Here’s a Lesson From Our Cro-Magnon Ancestors

“I’ve been having an argument with my wife,” writes John. “What is this knock against red meat? I’m sick of eating fish and chicken without the skin and all this other diet stuff that is supposed to save my life.

“I grew up on a farm where we had beef on the table every night, and my old man hasn’t had a heart attack yet. Prehistoric men used to live off the game they killed. Is this just another way to turn us into wimpish quiche-eaters?”

OK, John, I understand. As we sit down to the dinner table something primitive in every male whispers that there ought to be a fine slab of meat on the plate--something we can get our teeth into. And never mind all that rabbit food.

I had a great steak last night myself--thick, juicy and so tender I hardly had to use a knife on it. But to tell you the truth I’ve changed my habits; I don’t indulge like this very often anymore.

At the turn of the century when most of the population was still laboring hard on the farm, men lived almost as long as women. Today males get cut down by all sorts of physical problems at an early age; on average we die eight years earlier than females.

This is a shocking statistic, in part due to the stress of our complicated, overly competitive industrial society. But also due to the fact we don’t use our bodies enough in work and play, and we’ve grown wealthy enough to afford too much rich food and drink.

Almost everything we eat contains more fat, sugar, salt or chemicals than it used to. It’s true that Cro-Magnon man 25,000 years ago consumed more meat than we do, but wild game contains far less fat.

Our caveman hunted the wart hog, ancestor of today’s pig; it was something like 4% fat compared to 29% for the ham you buy today in the supermarket. Deer meat also contains 4% fat, compared to 26% in sirloin steak--and if you relish well-marbled prime beef in a good steak house the count runs much higher.

Do you see my point? We’ve “improved” our meat to the point where it’s too rich for us to eat all we want.

According to a study reported by Men’s Health newsletter, the fat contained in wild game also is a better quality in that it’s far more polyunsaturated and also contains EPA, an acid “which has recently stirred tremendous interest due to its ability to lower blood fats.”

So what’s the answer? Every city has some kind of gourmet meat market where you can buy exotic wild game year around, or you could do some hunting yourself this fall.

Short of that, John, it seems to me that we have to listen to the nutritionists and simply cut down on the amount of fat-filled red meat we put on our plate.

Cro-Magnon man has some other lessons to teach us. Anthropologists say he was healthy because he supplemented his meat protein with all kinds of unprocessed roots, seeds, nuts and fruit--which sounds suspiciously like the low-fat, high-fiber diet being promoted today.

Jim Sanderson is the author of “Men, Women and Love.” Readers can write to him at PO Box 45, Cardiff, Calif. 92007. Please enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope if you wish a reply.