Re: evolution and diet (was: FITNESS: Diet and Exercise)

From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@yahoo.com)
Date: Sun Apr 20 2003 - 12:17:01 MDT

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    --- Damien Sullivan <phoenix@ugcs.caltech.edu> wrote:
    > On Thu, Apr 17, 2003 at 01:59:51AM -0400, gts wrote:
    >
    > > mortality. Probably just the opposite. If you are referring to the
    > > farming of animals then I also think it did not in itself lead
    > > to any significant increase in disease or mortality, at least not
    > > from infectious disease.
    >
    > Yes, farming animals. Jared Diamond disagrees with you. Living at
    > close quarters gives opportunity for diseases to cross the species
    > boundaries; living in crowded agricultural communities increases
    > the pool and spreadability. Most classic example: the flu, which
    > comes every year out of the birds and pigs of China...

    The problem isn't living in close quarters with your animals. If this
    were so, dog, cat, parrot, and other species' diseases would be quite
    common among people. You can't get leukemia from infected cats, for
    example, or distemper from your dog. If this were the case, then the
    US, which has the highest incidence of pets in the home, would be the
    world capital of epidemic disease. It isn't.

    The problem with diseases crossing the species boundary is specifically
    a problem of poor food preparation sanitation.

    > and there's good old E. coli and salmonella,

    And e coli and salmonella are specifically caused by poor food prep
    sanitation.

    >
    > > As for the increase in sedentary living in the Neolithic, yes I
    > agree: I
    >
    > By sedentary I meant "poor sanitation", made even worse with the
    > animals.

    Neanderthals slept in caves strewn with the remains of their kills.
    While that might be an interesting theory, that they died out because
    of their own filthy habits, the primary cause of poor sanitation has
    been the development of organized agriculture and centralized
    communities to support it. This was caused by a shift away from nomadic
    herding toward stationary cultivation of vegan lifestyles.

    The primary cause of reductions in epidemic disease has been
    sanitation, specifically food preparation sanitation, in regards to
    water purity, sterilization of food implements, and sterilization of
    food parasites.

    =====
    Mike Lorrey
    "Live Free or Die, Death is not the Worst of Evils."
                                                         - Gen. John Stark
    "Pacifists are Objectively Pro-Fascist." - George Orwell
    "Treason doth never Prosper. What is the Reason?
    For if it Prosper, none Dare call it Treason..." - Ovid

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