Fantasy world-building is complex, requiring consideration of climate, geography, and their impact on the diets of inhabitants. While seemingly simple elements like bread and cheese can be a comforting starting point, a deeper dive into the realities of food production, preservation, and consumption adds depth and authenticity to any fictional world. This exploration extends beyond fantasy, touching upon modern-day dietary trends like the Paleo diet and examining the science, misconceptions, and cultural narratives surrounding our understanding of food and its role in health and society.
World-Building Through Climate and Geography
Good world-building includes consideration of climate and geography. The environment dictates available resources and shapes the lifestyles of the characters. Do characters live in tropical mountains regions or cold mountain regions? This question naturally leads us to comparisons with more familiar, Earthly parallels. For example, tropical mountains could easily be the rain forests and mountains of Rwanda and the Congo. While we might not be writing an exact transposition of those cultures into our fantasy world, there are some hard facts about climate, farming, and resources that we need to understand, and real information about those regions can help us.
Year-round farming may be possible in the tropics, but food spoils faster in the heat. Farming is a bigger gamble in cold climates as there is just one shot at a growing season. Geography and seasonality also determine the nutritional profile of a character’s diet. Colder climate settings could mean increased meat and dairy, possibly with fish and root vegetables. This is a diet that also happens to suit the body’s ‘insulation’ and energy expenditure needs to survive the cold.
Food Preservation and Packaging in Pre-Industrial Societies
In very general terms, food preservation breaks down into a couple of processes: salting, smoking, spicing, and sun-drying. There are probably more, but let’s just roll with these for now. The mains goals of preservation are to remove moisture or change the chemical balance to slow sensitivity and decay. Salting gives us delicious things like salami and bacon, but there was a time when salt was either hard to come by or fairly expensive if you didn’t live close to the ocean. Smoking works, but it’s pretty miserable to do when you live in 100F heat with matching humidity. Sun-drying is only as good as the number of hot, sunny days that coincide with a harvest. Using spices is one of the ways people change the chemical balance of food. An example of this would be making curries - which, incidentally uses spices that only grow in those climate regions…which is kind of a neat trick on nature’s part, though I still take issue with covering 2/3 of the world in UNDRINKABLE water. What kind of pre-industrial packaging are we going to have? Leaf-wrapped lembas? Hard, smokey cheese wrapped in linen? Wax-sealed clay jars for wine?
Without indoor plumbing, sewage systems, and water filtration, I’m pretty sure that giardia would also still be a thing. And magical springs are a whole other headache.
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The Allure of 100% Organic and Non-GMO Worlds
On the one hand, it’s kind of awesome to think of a world that’s by default 100% organic and 100% non-GMO (mostly because they don’t have any other choice). Also, there’s no low-fat anything unless it’s a vegetable or straight-up starvation.
The Paleo Diet: A Modern-Day "Fantasy"
One might think the paleo concept has been taking a bit of a beating from the scientific world, and by extension, the larger media scene. There is certainly no shortage of articles and blogs largely regurgitating material like that found in Dr. Christina Warinner’s Ted talk, but things are getting really….interesting. People, particularly folks in the academic scene, seem to really have their britches bunched over biochemists, MD’s, and others using this evolutionary biology concept to look at nutrition and health. Scientific American ran a recent piece explaining how folks like myself, Loren Cordain, etc have it all wrong, or at best our thinking is “half-baked.” This is based in large part on recent research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. What is intriguing, is both PNAS and Scientific American appear to have gotten the story wrong. Quite wrong. To the tune of completely mis-quoting primary researchers, and creating their own “Paleo Fantasy.” So misguided were these pieces that Prof. Cordain, myself, and a number of other folks felt it necessary to write a rebuttal which will be run in a subsequent PNAS. Interesting backstory on that: That chap who agreed to run this piece did so as HIS research was recently taken completely out of context by the media and he’s a bit fed-up with this type of thing.
Robb Wolf, author of The Paleo Solution and Wired to Eat, is a former research biochemist and one of the world’s leading experts in Paleolithic nutrition. This article is about a modern-day diet. The diet avoids food processing and typically includes vegetables, fruits, nuts, roots, and meat and excludes dairy products, grains, sugar, legumes, processed oils, salt, alcohol, and coffee.
