Canada and the World
Current Events with a Canadian Perspective
Last update
17 May 2011
Subculture Lives
in Stone Age Fashion
Achieving health and happiness by turning back the
clock tens of thousands of years is the goal
of people who try to copy Paleolithic living
The theory behind following the lifestyle of Stone Age people is that the human body is genetically coded for that kind of existence. It’s a way of life that involves lots of exercise and a diet far removed from what is typical today.
Living like a Hunter-
The “Hunter-
Audette observes that humans are the result of millions of years of evolution, but agriculture developed only 10,000 years ago.
Mr. Audette’s argument, is that our bodies are adapted to process the kind of food
our hunter-
A Diet Rich in Meat
Eat as much wild meat as you can, Mr. Audette advises. Eat a pound of bacon for breakfast, some pemmican (a Native American dried and powdered meat and fat dish) for lunch, and another pound of meat and some cabbage for dinner.
John Durant who lives in New York’s Upper East Side tries to follow this diet. Writing in Der Spiegel (February 11, 2010), Philip Bethge quotes Durant as asking “What did people eat back then? How did they move about? And what does it mean for us today?”
Durant’s answer is that Paleolithic people did not eat sugar or carbohydrates. There
was certainly no chocolate, pizza, cheese, or any processed foods. There was fish
and wild animals, and there were berries, nuts, vegetables, fruit, and seeds.
Followers Take up Evolutionary Fitness
Another aspect of Stone Age life was a lot of exercise.
People had to move over large distances in search of their food, and they had to
be agile enough to survive an encounter with a sabre-
Arthur De Vany is a follower of the caveman lifestyle and the creator of Evolutionary
Fitness (EF). He is a retired economics professor who describes himself on his website
as “A former professional athlete and life-
The essence of EF is “Brief moments of high intensity” exercise mixed in with longer
periods of lower-
De Vany says this “follows the natural patterns of all wild living things.” And, the fitness program is not onerous; the Der Spiegel article says De Vany “exercises no more than twice a week, and for barely an hour each time.”
Cave Dweller Training Camp
For those with a desire to take up the challenge of living a Stone Age lifestyle
in the 21st century there are plenty of helpers. One is Erwan Le Corre, an early
devotee of the concept; he calls it “Natural Movement” -
Le Corre runs a jungle training camp in Brazil that sounds like a cross between wilderness survival and extreme sports. Le Corre told Men’s Health Magazine that his course is “about rediscovering our biological nature and releasing the wild human animal inside.”
It’s all part of trying to reproduce in the modern world what formed the daily routine Stone Age people.
Image credit
Stefan Kloo
Sources
“Modern Day Flintstones: A Stone Age Subculture Takes Shape in the U.S.” Philip Bethge, Der Spiegel, February 11, 2010.
“A Wild Workout for the Real World.” Christopher McDougall, Men’s Health Magazine, March 6, 2009.
Free the Animal. Blog by Richard Nikoley.
© Canada and the World, May 2011
All rights reserved
"Prehistoric life was a very long camping trip with no camp stove or energy bars to get us through.”
Arthur De Vany quoted in Der Spiegel
“A modern-
“They eat lots of meat, bathe in icy water and run around barefoot.”
Philip Bethge in
Der Spiegel