Bifidobacteria longum, Roseburia, F. prausnitzii (and Akkermansia) Made Us Human (NONE OF THESE EAT RAW POTATO STARCH) (Part 1) NSFW

Journal Club today:

Moeller et al PNAS 2014 'Rapid changes in the gut microbiome during human evolution'




Fig 1. Compositional changes in the gut microbiome during African ape diversification. Shifts in relative abundances of microbial genera within the gut microbiome were inferred for each branch of the host phylogeny. Genera whose relative abundances increased or decreased are listed above or below each branch within blue-shaded or yellow-shaded boxes, respectively.

Moeller et al PNAS 2014
Ancestral Core:
Roseburia, F. prausnitzii, BIFIDOBACTERIA,
Bacteroides, Clostridium

Highlights:

Ancestral Core:
Roseburia, F. prausnitzii, BIFIDOBACTERIA, Bacteroides, Clostridium

The ancestral core made us human. These are enriched 2 to 5-fold in humans through deep evolutionary time compared to our wild African chimp and ape cousins. These gut flora eat a range of plant polysaccharides but the more immunoprotective, the more they are likely to consume breastmilk-like oligosaccharides (inulin type fructans, GOS, raffinose family oligosaccharides) and inulin. Roseburia, F. prausnitzii, BIFIDOBACTERIA and Clostridium thrive and crossfeed on RS3 and inulin/oligosaccharides, but not raw starches/RS2.

"Changes in the composition of the microbiome accrued steadily as African apes diversified, but human microbiomes have diverged at an accelerated pace ow- ing to a dramatic loss of ancestral microbial diversity. These results suggest that the human microbiome has undergone a substantial transformation since the human–chimpanzee split."

"For instance, the relative abundances of Prevotella and Bacteriodes were negatively correlated within each host population."  Prevotella are high grain-eaters, seen high in Burkina Faso children and those consuming whole-grain-based diets. Bacteroides are versatile -- they consume everything: carbs/grains, fats,  andmeat/protein.

"Relative abundances of Bacteroides were always positively correlated with those of Ruminococcus and Parabacteroides."  Bacteroides again are big meat-and-potatoes fans. 

"We identified 35 instances in which the relative abundance of a microbial taxon shifted since the divergences of the extant species of African ape (Fig. 1), 17 of which occurred in humans since the divergence of Homo and Pan. Several of these changes in the composition of the human microbiome have functional implications for host nutrition." The introduction of diverse, high-fiber, high-RS3 cooked starches changed many things for humans including the evolution of their gut flora: seeds (lotus, quinoa, fenugreek, buckwheat, etc), legumes, lentils, roasted tubers-rhizomes, whole soaked nuts, ground nut flours (tigernut 'cakes', acorn 'pancakes'), maize (porridges, tortilla), whole grains (oats, millet, maize, sorghum, teff, amaranth, black/red/brown/purple rices), etc.





Humans Expanded Their Food and Ecological Niches By Taming Fire

Whole Real Food	100g = ~ ½ cup	Inulin-Oligosaccharide Content	RS3 Content
Chicory root	100g	41g	0
Jerusalem artichoke	100g	18g	0
Dandelion greens	100g	13g	0
Onion (raw or cooked)	100g	4g	0
Garlic (raw or cooked)	25g	3g	0
Cowpea, White Lupin	100g	5g	4g
Lentils, Chickpeas, Hummus	100g	4g	2-4g
Pinto Beans (cooked/cooled)	100g	3g	10g
Purple Potato (roasted/cooled)	100g	na	15-19g
Yams (boiled/cooled)	100g	na	6-8g
Potato (boiled/cooled)	100g	na	3-7g
Rice (cooked/cooled)	100g	na	1-2g
Long grain Rice (cooked/cool)	100g	na	2-3g
Sushi Rice (cooked/cool)	100g	na	3-4g

Other Highlights

"The relative abundance of Bacteroides, which has been positively associated with diets rich in animal fat and protein (9), has increased in relative abundance more than fivefold in humans. Conversely, the archaeon Methanobrevibacter, which promotes the degradation of complex plant polysaccharides by using the end products of fermentation for methanogenesis (10), has undergone a more than fivefold reduction within humans."

"Fossil and genetic evidence in- dicate that the divergence times for African apes range from 5 to 13 mya for the chimpanzee–human split and from 8 to 16 mya for the human–gorilla split (12, 13)."

"Despite the clock-like nature of microbiome diversification in African apes, the gut microbiomes of US humans have undergone an accelerated rate of change and are more different from those of each wild ape population than expected based on the evolutionary time separating Homo from Pan and Gorilla. Based on genus-level BCD, the microbiomes of US humans are more different from those of Malawi humans than the gut microbiomes of Malawi humans are from those of bonobos." We started cooking and routine control of fire. Hunting, fishing and broad spectrum foraging allowed us to travel and massively change our diets and ecosystem roles and niches. As apex predators, we took over the globe.

Men's Health 2014 (current issue)
Sexxxy Guts for a special EvMed reader
Hamster? Homo sapien? Pan GUTS???

