Paleo Diet

Hunter-gatherers’ diet or Paleolithic diet

Hunter-gatherers’ diet typically includes lean meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds — foods that could be obtained by hunting and gathering. Certain human tribes which are still living in primitive conditions in the various parts of world still consume a diet similar to diet consumed by hunter-gatherers in the Paleolithic era (10 to 12,000 years ago). Some of them are still hunting and gathering, like our distant ancestors. Today there are about 300 such tribes all over the world.

In particular, a lot of information has been accumulated about the eating habits of African and South American tribes, such as the Hadza, Masai, Bushmen, Inuit and some others.

The Paleolithic era lasted 2.5 million years and ended about 10,000 years ago.(The Paleolithic era is also known as the caveman age, stone age) It is logical that the eating habits formed in this era are the most correct for a person from the point of view of physiology.

Grain crops, dairy products , refined oils, sugar, salt and legumes (including peanuts, beans, lentils and soybeans) – These food items were inaccessible to humans in the Paleolithic era, and our body, apparently, is not prepared for it. In addition, the diet in Paleolithic era did not contain pesticides, antibiotics and other chemicals that the modern food industry generously regales us with. Westernized diet high in refined carbohydrates; processed food (i.e. industrially produced); enhance the pathogenesis of diseases of civilization.

The shape of our stomach and some dental features that indicate that a person is more of a herbivore than a carnivore. But, with the advent of fire, humans began to cook meat and thus humans became omnivorous. Human digestive system cannot digest uncooked raw meat.

The main advantage of eating the way Paleolithic people ate – is that it leads to the stabilization of blood sugar levels. The Paleolithic foods release natural sugar into the bloodstream slowly, which guarantees a feeling of satiety and keeps energy levels high. Cutting out processed foods and refined carbohydrates from the diet and including plenty of fruits and vegetables reduces the likelihood of post-meal insulin spikes.

Anthropological data on the health of early man clearly show that health declined sharply as populations shifted from hunting and gathering to agriculture (almost 10,000 years ago). It takes a real anthropologist about two seconds to look at a skeleton found during an archaeological excavation to know if the owner of this skeleton was a hunter-gatherer or farmer.

Hunter-gatherers had better bones, no signs of iron deficiency anemia, no signs of infection, few (if any) dental caries, fewer signs of arthritis, and were generally larger and more robust than their farming contemporaries. It often seems to us that our ancestors had good health, thick hair, beautiful white teeth, had no digestive problems and, of course, did not know what being overweight or cellulite is. One gets the feeling that we got everything harmful and bad along with the development of civilization (in last 10,000 years)

In the Paleolithic era, animals were not yet domesticated and crops were not grown. During the Paleolithic era, our ancestors had access only to mother’s milk and not the animal milk and dairy products. No mammal on the planet requires the milk of another species to produce strong, healthy bones. Primates and humans are no different. Our genus (Homo) has resided on planet earth for about 2.5 million years, and none of our ancestors ever consumed the milk of another species until about 10,000 years ago when cows, goats and sheep were first domesticated.

(According to different authors, the genus Homo (our ancestors) originated some time between 3.0 and 2.5 million years ago.)

Our ancestors used simple stone tools that did not allow the cultivation of cultivated plants (cereal grains, pulses). Therefore, they mainly hunted, fished and gathered wild berries and roots. They did not know cereals, legumes, dairy products. Sugar laden fruit was rare for our paleolithic ancestors. These stages of evolutionary progress happened a little later, in the Neolithic era. This means that dairy products, cereals, sugar, salt, refined oils, various sweets, and the like should be excluded from the diet or severely limited in use.

The human genome was formed in the Paleolithic era and earlier – therefore, the products that appeared later contradict the human genetic structure and the correct nutrition system, as a result of which they lead to permanent health problems. By eliminating this food line, we are closer to the natural diet of the hunter-gatherer, which he has lived with for almost 2.5 million years, and at this nutritionally correct moment, a happy coincidence with our genome should occur.

Teeth are often windows into the health. Having decayed teeth, unhealthy teeth and gums can be a major factor in a person’s overall poor health. Tooth decay is closely related to sugar content and food texture, occurring at a higher frequency on sugary or high-simple-carbohydrate diets. Processed carbohydrates can become so mouthwatering palatable to people that they frequently eat them in preference to other foods. It is generally believed by experts that mankind encountered the problem of dental caries after the advent of agriculture. For most of history, Homo sapiens did not know about crops, and the agricultural revolution came as a real shock to our metabolism.