In his 1975 book The Stone Age Diet, gastroenterologist Walter L. In 1985 Stanley Boyd Eaton and Melvin Konner published a controversial article in the New England Journal of Medicine proposing that modern humans were biologically very similar to their primitive ancestors and so "genetically programmed" to consume pre-agricultural foods. This diet's ideas were further popularized by Loren Cordain, a health scientist with a Ph.D.
The basis of the diet is a re-imagining of what Paleolithic people ate, and different proponents recommend different diet compositions. Eaton and Konner, for example, wrote a 1988 book The Paleolithic Prescription with Marjorie Shostak, and it described a diet that is 65% plant based. The diet forbids the consumption of all dairy products. Adopting the Paleolithic diet assumes that modern humans can reproduce the hunter-gatherer diet.
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Molecular biologist Marion Nestle argues that "knowledge of the relative proportions of animal and plant foods in the diets of early humans is circumstantial, incomplete, and debatable and that there are insufficient data to identify the composition of a genetically determined optimal diet. The data for Cordain's book came from six contemporary hunter-gatherer groups, mainly living in marginal habitats. One of the studies was on the !Kung, whose diet was recorded for a single month, and one was on the diet of the Inuit. Due to these limitations, the book has been criticized as painting an incomplete picture of the diets of Paleolithic humans. It has been noted that the rationale for the diet does not adequately account for the fact that, due to the pressures of artificial selection, most modern domesticated plants and animals differ drastically from their Paleolithic ancestors; likewise, their nutritional profiles are very different from their ancient counterparts. For example, wild almonds produce potentially fatal levels of cyanide, but this trait has been bred out of domesticated varieties using artificial selection. Trying to devise an ideal diet by studying contemporary hunter-gatherers is difficult because of the great disparities that exist; for example, the animal-derived calorie percentage ranges from 25% for the Gwi people of southern Africa to 99% for the Alaskan Nunamiut. Descendants of populations with different diets have different genetic adaptations to those diets, such as the ability to digest sugars from starchy foods. Following the Paleolithic diet results in the consumption of fewer processed foods, less sugar, and less salt.
One trial of obese postmenopausal women found improvements in weight and fat loss after six months, but the benefits had ceased by 24 months. The Paleolithic diet is similar to the Atkins diet, in that it encourages the consumption of large amounts of red meat, especially meats high in saturated fat. The argument is that modern humans have not been able to biologically adapt to contemporary circumstances. According to Cordain, before the agricultural revolution, hunter-gatherer diets rarely included grains, and obtaining milk from wild animals would have been "nearly impossible." Advocates of the diet argue that the increase in diseases of affluence after the dawn of agriculture was caused by these changes in diet. According to the model from the evolutionary discordance hypothesis, "many chronic diseases and degenerative conditions evident in modern Western populations have arisen because of a mismatch between Stone Age genes and modern lifestyles." Advocates of the modern paleo diet have formed their dietary recommendations based on this hypothesis.
The evolutionary discordance is incomplete, since it is based mainly on the genetic understanding of the human diet and a unique model of human ancestral diets, without taking into account the flexibility and variability of the human dietary behaviors over time. Studies of a variety of populations around the world show that humans can live healthily with a wide variety of diets and that humans have evolved to be flexible eaters. Lactase persistence, which confers lactose tolerance into adulthood, is an example of how some humans have adapted to the introduction of dairy into their diet. Since the publication of Eaton and Konner's paper in 1985, analysis of the DNA of primitive human remains has provided evidence that evolving humans were continually adapting to new diets, thus challenging the hypothesis underlying the Paleolithic diet. Evolutionary biologist Marlene Zuk writes that the idea that our genetic makeup today matches that of our ancestors is misconceived, and that in debate Cordain was "taken aback" when told that 10,000 years was "plenty of time" for an evolutionary change in human digestive abilities to have taken place. Anthropological geneticist Anne C. Stone has said that humans have adapted in the last 10,000 years in response to radical changes in diet.
A lifestyle and ideology have developed around the diet. "Paleolithic" products include clothing, smartphone apps, and cookware. As of 2019 the market for products with the word "Paleo" in their name was worth approximately $US500 million, with strong growth prospects despite pushback from the scientific community.
Debunking Paleo Diet Myths
The Paleo Diet instructs its followers to eat lots of animal-derived food while completely avoiding all grains and legumes. It is an equally harmful derivative of its meat-heavy predecessor, the Atkin’s diet. The intention of this article is to expose some of the many fallacies behind this fad, while also providing some insight on how to properly fact check health information.