NUTRIGENOMICS AND DIET

Even Neanderthals harvested small seed grains and used fire routinely to cook on hearths. I suspect however they didn't adapt to the gluten ones well and may have had genetics like HLA DQ2.2, DQ2/8 that are related to higher gluten damage and gut devastation with raw or unfermented gluten grains (eg sourdough, lacto fermented porridges, etc). Neanderthals reigned for tens of thousands of years but with agrarian dominance and reliance on gluten containing spelt, emmer, barley and rye, I believe it took a toll on Neanderthal guts. Their numbers gradually dwindled from 50,000 years to 25-40 thousand years ago. Modern humans may be seeing similar gut devastation: slow disease and debilitation; epidemic infertility; mental illness and cognitive decline. Modern skeletons are shrinking, craniums de-evolving.

One thing in common tubers, roots, seeds, nuts, grains and legumes have are the fact that they are all 'plant babies' and thus share many common nutrients - protein, storage carbohydrates and protection from cold/frost/mechanical stressors. These translate to better nutrients for those that consume them as well if the anti-nutrients don't get them first. Resistant starch, inulin and oligosaccharides are the signaling molecules which buffer and aid plants to survive the rough elements from weather or wind.

Not everyone can consume grains which are high carb and gluten-damaging. Most can eat high fiber, heirloom potatoes and yams which are how many current ancestral societies still thrive. Legumes and non-gluten grains (millet, maize, rice, teff, oats) which are low glycemic index (not impact blood sugars) are also typically well tolerated. Notable cultures that follow traditions ferment, soak and cook these as their staples.

Copies of AMY1, Apo E2, FUT2 secretor status, and non-MTHFR genes may regulate who CAN versus who CANNOT tolerate the abundance from the fertile crescent and heavy agrarian societies.

Adaptive Drool in the Gene Pool: AMY1
Novembre et al Nature 2007
Low AMY1 Copy (High Starch Intolerant) v. High AMY1 Copy

TUBERS ROOTS SEEDS NUTS GRAINS AND LEGUMES

Bernstein et al (Nutrients 2013) examined the fiber spectrum in whole seeds and grains -- certain populations on earth get a lot of variety of fiber and RS from whole grains, including inulin, inulin-type fructans (ITF; short ones = oligosaccharides), gums, arabinoxylan (like psyllium), glucomannan, beta-glucan, hemicellulose, lignins and cellulose. For our ancestors who consumed these foods, their guts likely became adapted and diversified to an enormous range of gut flora that would breakdown and make useful such an assortment of soluble and insoluble fiber/RS3.

Beans and lentils look a lot like below too. These are seeds of legumes. They are rich in GOS (galactooligosaccharides) which specifically feeds our omnipotent Bifidobacteria longum, as well as nearly every character in the ancestral core. GOS is like breastmilk -- immunoprotective and pushes stubborn pathogens off epithelial sites. GOS are also known as RFOs, raffinose family oligosaccharides.

Oligosaccharides and inulin type fructans behave like anti-freeze, protecting Evolution's plant babies from the intermittent Ice Ages, frosty seasons and deep aridity of desert storms. They are widespread on earth -- the second most abundant plant carbohydrate in existence. Your gut flora love them! Please don't starve and torture them.

Non-bean/grain OS and inulin rich foods: artichokes, asparagus, dandelion roots, chicory roots, sunchoke/Jerusalem artichokes, Dandy drink, onions, leeks, garlic, chives, cactus, etc (YES THESE ARE FODMAPS: alert).

ALL the gut species that make us human as discussed in the Journal Club eat inulin and oligos.

• B longum and all the bifidobacteria
• Roseburia
• F. prausnitizii
• Akkermansia
• Bacteroides
• Clostridium

Dr. Bill Lagakos PhD writes often about GOS and B longum, one of his FAVORITE gut creatures: Calories Proper, Guts 'n GOS, Opus 142

Bernstein with Dr M. Roizen/OZ TEAM et al

Neanderthals Mingled for Millenia

There is a new article in Nature about Neanderthals. My previous posts on them: here. I think they're an interesting group which overlapped with both Hss and Homo erectus (aka Java Man, aka Peking Man). I talked a ton about Homo erectus at the AHS14 talk because though we do not apparently have DNA data yet, he had such range and geographic breadth like Neanderthals, that there certainly likely existed co-mingled culture and blood between Hss and Homo erectus. New evidence appears to indicate we shared many things with Neanderthals for several thousand years... and their demise appears staggered over geography and time. I still wonder what diet, lifestyles and climate changes affected their extinction? They were cold adapted, surviving Ice Ages and interglacials. They grew rapidly during maturation and development, even more than there predecessors, almost like a vampirish subspecies. But, apparently something in the warmer climates laid claim to their eventually deaths as an independent native race. It's still a mystery. Too bad gut and intestinal tissues haven't survived the millenia for sophisticated analysis.



The timing and spatiotemporal patterning of Neanderthal disappearance

Part of abstract: The timing of Neanderthal disappearance and the extent to which they overlapped with the earliest incoming anatomically modern humans (AMHs) in Eurasia are key questions in palaeoanthropology1, 2. Determining the spatiotemporal relationship between the two populations is crucial if we are to understand the processes, timing and reasons leading to the disappearance of Neanderthals and the likelihood of cultural and genetic exchange.