The problem of tooth decay in Paleolithic era was absent. In fact, examination of old European hunter-gatherer dental samples, show significantly fewer signs of dental cavities and periodontal disease than we have now. Until the rise of agriculture roughly 10,000 years ago, there was nearly no tooth decay in the human race. Dental cavities became endemic in the 17^th century but became an epidemic in the middle of the 20^th century. As of 2016, around 3.6 billion people worldwide (48% of the population) had dental caries in their permanent teeth. The human race has evolved in for the last almost two-million years (Homo habilis) but, dental cavities have only become an epidemic in the last half of one percent of our existence (of about two-million years) i.e. last 10,000 years.

A prominent American dentist, Dr. Weston A. Price, and author of book “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration”, set out in 1915 to discover the cure for tooth decay. He studied groups of people from different parts of the world. His field studies took place in many indigenous areas (where modern toothbrushes and floss are nonexistent) and the discoveries he found in these countries were astounding. Dr. Price discovered that all the indigenous groups he studied had the highest immunity to tooth decay. Why? Because they, liberally, ate foods that are high in fat. According to Weston Price, the absence of fat soluble vitamins is the primary cause of tooth decay. If a mother has a high Vitamin D (fat soluble vitamin) intake during pregnancy, her baby will be at a lower risk of developing cavities. Paleolithic diet constituted of fish, lean meat, nuts, olive oil and fruits like avocado which provided necessary amount of fats to prevent tooth decay.

Prior to the cultivation of cereal grains, corn, and rice (nearly 10,000 years ago), human fossil records show that tooth decay was virtually unheard of. Antinutrient phytic acid is significantly present in the shell of cereal grains, corn, unpolished rice, beans, legumes and seeds. Phytic acid absorbs minerals in consumed food which leads to micronutrients deficiency and formation of tooth decay. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. Gluten is called as antinutrient because it absorbs micronutrients in the intestine. Almost all cereal grains contain similar “problem proteins” that are specially designed by nature to prevent animals from eating crops. Since cereal grains, beans, legumes were absent in the Paleolithic era, the consumption of antinutrients such as phytic acid, gluten through diet was out of question.

The Paleo diet contains much less sodium compared to today's Western diet. This is important because the prevention of hypertension involves reducing salt intake. American scientists estimate that reducing salt intake from 10 to 7 grams per day could save 45,000 to 90,000 lives annually, and this is only in the United States.

The Paleolithic diet is designed to prevent chronic disease by switching to foods typical of cavemen tens of thousands of years ago. "Paleo Diet” or also known as the “Caveman Diet”, “Stone Age Diet”, “Hunter-gatherer Diet” or “Palaeolithic Diet”.

The Paleo diet seems new, but it has actually been around for decades. Its author, renowned American gastroenterologist Walter Wegtlin (1904–1975), proposed introducing the principles of healthy eating to people who lived between 2.5 million and 10,000 years ago. Subsequently, this diet was popularized by anthropology professor Stanley Boyd Eaton (Born - 1938) from Emory University (USA). The supposed benefits of the Paleo diet were once again revived in an article by S. Boyd Eaton and anthropologist Melvin Konner in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1985. The scientists argued that human genetics was formed long before the advent of agriculture, and modern products are genetically unacceptable for our body. This research paper mentioned about foods that were consumed during human evolution, which included a brief note on the absence of Western disease among hunter-gatherers. 

In 1989, the book “The Paleolithic Prescription: A Program of Diet & Exercise and a Design for Living” was published by Dr. S. Boyd Eaton, Melvin Konner and Marjorie Shostak (Konners’ wife) This book contains detailed description about why Paleolithic man was free of the diseases of civilization that plague us today. Swedish researcher Staffan Lindeberg (1950-2016) is considered as one of the founding fathers of Paleolithic diet. He wrote a book “Food and Western Disease”. He is best known for the Kitava Study, a detailed examination of the diet, lifestyle and health of the indigenous population of Kitava, an island of Papua New Guinea in the Pacific Ocean.

Starting in 1989, Staffan Lindeberg led scientific surveys of the non-Westernized population on Kitava, one of the Trobriand Islands of Papua New Guinea. These surveys, collectively referred to as the Kitava Study, found that this population apparently did not suffer from diabetes, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, obesity, or strokes (the so-called Western diseases). He emphasized the importance of eating whole foods low in antinutrients.

