Dean wrote:

"If evidence of negative effects of hunter/gatherer diets is to be had, I'd
quite like to know about it.  Any references or research or direct
experience to that effect is welcome here. We've been too quiet of late,
and any discussion which includes verifiable data is valuable."


I have no data, just a general comment.
One would expect instances of negative effects of H/G (or other) diets,
but to the extent that the "negative" practices constrain
the survival of the group and are discovered as such, one would
expect such practices to be selected out over time.

It seems that many dietary practices have mixed effects, and
it takes time for a group to sort those out -- especially if they
lack a scientific method, which tends to reduce the amount of
trial and error that has been in use for most of human evolution.
(Though it is amazing that H/G people figured out so much about
various foods and how best to prepare them -- without the help
of cookbooks!)

For example, it may be that modern civilization is on the verge
of discovering that heavy use of grains and dairy products is
perhaps, on balance, not such a good idea after all.
(It will be interesting to see what the impact will be of
Loren Cordain's upcoming article on problems with human
grain consumption -- please alert us when it appears, Loren)

I recall that in Woody Allen's movie from the 1970s, "Sleeper,"
the guy wakes up in the distant future and the medical team tells him
that all his friends have been dead for 200 years.
Woody responds, "But they all ate organic brown rice!"
Little did we know back in 1975 how harmful that might be!
They also let him know that items like chocolate are now known
to be very healthful for people!

Yours truly,
Steve Meyers