Cited by 342Nutritional Studies and DietIndigenous Health and EducationNutrition, Health, and Society Studies

The western diet and lifestyle and diseases of civilization

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Carrera-Bastos, Pedro, Fontes, O'Keefe, Lindeberg, Cordain·2011·Research Reports in Clinical Cardiology

Abstract

Abstract: It is increasingly recognized that certain fundamental changes in diet and lifestyle that occurred after the Neolithic Revolution, and especially after the Industrial Revolution and the Modern Age, are too recent, on an evolutionary time scale, for the human genome to have completely adapted. This mismatch between our ancient physiology and the western diet and lifestyle underlies many so-called diseases of civilization, including coronary heart disease, obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, epithelial cell cancers, autoimmune disease, and osteoporosis, which are rare or virtually absent in hunter–gatherers and other non-westernized populations. It is therefore proposed that the adoption of diet and lifestyle that mimic the beneficial characteristics of the preagricultural environment is an effective strategy to reduce the risk of chronic degenerative diseases. Keywords: Paleolithic, hunter–gatherers, Agricultural Revolution, modern diet, western lifestyle and diseases

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  • The transition from hunter-gatherer lifestyles to farming societies is associated with a decline in oral health and several additional disease states, including cardiovascular disease, inflammatory bowel diseases, rheumatic diseases, many cancers, and obesity.

    “The transition from hunter‐gatherer lifestyles to farming societies is associated with a decline in oral health as well as several additional disease states, including (but not limited to) cardiovascular disease, inflammatory bowel diseases, rheumatic diseases, many cancers, and obesity.”

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Research works printed but not linked: 8

  1. Shatin R. The transition from food-gathering to food production in evolution and disease. Vitalstoffe Zivilisationskrankheiten. 1967;12: 104-107.
  2. Abrams HL. The relevance of Paleolithic diet in determining contem- porary nutritional needs. J Appl Nutr. 1979;31:43-59.
  3. Eaton SB, Strassman BI, Nesse RM, et al. Evolutionary health promo- tion. Prev Med. 2002;34(2):109-118.
  4. Muskiet FAJ. Adaptation to the conditions of existence. Ned Tijdschr Klin Chem Labgeneesk. 2006;31:187-193.
  5. Agarwal SC, Grynpas MD. Bone quantity and quality in past populations. Anat Rec. 1996;246(4):423-432.
  6. Nelson DA. Bone density in three archaeological populations. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1984;63:198.
  7. Abbott S, Trinkaus E, Burr DB. Dynamic bone remodeling in later Pleistocene fossil hominids. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1996;99: 585-601.
  8. Ruff CB, Trinkaus E, Holliday TW. Body mass estimation in Olympic ath- letes and Pleistocene Homo. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1998;26:192-193.

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Authors
Carrera-Bastos, P., Fontes, O'Keefe, Lindeberg, & Cordain
Affiliations
  • Lund University (SE)
  • Colorado State University (US)
Venue
Research Reports in Clinical Cardiology
Published
2011-03
Pages
15
ISSN
1179-8475 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W1991980682
Cited by
342
References
346
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 38 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 27 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 11
FWCI
15.39
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Research Reports in Clinical Cardiology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
  • Dove Medical Press (Taylor and Francis Group) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Indigenous Health and Education
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Nutrition, Health, and Society Studies
Keywords
Western diet, modern lifestyle, civilization diseases, Paleolithic diet, hunter-gatherers, agricultural revolution, Neolithic transition, Industrial Revolution, modern diet, chronic degenerative diseases, coronary artery disease, obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, autoimmune disease, osteoporosis, evolutionary mismatch

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