Based on his study of the Kitavans, Lindeberg postulated that most common Western diseases like atherosclerosis and diabetes stem from a Westernized dietary habits and lifestyle humans are not well-adapted to. (the mismatch between the lifestyle common in developed nations and that for which the human genome was originally selected (through natural selection) during the Stone Age)

Of late, Paleolithic diet style is popularized by American evolutionary biologist Loren Cordain (Born - 1950). Thanks to Loren Cordain, the Paleo Diet has become the most influential diet of the past 20 years. In the year 2002, Prof. Cordain’s international research team has discovered that Westernization of dietary habits is the main culprit for acne and myopia (Short-sightedness) and has shown how certain nutritional characteristics of the Westernized diet are responsible for these and other ubiquitous “diseases of civilization”.

Myopia is a classic disease of civilization. The primitive tribes of the Amazon have not heard of any myopia at all. So, the Canadian Eskimos practically did not have it. But among the Canadian Eskimos, it appeared about half a century ago - when the younger generations abandoned the usual way of life of their fathers and grandfathers. A study conducted in the 1970s identified 10-15% of Eskimo children as nearsighted, and nowadays it has grown to 20-25%. While less than one percent of Inuit and Pacific Islanders were nearsighted at the turn of the last century, those rates have since jumped to 50%.

But while excessive close reading may play a role, that doesn't explain why the incidence of myopia remained low in societies that adopted Western lifestyles but not Westernization dietary habits, Loren Cordain says. "For example, on the islands of Vanuatu (in the southwestern Pacific Ocean), they have eight hours of compulsory education a day," he says, "but the rate of myopia in these children is only two percent." The difference is that Vanuatu people eat fish, yams and coconuts, not white bread and cereals.

Many children (and adults) have a habit of frequent snacking on buns, sandwiches, and sweets throughout the day. According to Loren Cordain, due to excessive frequent consumption of starchy foods, excess insulin is produced in the body, and it causes an elongation of the eyeball which leads to short-sightedness.

Cordain's version of the paleo diet is based on meat of grass-fed animals and poultry, eggs, seafood, fruits and non-starchy vegetables.

Industrial revolution started almost 250 years ago and especially in the last one-hundred years have seen a boom of industrialization. With the introduction of food manufacturing in the Industrial Revolution and with the advent of the 21st century, "Westernization" is spreading around the world, and therefore diseases of civilization have become widespread in the newly industrialized countries of South America, Africa and Asia.

According to its authors, the Paleo diet is correcting the skew of the modern Western diet, moving us back from synthetic junk food to healthier proteins, vitamins and minerals.

More about "Paleo diet"

Supporters of the paleo diet believe that the achievements of civilization (from the wheel to the computer), which make our life easier, richer and more interesting, are to blame for many of the problems of a modern person, since they radically changed his diet, forcing him to switch to products that are unusual for him.

To prove the truth of this theory, its supporters cite as an example the tribes of hunters and gatherers that have survived to this day, feeding the same way as 10,000 years ago. These tribes do not know the "diseases of civilization": diabetes, arthritis, depression, schizophrenia, obesity.

Our modern high-calorie diet provokes disease. The consumption of refined  white flour, refined white rice, refined sugar, excess use of refined salt and refined oils is harmful to our health.

Easily digestible carbohydrates, and especially starches and sugars, which are rich in many cereal grains and starchy vegetables such as potatoes, have the ability to dramatically increase blood sugar levels, which over time leads to excess weight, high blood pressure and a whole bunch of typical diseases of civilization.

The group of diseases of civilization includes pathologies of the cardiovascular, nervous, immune, digestive, endocrine systems. Of these, cardiovascular, oncological, pulmonary diseases and diabetes mellitus have firmly taken the leading places among the causes of death, disability and temporary disability. In addition, diseases such as myopia, dental caries, gum diseases are also called as diseases of civilization.

The founder and populizer of paleo diet is Colorado State University professor, and American evolutionary biologist Loren Cordain - author of the books "Paleo Diet" and "Paleo Diet for Athletes".

The book “The Paleo Diet” written by him was published in 2002.

For people with acne, diets similar to the Paleo Diet (high protein, low glycemic load, free of dairy) have been clinically proven to improve symptoms. Healthful fruits and vegetables, are the primary source of carbohydrates in the paleo diet.