Editor's summary

Did anatomically modern humans coexist with Neanderthals? Attempts to answer this question are complicated by the fact that conventional methods of radiocarbon dating become unreliable at just about the time in question: as sample ages approach 50,000 years little carbon-14 is left and it is difficult to obtain accurate measurements. Tom Higham and colleagues have worked to improve sample processing and accelerator-mass-spectrometry radiocarbon dating in order to construct a robust chronology based on the last appearances of the Mousterian tool culture — considered diagnostic for the presence of Neanderthals — from forty sites from Spain to Russia. The results indicate that Neanderthals disappeared at different times in different regions, with a significant overlap with incoming modern humans for around 2,600 to 5,400 years. Rather than a rapid model of replacement, this work suggests a complex picture in which cultural and biological interchange could have occurred between the two groups across a period of several thousand years.

Legumes and Potatoes are Certainly P-A-L-E-O

Tubers are as Ancient as Bipedalism

The Paleolithic Age started ~2.6 mya and extended to only 12,000 years ago. The last Homo neanderthalensis existed up to ~25,000 years ago, and in fact their DNA exists in nearly all of us. One of our ancient human ancestors, Australopithecine boisei (formerly known as Paranthropus boisei), did not eat the stiff and hard textured nuts that their tough jaws and mean bite alluded to, but instead appeared to consume a diet rich in soft sedge tubers (including tigernuts) that grew buried in the soft land near waterways and shorelines. He had nickname, Nutcracker man. And lived with great longevity from 2.4 mya to 1.4 mya, impressively longer (that I'm aware of) than any other hominin ancestor that humans have had. Nutcracker man indeed started our human evolution with increasingly larger brain sizes during his 1 million year reign and likely planted the seeds for yet even larger brain sizes in 'subsequent prototypes' in Homo.

The moors, peatlands, and marshlands of Scotland and northern Europe were very similiar to the Paleo 'nutriscape' and terrain during the transition from Ice Ages to mega C4 sedge and grasslands. I suspect our ancestors consumed a pretty heady diet of plant fiber and starch because sedge tubers/corms/rhizomes (including tiger nuts), cattail bulbs, water chestnuts, wild carrots, yams, and other starchy roots were common underground storage organs (USOs).  Tubers like tigernuts and other underground sedge roots had a different, more evolved form of photosynthesis that required less molecules of water and selected during the shift in weather from moist and aquatic to dry grasslands. The final electron donor switched from water which had become intermittently scarce to sugar/starch molecules. During intermittent freezing and warm periods, sugar and starch additionally served another role as a buffer from cold trauma and frost.

Tigernuts and sedges were offspring of the new C4 photosynthetic plants and grew plentifully. Papyrus is also an example of a sedge. C4 plants and roots produced a radiation signal that was found in great amounts in C13/C14 isotope density studies from enamel and Nutcracker remains from 1-2 mya. Being sweet, starchy and high in protein, it was no wonder that our ancient ancestor found sedge tubers and tigernuts so delightful to exploit.

In the Paleolithic Age, both Homo and Australopithecine fed themselves well enough to not only survive the Ice Ages, predators, pathogens and newly discovered bipedalism, but also to grow a higher capacity cranium. One of the leading theories for this is digestible carbohydrates. Without complex carbohydrates and high fiber starches from USOs it is unlikely that fruit and honey alone would have exploded the process of encephalization. For tens of millions of years our primate cousins had failed to forge larger brains as frugivores. What changed? Researchers Brown et al reviewed the diet of our primal forefathers and noted they likely consumed "high carbohydrate sources including plants particularly those with underground storage organs (USOs) such as reed mace (Typha), common reed (Phragmites), water chestnut (Trapa natans) and yellow water lily (Nuphar lutea). USOs have repeatedly been implicated in hominin evolution and particularly encephalisation and bipedalism in the Africa [83], [72], [84]–[85] although this has been challenged [86]."

USOs provide valuable nutrients for brain fuel: zinc, magnesium, carbohydrates, sucrose, vitamin C (one serving, almost 50% of RDA), and protein. In terms of the brain-gut evolution, digging for tubers also tied our ancestors to the ground in more ways than the descent from the arboreal heavens to terra firma living and bipedalism. SBO probiotics (soil-based organisms) clung to every new bite of dirt-covered tubers. For tree hugging primates, the new terrain brought not only fresh and novel food, but also broad exposures to a whole new world of micro-organisms. Remember, diet (dirt lol) is the biggest driver of the microbiota and evolution of the gut. Transformation of gut and brain occurred simultaneously I believe. Our herbivore colon shrunk as our brains exponentially expanded... or even doubled: gut and cranium.

