‘Paleo’ Diet

For Evolving Brains, a ‘Paleo’ Diet Full of Carbs

AUG. 13, 2015

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Researchers say that the addition of tubers and other starchy foods to ancient hearths helped contribute to human brain development. 

CreditAndrew Scrivani for The New York TimesContinue reading the main story

You are what you eat, and so were your ancientcestors. But figuring out what they actually dined on has been no easy task.

There are no Pleistocene cookbooks to consult. Instead, scientists must sift through an assortment of clues, from the chemical traces in fossilized bones to the scratch marks on prehistoric digging sticks.

Scientists have long recognized that the diets of our ancestors went through a profound shift with the addition of meat. But in the September issue of The Quarterly Review of Biology,researchers argue that another item added to the menu was just as important: carbohydrates, bane of today’s paleo diet enthusiasts./.../