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.