For decades, proponents of low-carb diets have claimed that our ancestors ate simple meals consisting mainly of meats, nuts, and fruit due to their preference for unprocessed plant foods. However, new research from an international team of archaeologists has found that Pleistocene hominins in what is today Israel consumed a surprisingly wide variety of plants, contradicting this theory.
Dating back 780,000 years, the study at the Gesher Benot Ya’aqov site revealed hundreds of different starch granules and plant matter stuck to tools encased in sediment. These findings are not only the oldest starch granules ever discovered but also indicate a varied diet that goes beyond meat, with links to oak acorns, wheat and barley grains, legumes, and edible water plants.
The tools used for processing these plants suggest complex methods were employed to extract nutrients and calories from diverse sources of vegetation. Archaeologist Hadar Ahituv notes that this discovery underscores the importance of plant foods in the evolution of our ancestors, revealing they gathered a wide variety of plants year-round using specialized tools made from basalt.
This research opens a new chapter in the study of early human diets, highlighting their profound connection to plant-based foods. The findings further support previous studies suggesting plants contribute significantly to human brain growth and cognitive abilities. As technology improves, researchers are now focusing on the rest of our paleolithic pantry, confirming the importance of plant foods in our evolutionary history.
Source: https://www.sciencealert.com/paleo-diet-debunked-ancient-humans-ate-plants-study-shows