Paleo Diet Research Paper

Progression of the paleo diet
The paleo diet is based off of how the pre-historic humans were thought to eat thousands of years ago. There diet consisted of meat, fish, poultry, fruits and vegetables. The diet avoids anything that pre-historic people did not have available to them. Although this diet does not meet the substantial amount of carbohydrates recommended by the government ("Paleo Diet - US News Best Diets"). The prehistoric people were still able to get the nutrients they needed to thrive and survive. The paleo diet was beneficial to the prehistoric people motivating growth and development into the culture, creatures and community known today ("Paleo Diet - US News Best Diets").
Altercations in the paleo diet practiced today. Of

course there is no way to exactly replicate the way the prehistoric people ate. Their food was not polluted with genetically mortified organisms (GMOs), also some of the plants and animals gathered and consumed by pre-historic people have gone extinct. If the cavemen didn’t eat it then it is restricted from the diet. This being said, the prehistoric people had no dairy, sugars, coffee, or most of the conveniences known today. In some cases it is not possible for an individual to get the proper nutrients on the paleo diet with out supplementing vitamins. The prehistoric people did not have access to vitamins so there would be a breach in the diet. Most vitamins also contain high amounts of genetically modified organisms. The paleo advocates claim that sticking to the hunting and gathering method. Animal protein and plants are essential for human development ("Paleo Diet - US News Best Diets").
Nutrition for the Paleo diet does not correspond to government regulations.

That however does not mean that the diet does not provide necessary nutrients. Not every person can be classified under these regulations but it is a good system to get an idea of what one should be eating. Less is more; on average Americans surpass the recommended 2,300 milligrams of sodium. If one is of African-American decent or has hypertension, diabetes or chronic kidney disease, the recommended amount plummets to 1,500 milligrams ("Paleo Diet - US News Best Diets"). The paleo diet calls for no added salt, seeing that the pre-historic people had no access to salt or pepper shakers. Fat is a different story. On average on being on the paleo diet one consumes about thirty-nine percent from fat. The amount suggested by the government ranges from ten percent to thirty-five percent. Protein is on the higher end of the scale, averaging to be around thirty-eight percent being taken in on the diet. Again the government recommends around ten to thirty-five percent. This diet is very low in carbs, seeing that the foliage prehistoric people had available to them was usually difficult to digest. The average paleo diet consumes about twenty-three percent of daily calories from carbohydrates. According to the government forty-five to sixty-five percent of calories eaten a day should be from carbohydrates ("Paleo Diet - US News Best

Diets").
Eastern Africa is thought to be the origination of the prehistoric humans. The earliest human remains were found at the Lake Turkana, Rift, Valley, Omo River part of Ethiopia and Tanzania. The remains date back 200,000 years (Sisson). Some food that was available in Eastern Africa 200,000 years ago may sound pretty familiar. The Rift Valley is home to many fresh water fish and shell fish. These animal food sources were essential for brain development. Docosahexaenoic and arachidonic acids are fatty acids that are present in early infant brain development. There are still women today eating fish from the Rift Valley. Studies show that their breast milk is rich in DHA and AA, which are omega-3 fatty acids that help improve pregnancy and early infancy outcomes (Sisson). Much of the first human’s nutrients came from aquatic animal sources of food. Although prehistoric people of Eastern African did not eat as many carbohydrates that America finds necessary today, they still got plenty of nutrients to thrive in the Rift Valley (Sisson).
Once pre-historic people started to migrate away from the Rift Valley they still had to find nutrients elsewhere. Having access to large mammals and wild foliage was a major advantage to the migration. Although they faced issues of new illness. They soon harnessed fire, a tool that benefited human life in many ways throughout history. Before they had learned to cook their food, it was much harder to digest. There are also many different kinds of bacteria and parasites that can be distributed through raw meat. Bacteria and parasites can cause severe sickness and even death. With modern medicine in play, today viruses and bacterial infections still run rampant. An easy way to avoid the microscopic vermin is by applying heat. The discovery of fire as a tool assisted in longer life span and healthier pre-historic human guts. Raw food was also hard on the digestive system. The art of cooking has benefited both culture and the human body. By cooking the meat and foliage, digestion was much easier because when food heats up the partials expand and are easier to tear apart. Digestion now took up less energy; therefor prehistoric people did not have to spend as much energy hunting for food. Prehistoric people did not use as much energy digesting their food, so their need for calories were reuced. This causes them not to have to eat as much to sustain life. They could now save food for later. Eastern Africa climate is typically very hot, not the greatest for refrigeration of meat. The prehistoric people eventually developed a method of natural refrigeration. They would take the extra meat they had obtained, wrap it in leaves, and burry the meat about three feet deep next to a river bank. The substantial difference in temperature was enough to keep the meat edible for three to five days. The less work that the prehistoric people had to do the better off they were in the long run. Extra time gave prehistoric people an opportunity to exercise their brains ("HowStuffWorks "Eating Raw Meat: Bacteria and Parasites"").
Human diets have always consisted of animal sources of food. Before humans learned to hunt and gather, they scavenged. Prehistoric humans would eat what ever caught their eye. They eventually moved on to killing small animals. Collectively evolving their hunting methods, they began to hunt cooperatively (Larsen). Hunting in groups made it possible to score larger animals, which means more meat (Larsen). Access to more food made it possible for the prehistoric humans to grow larger in size (Larsen). The manic change in diet caused the prehistoric people to change their way of life. They consumed less meat and relied mostly on domesticated grains. Farming also made it possible to stay in one place for longer periods of time. Along with eating less meat and more grains the result was a decline of health, such as poor dental health, increased iron deficiency, and increased bone loss (Larsen). This shows how essential the Paleo diet was to the prehistoric people. If a decline of health had occurred earlier, the world would be substantially different. Farming moved the pre-historic people toward the future. With their brains being slightly more developed learning flourished. If the pre-historic humans had eaten like the average American, there would have been too many health problems to make progress in life. Organic meat was essential source of key vitamins and minerals that the pre historic people needed. While farming grains may have caused health problems they were still an asset to human development (Larsen).
The key to the prehistoric people’s diet was that they did not have genetically modified organisms that are in almost everything we consume today. Genetically modified organisms are commonly known as (GMOs), they are also in most food that Americans consume. If crops or livestock contain any kind of genetically modified organisms the substance is considered not to be organic ("Organic Foods: Understanding Organic Food Labels, Benefits, and Claims"). For a food to be considered organic it must follow specific guide lines. Organic crops must be grown in soil that contains no chemicals. If the soil has any modifications then it is ruled out of being organic ("Organic Foods: Understanding Organic Food Labels, Benefits, and Claims"). These organic crops must also be grown separate from genetically modified crops because of cross pollination. Bees can carry pollen of a genetically modified crop to an organic crop. Once the bee transfers the contaminated pollen, the once organic crop and the bee are both considered inorganic. As for livestock, they must be fed organic grass or given organic feed. They also must not be given any sort of steroids, growth hormones, or antibiotics. Any food that follows these guide lines are considered organic and are allowed to be labeled so. Organic foods are rich in antioxidants and are shown to be more beneficial than food grown with GMOs. One who has allergies corresponding to foods, chemicals or preservatives tend to decrease when following an organic diet ("Organic Foods: Understanding Organic Food Labels, Benefits, and Claims").
Effects of Genetically modified organisms on humans are uncertain. However the use of GMOs on conventional meat is known to strengthen antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. When a bacteria strain becomes antibiotic-resistant, the bacteria is capable of fighting off the antibiotics ("Organic Foods: Understanding Organic Food Labels, Benefits, and Claims"). In some cases the bacteria can use the antibiotic as a tool to spread its self throughout the specimen. This gives organically raised livestock much more logical and responsible. While GMO livestock promotes the risk of infectious diseases such as mad cow disease. Organic live stock is clean and is a better option for people with food allergies. In addition to not being injected with extra hormones, organic livestock are raised like they would live in the wild. Allowing animals to roam freely opposed to being held in small cages is much more responsible. Raising animals this way alone help keeps the animals naturally healthy ("Organic Foods: Understanding Organic Food Labels, Benefits, and Claims").
Majority of foods Americans consume today have been grown using pesticides.

