Paleolithic

I try to find answers in nature; the long timescales involved help in the evolution of optimal solutions. The ultimate test of any living organism is survival (from "Lessons of History" by Ariel and Will Durant).

Keeping the above in mind, I started my research on why modern humans have problems with weight regulation and diseases (cardiovascular, diabetes, tooth cavities). It appears that at the start of agriculture, around 10,000 years ago, we traded quality for quantity in our diet.

More info here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithic#Diet_and_nutrition , http://paleodiet.com/ & http://www.beyondveg.com/

For the last few weeks, I have been experimenting with a modified version of what we think our ancestors ate 150,000 years ago. For a group living on Africa's coast, the diet would have consisted mainly of fruits, vegetables and nuts with some meat, mostly in the form of Fish. No agricultural products like milk, cheese, wheat, corn, rice, potatoes, sugar and salt.

Even with my modifications (some canola/olive oil, salt, spices, sprouted organic bread & very limited activity level), I find that I'm losing weight. Our ancestors thousands of years back must have spent a large amount of time gathering and consuming food to survive.

Insertion point!

I was born in a small town in Pakistan: Sargodha, on a Thursday morning at 10:00, Lat 32 N & Lon 72.7 E. The province of Punjab (punj means five and ab means water) is fairly flat with five major rivers flowing through it. Hot climate (40+ c) in summer and very fertile land, irrigated with canals. Agriculture is the main activity with wheat, rice, cotton and oranges being very common.

Due to geographical barriers, all four provinces of Pakistan have a unique language and culture. Pakistan is rectangular in shape with Himalayas in the north, flat area in the south east, low mountain ranges in the south west, desert and then the Arabian sea in the south. Earth's second highest mountain K2 (8611 m) is in Pakistan.