Humans, lipids and evolution.
The genetically ordered physiology of contemporary humans was selected over eons of evolutionary experience for a nutritional pattern affording much less fat, particularly less saturated fat. Current dietary recommendations do not accord exactly with those generated by an understanding of prior hominoid/hominid evolution. Similarly, widely advocated standards for serum cholesterol values fail to match those observed in recently studied hunter-gatherers, whose experience represents the closest living approximation of "natural" human lipid metabolism. The evolutionary paradigm suggests that fats should comprise 20-25% of total energy intake, that the ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fat should exceed 1.0, and that total serum cholesterol levels should be below 150 mg/dL (approximately 4 mM/L).
Eaton
S B
SB
Department of Radiology, West Paces Ferry Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia 30327.
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D004032:Diet; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005511:Food Handling; D006801:Humans; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis; D010163:Paleontology; D014675:Vegetables / Q000737:chemistry
D004041:Dietary Fats; D002784:Cholesterol