Pesticides can be absorbed from the outside of the produce to the inside of the skin. If one does not eat completely organic, there is no way to stay completely away from consuming chemicals. Pesticides also contaminate drinking water. Run off water from farms using pesticides contaminate rivers and have the potential to infiltrate drinking water supplies ("Assessing Health Risks from Pesticides | Pesticides | US EPA"). A simple way to avoid this is to filter your water a few extra times before you consume it. Scientists know more about the effect pesticides have on people than the effects GMOs do. This evidence is due to worker exposer. People who apply pesticides such as vegetable and fruit pickers. The Environmental Protection Agency known as the EPA, evaluates exposure workers have to chemicals. The EPA only registers chemicals that are shown to be safe if used properly. There are different ways to be exposed to pesticide, inhalation exposure, dermal exposure, and oral exposure. Testing is typically preformed on animals by pesticide companies in independent laboratories. While testing pesticides the EPA looks for a wide range of side effects such as eye and skin irritation to birth defects and cancer. The Federal Government also regulates pesticides, “to ensure that they do not pose unreasonable risk to human health or the environment.” ("Assessing Health Risks from Pesticides | Pesticides | US

EPA").
Genetics have a lot to do with diet. While we may not be exactly genetically the same as prehistoric people, we still have the same genetic bases. We have adapted to specific cultures and climates. Society today is adapting to GMOs and chemicals (Bryner). Although the effect of chemicals on future generations could be catastrophic. GMO infused foods are able to last longer. Being able to store food for longer periods of time could be very beneficial to solving hunger. The controversy of whether or not it is just to alter food. Some see it as “playing god” others see it as an opportunity to solve an everlasting problem. Science is progressing rampantly so the possibilities are endless. The study of genetic material is flourishing. Scientists can take a sample of a person’s blood, run it through a machine and see that person’s specific genetic make-up. Being able to look at a human’s genetic make-up will help doctors study a wide range of diseases. Knowing the chances of having a disease could make one take extra precautions to avoid it. A simple diet change could help one ward off a disease such as diabetes without ever having to go any kind of treatment ("GMO versus NON GMO - The Shocking Corn Comparison - Underground Health").
A major problem in America is obesity. Many people over eat, eat junk food, or do not exercise. Seth Doane states in his article “Battling Obesity in America” that, three out of every four children are either overweight or obese.” Being overweight automatically increases ones chance of disease by sixty percent. By simply eating a well-balanced diet and exercising, many of America’s health problems would be greatly reduced. My personal experience with weight loss was life changing. I had been obese most of my life, finally I decided it was time for a change my freshman year of high school. Changing the way one eats is changing the way that one lives. From my freshman year in high school to my junior year I had lost forty pounds. I chose to eliminate meat from my diet at first. I avoided refined sugars and drank only water. The human body becomes addicted to having sugar and too much fatty foods. Going cold turkey off of everything made me sick. The human body can detoxify itself from all of the substances that are not needed. For that to happen the person must stop putting the toxins in their body. Going organic helps a lot in this process. Not having the extra chemicals makes it much easier for the body to heal itself.