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# The Ancestral Diet

Eating Like Humans Were Designed To
Complete Guide | Longevity Futures

## Chapter 1: Two Million Years of Dinner

Picture a small group of humans, maybe fifteen strong, moving across an open grassland. The sun is low. They have been walking since dawn, following the tracks of a herd of antelope that passed through days earlier. They carry sharpened stones and wooden spears. Children walk in the middle of the group. The eldest leads the way because he remembers where the herd went last season.

They stop near a river. While three of them set out after the herd, the rest spread along the bank. They dig tubers from the soft earth. They pick wild berries from bushes that grow near the water. Someone finds a nest of eggs. A child pulls cress from the shallows. By evening, the hunters return with meat. The group eats together. Protein from the kill. Vegetables and roots from the land. Berries and seeds gathered along the way.

This scene played out every single day for roughly two million years. From the earliest Homo habilis to the agricultural revolution around 10,000 years ago, humans ate whatever they could hunt, fish, dig up, or pick. There were no farms. No grain silos. No supermarkets. No factories turning corn into cereal or soybeans into oil.

And here is the important part. Your body is still built for that meal.

2M+
Years humans ate this way
10,000
Years since agriculture began
100
Years of processed food

Your genetics have not meaningfully changed in the last 40,000 years. But your diet has changed beyond recognition in the last century. Ultra processed food, seed oils, refined sugar, artificial additives, chemical preservatives. None of these existed when your body's operating system was written.

IMAGE: A group of early humans gathered around a fire at sunset on an open savanna, some cooking meat, others sorting gathered vegetables, berries and roots, warm golden firelight, photorealistic, cinematic, 4K
For two million years, humans ate what they could hunt, gather, and dig up. No factories. No processing. Just real food.

## Chapter 2: What The Science Actually Says

The ancestral diet is not a fad. It is supported by evolutionary biology, anthropological research, and modern clinical studies. The core principle is simple. Eat the foods your body evolved to process.

### The Mismatch Theory

In 1985, Dr. S. Boyd Eaton published a landmark paper in the New England Journal of Medicine called "Paleolithic Nutrition." His argument was straightforward. The human genome was shaped by the foods available during the Paleolithic era. Modern diseases like obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and many cancers are diseases of mismatch. Our ancient genes colliding with a modern diet they were never designed for.

This theory has since been supported by extensive research. Populations that still eat ancestrally, such as the Hadza in Tanzania and the Tsimane in Bolivia, show virtually no heart disease, no obesity, no type 2 diabetes, and excellent cardiovascular health well into old age.

The Tsimane Study (2017, The Lancet)
Researchers scanned the hearts of 705 Tsimane adults. They found the lowest rates of coronary artery disease ever recorded in any population. An 80 year old Tsimane man had the arteries of an American in his mid 50s. Their diet? Fish, wild game, tubers, rice, plantains, nuts, and fruit. Almost zero processed food.

### What Ancestral Humans Actually Ate

Contrary to popular belief, our ancestors did not eat only meat. Analysis of teeth, bones, and ancient fire pits tells us they ate a wide variety of foods depending on where they lived and what season it was.

Animal Protein (25 to 50% of calories)

Wild game, fish, shellfish, eggs, insects. Organ meats were prized. The fattiest parts were eaten first. Nothing was wasted.

Vegetables and Tubers (20 to 40%)

Root vegetables, leafy greens, wild onions, garlic, mushrooms. Many were eaten raw or lightly cooked on embers.

Fruits, Berries and Nuts (15 to 25%)

Seasonal fruit, wild berries, tree nuts, seeds. These were gathered along migration routes and eaten when available.

Fermented and Preserved (variable)

Early humans discovered that meat left in certain conditions would ferment rather than rot. Fermented foods have been part of the human diet far longer than most people realise.

IMAGE: A beautiful spread of ancestral foods on a wooden surface, raw salmon, grass fed steak, colourful vegetables, berries, nuts, eggs, sweet potato, avocado, herbs, warm natural lighting, food photography style, photorealistic, 4K
The ancestral plate: protein from animals, fibre from vegetables, healthy fats from nuts and fish, and natural sugars from seasonal fruit.

## Chapter 3: What Went Wrong

For 99.5 percent of human history, every calorie consumed came directly from nature. Then three things happened in rapid succession.

### The Agricultural Revolution (10,000 years ago)

Humans began farming grains. Wheat, rice, corn. This allowed populations to settle in one place and grow. But it also introduced foods the human body had limited experience processing. Grains require extensive processing to become digestible. They contain anti nutrients like phytic acid and lectins that can interfere with mineral absorption.

### The Industrial Revolution (200 years ago)

Factories began processing food at scale. White flour, refined sugar, canned goods. For the first time in history, food could be manufactured, preserved, and transported. Convenience replaced nutrition.

### The Ultra Processed Era (50 years ago)

Seed oils replaced animal fats. High fructose corn syrup replaced honey. Chemical additives replaced natural preservation. A typical supermarket product in 2026 contains ingredients that did not exist 100 years ago. Your body has no evolutionary framework for processing hydrogenated palm oil, artificial sweeteners, or modified food starch.

The numbers tell the story:
Ultra processed food now makes up 60% of calories consumed in the United States and Australia. In the same period, rates of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and autoimmune conditions have increased dramatically. This is not a coincidence. It is a mismatch between what we eat and what our bodies expect.
IMAGE: Split image, left side showing natural whole foods in warm earthy tones, right side showing ultra processed packaged factory foods in harsh artificial lighting, stark contrast, photorealistic, 4K
Left: what humans ate for two million years. Right: what most people eat today. The mismatch is clear.

## Chapter 4: The Ancestral Plate

The ancestral diet is not about recreating caveman meals. It is about returning to the categories of food your body was designed to thrive on.

