What our ancestors ate (and how we know it) | Dr. Peter Ungar, PhD

So-called "ancestral diets" have become popular, but what did our prehistoric ancestors actually eat? Paleoanthropology researcher Dr. Peter Ungar takes us on a journey through the origins of our species and how scientists decipher the diets of our distant ancestors.

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Disclaimer: The contents of this video are for informational purposes only and are not intended to be medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, nor to replace medical care. The information presented herein is accurate and conforms to the available scientific evidence to the best of the author's knowledge as of the time of posting. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions regarding any medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of information contained in Nutrition Made Simple!.

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0:00 Highlights
0:25 What did our ancestors eat?
2:15 Is there ONE ancestral diet?
5:47 Diversity & uncertainty
9:01 Did Neanderthals eat whole grains?
10:34 Bone marks, teeth and DNA
17:27 The chemical signature of diet
19:45 Tooth microwear
21:00 Putting the evidence together
29:53 Patterns in human diet evolution
35:19 Fossilized feces
36:25 Omnivores, carnivores or herbivores?
40:08 Hunting vs scavenging
44:31 Eating insects
46:05 Recap & Conclusion

[johnny]

Q: "Is there evidence that they ate 90% plants and 10% meat, or 10% plants and 90% meat?" A: "We have no evidence of one versus the other." Gil seems to always ask the questions I want answered, even if there is no answer.

[peterz]

Excellent. More conversations with experts is a great idea. What we had to eat (and what our bodies allowed us to eat) vs what is optimum for health, seasoned with what is ethical in our current world is definitely worthy of thought and discussion.

[MurrayFCohen]

I’m echoing what everybody else is saying here: amazing guest, amazing interview, amazing information. I love that there are scientists who study and then bring this info to life for us. And Gil, the educator, the searcher, the conduit. Thank you so much.

[cirrus]

Commenting for the algorithm and to express how much I appreciate this video.

It can't have been easy to add all the references/sources at the relevant points and to try to anticipate the questions/need for clarification viewers might have, but I think you did an excellent job. This c. 45 min. video is actually material for days to go through.

I also love the genuine questions as well as answers! It's so rare to see (in this youtube format anyway) people who ask interesting and pointed questions (with which I don't mean charged - but some of the questions go to the core of "how good is the data really (e.g., in terms of reliability, validity and generalisability)") - and then the answer being an honest "(there are parts that) we don't know". As mentioned elsewhere, unfortunately, such intellectual honesty is scarce, especially in the "Industrial-Dietary-Complex" of meal-plan writers, supplement producers and influencers.

Lastly, appreciate the editing; adding in the pictures of the various (pre-)hominids, screenshots of articles, etc. saved me a good amount of googling in order to visualise what was discussed.

[Sobchak]

That's great. Dr Ungar gave a talk at my university a few years ago. I work on a different field, but that was really one of the very best talks i have seen in a long time.
Thank you for hosting him on your channel Dr Carvalho, you rock as always.

[alexwood]

I loved this. I studied primatology and human evolutionary biology modules as part of my biology degree and the module organiser was a former PhD student of Richard Wrangham, a very respected paleoanthropologist. We were taught, and every credible source I've seen since had corroborated, that there was no single "ancestral diet". If there's one thing that characterises early human diets, it's variation and adaptability. We ate more plants where there were more plants, and more meat when there were less plants.

Wrangham is a big proponent of the importance of fire and cooking, which made tubers in particular a very calorically dense food source which could be found all year round.

It's refreshing to see someone highlight the distinction between what anatmony suggests an animal is adapted for, and what the animal actually eats. In our case, our anatomy is closer to a herbivore than a typical omnivore, but it's undeniable that our ancestors ate meat when they could get it, helped a lot by our discovery of fire. Thats why I don't like appealing to our evolutionary history to justify one way of eating, because we ate whatever we could get. Far better to rely on the string evidence for what is healthy for us to eat in a modern world, which is the more whole plants the better

[DrAJ_LatinAmerica]

Absolutely agree when he says we know somethings but we don't know everything and to high level details. Plus different people in different areas at different time periods are all eating different things. 100% agree. No one diet for all the past ancestors. This needs to be stressed. Not just vegan or just carnivore !! It was a mixed diet to different % for different areas. Water was very different from a lake or river compared to today's water.

[subliminalfalllenangel]

This interview left me with more questions than answers.

[ultmiddle]

I read the book Water: A Biography, I learned that diets changed with the climate, especially fluctuating rainfall and the meandering paths of major rivers before engineers altered water flow. When in drought with little rain, grassland ruminants were the main source of food; when rain was plentiful, plants were widely available for cultivation and consumption.

[sophiekarnak]

You and Chris (PlantChompers) are by far my two favorite YouTubers, and I'm so appreciative of all the time and effort you put into your videos, especially including all the references!

[neilnewinger]

I find more interesting to investigate the differences between primates and us. What is the scientific explanation (if there is any) of the fact that our brain is 3 times bigger than a brain of a chimpanzee? And whether the diet played a major role.
Related question would be, why our brains stopped to grow during last 100 thousands of years after the that big growth for several millions of years? Allegedly it even shrank a bit.
Another interesting question is why our guts developed over few millions of years differently than guts of other primates? We can live for a very long time with surgically removed colons, but chimpanzees will die of starvation, if their colon is surgically removed. Doesn't that mean that our nutrition did actually changed significantly in the comparison to other primates and what was the biggest difference?

[jimgillert]

Please, more experts on this topic. This video needs to go viral.

[julioandresgomez]

If it´s about finding the "natural" human diet, children are the best guide. What would babies and little children eat if they are not forced or coerced in any way?

[elcapitanian]

Completely in love with this channel and how it teaches us proper thinking .

[avivbrina]

All hail the algorithm 🛐
Thanks for this channel Gil!

[polmestra]

Your channel is the best. Thank you for helping us improve our critical thinking.

[unitedintraditions]

My Parents and great grand parents are from Portugal specifically Azores. I talked to my parents 84 and 92 years old about their homeland diet it was mostly legumes, root vegetables like taro, potatoes, carrots etc... corn bread (no wheat existed on the island) eggs and fish was their primary protein once or twice a week. No red meats and chicken was in the soup as you had to feed 10 people on one old hen that didn't produce eggs. A pig if lucky was killed once a year in fall and the meat smoked or preserved in its own fat. My health has improved since I've adopted a similar plant based diet.

[terryjackson]

The fact that none of the the profitable paleo gurus ever let a scientist like Dr. Ungar anywhere near their channels tells you all you need to know about their motives.
Thanks so much for actually searching for answers.

[UnnamedThinkTank]

Take away from this excellent lecture? Our ancestors ate whatever they can lay their hands on. That is what makes the human diet is so wide and varied which is amazing.

[dorianphilotheates]

What a fascinating subject and presentation! Thank you for hosting Dr. Unfair and posting this excellent video.