AG Brown et al, 2013
Site Distribution at the Edge of the Palaeolithic World: A Nutritional Niche Approach

This paper presents data from the English Channel area of Britain and Northern France on the spatial distribution of Lower to early Middle Palaeolithic pre-MIS5 interglacial sites which are used to test the contention that the pattern of the richest sites is a real archaeological distribution and not of taphonomic origin. These sites show a marked concentration in the middle-lower reaches of river valleys with most being upstream of, but close to, estimated interglacial tidal limits. A plant and animal database derived from Middle-Late Pleistocene sites in the region is used to estimate the potentially edible foods and their distribution in the typically undulating landscape of the region. This is then converted into the potential availability of macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, fats) and selected micronutrients. The floodplain is shown to be the optimum location in the nutritional landscape (nutriscape). In addition to both absolute and seasonal macronutrient advantages the floodplains could have provided foods rich in key micronutrients, which are linked to better health, the maintenance of fertility and minimization of infant mortality. Such places may have been seen as ‘good (or healthy) places’ explaining the high number of artefacts accumulated by repeated visitation over long periods of time and possible occupation. The distribution of these sites reflects the richest aquatic and wetland successional habitats along valley floors. Such locations would have provided foods rich in a wide range of nutrients, importantly including those in short supply at these latitudes. When combined with other benefits, the high nutrient diversity made these locations the optimal niche in northwest European mixed temperate woodland environments. It is argued here that the use of these nutritionally advantageous locations as nodal or central points facilitated a healthy variant of the Palaeolithic diet which permitted habitation at the edge of these hominins’ range.

Paleo People Loved Legumes

Neanderthals probably didn't do a fantastic job with legumes and small grain grasses because now they are extinct. It took a few dozen thousands of years...a slow demise, if that one of the reasons for their demise. During the latter portion of the Paleolithic, smarter hominids came along and figured out how to soak and cook legumes and SGGs. Food processing easily removes toxins and transforms them toxic, hard bumps of plant seeds into edible and delicious sources of starch, fiber, fat and protein.

Wrangtham et al in 'The Evolution of Hominin Diets' (2009) discusses the use of legumes in the end of Paleolithic Age, before the advent of agriculture. Plant evidence doesn't survive time well. What was unearthed was corroborated at a variety of sites widely distributed throughout Europe and Eurasia.

Legumes may be questionably Paleo® but they are unquestionably bionic for the gut microbiota and fuels the most important populations throughout the entire length of gut. The special fibers in legumes are unequaled when it comes to the combination of both RS3 and non-starch polysaccharides. Instead of raising blood sugars, legumes are low glycemic index meaning they impact insulin minimally or in fact lower it. Legumes have no dearth of clinical human trials that demonstrate its value for significantly lowering cancer, inflammation, insulin resistance, blood sugars, and gastrointestinal disorders.

Wrangtham et al in 'The Evolution of Hominin Diets' (2009)
"The richest food plant assemblage of Mousterian date, at
Kebara Cave in Israel, is dominated by a legume seeds of a
range of species, the form of some of which might suggest
collection while underripe (Lev et al., 2005). Towards the endof the Paleolithic, legume finds are scattered across Europe,
for example the pea and bitter vetch at Öküzini, Turkey; lentil
at Konispol cave, Albania; and vetches and other legumes at
Santa Maira, Alacant, Spain (Baales et al., 2002). Another
rich example of pre-agricultural legume foragers comes from
Hallam Cemi in Turkish Anatolia (Savard et al., 2006).



New Environments and New Plant
Strategies

Monocot stems and legume pods may have provided a significant mass of plant foods during the expansion into thel ower latitudes of Eurasia, where a vast array of yams and
legumes have emerged in the modern human food web as
domesticated plants. Moving further northwards still, these
kinds of resources diminish significantly, both in diversity
and in biomass availability. The quest for plant foods will
have presented an increasing challenge.
The cooler northern vegetation stands would have been
characterised by a range of open biomes including “arctic
steppe” (Cwynar and Ritchie, 1980; Zazula et al., 2003)
and closed vegetations characterised by woody dicots and
coniferous trees. Woody dicots are reasonably rich in edible
nuts, kernels, and fruits and, in certain families, edible roots
and tubers. As mentioned above, the lower the biological
productivity, the greater evolutionary pressure to protects eeds and storage organs from predation, and so it is generally
true that, especially as they move northwards, human
feeders are presented with a more complex “landscape of
toxicity” by dicots than tends to be the case with monocots,
particularly in the context of the seeds and tubers upon whicht he plant itself relies to cross the non-growing season. The  kind of transferable ecological 
knowledge that allowed feedersto move from one monocot to another in more southerly
biomes is not directly transferable to the dicots in northerly
biomes. 

Consciousness: The Great Leap Forward (Again?)

'Bigger Than The World'
Justin Timberlake

Collective Consciousness

There has been more discussions recently about collective consciousness just recently as we remembered global events that increased our awareness of our world, including 9/11. Actually part of the reason why I blog is because of 9/11. During the aftermath of the terror, heartbreak, and trauma that occurred in NYC, Pennsylvania and the Pentagon on that unforgettable day, there was a palpable change in country I felt. I don't know if it was collective but we all changed. I don't know if we were all connected at some point mentally, spiritually or noetically but somehow our consciousness appeared altered and irrevocably affected. For many months following the siege, the offices of the Wall Street Journal were displaced and journalists were spread out in outposts dispatching daily stories of immense hope, heroicism and triumphs of human spirit. It was difficult not to cry nearly everyday reading what ordinary people were doing endearing unimaginable pain and surviving extraordinary circumstances. Their unique, individual voices could not be missed or forgotten.



Conciousness Emerged 40,000 Years Ago

Intelligence, consciousness, and sentience. AWARENESS... Mmmh... the Matrix (nsfw) expanded my mind and awareness.

