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I have lately been trying to get into a diet and there are so many confusing and contradicting information everywhere.

From Keto (90% fat) to Mediterranean (25% fat) to Low fat (< 10%) diet, all the "experts" with medical degrees are contradiction each other.

So if we can know the macronutrient ratio of Fat:Protien:Carb of early humans and primitive tribes we get a glimpse of the best diet there is. So what was it?

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    That's the philosophy of the Paleo diet and there are major flaws in it. For one, it assumes we haven't evolved in thousands of years which simply isn't true. For another, it assumes that we live like our ancestors which most definitely isn't true. For another, humans were scattered around the globe and their diet varied wildly depending on where they were. Another is that a lot of foods we ate back then don't exist today or have dramatically changed.
    – DeeV
    Aug 5, 2020 at 13:07
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    And while I don't know if this question is suitable for this particular SE, National Geographic has a pretty good article that talks about the history of human diet if you're interested in learning about it. nationalgeographic.com/foodfeatures/evolution-of-diet
    – DeeV
    Aug 5, 2020 at 13:08
  • @DeeV ok so even this is confusing. What do you follow??
    – user30983
    Aug 5, 2020 at 14:31
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    Maybe try learning nutrition from reputable nutrition experts and not medical doctors with barely any nutritional education. Alan Aragon, Eric Trexler, and Layne Norton to name a few. Additionally, you seem to be falling for the appeal to nature fallacy, what makes you think that early humans had the best diet? Where is the evidence for this? Aug 5, 2020 at 14:39
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    This will depend on the tribe and vary a lot from region to region. You will get mostly protein and fat in the arctic circle and more carbs further south where more fruits and other plants are available. This will also depend on the season. You will not eat fruit when there are no fruits. The thing is: those people eat what they can not what they consider healthy. Paleo diet is almost a paradox. If you want to experience what pre-neolythic civilizations did, there are better ways than following people trying to get your money. There are no fitness aspects here either
    – Raditz_35
    Aug 5, 2020 at 15:48

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Your question is misguided in two ways.

One, you assume that premodern diets are by definition optimal.

If we can know the macronutrient ratio of Fat:Protien:Carb of early humans and primitive tribes we get a glimpse of the best diet there is.

No, we can't. There's no reason for an indigenous people's diet to be optimal in any way. It simply does not logically follow. We know, for instance, that several indigenous peoples were forced into their current diet and way of life by being chased from other lands. They made the best of what they found in their current homeland. Why would that be optimal?

Secondly, there is no "best diet". For one, people vary. There seems to be evidence that some people and perhaps groups of people do better with some diets than others. Furthermore, the range of well-functioning diets for a given person likely has room for multiple contradictory diets. Someone might find themselves doing well with a low-carb paleo diet might also, under different circumstances, do well with some high-carb diet. Other life factors play a role there.

This comes into irrefutable focus when you notice that many premodern diets do not resemble each other. Many native peoples who live in the far north eat almost exclusively animal products and practically zero vegetables or carbs, whereas we see evidence of human reliance on roots and tubers in prehistoric Subsaharan sites. These extremely disparate diets cannot be reconciled in a single prescription.

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  • Thanks for the great answer, I have been a vegetarian all my life and my forefathers from last 2000 years. I was getting confused with all the keto buzz, so ended up asking this here. Do you have any suggestion or what kind of diet do you personally recommend or follow?
    – user30983
    Aug 6, 2020 at 7:50