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#### Grass Fed Meat

Beef, lamb, bison, venison. Choose grass fed and pasture raised when possible. Higher in omega 3 and CLA than grain fed.

🐟

#### Wild Fish

Salmon, sardines, mackerel, cod. Rich in omega 3 DHA and EPA. Wild caught is closer to what our ancestors ate.

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#### Eggs

One of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet. Complete protein, choline, B12, vitamin D. Free range and pasture raised.

🥦

#### Vegetables

Leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, root vegetables, onions, garlic. Eat the rainbow. Raw and cooked.

🥥

#### Berries and Fruit

Blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, apples. Seasonal fruit in moderation. Nature's dessert.

🥜

#### Nuts and Seeds

Almonds, walnuts, macadamias, pumpkin seeds, chia, flax. Healthy fats, minerals, and fibre.

🧄

#### Healthy Fats

Extra virgin olive oil, avocado, coconut oil, grass fed butter, ghee. Animal and plant fats your body recognises.

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#### Herbs and Spices

Turmeric, ginger, garlic, rosemary, oregano. Powerful anti inflammatory compounds used for thousands of years.

### What To Avoid

- Seed oils: Canola, soybean, sunflower, safflower, corn oil. These did not exist before industrial processing. They are high in omega 6 and promote inflammation.
- Refined sugar: Your ancestors encountered sugar only in seasonal fruit and wild honey. The average person now consumes over 17 teaspoons of added sugar per day.
- Ultra processed food: If the ingredient list has words you cannot pronounce, your great grandmother would not recognise it as food.
- Hydrogenated oils: Trans fats created in factories. Banned in Europe. Still legal in many countries. Found in spreads, baked goods, and fast food.
- Artificial additives: Colours, flavours, preservatives, emulsifiers. Your body has no evolutionary framework for processing these chemicals.

## Chapter 5: The Accidental Farmers

There is a beautiful detail in the story of human evolution that often gets overlooked. Before agriculture was invented, our ancestors were already farming without knowing it.

As nomadic groups followed herds of animals across the landscape, they ate fruits, berries, and seed bearing plants along the way. The seeds they dropped, the scraps they discarded, the leftovers from a meal eaten at a campsite. These fell into the soil.

When the group returned to the same area months or even years later, following the same seasonal migration route, they found food growing where they had been before. Wild plants flourishing in the exact spots where they had camped and eaten.

Over generations, some groups began to notice the pattern. They started deliberately spreading seeds in areas they planned to return to. This was the beginning of agriculture. Not a sudden invention, but a slow realisation built on thousands of years of accidental planting.

The lesson is simple. Humans and the natural food chain evolved together. We shaped the plants as much as they shaped us. The food your body needs is the food it grew up alongside for two million years.

IMAGE: Ancient humans walking along a green trail with berry bushes and wild plants growing where they had passed before, seeds sprouting along an old path, golden hour lighting, hopeful and natural, photorealistic, 4K
Our ancestors were farmers before they knew it. Seeds dropped along migration routes grew into food for the return journey.

## Chapter 6: A Week On The Ancestral Diet

### Breakfast Ideas

- Eggs scrambled in grass fed butter with spinach and mushrooms
- Smoked salmon with avocado and cherry tomatoes
- Greek yoghurt with mixed berries, walnuts, and a drizzle of raw honey
- Leftover roast meat with sauteed vegetables

### Lunch Ideas

- Grilled chicken thighs with a large mixed salad dressed in olive oil
- Sardines on seed crackers with sliced cucumber and lemon
- Bone broth soup with root vegetables and herbs
- Tuna salad with avocado, red onion, and olive oil. No bread.

### Dinner Ideas

- Grass fed steak with roasted sweet potato and steamed broccoli
- Baked salmon with asparagus and a squeeze of lemon
- Slow cooked lamb shoulder with root vegetables and rosemary
- Stir fried prawns with bok choy, garlic, ginger, and coconut aminos

### Snacks

- A handful of macadamia nuts
- Apple slices with almond butter
- Boiled eggs
- Celery sticks with guacamole
- Mixed berries

The 80/20 Rule: Eating ancestrally does not mean perfection. If 80 percent of what you eat comes from the categories above, and 20 percent is whatever you enjoy, you are doing better than 95 percent of the population. Progress, not perfection.

## Chapter 7: What The Research Shows

### Cardiovascular Health

A 2017 study published in The Lancet found that the Tsimane people of Bolivia, who eat an ancestral diet of wild game, fish, and tubers, have the lowest rate of coronary artery disease ever recorded. Their arteries at 80 looked like those of Americans in their 50s.

### Inflammation

A 2019 randomised controlled trial found that participants following a whole foods ancestral style diet for 10 weeks showed a 30 percent reduction in CRP, a key marker of systemic inflammation.

### Blood Sugar

Multiple studies show that removing processed carbohydrates and seed oils while increasing protein and healthy fats improves insulin sensitivity within days. A 2020 study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology found that an ancestral eating pattern reduced fasting insulin by 22 percent in just 4 weeks.

### Gut Health

The Hadza people of Tanzania, who still eat a hunter gatherer diet, have the most diverse gut microbiome ever studied. Gut diversity is directly linked to immune function, mental health, and longevity. Processed food destroys this diversity. Ancestral eating rebuilds it.

### Weight Management

People who switch to ancestral eating consistently report natural weight loss without calorie counting. When you eat foods your body was designed to process, hunger signals regulate properly. You eat until satisfied, not until the packet is empty.

## Ready to Eat Like You Were Designed To?

The ancestral diet is not about going backwards. It is about giving your body what it has expected for two million years. Real food. Nothing processed. Nothing artificial.

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