DEHAY: What Did Our Ancestors Eat?

By Savanna DeHay

These days, choosing healthy foods can be confusing and difficult. The so-called “medical experts”seem to change their opinions every day about what we should eat. It can sometimes feel like a full-time job trying to keep ourselves healthy. But what if there’s a simple, clear answer? What if we go back to a time before the industrial revolution, before processed foods? We can study the diet of our ancestors and deduce how they avoided chronic conditions like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

It’s time to return to our roots.

Foundation of a Healthy Diet

The Standard American Diet (SAD) is characterized by refined carbohydrates and starches at its core, with a significant inclusion of  processed seed oils. No one needs a doctorate degree to see that the SAD bears little resemblance to the diet of our ancestors, who thrived on nutrient-dense foods for thousands of years . Our pantries are stocked with heavily processed ingredients and chemicals, often referred to as “frankenfoods,” which are created in a lab and should be considered more like industrial products than food. Even fruits and vegetables have been specially hybridized to be bigger and sweeter, and never existed in this way thousands of years ago. We have all been sold lies about our health to bolster industrial advancement for over a century. If most of what we have been told about food is false, then where do we even begin?

“You are what you eat.” We’ve all heard it. Well, we’re made of flesh, skin, hair, nails, and bones. It only makes sense that flesh (meat) be the foundation of a proper human diet, right? What better way to build and preserve muscle than to eat muscle meat? Renowned experts in the field of nutrition and health, doctors including  Dr. Ken Berry, Dr. Eric Berg, Dr. Shawn Baker, Dr. Lisa Wiedeman, among consistently agree, this is how humans were made to eat:

FOUNDATION:

• Protein from red meat, poultry, pork,  fish, and eggs
• Ensure we consume no less than 1g protein/lb of lean mass

SECONDARY:

• Healthy fats from red meat, poultry, pork, fish, eggs, full-fat dairy, extra-virgin olive oil, and avocados
• Consider healthy fats as the primary source for non-protein calories. Never sacrifice protein for carbs. If you need to consume fewer calories, cut back a bit on fat, not protein.

TERTIARY:

• Fermented foods or gut health (e.g. Greek yogurt, sauerkraut, bone broth, and collagen)

QUATERNARY:

• Non-starchy vegetables (e.g. greens and brassicas)
• In-season fruit–in moderation 

Optional in minimal amounts:

• Nuts and seeds
• Beans and legumes 

Contrary to popular belief, grains are not healthy – this includes whole grains. Wheat is not healthy. Oats are not healthy. These foods are given to animals to  fatten them up before slaughter. Do we really think they would do something different for humans?

Processed Food

Processed foods are products that have been transformed from their natural state through various methods. Traditionally, processing methods such as freezing, canning, pickling, fermenting, and salting and drying were the primary way to preserve the harvest. However, the introduction of pasteurization during the 19th century marked the beginning of a new era in food processing, leading to the rampant use of more sophisticated nutrient-destroying methodsBy the 20th century, we saw significant changes in food processing. Trans fats were introduced in the early 1900s, fast food became popular in the 40s, and packaged and prepared foods found their way into our homes in the 70s. 

Today, most of our food has been processed, modified, stripped of nutrients, pasteurized, pumped full of chemicals, and filled with seed oils. Seed oils are so ultra-processed that the body doesn’t really recognize it as food at all. As a result, they are poorly absorbed and can lead to chronic inflammation. Additionally,seed oils are especially prone to damage during heating, making them even more unhealthy and hazardous to consume And unfortunately, seed oils are in almost everything!

Seed oils are just the tip of the iceberg. Many grocery store foods contain red-flag ingredients such as:

• Added sugar (often disguised under 75+ different names)
• Natural/artificial flavors
• Gluten
• GMO ingredients
• Any kind of flour other than almond, coconut, or lupin
• Starches
• Artificial colors
• Nitrates/Nitrites
• Synthetic “fortified” vitamins added back into processed foods

Not only are most of the foods on store shelves loaded with harmful ingredients, but our overall diet has strayed far from the foods that support optimal health. We’ve moved away from prioritizing nutrient-dense animal proteins and healthy fats, and instead, most people consume a diet dominated by carbohydrates. Even fruits and vegetables can have downsides. For some individuals, certain plant compounds can cause inflammation, digestive issues, or blood sugar spikes. 