Scifi author Robert J. Sawyer wrote an essay in the anthology 'Taking the Red Pill: Science, Philosophy and Religion in The Matrix' entitled 'Artificial Intelligence, Science Fiction, and THE MATRIX'. Regarding humans, 'Intelligence is an emergent property of complex systems. We know that because that's exactly how it happened in us.'

'Anatomically modern humans -- Homo sapien sapiens -- emerged a hundred thousand years ago. Judging by their skulls, these guys had brains identical in size and shape to our own. And yet, for 60,000 years, those brains went along doing only the things nature needed them to do: enabling these early humans to survive.'

'And then, suddenly, 40,000 years ago, it happened: intelligence -- and consciouness itself -- emerged. Anthropologists call it "the Great Leap Forward."'

'Modern-looking human beings had been around for six hundred centuries by that point, but they had created no art, they didn't adorn their bodies with jewelry, and they didn't bury their dead with grave goods. But starting simultaneously 40,000 years ago, suddenly humans were painting beautiful pictures on cave walls, humans were wearing necklaces and bracelets, and humans were interring their loved ones with food and tools and other valuable objects that could only have been of use in a presumed afterlife.'

'Art, fashion, and religion all appeared simultaneously; truly, a great leap forward. intelligence, consciouness, sentience: it came into being, of its own accord, running on hardward that had evolved for other purposes. If it happened once, it might well happen again.'


Will A Different Conciousness Emerge Again?

Could we have another renaissance of culture, arts and technology? A neolithic intelligence, consciousness and sentience...?? I think we are on that path. The mind is the new frontier. Its barriers and miracles of its strength and potential power are being unlocked as we discover more (or learn from our ancestral warriors and healers)... Return to Matrix... energy begets energy. No energy is wasted. Life is sustained (Neo, kiss; Trinity, energetic voltage to the heart like an automated external defibrillator (AED).

Photo credit: themandus.com

Neanderthal Extinction

Neanderthals were far more advanced, culturally and technologically, and appreciative of consciouness more than earlier realized. An updated from Science Daily from today: Neanderthals More Advanced Than Previously Thought: They Innovated, Adapted Like Modern Humans, Research Shows. In terms of adaptation and evolution, the authors note 'Thousands of years ago, southern Italy experienced a shift in climate, becoming increasingly open and arid, said Riel-Salvatore. Neanderthals living there faced a stark choice of adapting or dying out. The evidence suggests they began using darts or arrows to hunt smaller game to supplement the increasingly scarce larger mammals they traditionally hunted. The fact that Neanderthals could adapt to new conditions and innovate shows they are culturally similar to us," he said.

The same speculation is discussed regarding recent information that grasslands were massively decreased as temperatures cooled at the end of the last Ice Age, approximately coinciding with the last days of the Neanderthals. Read Science Daily (August 18, 2010): Dwindling Green Pastures, Not Hunting, May Have Killed Off the Mammoth. As drier tundras replaced productive grasslands, large herbivorous mega-mammals like wooly mammoths, wooly rhinos and giant deer decreased in number. 'These habitat changes made grazing much more difficult for large mammals and dramatically reduced the amount of food available for them. The changes in grassland quality and availability coincided with increases in the distribution and abundance of modern man, Homo sapiens, ensuring a time of wide-scale upheaval for herbivorous mammals and other mammals that preyed on them.' (Photo courtesy, Science Daily)

Where did this leave the Neanderthals, the terrestrial carnivores (see post: Meat Made Us Smart, But Marine-based BAD*SSED)? Well. With considerably lower intakes of brain-nurturing omega-3 sources. Hunting smaller animals and increasing broad spectrum utilization of plant sources as the larger mammals migrated north away from Italian/Mediterranean and Euroasian shoresides toward Slavic and Siberian geographies.

Ancient man on the other hand continued to and perhaps were propelled toward marine-sourced carnivory and less plant based outsourcing as the mega-fauna dwindled in number and size. As brains improved synaptically, the bigger the brain, the bigger the hunt and the bigger the fish/seafood? It appears so from the evidence thus far.



Electrically, electrochemically, what is omega-3?

It fills in and controls our lipid double-layer cell membranes, and membranes are the master controllers in many emerging ways.

It behaves like high-speed internet. Long-chain Omega-3 fatty acids are the strongest, longest 'cables' in nature and behave like the cables of Comcast and DSL for our brain/heart/GI hardware and connections.




Bigger Omega-3 --> Bigger Brain --> Bigger Consciousness --> Bigger Display/Capture --> Bigger S*XXX --> Bigger Progeny/DNA-push-forward




References:

Explaining longevity of different animals: is membrane fatty acid composition the missing link?
Hulbert AJ.
Age (Dordr). 2008 Sep;30(2-3):89-97. Epub 2008 May 31.

Membrane fatty acids as pacemakers of animal metabolism.
Hulbert AJ.
Lipids. 2007 Sep;42(9):811-9. Epub 2007 Apr 27. Review.

Membrane phospholipid composition may contribute to exceptional longevity of the naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber): a comparative study using shotgun lipidomics.
Mitchell TW, Buffenstein R, Hulbert AJ.
Exp Gerontol. 2007 Nov;42(11):1053-62.

