Posted on 04/14/2021 7:37:06 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Summary:
Humans cannot live on protein alone - even for the ancient indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest whose diet was once thought to be almost all salmon. Anthropologists argue such a protein-heavy diet would be unsustainable and document the many dietary solutions ancient Pacific Coast people in North America likely employed to avoid 'salmon starvation,' a toxic and potentially fatal condition brought on by eating too much lean protein.
Humans cannot live on protein alone -- even for the ancient indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest whose diet was once thought to be almost all salmon.
In a new paper led by Washington State University anthropologist Shannon Tushingham, researchers document the many dietary solutions ancient Pacific Coast people in North America likely employed to avoid "salmon starvation," a toxic and potentially fatal condition brought on by eating too much lean protein.
"Salmon was a critical resource for thousands of years throughout the Pacific Rim, but there were a lot of foods that were important," said Tushingham the lead author of the paper published online on April 8 in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. "Native people were not just eating salmon. There's a bigger picture."
Some archeologists have contended for years that prehistoric Northwest people had an "extreme salmon specialization," a theory primarily based on the amount of salmon bone found at archeological sites.
Tushingham and her co-authors argue that such a protein-intensive diet would be unsustainable. They point to nutritional studies and a global database of hunter-gatherer diets that indicate people have dietary limit on lean protein of around 35%. While it can vary by individual, exceeding that ceiling can be physically debilitating within a few days and fatal within weeks. Early explorers in the U.S. West subsisting on lean wild game discovered this problem the hard way
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
Ping
Don’t Eskimos north of the Arctic circle live exclusively on seal meat and blubber?
They eventually discovered Hostess Twinkies and Cheetohs. And were saved.
And live very short lives on that diet?
You could probably live on salmon alone. The Eskimos have survived for hundreds of years on a mostly fish diet.
Yes and they do fine. If you eat protein exclusively with no or very little fat, that’s when you’ll run into trouble.
I used to catch a lot of salmon when we lived in Alaska, and the best parts for the smoker are the fattiest, like the belly strips from coho or king which have the most oil. Not something you’d find at the supermarket.
It is hard to believe that anyone let a lone a scientist would believe that any human would be that specialized in their diet.
Humans naturally are omnivores. They crave a varied diet.
As far as protein goes for a hunter gatherer society, yes you would take advantage of dependable salmon runs for your protein.
But you are also going to gather nuts, grains and fruits. You are also going to dig for tubers and other root vegetables.
There is not going to be any available food in your area that you are not going to utilize.
“Prehistoric Pacific Coast Diets Had Salmon Limits”
The 9th Circuit didn’t really start destroying the country until Jimmy Carter doubled its size...and that was LONG AFTER prehistoric days.
So more Fake News, here.
Judging from the article, the fat contained in that sort of meat would prevent the sort of malnutrition that comes from eating lean fish exclusively.
Correct. You subsist on what is there and supplement it with anything else one can. The tribes on the West Coast of Alaska, Washington, Oregon and Northern California thousands of years ago flourished. This article of supposed science is just crap. I am a scientist but do not hold others of such in high regard.
Typical vegan article.
Devoid of any facts.
On Lewis and Clark’s return trip from the Pacific coast they stopped at an indian village along the Colombia River and were met with endless racks of salmon drying.
They were so sick of eating salmon they traded for dogs to eat.
They certainly can’t grow much food.
Caribou, birds, fish, beari....
Thx, will ping soon.
I love the smoked belly meat of spring salmon. Nothing better and far from lean.
Thanks nickcarraway.
ok, had to look, and it looks like Coho is the highest protein at 37% followed by Sockeye, with King the fattiest
High-fat Pacific Salmon:
King (chinook)
304 calories, 17.7 grams of fat (52%), 33.9 grams of protein
Sockeye (red)
286 calories, 14.6 grams of fat (46%), 36.2 grams of protein
“Low-fat” Pacific Salmon
“Coho (silver)
248 calories, 10.1 grams of fat (37%), 36.8 grams of protein
Pink (humpy)
197 calories, 5.9 grams of fat (27%), 33.9 grams of protein
Chum (keta)
204 calories, 6.4 grams of fat (28%), 34.3 grams of protein
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