Ancestral Diets and Nutrition

by Christopher Cumo

Overview

Ancestral Diets and Nutrition supplies dietary advice based on the study of prehuman and human populations worldwide over the last two million years. This thorough, accessible book uses prehistory and history as a laboratory for testing the health effects of various foods. It examines all food groups by drawing evidence from skeletons and their teeth, middens, and coprolites along with written records where they exist to determine peoples’ health and diet.

Fully illustrated and grounded in extensive research, this book enhances knowledge about diet, nutrition, and health. It appeals to practitioners in medicine, nutrition, anthropology, biology, chemistry, economics, and history, and those seeking a clear explanation of what humans have eaten across the ages and what we should eat now.

Features:

• Sixteen chapters examine fat, sweeteners, grains, roots and tubers, fruits, vegetables, and animal and plant sources of protein.
• Integrates information about diet, nutrition, and health from ancient, medieval, modern and current sources, drawing from the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities.
• Provides comprehensive coverage based on the study of several hundred sources and the provision of over 2,000 footnotes.
• Presents practical information to help shape readers’ next meal through recommendations of what to eat and what to avoid.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781000176094
Publisher:	CRC Press
Publication date:	11/19/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	520
File size:	15 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Christopher Cumo is a historian with interests in the natural sciences and agriculture. He seeks

in some small way to illuminate how biology has shaped history. This is his ninth book and second

with CRC Press. Besides writing books, he has edited a three-volume encyclopedia and contributed

articles and reviews to journals, entries to encyclopedias, and articles and short fiction to magazines.

Table of Contents

Contents

List of Figures...................................................................................................................................xv

List of Tables....................................................................................................................................xxi

List of Graphs.................................................................................................................................xxv

Preface..........................................................................................................................................xxvii

Acknowledgments..........................................................................................................................xxix

Author............................................................................................................................................xxxi

Chapter 1 Introduction and Method...............................................................................................1

Chapter 2 Components of Nutrition: Calories, Carbohydrates, Fat, Protein, Minerals,

Vitamins, Phytochemicals, and Water........................................................................27

Chapter 3 Changing Circumstances and Diets............................................................................ 61

Chapter 4 Meat............................................................................................................................. 91

Chapter 5 Fish and Shellfish...................................................................................................... 121

Chapter 6 Poultry and Eggs....................................................................................................... 149

Chapter 7 Dairy.......................................................................................................................... 179

Chapter 8 Legumes....................................................................................................................207

Chapter 9 Nuts........................................................................................................................... 241

Chapter 10 Fat.............................................................................................................................. 267

Chapter 11 Sweeteners: Honey, Sucrose, and High Fructose Corn Syrup.................................. 295

Chapter 12 Grains........................................................................................................................ 323

Chapter 13 Roots and Tubers....................................................................................................... 355

Chapter 14 Fruits......................................................................................................................... 391

Chapter 15 Vegetables.................................................................................................................. 417

Chapter 16 Conclusion................................................................................................................. 439

Bibliography..................................................................................................................................447

Index...............................................................................................................................................483

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Amy Hess Fischl, MS RDN LDN BC-ADM CDCES(University of Chicago Medical Center)
Description: This is a first edition historical review of eating patterns and the impact of food on health throughout the history of man and primates. The book is not to be confused with nutrition texts used by students to obtain an in-depth review of the science and current practical nutrition recommendations. Rather, it touches upon this information, but more heavily focuses on how the various aspects of our eating patterns have been used by our distant ancestors for survival.
Purpose: The author, an historian with an interest in the natural sciences and agriculture, wrote this book due to his wife's passion for food, nutrition, and health. Since it does not give a fair and balanced view of the many aspects of health and nutrition, but rather an historical view, it may not be considered a worthy objective to be used by the masses. However, for those with a great interest in the history of food, it is an intriguing review.
Audience: While the author does not specify any particular audience, I would surmise he feels it is best for those who are confused by the current food fads and nutrition recommendations. However, after reading the book, it is not prescriptive, but rather a meandering through history. In my opinion, this is for the readers with an extreme interest in history. While the author has an interest in natural sciences and agriculture and his wife has an interest in nutrition and health, it does not necessarily make them experts on the topic. However, he did gather some interesting historian information, which is his expertise.
Features: The 16 chapters in the book each cover a separate food topic in the context of healthfulness across the millennia, starting with the components of nutrition, the macronutrients, and then focusing a chapter on each component of the food groups, giving meat, poultry, and fish chapters of their own. As mentioned before, this book is not prescriptive, although the author does give his own opinion throughout the text. Rather, the chapters highlight the multiple variables regarding nutrition and health and its evaluation over time. The author states multiple times, in the majority of the chapters, our reliance on automobiles and its impact on overweight and obesity. He also ties it as a major factor in improving our "vitality," which I do not deny. There are quite interesting tidbits packed within the text, such as the history of high fructose corn syrup, which began with the Molasses Act of 1733, and the history of meat use in Ancient Egypt, North America, and South America, identifying that 78% of their total calories came from meat. The chapters have quite a few figures and tables, throwing in biochemistry and chemical profiles of macronutrients in the early chapters and adding comparison tables of fiber content in processed foods versus whole foods (a Big Mac contains 1.38 grams of fiber while 3.25 ounces of dried apricots have 10 grams). Some simple truths are strewn throughout the text: our ancestors are imperfect models for sound nutrition and health since climate and availability shaped their eating habits. Also, no one eating pattern or group of foods can "typify such vast stretches of time and place" and there are no health outcomes to highlight any potential benefit. The author concludes with "factors that govern health," highlighting the need for physical labor/exercise and acknowledging that the "best diet" does not mean someone is healthy. In this way, he is putting a spotlight on the fact that even though there are far too many books available giving a "quick fix" and trying to simplify eating, health and nutrition are far more complex. The author's writing style is easy to read and he packs a lot of fascinating history about nutrition.
Assessment: While this first edition book is not a "must read" for nutrition students or others in the healthcare field, it is an interesting view of the historical aspects of eating habits in our very distant ancestors.

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