Fresh fruits contain considerably less sugar than sweet, processed foods. Additionally, the glycemic (blood glucose) response to most fruits is generally quite low. Very obese or diabetic subjects should reduce consumption of high sugar fruits but shouldn’t restrict low sugar fruits.

Palaeolithic diets (dubbed the Stone-Age or Caveman Diet) or the Paleo Diet is based on foods that our distant ancestors ate even before the advent of agriculture.

Accumulating evidences suggest that foods that were regularly consumed during the human primates and evolution, in particular during the Paleolithic era (2.6 million years ago), may be optimal for the prevention and treatment of some chronic diseases. Paleolithic (Ancient Stone Age) - the first historical period of the Stone Age from the beginning of the use of stone tools (about 2.6 million years ago) to the appearance of agriculture in humans almost 10,000 years ago.

Paleo-diets—in other words, how ancient people used to eat, can be rightfully termed as a ‘Caveman Diet’ and is trendy. Since they did not have much of agriculture, processed foods, grains and dairy products, a paleo diet mainly includes meat, seeds, fruits, nuts, and vegetables. This diet completely excludes sugar, starchy vegetables, dairy and grain products, oils (except cold-pressed olive, walnut and avocado oils), legumes. Paleolithic type diet may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, cancer, acne vulgaris and myopia. Paleolithic food groups (meat, fish, shellfish, fresh fruits and vegetables, roots, tubers, eggs, and nuts).

The dietary relationship between K+ and Na+ in human nutrition and adverse health is well known and incontrovertible. High dietary sodium intakes and low potassium ingestion increase the risk for numerous chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke, cancer, kidney disease, and autoimmunity among others.

With real, contemporary paleo diets, there's no need to worry about the K+/Na ratio because paleo diets don’t contain added salt, and the paleo diet allows you unlimited consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.

So, paleo experts advise to consume more fresh vegetables and fruit juices and less processed foods. Increased consumption of fresh, raw, vegetable and fruit juices are consistent with the evolutionary model of optimal human nutrition.

Milk and dairy products also elicit an exaggerated insulin response similar to high glycemic load carbohydrates. This is why milk and dairy products are excluded from paleo diet.

Foods to avoid include dairy products, cereal grains, legumes, refined sugars, and highly processed foods.

Paleo diet experts say that, if you want to lose weight, recover from chronic diseases or just feel close to nature, there is no better way than the paleo diet, if only because it is rich in fresh natural products and excludes animal fats, processed foods and foods with preservatives and dyes. ..

Lauren Cordain, American scientist, professor, nutritionist and founder of the paleo diet, explains this diet by the following factors:

“The human genome was formed in the Paleolithic era and earlier - therefore, foods that appeared later, contradict the human genetic structure and the correct diet, as a result of which they lead to permanent health problems. Followers of the Paleolithic diet argue that the reason why we should adhere to it is that our body, especially our digestive system, has adapted to this particular food. It is argued that the use of dairy and other products that were not available before the advent of agriculture, is challenging both evolution and our body. According to a 2012 Polish study, 70% of the energy we need on a daily basis comes from food that primitive people ate very rarely or did not eat at all: dairy products, cereals,refined sugar and processed fat. "

Species diet and paleo diet

The most radical solution to the diseases of civilization problem is the so-called "species diet" advertised by the followers of Galina Shatalova, Russian researcher in the latter part of 20^th  century. It is based on a typical great ape menu: fruits, vegetables, nuts and herbs. At the same time, it is allowed to receive up to 30% of calories from cereals (wholegrain bread, cereals), which, of course, looks like a concession to the modern lifestyle. Gorillas, chimpanzees and other monkeys can sometimes consume grains of plants, including cereals, but grain has never made up any significant part in the diet of our closest biological relatives. Anthropoid inhabitants of tropical forests receive the lion's share of calories from food that is of little use to us - eating foliage and young shoots of plants.

Anthropologists criticize the "species diet", pointing out that humans are very different from monkeys. Our evolutionary lineage has split from other primates through the regular consumption of meat. Only animal food had enough calories to provide such an energy-consuming organ as the brain.

