Approximately 10,000 years ago a tremendous change began to occur for our species when we began to abandon our lives of hunting and gathering and started settling down farming the land we inhabited. This switch allowed for the rapid growth of our ancestors population and the development of what we now consider modern culture. However, there are many scientists out there who think that this change is exactly where our species began to go wrong.

For around 2,000,000 years our species has been evolving into what we consider human beings today. For 1,990,000 years of that time we have evolved eating primarily what can be found in nature: plants, fruits, nuts, fish, and wild game. However, since the beginning of the agricultural revolution we have rapidly drifted away from the foods we have evolved to eat. In the last 10,000 years the human genome has only evolved 0.01 percent meaning that our genetic profile is still 99.9% Paleolithic. According to Dr. Loren Cordain, a leading researcher on the Paleo diet, roughly 70% of the calories that Americans ingest did not exist for our Paleolithic ancestors which may account for the growing heath issues in today’s society.

Throughout history there have been numerous accounts of the health benefits observed in indigenous tribes still adhering to the Paleo diet. In 1869, one member of the gold rush compared the health of gold diggers to that of the aboriginal Californian’s concluding that “the Californians are seldom sick. They are in general strong, hardy, and much healthier than the many thousands who live daily in abundance and on the choicest fare that the skill of Parisian cooks can prepare.”

Abundance in itself has always been the very problem that has led to the changes in food consumption we encounter today. With the agricultural revolution and the introduction of farming, human beings have been able to take charge of their own food source which has led to a drive to take more than we need without considering the impact it has on the natural environment around us. Consider the vast amount of natural habitats that have been destroyed for the sake agriculture. Think about how every two seconds an acre of rainforest is destroyed all for the mass production of food we are not even evolutionarily designed to eat.

Eben Coenen

While I do admit at this point in time, it is virtually impossible to dust off our ancestral loin cloths and begin foraging for berries in the woods, it is possible to consider the foods we eat on a daily basis and whether or not they have factored into our development as a species. So the next time you are at the super market buying some groceries, take a moment to consider the food you are purchasing and whether or not it is something we used to eat.