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[A1CR]

[posted on behalf of MR; 2001-02-18]

A little while ago, a CRONie asked (roughly), "How can we possibly need all
this Ca? If we evolved for millenia with no dairy, how did we survive on
so little Ca -- or where was all this Ca coming from without dairy, &
why can't we do the same?

I answered this rather vaguely, despite havign perfectly good data in my
hands. Here's a better answer.

The fact is, the latest analyses of the Paleolithic diet, based on
observations of recent hunter-gatherers (Australian abos, Greenland's
Inuit, !Kung bushfolk, Canada's Native peoples early in this century,
etc), eating all 'old' foods (ie. no dairy) , shows that Paleopeople got
MORE Ca than we moderns: 1956 vs. 750 mg Ca/day, to be exact ([1], Table
3).

Several factors contribute to this: (1) consumption of more bone
material; (2) consumption of wild cultivars (which are typically more
mineral- &vitamin-rich) &no grains, resulting in higher Ca/Cal of diet
(0.653 vs. 0.392 mg Ca/Cal (Table 4)), and (3) consumtion of more
Calories in order to survive their massive exercise energy expenditure
(3000 vs. 1750-2500 Cal/day (Table 3): ie. eating 2 Big Macs doubles
your Ca intake compared to eating one).

-MR

1: Eur J Clin Nutr 1997 Apr;51(4):207-16

Paleolithic nutrition revisited: a twelve-year retrospective on its
nature and
implications.

Eaton SB, Eaton SB, Konner MJ

Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta GA, USA.

Publication Types:
Historical article
Review
Review, tutorial

Comment in:
Eur J Clin Nutr. 1997 Oct;51(10):715-6

PMID: 9104571