Carbohydrates – fruit/veg

Most people know that cake, donuts, pasta, fries, and bread cause obesity, diabetes, heart disease, insulin resistance, and other chronic conditions. However, many “healthy” carbohydrates  can actually do more harm than good – especially when consumed in excess. Our bodies are fully capable of running efficiently on just protein and fat. Additionally, it’s also worth noting that a large number of foods known to trigger  allergies, digestive issues, blood sugar spikes and crashes, and chronic inflammation are carbohydrate-based. 

Fruits are rich in key vitamins and minerals, including vitamins A, C, E, and K, as well as magnesium and manganese. Some fruits are high in antioxidants and can support immune function. However, consuming too much fruit can cause blood sugar spikes, which can increase fat storage. 

Vegetables share many of the same beneficial properties and benefits as fruits. The fiber can be  filling and can be flavorful additions to meals. However, like fruits, vegetables come with certain caveats. For example, root vegetables such as potatoes, turnips, onions, and beets are high in starch. Consuming too many vegetables can sometimes lead to digestive discomfort, bloating, and constipation. 

Modern fruits and vegetables have been selectively bred to be bigger, sweeter, and less seedy than their ancient counterparts.

Some may argue that ancient cultures ate plenty of fruits and vegetables while remaining fit and healthy. However, this was before the use of selective breeding, a process in which “desirable” characteristics of fruits and vegetables are kept or increased, while the “undesirable” traits are diminished or removed entirely. For example, seedless fruits and vegetables have been selectively bred to remove seeds. Many modern fruits and vegetables have also been altered to be significantly larger and sweeter than their heirloom ancestors. As a result, the small, bitter fruits that our ancestors ate occasionally are not equivalent to today’s oversized, high-starch versions in terms of their impact on the body.

Fruits and vegetables can be a great source of vitamins and minerals, but it might be in our best interest to load up  with 5+ cups a day. 

Closing Thoughts

Don’t let the noise from “medical experts” on social media and advice from mainstream doctors confuse you. When in doubt, pause and consider what our ancestors ate. Were they stopping at 1:00 for fries and a Coke? Or were they eating nutrient-dense meat, healthy fats, and the occasional wild berry? Even as modern food trends and diets evolve, our biology  stays the same. 

Be like our ancestors. Eat meat.

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Sources

• Alma Does Carnivore. Instagram, March, https://www.instagram.com/p/DGq1FX6ulwh/. Accessed 15 June 2025.
• Berry, Ken D, MD. These Foods Don’t Belong in your Proper Human Diet. Facebook, 23 June 2024, https://www.facebook.com/kendberry.md/posts/a-proper-human-diet-is-made-up-of-real-whole-ancestrally-appropriate-uninflammat/1026265258857250/. Accessed 31 May 2025.
• DiLonardo, Mary. 7 Fruits and Veggies That Used to Look a Whole Lot Different. Tree Hugger, 19 June 2024, https://www.treehugger.com/fruit-and-veggies-that-used-look-whole-lot-different-than-they-do-t oday-4864247. Accessed 3 June 2025.
• Geleta, Nigussie Alemu, MD. Sweet Talk: Exploring the Various Names for Sugar. Global Vitality Clinic, 6 December 2023, https://www.globalvitalityclinic.com/post/sweet-talk-exploring-the-various-names-for-sugar. Accessed 2 June 2025.
• Hari, Vani. GMO Ingredients A-Z. Food Babe, https://foodbabe.com/possible-gmo-ingredients-a-z/. Accessed 2 June 2025.
• H&S Crew. The Ultimate Guide to Seed Oils (Healthy or Not?). Heart & Soil, 26 July 2024, https://heartandsoil.co/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-seed-oils/. Accessed 2 June 2025.
• Nutrition with Judy. Microblog: The Nutrition Facts of the Ribeye. Nutrition with Judy, 24 August 2020, https://www.nutritionwithjudy.com/microblog-the-nutrition-facts-of-the-ribeye. Accessed 31 May 2025.
• Tribe Support. How to Build Your Personalized Ancestral Diet From Scratch. Ancestral Supplements, 19 September 2023, https://ancestralsupplements.com/blogs/news/ancestral-diet. Accessed 31 May 2025.