What can diet tell us about the organisms that are eating?

Believing our genes are nutritionally tied to the Paleolithic age, some scientists are hunting for clues and gathering answers that may shed light on modern disease and dietary imbalances.

We live in a digital age—a world in constant motion, constant change. So one may question, understandably so, what today’s technology-toting, fast-food–frequenting individuals could learn by looking back on the lives of hunter-gatherers from the Paleolithic Era, a period that lasted about 2.5 million years and ended around 10,000 years ago with the development of agriculture. According to some scientists, modern humans could gain some valuable dietary insight.

Arguments exist regarding the specifics of hunter-gatherer cuisine, partly because diets varied widely depending on the region and partly because hunter-gatherers existed over a period of thousands of years, during which different foods were likely available and utilized. But scientists generally agree that our Paleolithic hunter-gatherer ancestors likely ate a combination of foods that could be hunted or fished, including lean meats and seafood, and some that could be gathered, such as fruits, plants, nuts, eggs, insects, mushrooms, herbs, and spices.

In comparison, estimates indicate that up to 70% of Western dietary calories could come from foods that weren’t available to those living in the Paleolithic Era (think refined cereals, sugars, and vegetable oils). And although our world may be evolving at a digital speed, according to some scientists, many of our genes are still stuck at the hunter-gatherer dinner table.