title: Plant-animal subsistence ratios and macronutrient energy estimations in worldwide hunter-gatherer diets.
abstract: Both anthropologists and nutritionists have long recognized that the diets of modern-day hunter-gatherers may represent a reference standard for modern human nutrition and a model for defense against certain diseases of affluence. Because the hunter-gatherer way of life is now probably extinct in its purely un-Westernized form, nutritionists and anthropologists must rely on indirect procedures to reconstruct the traditional diet of preagricultural humans. In this analysis, we incorporate the most recent ethnographic compilation of plant-to-animal economic subsistence patterns of hunter-gatherers to estimate likely dietary macronutrient intakes (% of energy) for environmentally diverse hunter-gatherer populations. Furthermore, we show how differences in the percentage of body fat in prey animals would alter protein intakes in hunter-gatherers and how a maximal protein ceiling influences the selection of other macronutrients. Our analysis showed that whenever and wherever it was ecologically possible, hunter-gatherers consumed high amounts (45-65% of energy) of animal food. Most (73%) of the worldwide hunter-gatherer societies derived >50% (> or =56-65% of energy) of their subsistence from animal foods, whereas only 14% of these societies derived >50% (> or =56-65% of energy) of their subsistence from gathered plant foods. This high reliance on animal-based foods coupled with the relatively low carbohydrate content of wild plant foods produces universally characteristic macronutrient consumption ratios in which protein is elevated (19-35% of energy) at the expense of carbohydrates (22-40% of energy).
authors.affiliation: Department of Health and Exercise Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. cordain@cahs.colostate.edu
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cordain
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Eaton
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Holt
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Speth
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D000818:Animals; D000884:Anthropology, Cultural; D001823:Body Composition; D002980:Climate; D004032:Diet / Q000266:history*; D002149:Energy Intake; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D008460:Meat; D010945:Plants, Edible