The exceptional longevity of an egg-laying mammal, the short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) is associated with peroxidation-resistant membrane composition.
Hulbert AJ, Beard LA, Grigg GC.
Exp Gerontol. 2008 Aug;43(8):729-33.

Meat Made Us Smart But... Marine-based, BAD*SSED

Meat Made Us Smart?

Making the evo/paleo blogs are the latest headlines... meat made us smart. NPR's article which is excellent: HERE. Love love LOVE NPR's new series. However. Meat. So what? I'm a carnivore and LUST4MEAT but my higher IQ is not attributed to meat. Figure from Richards et al PNAS 2000 and thank you to Stephan for the forward and rich insights HERE and HERE. Update: Richards et al later re-dated the Neanderthal bones to ~33-40 kya, not the stated ~28,500 yrs ago in the original article (Vindija 207 208 data).




Q: What Made Ancient Humans Rapidly DOMINATE the GLOBE?

A: Marine seafood (fauna and flora) including stems, leaves, tubers, berries, mollusks, crustaceans, fish, seals, dolphins, eels... and etc.




*** Summer Reading ***

Been doing some lightweight, softcore summer reading...
(a) MATT RIDLEY, 'Sex and the evolution of human nature: The Red Queen'
(b) 'Sex at dawn', authored by a psychologist and psychiatrist, C. Ryan and C. Jatha
(c) 'Carbs Can Kill!' by a pharmacist/physician, Dr. Robert Su MD, his personal account of complete health reversal (angina/CAD, skin issues, abdominal obesity, sleep apnea) from an MD point of view on a high saturated fat, carbohydrate-restricted (grain-free) diet. He is a fan of Feinman, Volek and the entire body of low-carb, high fat evidence, which he reviews in articulate and simple terms in his wonderful book. He interviews Sally Fallon author Nourishing Traditions (one of my favorite cookbooks) and WAPFer, HERE. Over 1100+ high sat fat, carb restricted cancer, disease and health references are listed conveniently on his site: HERE.

All 3 were extremely entertaining, enlightening and entirely edifying. Without really arguing the diet point, each of these scientific or sexual-psychosocial or medical/nutritional nonfiction are all for highly descriptive of a behavior or lifestyle written by evolution. (Thanks Dr. Dan for that motto!~) Unfortunately books #1 and #2 don't appear to understand the wild-human diet part... HHHhmmm.

Regarding Sex at dawn, like Melissa who reviewed it earlier HERE at hunt gather love, I agree the authors miss out on romantic love. Where is the LOVE??? Granted... lust does revolve the world around, but again, where's the *heart* sounds.

Also I believe in our human evolutionary history based on our close evo ties to ALL animals, including birds and fish... Ridley argues a better animalistic point that humans are somewhere in behavior (and the genetic studies appear to verify) between the birds and the bonobos/primates... Sexual dimorphism, behavior (mono- v. polygamous depending on fecundity of resources), courtship, songs, pair bonds + affairs, egalitarianism, child/egg rearing, paternity protection, etc. Elaborate shelter construction, prenatal and gestational nesting, omnivorous diet, etc-- Ridley forgot these factors, but I believe these are also common traits.


Biggest Organ

Surprisingly our largest organ which has made the most progressive advances over the last 25 million years... is the BRAIN. Cranial volume has tripled since primates branched off. Neanderthal brains were ~20% larger than current humans. Ancient human brains were also larger but by a smaller fraction, an estimated ~11% larger than currently. An MSNBC 2006 article discusses the microcephalin gene (D variant) which regulates brain size being found in both modern humans and Neanderthals, HERE. Does size matter? I believe so. Above diagram from Trinkaus Richards PNAS 2009, comparing isotope data between Neanderthals, ancient humans and related faunal assemblages.

Author Matt Ridley has tied together an eloquently argued subject that links sexual adaptation, success, survival with human intelligence.

[Smart? He is indeed smart. And funny as H*LL.]


Bigger brains lead to more food.

More food ---> More S*X

More S*X ---> More progeny and so on and so on

Food maybe a relative (Red Queen) euphemism...for any sustenance and nourishment (intellectual, emo, spiritual).




Obviously I've oversimplified and omitted the best thoughts.

Actually the beauty and clarity of Ridley's tight, dense, razor sharp scrutiny of all the lines of evidence and parallels drawn from the wealth of examples from the animal kingdom is how he scintillates the essence of human nature. 'Be different.'

Like a peacock's display, the brain's neurologic display (intelligence, humor, creativity, personality) is the point of attraction that he proposes was selected for over time. It's an interesting contention and makes insanely logical sense.

==>Recap: big brains-->big display-->big S*X-->big progeny





Ancient Humans: More Seafood (More S*X?)

Ridley discusses how bottle-nosed dolphins are perhaps the only other animal (mammal) with intelligence that rivals human intelligence and our complex language skills. However, dolphins brain:body ratios are only ~0.9% whereas humans are vastly higher ~2%. What do ancient humans have in common with our marine cousins, the social pack animal and s*xy/lusty predators, the dolphins?

Neanderthals were incredibly robust, hormonally superb specimens with excellent, dense, powerful bones, and complex communication for large mammal hunts and emerging culture 50-30,000 years ago. Shipman from PennState wrote in PNAS 2008 'Importantly, marine mammals, fish, and mollusks were systematically exploited by both Neanderthals and modern humans throughout the stratigraphic sequences at these caves.'