Archaeological finds confirm that the increase in the brain of our ancestors is closely related to the development of a meat diet. Not surprisingly, more popular than the “species” was the “paleo diet” based on the Stone Age menu. Unlike the "species" diet, the paleo diet does not send us back to the previous stage of evolution, but refers to the cuisine of less distant ancestors - primitive hunters who lived on the planet several tens of thousands of years ago. The Paleo diet adds foods such as meat and fish to the “species” assortment. All the later achievements of civilization are excluded: flour products, sugar, fats, milk and dairy products.

Paleo diet and tooth decay

Ancient humans ate mostly meat from wild animals, seeds, nuts, and fruits. For years, the common wisdom among paleontologists and anthropologists was that ancient humans got many fewer cavities than modern humans because their diet was low in tooth decay-causing sugars and carbohydrates. Early humans ate meals that were relatively low-carb and consisted mainly of meat. This is because farming had not yet been developed. Once humans did start farming, they ate more grain, which led to more acids being produced in the mouth. Early farmers tended to have more cavities than hunter-gatherers.

It wasn’t until the advent of agriculture that the teeth ancient human skeletons started showing rates of tooth decay that resemble modern humans. The gist of the evidence seemed to be that once humans started consuming domesticated wheat and dairy from domesticated animals, our teeth started paying the price despite having a more stable source of food.

Examination of old European cavemen hunter-gatherer dental samples shows fewer signs of cavities and periodontal disease than we have now. It wasn’t until widespread agriculture that the bacteria in the mouth shifted to the kind that is associated with disease. And the bacteria that cause tooth decay become dominant around the Industrial Revolution.

There’s plenty of academic debate about what cavemen used to actually eat, but the paleolithic diet seeks to limit agricultural food nonetheless.

Paleo dieters logically assume that if they stick to a pre-agrarian diet, they won’t have to visit the dentist to fix dental problems as often.

Harvard anthropology professor Dr. Ernest A. Hooton invited dental professionals to take the bulk of the responsibility for improving health care and ending the overall crisis. In his opinion, the development of dental diseases and degeneration can be stopped only if the profession of a dentist rises to a higher scientific and ethical level. Dentists should make it their mission to intelligently control human evolution as much as dietary dictates. Studying the way of life of "uncivilized" people, we found that this worst food gave us the worst teeth.

In Apes, Men and Morons, professor Earnest Hooten states "Let us go to the ignorant savage, consider his way of eating and be wise. Let us cease pretending that toothbrushes and toothpaste are anymore important than shoe brushes and shoe polish. It is store food that have given us store teeth."

It seems that when a western diet that includes processed foods, carbohydrates, and sugars is introduced, tooth decay starts to occur.

Fruits and vegetables contain antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and we cannot do without them. With the Paleo diet, the amount of fruits and vegetables in the diet will increase significantly, and you need to take care of where you can get the freshest fruits and vegetables, as well as how to diversify their assortment.

In one scientific experiment, when vitamin c was eliminated from diet, there was a widespread affection of tooth decay and gum diseases. As is known, vitamin c is abundant in fresh fruits and vegetables.

Paleo diet and myopia

In 2002, Lauren Cordain published a hypothesis that relates the modern observed increased prevalence of myopia to modern changes in diet. The ubiquitous high glycemic load carbohydrates in the typical western diet contributes to the development of myopia.

The reasoning is that since we evolved to eat the diet of early humans, we should be more healthy doing so. The enthusiasm for it is based on observations made since the late 19th and early 20th century that many of the “diseases of civilization” (e.g. diabetes, heart disease, appendicitis, cancer, and myopia) were unknown in pre-agricultural societies when those societies were first encountered by modern doctors, but became common once these same societies transitioned to a western diet and western lifestyles were adopted. Some knowledge of the diet of early humans can be derived from the activity of modern hunter-gatherers, but much is derived from archeological enquiries that are properly in the field of paleo-anthropology.

In modern hunter gatherers, the prevalence of myopia was extremely low, around 1% or so, in pre-agricultural/pre-Industrial humans. In Western countries it is significantly greater (more than 15% in Australian adults), and higher still in Asian countries.

Cordain’s hypothesis is that high GI diets (diets high in refined carbohydrates that the body quickly breaks down to glucose, i.e. refined white flour, refined white rice, sugar) lead to an increase in insulin secretion, which has a number of biochemical consequences in the body. These include suppression of IGF-binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1), and increased IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor-1). This can have effects on tissue growth, but also may lead indirectly to suppression of IGF-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3), leading to effects on retinoid receptor signaling in the eye. All this leads to myopia.

