We know that time has installed many changes in our lifestyle, so much so that today we have a totally different diet of our ancestors. To clearly notice the changes in food quality, we show you the nutritional differences between the Paleo diet and Western diet today.
Recall that in the Paleolithic humans were hunter gatherers, dominated by vegetables, raw fruits and game meats of all kinds. But today, dominated by processed foods on natural and fresh. So, below is a table where you can see the nutritional changes that have occurred over time and we can compare our diet and our ancestors with current recommendations.
If you look closely you will see that despite a high consumption of meat, fats in the diet of Paleolithic were much lower than the current ratio and polyunsaturated fatty acids (AGP) / saturated fatty acids (SFA) were better, this is that the game animals were lean, had a high level of activity and fed with natural products so your fat percentage was lower and the quality of it better than we have in today's meat.
We can clearly see a change in the amount of fiber consumed, primarily due to the high fat processing of our foods today, and because of this, we have a high sodium intake that far exceeds that of our ancestors.
The cholesterol level was similar as we can see, due by the high consumption of meat and today, it also and even more consumption of meats, sausages, cheeses and more.
While today we have many dairy products, calcium intake is lower and this is due to low intake of foods that are naturally in the mineral, for example, nuts and seeds. Furthermore, the antioxidant level marked by vitamin C in this case, also greatly reduced.
In conclusion, our diet has changed much, especially with regard to quality of ingested fats and micro-nutrients we get to what we eat. Undoubtedly, these differences deserve to know to understand a bit more why our ancestors were healthier with what they ate (and also because they moved much more) than we are today.
Of course, those with a Paleo diet will have some differences from the Western diet that is referenced here, it is this model of diet which tends to globalize and expand globally, but with nuances of each country and culture.
So do not ever eat anything that has to do with the agricultural revolution, that is, neither cereals nor derivatives, forget the cheese and yogurt, eat as their ancestors did and get to eat so much donuts and that crap, run through the meadow for sports as men did and imagine Paleolithic behind him being chased by a saber tooth, eat lean meat, vegetables and nuts and become a true Cro-Magnon who goes in search of natural harmony, let the pansy and start to decorate your home with style Lascaux bison.