Above diagram, again, from Trinkaus Richards PNAS 2009. Obviously clear ancient humans were Marine Carnivores and Neanderthals were Herbivore Carnivores (?with possible broad spectrum sourcing including legumes and grasses).

Marine-sourced food is the most highest concentrated sources of omega-3 (marine veggies ALA, marine protein EPA DHA). Most fish or marine mammals don't produce it; THEY EAT IT. From sources concentrated up the food chain starting with algae and phytoplankton up the network, nitrogen and carbon atoms gradually change and can be measured a millenia later.


Omega-3 is BRAIN food.




We are what we eat: Stable 15N 13C Isotope Profiling

Right diagram, courtesy Prof White at Cornell for Geobiochemistry and stable isotopes in paleontology. Nitrogen concentrations up the food chain and marine food networks are laced with more complex hierarchy compared with terrestrial. Carbon is also concentrated up the food chain with again marine sources richer and with higher density carbon atoms compared with land-origin sources. Plants diversified and evolved during the early Miocene 25 mya from Calvin cycle only plants (C3) to more advanced plants that adapted to less water losses (via heat and/or via aridity) with an extra carbon altering step to malate (in the mesophyll vein) before entering the Calvin cycle (C4 plants). During cooling temps or droughts or fires that displaced lush forests and woodlands, grasslands, legumes and grains filled in then eventually flourished (C3 and C4 plants). See Left diagram.

As we can see from Prof White's diagram (right) that Neolithic Europeans who consumed less meat and seafood and more vegetables (C3, C4) had lower density 15N and 13C, compared with marine carnivores: (a) historic Eskimo hunter-gather-fishermen and (b) mesolithic Denmark people.

Go back and examine the 13C data (under 'Big Organ' or HERE) from Richards and Trinkaus PNAS 2009. C13 density is lower for Neanderthals compared with ancient humans yet about the same levels as other carnivores and omnivores (wolf, fox, respectively) and terrestrial small-large herbivores they were known to hunt and consume.

Data exists as early as 50,000 years ago, Neanderthals foraged small grain grasses, legumes and cereals in a small but non-neglible manner. See prior post.

Personally I think it is quite plausible that Neanderthals sourced their food in a very wide way that excluded much marine-based resouces, as indicated by the lack of density in the 15N and 13C isotope evidence.

Why?

I dunno.

Perhaps Neanderthals with their larger brains and early utilization of marine-based foods had a staggering boost in intelligence which translated to a more immense broad-spectrum resource utilization of legumes, small grains and cereals before ancient man got a clue (circa 12,000 years ago, neolithism).

Perhaps Neanderthals failed to figure out how to ferment and displace toxic legume and cereal-containing phytic acid? Ambient warm temperatures are required for fermentation. Perhaps this did not occur sufficiently (and/or by serendipity) until the last glacial maximum ended ~ 16 to 12,000 yrs ago as temperatures rose again finally.

Can a race over-innovate?

Can a race over-innovate to extinction? Esp when the other race is eating omega-3 fish oils by the ton having more s*x and more progeny?

Middle to Late Paleolithic: Neanderthals Consumed Grains and Legumes

For 200,000 Years Neanderthals Dominated Euroasia

Homo neanderthalensis, Neanderthals, migrated out of Africa and completely separated genetic lineages an estimated 200 to 300,000 years ago or even longer. Recent genetic data has shown that as Neanderthals migrated northward, hypopigmentation and red hair (MC1R gene associated) characteristics may have been selected for. National Geographic presents a nice summary HERE.

The geographic range for Neanderthals was vast from Germany, France, Croatia, the steppes of Russia, the Mediterrean shores where they hunted seal and mussels to the Middle East and Israel. See wiki diagram. This area also included the 'fertile cresent', the origin of mass cultivation of cereal grains and domestication of herd animals that sprouted the new world economy, war, arts and advanced culture.



Modern Humans Slowly Entered Eurasia 100,000 Yrs Ago

Modern humans (aka Hss or Homo sapien sapien) started to arrive 90 to 100,000 years ago according to fossil evidence from a rock shelter in Qazfeh Israel. See diagram, courtesy National Geographic). Perhaps after separation from a common hominid ancestor 200 to 300,000 years earlier, modern homininds and Neanderthals crossed paths and recent genomic evidence suggest intermingling occurred... though probably rarely but appears to have resulted in introgression of 1-4% Neanderthal DNA in Euroasian gene stock. The Neanderthal clade consisted of an estimated sparse 15,000 individuals. Earth's population was probably only double or triple that? The last remains of Neanderthals are dated back 28,000 yrs ago at Gibraltar.

What happened? No one is sure...



Sexual and DNA Neanderthal + Modern Human Admixture

Trinkaus, a paleoanthropologist interviewed in the National Geographic piece, states "At the time of the biological transition, the basic behavior [of the two groups] is pretty much the same, and any differences are likely to have been subtle." Trinkaus believes they indeed may have mated occasionally. He sees evidence of admixture between Neanderthals and modern humans in certain fossils, such as a 24,500-year-old skeleton of a young child discovered at the Portuguese site of Lagar Velho, and a 32,000-year-old skull from a cave called Muierii in Romania. "There were very few people on the landscape, and you need to find a mate and reproduce," says Trinkaus. "Why not? Humans are not known to be choosy. Sex happens."