Cordain’s version of the paleo diet is based on grass-fed meat, poultry, eggs, seafood, fruits and non-starchy vegetables. (Vitamin K2 is essential for healthy bones and teeth. It also protects the vessels from calcium entering them. When animals consume vitamin K1, which is found in grass and green leafy vegetables, their digestive system converts it into vitamin K2. This is another reason grass-fed meat is healthier than grain-fed meat. Good sources of vitamin K2 is - butter from grass-fed cows. Vitamin K2 is best obtained from butter, milk of cows and goats, which feed on grass. ) Fats are not restricted, but grains, legumes, potatoes, dairy products and sugar are all off the table, resulting in a diet that is high in protein and low in carbohydrate. Cordain claims our ancestors were not only lean but also had no cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, autoimmune diseases, osteoporosis, acne, myopia, varicose veins, gastric reflux or gout. He and others attribute this to their lack of grains, legumes, dairy products and potatoes.

Features of paleo diet

"Paleolithic diet", is an ancestral diet characterized by higher protein, less total fat, more essential fatty acids, lower sodium and higher fiber, should serve as a reference standard for modern human nutrition.

Low calcium intake, which is often considered as a potential disadvantage of the Paleolithic diet model, should be weighed against the low content of phytates and the low content of sodium chloride, as well as the high amount of net base yielding vegetables and fruits. Increasing number of evidences supports the view that intake of high glycemic foods and insulinotropic dairy products is involved in the pathogenesis and progression of acne vulgaris in Western countries.

There’s plenty of academic debate about what cavemen used to actually eat, but the paleolithic diet seeks to limit agricultural food nonetheless.

That means people on a Paleo diet eat:

• Lean meats

• Seafood

• Fresh fruit

• Non-starchy veggies like lettuce, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower and spinach

• Nuts

• Seeds

• Eggs

• Plant-based oils like olive oil

People on a Paleo diet can’t eat:

• Grains

• Starchy veggies like potatoes

• Legumes or beans

• Milk and dairy products

• High-fat meats like ribs or pepperoni

• Sugar

• Processed foods

• Salty foods

Fruits and vegetables contain antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and we cannot do without them. With the Paleo diet, the amount of fruits and vegetables in the diet will increase significantly, and you need to take care of where you can get the freshest fruits and vegetables, as well as how to diversify their assortment.

Fluoride is found in apples, fish, and even water,” says the doctor. - And in the Leningrad and Moscow regions, the fluoride content in water is increased, therefore, if a person drinks 1-1.5 liters of water per day and eats an apple, the daily fluoride rate of 2 milligrams will already be received. But here a man brushes his teeth with a paste with fluoride. Excess fluoride destroys the enamel. If you see white spots on your teeth, see your dentist immediately. Subsequently, these spots will turn yellow, and then turn into holes - caries.

The Canadians, meanwhile, have developed a device that, using ultrasonic vibrations, acts on the root of a damaged tooth and regenerates it.

The body needs all types of fats:

• Saturated fat - meat, lard, lard, butter, cheese

• Monounsaturated fat - olive oil, peanuts, almonds, avocados

• Polyunsaturated fats - fish, hazelnuts, flaxseeds

• Cholesterol - liver, fish, eggs, butter

Low calcium intake, which is often considered as a potential disadvantage of the Paleolithic diet model, should be weighed against the low content of phytates and the low content of sodium chloride, as well as the high amount of net base yielding vegetables and fruits. Increasing number of evidences supports the view that intake of high glycemic foods and insulinotropic dairy products is involved in the pathogenesis and progression of acne vulgaris in Western countries.

Dentin and enamel are nourished by special building cells called odontoblasts. They carry or distribute certain nutrients through the dental lymph. Odontoblasts contain microscopic structures that act as pumps. As a result, a healthy tooth cleans itself. Microscopic droplets of nutrient fluid released from our blood are pumped through the tubules. In a healthy tooth, this fluid moves under pressure from the pulp towards the enamel, protecting the teeth from corrosive substances present in the oral cavity.

With age, caries affects more and more teeth. As the body ages, we lose more and more teeth. Apart from wisdom teeth, people aged 20 to 39 years have already lost one tooth on average, from 40 to 59 years old - three and a half teeth are missing; and those over 60 have eight teeth.

Additional statistical data are also depressing, such as dental lesions in people over 40 years old. On average, in persons of this age group, 45.89% of the teeth are subject to caries.