I made a graph based on the paper "Origins and Evolution of the Western Diet" by Loren Cordain and colleagues. It shows when grains, dairy, oils, sugars, and alcohol entered the human diet - and how these five categories now make up a whopping 71% of daily calories in the modern Western diet.
Here’s when each one showed up:
- Grains – Around 10,000 years ago (hello, farming)
- Dairy – About 6,000 years ago
- Oils – Pressed ~5,000–6,000 years ago
- Sugars – Refined ~2,500 years ago
- Alcohol – Distilled ~800–1300 AD
In evolutionary terms? That’s yesterday. A philosophical question: have our bodies had enough time to truly adapt?
Practical Health
I made a graph based on the paper "Origins and Evolution of the Western Diet" by Loren Cordain and colleagues. It shows when grains, dairy, oils, sugars, and alcohol entered the human diet - and how these five categories now make up a whopping 71% of daily calories in the modern Western diet.
Here’s when each one showed up:
- Grains – Around 10,000 years ago (hello, farming)
- Dairy – About 6,000 years ago
- Oils – Pressed ~5,000–6,000 years ago
- Sugars – Refined ~2,500 years ago
- Alcohol – Distilled ~800–1300 AD
In evolutionary terms? That’s yesterday. A philosophical question: have our bodies had enough time to truly adapt?
If you're curious, I break it down in more detail in this video - https://youtu.be/agBJ3dAekQg
7 months ago | [YT] | 6