The thighbone of a woman who died about 7,700 years ago, found in a dried-up channel of the River Trent in Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom, has undermined some of the cherished clichés of the Mesolithic era. The poor lady, it seems, never saw the sea, and never ate a shellfish or perhaps even a hazelnut in her life.
It is sometimes argued that Mesolithic people in Britain generally stuck to the coastlines, while the ubiquitous hazelnuts and shellfish shells found at campsites have produced a standard view of Mesolithic diet. The Lady of the Trent, by contrast, ate almost nothing but meat - and none of it came from the sea.
Stable isotope analysis - a laboratory technique for measuring the source of protein in bone - conducted by Mike Richards of Bradford University found that the woman's diet was virtually as meat-rich as that of a carnivorous wild animal. Nitrogen levels were measured as 9.3, on a scale running from herbivore cattle at 6 to carnivore wolves at about 10. Carbon levels showed that her diet had been purely terrestrial, involving no marine food.
The bone, radiocarbon dated to between about 5735-5630 BC, was excavated from a gravel quarry at Staythorpe near Newark by Glyn Davies of the Sheffield University-based unit, ARCUS. Mesolithic human bones are exceptionally rare in Britain, and its discovery in a former channel of the Trent may lend support to the theory that bodies were disposed of in 'sacred' rivers - either floated on rafts or thrown directly into the water. A collection of Neolithic skulls was found in the Trent a few years ago.
Close to the thigh bone, archaeologists found a group of butchered Mesolithic animal bones, including aurochs, roe deer, and otter. Elsewhere, in a river channel dating to the Bronze Age, a cut-marked deer antler was found which had been used as raw material for tools.
The
design of our digestive organs and digestive enzymes today shows that
mankind is basically a carnivorous (meat eating) species with the ability to
digest carbohydrates from fruit and vegetables. Health is damaged by the
consumption of these carbohydrates in ratio to the percentage ingested.
The vegetarians of Southern India
eat a low-calorie diet very high in carbohydrates, and low in protein and fat.
They have the shortest life span of any society on Earth, and their bodies have
an extremely low muscle mass. They are weak and frail, and the children clearly
exhibit a failure to thrive. Their heart disease rate is double that of the meat
eaters in Northern India. HL Abrams. Vegetarianism: An
anthropological/nutritional evaluation. Journal of Applied Nutrition, 1980,
32:2:53-87. The optimal diet for humans can be determined by anthropological
research studies that show humans have primarily been meat-eaters. Anthropological
Research Reveals Human Dietary Requirements for Optimal Health
by H. Leon Abrams, Jr., MA, EDS
This is a must-read book. Gary
Taubes is an award-winning scientist who has specialized in exposing misleading,
incorrect, or fraudulent science. His seven-year research in every science
connected with the impact of nutrition on health shows us that almost
everything we believe about the nature of a healthy diet is wrong. For decades
we have been taught that fat is bad for us, carbohydrates are better, and that the
key to a healthy weight is eating less and exercising more. Yet with more and
more people acting on the advice, we have seen unprecedented epidemics of
obesity and diabetes.
Taubes argues persuasively that the
problem lies in refined carbohydrates (white flour, sugar, easily digested
starches) via their dramatic effect on insulin -- the hormone that regulates
fat accumulation -- and that the key to good health is the kind of calories we
take in, not the number. There are good and bad calories. Taubes traces how
the common assumption that carbohydrates are fattening was abandoned in the
1960s when fat and cholesterol were blamed for heart disease and then -- wrongly
-- were seen as the causes of a host of other maladies, including cancer. He
shows us how these unproven hypotheses were emphatically embraced by authorities
in nutrition, public health, and clinical medicine in spite of how
well-conceived clinical trials have consistently refuted them. He also documents
the dietary trials of carbohydrate restriction which consistently show that the
fewer carbohydrates we consume the leaner we will be.
With precise references to the most
significant existing clinical studies, he convinces us that there is no
compelling scientific evidence demonstrating that saturated fat and cholesterol
cause heart disease; that salt causes high blood pressure; and that fiber is a
necessary part of a healthy diet. Based on the evidence that does exist, he
leads us to conclude that the only healthy way to lose weight and remain lean is
to eat fewer carbohydrates or to change the type of carbohydrates we do eat
and, for some of us, perhaps to eat virtually none at all.
TNT
DIET - Targeted Nutrition Tactics by Jeff Volek, Ph.D., RD and Adam Campbell, Men's Health Magazine
The explosive new plan to blast fat, build muscle and get healthy.
The TNT Diet is a great book for bodybuilders and everyone else
who wants to preserve and build lean muscle while controlling body fat. This
book is a must read for anyone on the low-carbohydrate diet.
You can talk with others who have bowel diseases or Candida about their experiences. Registration is free but is required before you can post your own message or question. You can click above to visit and read posts by others. Look for the "Candida Yeast & IBS" topic link.
Life Without Bread is an important
addition to the growing body of literature on the benefits and importance of
low-carb diet. Written by Christian Allan, Ph.D., and Wolfgang Lutz, M.D., the
book is based on Dr. Lutz's experience using carbohydrate restricted diets
with thousands of patients for more than 40 years. It is based on extensive
research in the medical and scientific literature and provides ample
references. The book presents a unified theory of how high (and even moderate)
levels of dietary carbohydrate cause or exacerbate various health problems and
how carbohydrate restriction can help people to recover from those problems.
The book Life
Without Bread by Christian Allan, Ph.D. and
Wolfgang Lutz, M.D. has a chapter on gastrointestinal diseases. Don't
be mislead by the title to believe the cure is the simple elimination of
bread. Mr. Lutz's older book is out of print but has essentially the same
information. It may even contain more detail than his new book above.
Fortunately, Chapter
VII: Gastro-Intestinal Tract of the older book can be read online.
The Atkins' New Diet Revolution is the best book for an initial dietary change and quick weight loss, reduced blood pressure, and reduced cholesterol. Look for the companion book for recipes.
It has some very interesting case studies from the doctor's patients. It includes data from past civilizations proving the low-carbohydrate diet is the most healthy.
Robert C. Atkins, M.D.
ISBN: 006001203X.
This is Dr. Atkins newest book. The main topics are the
cause, prevention, and cure for diabetes and heart disease which have become
major health concerns in the United States and many other developed countries.
Robert C. Atkins, M.D. with Sheila Buff ISBN: 0312251890.
This is the
best book for determining the correct vitamin and mineral dosage for therapeutic
(disease curing) effect, excessive dosage amounts, and normal recommendations. Dr.
Atkins' Vita-Nutrient Solution discusses the vital function of vitamins
and nutritional supplements and then provides a list of diseases and
complaints that the supplements can help cure or alleviate.
This book by Dr. Michael and Dr. Mary Dan Eades has an excellent chapter on "Leaky Gut Syndrome" which describes the cause of bowel diseases and autoimmune diseases.
This groundbreaking book
unleashes a brilliant new plan for permanently curing heartburn by relieving the
root cause of the problem -- low stomach acid. The fact is that heartburn is
caused by too little stomach acid -- not too much, as many doctors profess. Book
by Jonathan V. Wright and Lane Lenard.
To support this website
just place 1 or 2 dollars in an envelope and send it to:
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Boulder, CO 80301 USA
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The proper diet for healing and
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battle. Poor health and disease can be caused by believing the worldly
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