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So what do you think of the health of cave men?

Some people are saying they were in quite good health. But I don't know. They didn't really have medical records back then, and from what I've heard the under-30 mortality rate was pretty high.
SatanBurger · 36-40, F
Not saying they were totally healthy because they died of war or famine (times were rough) but diet wise yes they were far more healthier. They had less cavities too, with the rise of agriculture literally changed our bacteria in our mouths and introduced new pathogens. This is due to industrial revolution and agriculture:

[b]https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/news/130301_plaque[/b]

As for my personal opinion when I step out the door I can't see someone who isn't overweight. Even kids are beginning to look like obese adults. Malnutrition is a big problem in first world countries, I wish I could remember the link but there was something I saw where a country was concerned because the vitamins in veggies are not as superior as they once were, their going downhill due to soil and other things.

Aside from that, you don't have to be bone thin or have a bloated tummy to be malnourished. When you constantly eat empty calories, there's a reason disease shows up in the future in the SPECIFIC case of food is concerned. And in a first world country that seems to take advantage of the fact they have everything is kind of sad.

I also can't imagine we're "better" simply because of technology. In an emergency scenario I'd put my money on hunter gatherers over people who can't even look both ways in traffic because their staring at their phones.

It's true their diet is wherever they were but they also clean ate and moved naturally like humans were supposed to. They didn't have to deal with pesticides or factory farmed meat. They didn't have to worry about nutritional quality (even though quantity may have been an issue.)
Much of what we have been told about modern health is completely false. Working labour sunrise to sunset six days a week promotes good health through exercise and having little time for unhealthy vices.even hunting/gathering is far healthier, safer and less stressful than the commute to sit 8 hours/ day five days per week for an inadequate paycheck.
Xuan12 · 31-35, M
@Anonymartyr Hunting from dawn to dusk is safer? I wouldn't have thought that. Nor less stressful if you're absolutely dependent on success in order to eat.
Northwest · M
If you're a man, age 35 or below, and your daily routine consists of hiking/walking/sprinting, 20 miles per day, while carrying large loads, lifting rocks, collecting/chopping wood, hunting, every day, and carrying water back and forth, you're likely to be as healthy as a caveman, aged 35 or lower.

That is, provided that the latter does not broken and unset bones. The under-30 mortality, would have been based on accidents, or falling prey to animals.

Cavemen's diet, also varied. If you're in Europe, you mostly ate animals. If you're in mild climates, you are more fruits.
Jackaloftheazuresand · 26-30, M
most of the weak and sick just died so I'd say they did pretty good
yeronlyman · 51-55, M
evolutionary biology is fascinating...
tough environment they lived in

altruism and cooperation was one reason they survived
relatively long human childhoods and socialisation helped
obviously there were no fridges to store the kill, they shared and sharing was a form of cold storage
Considering their environment, I'd say they did pretty well. How long would you survive in the wild?
@Xuan12 Sure.
Xuan12 · 31-35, M
@midnightrose I think we'd get about pretty well then. But I have the benefit of having knowledge about outdoor survival, primitive crafting, physics, modern engineering and medicine, etc.

Sorry, this was a loaded question. I've studied primitive technology and practiced out door living quite a bit. I have a good idea of what my opinion is. But as mentioned, I also have knowledge that gives me benefits which ancient cave men wouldn't necessarily have, or at least we don't know if they did or not. And I also have the benefit of starting with a quite healthy body and access to a wide variety of healthful foods in abundance.

It's just not the same when you have to scrounge it on your own, especially if nature takes an unexpected turn like an early frost.
@Xuan12 Right, that's what I meant by the wild. Living in the same environment they were put in.
Faust76 · 46-50, M
Child mortality was quite high before modern medicine and science and all it brings, but that says nothing of the health of MEN. Except, as someone said, those of ill health would've died young.
Crazywaterspring · 61-69, M
Healthy? They had diseases and parasites we rarely deal with today. Someone who made it to thirty was probably considered ancient.

Infant and maternal mortality were probably unacceptably high by modern standards.

 
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