 pounds of fruit and veggies a day,
so I'm not surprised !
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1-13-2007 @ 9:10PM
calamari said...
To Barb's comment, I'd add that a typical hunter-gatherer diet could not have allowed people to eat *fresh* produce out of season -- or at all during the winter -- and the experimental diet does not seem to have allowed for that. I would have thought that the hunting part of hunting-gathering would be a tad more effective than a couple portions of fish... and what about the reality that early peoples were quick to develop wine and beer?
People might well be in "good spirits" during the short-term experiment due to the Hawthorne Effect... (Nicole, you are the *best* for posting potentially controversial topics that a person can get her teeth into).
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