The western diet and lifestyle and diseases of civilization
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review and theoretical paper presenting an evolutionary hypothesis without original empirical data or systematic review methodology.
OpenAlex W1991980682 · doi:10.2147/rrcc.s16919
What was done
This paper presents a narrative, evolutionary perspective on human nutrition and health. It argues that modern dietary and lifestyle changes following the Neolithic and Industrial revolutions conflict with the human genome, which evolved under preagricultural conditions.
What was found
The abstract provides no quantitative data, effect estimates, or statistical comparisons. It asserts that chronic conditions such as coronary heart disease, obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, epithelial cancers, autoimmune diseases, and osteoporosis are rare or virtually absent in hunter-gatherer populations, and proposes adopting preagricultural dietary and lifestyle habits to mitigate these diseases.
Why it matters
It outlines the evolutionary discordance paradigm frequently cited in support of ancestral or Paleolithic-style dietary interventions for chronic disease prevention.
Limits
The abstract describes a conceptual overview rather than an empirical trial or systematic review. It lacks primary clinical data, sample size details, and quantitative risk metrics. Observational comparisons between modern and historical or hunter-gatherer populations are susceptible to severe confounding from differences in life expectancy, infectious disease burden, physical activity, and diagnostic capabilities.
Cited by
- supports The hunter-gatherer period lasted for the vast majority of human history prior to the agricultural revolution.