*** DRAFT ***
Posits: If we wanted to live robustly notwithstanding the destructive environments and conditions that forced upon us in modern times, how would we eat? Why would we not eat like our ancestors? Not referencing our more immediate ancestors but our hominid ancestors.
Teeth
“Think about the size difference alone that one can find in living humans. Think a basketball player versus a horse jockey!” Krueger said. “All paleoanthropologists agree that variation existed in the past but disagree as to the boundary line between variation within one species versus enough variation to represent a different species.”
The outer layer of a tooth, called enamel, stays virtually unchanged during life. If an individual is ill or malnourished during the first few years of life, the formation of enamel will be disrupted and therefore be permanently etched on any tooth forming at the time. On a population level these defects, called enamel hypoplasia, can give insight into the health of a group. Extremely high levels suggest extensive periods of starvation or disease.
High cavity rates generally suggest a diet containing high levels of certain carbohydrates.
Neanderthals had a low rate of cavities – less than 1%. This is thought to be due to a diet containing tough (fibrous) foods and meat which are items that actively limit cavity formation. These are our ancestors as Europeans.
On the opposite end of the spectrum a 14,000-year-old hunter-gatherer human population from Morocco had cavities in 50% of teeth. This is thought to be due to heavy consumption of wild plants that are rich in fermentable carbohydrates. Meaning sugars.
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