The Stone Age Diet

 

The Stone Age Diet was written by Dr Richard Mackarness, a doctor who ran Britain's first obesity and food allergy clinic. The Stone Age Diet combines personal observations from his clinic with a comprehensive review of medical evidence from around the world up until the 1970s. Dr. Mackarness examines carbohydrate addiction and and its related psychology.

Mackarness's philosophy has three main components:

A person's metabolism falls into one of two types: the constant-weight always-slim type, and the fatten-easily type. Weight gained by people in the fatten-easily group is due to an inability to break down carbohydrates efficiently because of a metabolic defect, and not simply laziness, as is assumed by most today.

According to Dr. Mackarness man's problems with obesity began around 8,000 years ago, with the dawn of agriculture (cereal planting). For nearly 4 million years before, man was a hunter/gatherer who survived by eating meat, leading to a biological adaptation to meat consumption. The consumption of cereals causes a problem because our bodies have not adapted to them yet. The conversion takes much, much longer.

Anything Stone Age Man would have eaten is good for people with the fatten-easily type of metabolisms, whereas cereal (carbs) will cause weight gain. Refined white flour is described as the worst problem and should be avoided almost entirely. Protein and fat consumption should be high, with a ratio of 3 to 1. Fasting should also be included in the diet regemin, as long stretches without food was common for Stone Age Man.

Typical Stone Age Diet menu:

Breakfast

• Half a grapefruit, or fresh orange juice
  
• Fried bacon (or ham) and eggs. Make with plenty of butter.
  
• Tea with top of the milk, or coffee with cream and no sugar
  

Lunch

• Beef stew with vegetable.
  
• Any of the following: corned beef, mince, ham, tongue, tuna fish, sardines, pig's head brawn, fried sprats, boiled skate, pilchards in oil, whelks, winkles, eel, or any fish.
  
• Cheese, green leaf vegetables, peas or french beans, with butter.
  
• Fresh fruit with cream.
  
• Coffee, with cream but no sugar.
  
• Tea
  

Dinner

• Bowl of consomme or clear soup
  
• Half a pound of meat with its fat: lamb, beef, bacon, ham, pork, veal, liver, etc.
  
• Tomatoes, lettuce, cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, peas, head of braised celery, etc.
  
• Cheeses and fruit with cream.
• Nuts
  
• Tea or coffee, with cream
  
• Cheese or hard-boiled eggs.

Commentary: Wow, this weight loss strategy leaves your head spinning. It all sounds like a really good excuse to go have a huge steak and not feel guilty about it. It seems the people who come up with this stuff don't think the rest of us have much common sense. Agriculture gave humans a constant source of food, one that could be stored. It also gave us a reason to stay in one place and not continually migrate/walk. Put those two variables together and what do you come up with? More food, less activity... weight gain.