Paleo diet/mummies/clogged arteries ???

[nevergiveup]

Has this already been discussed? Apparently, researchers have discovered that up to 1/3 of mummies had blocked arteries. I wonder why this would be?

 

 

 

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/10/mummies-heart-disease/1974215/

[ktgrok]

Egyptians had a grain based diet, not paleo. They were Neolithic eaters. Teeth worn down from sand in the bread is one tidbit I remember, lots of beer ...alcohol does a number on your VLDL, etc. Not surprised.

 

Edited to add: The smoke factor and inflamation is also a good clue...but yeah..most mentioned were post agriculture stage.

[SarahW]

I agree with ktgrok.

 

What made me see the logic of the paleo diet was remembering my Egyptology classes, and the fact that all the upper-class and scribes who ate most of the wheat had pot-bellies and bad health.

[HappyLady]

From all the articles I read on this, it looks like they studied mummies from various populations, those who ate a diet high in animal fats all the way to those who ate mostly plant based. What they concluded was that the older the mummy the more likely it was for them to have clogged arteries and it just seems it was a natural part of aging. They do say that more studies will have to be done, though.

[Mom-ninja.]

From all the articles I read on this, it looks like they studied mummies from various populations, those who ate a diet high in animal fats all the way to those who ate mostly plant based. What they concluded was that the older the mummy the more likely it was for them to have clogged arteries and it just seems it was a natural part of aging. They do say that more studies will have to be done, though.

 

This is what I heard from the doctor who led the study in an interview on NPR. Mummies from all the different cultures they scanned had signs of heart disease not just the ones from Egypt. Including the mummies who ate a Mediterranean diet. He said they were surprised to find heart disease in these mummies. He stated that they (doctors/scientists) need to think outside the diet box when it comes to heart disease. He mentioned it could just be a normal part of aging. He did state that this doesn't mean that we should stop trying to live healthy, but that food may not play as big a role as we've thought.

[nevergiveup]

Egyptians had a grain based diet, not paleo. They were Neolithic eaters. Teeth worn down from sand in the bread is one tidbit I remember, lots of beer ...alcohol does a number on your VLDL, etc. Not surprised.

 

Edited to add: The smoke factor and inflamation is also a good clue...but yeah..most mentioned were post agriculture stage.

 

 

 

But I thought that part of the argument for the Paleo diet was that modern grains do not resemble ancient grains and, since they have been so modified, we have not evolved to properly digest them, and so we should avoid them. Certainly Egyptians were eating ancient grains, so does that imply that grains may always have been less than ideal as food? If that is the case, what about the whole "bread is the staff of life" stuff? I guess I am just confused and not wording it very well.....

[Mom-ninja.]

Well, who says bread is the staff of life?

[SarahW]

 

 

But I thought that part of the argument for the Paleo diet was that modern grains do not resemble ancient grains and, since they have been so modified, we have not evolved to properly digest them, and so we should avoid them. Certainly Egyptians were eating ancient grains, so does that imply that grains may always have been less than ideal as food? If that is the case, what about the whole "bread is the staff of life" stuff? I guess I am just confused and not wording it very well.....

 

Paleo people don't say this, though some of them like the book Wheat Belly, they usually disagree with him when it comes to ancient grains.

 

It's the Weston A. Price group that advocates heritage grains and traditional preparation methods. The two sometimes cross paths, so I can understand how it would be confusing.

 

I see the point of both groups, really. Some heritage grains soaked and sprouted and cooked is edible human food. But not 11 frikkin' servings a day!