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Myth 1: Our Ancestors Primarily Ate Meat
As human beings we sometimes allow our personal bias to overshadow our common sense. We romanticize about the macho caveman, hunting, dominating, capturing and killing wild animals, while the woman stays at home gathering berries and, of course, dusting and cleaning the cave. And we hold on to this sexist image even when logic and scientific evidence prove otherwise. Highly respected anthropologists and evolutionary biologists, such as professor Nathanial J. Dominy, have outed this myth, explaining that the majority of calories that our Paleolithic ancestors consumed came from plant foods. Meat was simply too unpredictable. When scientists analyze the remains of skeletons that date back 2 million years, they report that close to 100% of the diet our ancestors ate consisted of forest food. Dr. Benjamin H. Passey, a geochemist who conducted tests on the teeth of skeletons dating back to the Paleolithic era, remarked that “one thing people probably don’t realize is that humans are basically grass eaters.” Cavemen surely feasted on meat whenever the opportunity arose, but these opportunities were far and few in between. In comparison, modern people following the Paleo Diet have eggs and bacon for breakfast, steak for lunch, and chicken for dinner. The idea that this resembles the diet of our ancestors is a Homo Sapien fantasy.
Myth 2: We Have Evolved to Consume Meat
Evolution does not care about optimizing our personal health. Evolution only cares about one thing, and that’s our ability to procreate. After we have children, as far as evolution is concerned, we are essentially living on borrowed time. Evolutionary biologists have grown increasingly annoyed at the false presumptions being made by followers of the Paleo Diet. Roddy Collins, a scientist who has studied evolutionary physiology for thirty years, was once lectured about evolution at his gym by a 17 year old Paleo Diet follower. “Leave evolution out of it” has been the plea of scientists that actually understand what they’re talking about. While we are a product of evolution, it is not evolution that can tell us how to improve our health in today’s world. Second, we have definitely not evolved to consume meat. In her lecture debunking the Paleo Diet, Christina Warinner, an archaeological geneticist, reminded her audience that “humans have no known anatomical, physiological, or genetic adaptations to meat consumption.
Myth 3: Our Ancestors Didn't Eat Grains
We have evidence from at least 100,000 years ago that our ancestors used stone tools to grind up grains and seeds, and starches have been found on the teeth of their skeletons. An archeologist from the University of Calgary found the oldest example of extensive reliance on cereal grains in the diet of Homo Sapiens dating back at least 105,000 years. But, more importantly, why do we hold in such high regard what our ancestors ate, or didn’t eat, thousands and millions of years ago?
Myth 4: Our Genes are Identical to Our Paleolithic Ancestors
There is virtually nothing in our world today that resembles the prehistoric world- we wouldn’t even recognize a prehistoric banana- and we have certainly evolved over time along with our environment. But that’s not what proponents of the Paleo Diet want you to believe. According to the diet, which claims to take an evolutionary approach to life, our genes are identical to those of our Paleolithic ancestors, and that’s why we should eat the way they did (whatever that means). The rationale behind the Paleo Diet completely ignores the field of epigenetics which shows how genes are quickly switched on and off depending on our environment, especially our diet, resulting in an astonishing level of differentiation within our bodies. The Genetic Science Learning Center, at the University of Utah Health Sciences, states that “epigenetic inheritance may allow an organism to continually adjust its gene expression to fit its environment - without changing its DNA code.” Different food sources create pressure for genetic changes, and these changes can happen quickly. For example, the Human Microbiome Project has shown that much about our health is the result of a symbiotic relationship with 100 trillion bacteria that colonize our digestive systems. These microbes provide more genes for human survival than our own human cells. In fact, the human microbiome contributes eight million unique protein-coding genes, versus the human genome’s 22,000. What this means, essentially, is that not only are we affected by our immediate environment, but we are also, in large part, composed of it - the average person having 10 times more bacteria than human cells. It goes without question that when our environment changes, so do we. Still, the biggest factor that alters the balance of our gut bacteria is the food we choose to eat.