Euroasian Fauna and Flora Based on Fluctuating Temperature

See far top diagram, courtesy Wiki. Wild temperature fluctations occurred on earth during the time period that Neanderthals inhibited Euroasia. Mega and minor extinctions of flora and fauna would probably in a single lifespan of a Neanderthal's life. As the temperatures cooled, trees retreated and grasslands persisted and greatly expanded in their territorial ranges. As the Ice Age ended, the Neanderthal had already perished as a distinct genetic species. Around ~12,000 years ago when high temperatures occurred consistly, mass cereal cultivation and domestication of animals signaled what we recognize now as the Neolithic age. How early were the first small grained grasses foraged by our hunter-gatherer forebears?

Would this have affected Neanderthal gene expression?

Chronic disease afflictions?

Natural selection?




Evidence Middle Paleolithic Neanderthals Foraged Small Grained Grasses

Grasses are basically weeds and non-flowering. The seeds are dispersed off the grain-head by wind and animal/bird ingestion. As such, natural plant defenses support dispersal by keeping the seed intact and evolution of 'chemical warfare' involving phytic acid, lectins and gluten to ensure intact dispersal after animal/bird digestion. As early as 105,000 years ago, sorghum grains were found immediately near hearths in S. Africa highly suggestive of ancient man foraging and use stone mill tools (Science 2009). Could ancient Neanderthals have adopted similar tools and techniques, especially if cooling climatic changes, reduced animal resources to hunt and possible competition with modern humans for resources were all occurring?

Apparently this is the case. ~Approximately 50,000 yrs ago, definitely before the end of the middle paleolithic era, evidence for Neanderthals collecting phytic acid rich legumes and small-grain grasses exists.

Weiss et al published in a review of the use of cereals out pacing small-grained labor intensive grasses in utilization by early man (PNAS 2004). See above diagram. I extrapolated to where estimated Neanderthal extinction may have occurred and the potential for use of small-grained grasses by co-mingling modern humans. He discusses the evidence of grain/cereal foraging by Middle Paleolithic Neanderthals at 2 sites in the Middle East ('fertile cresent'):

• 48-60,000 yrs ago: Kebara Cave, Lev et al
• 55-70,000 yrs ago: Amud Cave, Madella et al
  
  
  Middle Paleolithic: Prelude to the Broad Spectrum
  In Middle Paleolithic Kebara Cave (~60,000–48,000 thermoluminescence years ago), Mount Carmel, Israel, Lev and associates (41, 44) found 3,956 charred seeds representing 52 taxa. On the basis of ethnographic observations and the fact that this plant assemblage was retrieved mainly from the immediate environment of the hearths, we assume that these seeds represent the Mousterian cave dwellers’ diet. Most of the seeds (3,300) were legumes but there were also acorns (Quercus sp.) and pistachio (Pistacia atlantica) nuts, as well as the seeds of giant golden-drop (Onosma gigantean), podonosma (Podonosma orientalis), Judean bugloss (Echium angustifolium judaeum), safflower (Carthamus sp.), and wild grape (Vitis vinifera). Only ten grass grains, including two of wild barley (Hordeum spontaneum), were recovered. In light of the generally good preservation of plant remains in the cave, Lev and colleagues concluded that cereal grains were an insignificant food source. It is notable, however, that they had made their way into human hands by this time, albeit in modest amounts.
  
  Less compelling evidence of the Middle Paleolithic diet comes from Amud Cave (~70,000–55,000 thermoluminescence years ago) in the Upper Galilee, Israel. On the basis of phytolith assemblages, Madella et al. (42) concluded that the cave’s Neanderthals exploited herbaceous plants, ligneous parts of trees and shrubs, and mature grass panicles, and proposed that broad-spectrum exploitation of plants had started at least by the end of the Middle Paleolithic.

Legume and Grain-Consuming Neanderthals and Modern Humans

Did Neanderthals' diet affect the trajectory of their long existence to a final conclusion earlier than expected for such a strong, vital, muscular, close-proximity large-game hunting, cold-adapted, smart, larger-brained (20%), advanced hominid race who had already survived several large and small ice ages???

Why did their race slowly but abruptly fall short?
Lectins? Phytates? Vitamin D deficiency? Celiac disease?
How are both modern humans and extinct Neanderthal similar to Old and New World Primates in regards to pathophysiology of celiac and bone diseases?
See diagram below -- fossil sites of Neanderthal and modern man and the fertile cresent of grains/cereals/gluten. The vegetation is for 18,000 yrs ago, not 28,000 yrs ago when it was several magnitudes cooler reaching the lowest temperatures of the last Ice Age, more grass-lands and arid areas in the Mediterrean and northern European areas... The intense cooling from the Ice Ages did not initiate at polar caps but central continental bodies of water -- literally sucking out 200 to 300 ft of water as it cooled to freezing. Vegetation vastly altered... Grains...d*mn dirty grains...



Next post:
Evidence of Phytate-related Rachitic Damage in Late Neanderthals

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