Myth 5: Grains and Legumes are Unhealthy
We have close to 100 years of consistent scientific evidence showing that a plant-based diet, rich in whole grains and legumes, is the healthiest diet on the planet. Such a diet has been shown to prevent and reverse chronic disease such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. Perhaps Paleo Diet promoters are too trapped in their caves to have heard about the Blue Zones? These are 5 places around the world where people experience a level of superior health and longevity unseen anywhere else on the planet. The populations reach the age of one hundred at rates 10 times greater than in the United States, and they all share a very similar diet: almost 100% plant-based, with whole grains and legumes forming the cornerstone of most centenarians’ diets. And what about those pesky anti-nutrients? It’s true, seeds rely on anti-nutrients to protect them from their environment. Throughout our history, all grains, beans, nuts and seeds, in their natural form, were not consumed without first being soaked, fermented, or sprouted.
Myth 6: Vitamin B12 is Only Found in Animal Products
Vitamin B12 is not produced by animals nor is it produced by plants. Biologically active vitamin B12 is produced by soil-based microorganisms- more evidence that the right mixture of microbes is essential for our good health. The B12 producing bacteria in the soil find their way into the intestines of animals, including humans. However, in humans and other animals, B12 is manufactured a little too far down the intestinal track to be absorbed, and is instead excreted in our feces. Infected animals contain B12 due to the fact that they have their noses and beaks in dirt all day long, and they also eat their own feces - that’s a good way to get your B12 although I would not recommend it. In our modern, industrialized, germaphobic world, where we over-sanitize our food and are no longer connected to high quality organic soils, vitamin B12 deficiency is indeed a problem for both meat-eaters as well as vegans. The Framingham Offspring study found that 39% of the general population is low in vitamin B12, regardless of animal-protein consumption. In fact, researchers found no association between plasma B12 levels and meat, poultry, and fish intake. One of the consequences of being B12 deficient is irreversible nerve damage. It is therefore important to take a proper B12 supplement. For anyone still thinking that this is evidence that we need to consume animals, I should point out that modern farmed animals receive supplemental B12 in their feed- so you can either take your supplement directly, or you can let it pass through the intestines of an animal first and then struggle to absorb it. The vitamin B12 issue is one more example of our symbiotic relationship with our environment, in this case our soil, that we depend on for good health.
The Real Benefits of the Paleo Diet
Finally, once you remove all of the false presumptions, there are a few positive aspects of the Paleo Diet, such as the elimination of dairy and processed foods. I guarantee that if you simply eliminate processed foods from your diet you will experience some health benefits. However, animal-based diets have been shown to promote disease, whereas nearly a century’s worth of consistent scientific evidence shows us that a proper plant-based diet is, by far, the most natural, healthy and protective option for all people on earth. It’s also the most ethical and sustainable diet for our planet. Everything else is a fantasy.
Adaptations to Agriculture
Most non-communicable diseases are diet-related, including obesity and its associated illnesses. Because the prevalence in obesity is a contemporary problem, some argue that our modern diet, based on agriculture, is to blame. ‘Paleo’ is a contraction of Palaeolithic, the period from about 2.6 million years ago to 10,000BC (the Stone Age). Then the agricultural revolution changed our diet and our current problems with diet-related illnesses occur because we haven’t yet adapted to it. There are two main problems with this argument. Second, the contention that humans haven’t had time to adapt to an agricultural diet is simply incorrect, because when the right selection pressure is present, humans can adapt (and have) in just a few thousand years.
Although we typically carry two copies of most genes, one from each parent, humans have a variable number of the amylase-encoding gene AMY1, ranging from two to more than 30. Humans have always eaten starch, we were just unable to access all of the available calories. This wasn’t a problem when starch wasn’t our main source of calories, which it is today. This increased nutritional efficiency provided a huge selective advantage, and was thus incorporated into gene-pool.
Then there’s milk. All humans can drink milk in early life, but many then switch to being lactose intolerant as they begin adulthood. The incredible thing is that although the adaptation in the three cases involved different genetic changes, they all influence the same gene, lactase, required for metabolising lactose into glucose.
Finally, the consumption of alcohol coincided with the emergence of agriculture, when humans began turning fermented fruit and other foods into alcoholic drinks. Beer and wine, were used by those in the Fertile Crescent (today’s Middle East) and northern Europe to ensure safe drinking water. In fact, European children drank weak beer up until the 17th century. Other cultures, like East Asians, relied on boiling water instead. But because East Asians had clean boiled water, they didn’t have to drink alcohol, unlike Northern Europeans.