Is It True that Humans Were Taller?
Subconscious Fat in Human History
(On May 15th, I’ll start a new online group for men over 41 who want to lose fat and gain muscle. We have weekly Zoom meetings, and the group that has participated has noticed positive weight loss and improvements in their health. Email me if you might be interested in being part of the next group or know someone who might.)
Mr. Skeptical sees the headline and can’t shut up. “I know what this is going to be about. You’re going to say how humans have shrunk since the agricultural revolution. It’s because we don’t eat enough meat. We are shrinking. Yet, as far as I can tell, we are living longer. Aren’t we?”
I just stare at him, and before I can respond, he keeps talking. “Besides, how can we really know if people were taller hundreds or thousands of years ago?”
“There’s such a thing as a fossil record. We know dinosaurs existed because we’ve examined the bones. We can also look at how agricultural societies described hunter-gatherers' heights when they were first encountered.”
Subconscious Fat at 30,000 feet
The fossil record has shown that the skeletal remains from the final stages of the last ice age, about 35,000 to 10,000 years ago (AKA Upper Paleolithic Populations) in Europe, such as the Cro-Magnon people suggest they were relatively tall compared to later agricultural populations. For example, the Cro-Magnon specimens from the Grimaldi caves in Italy and the Kostenki site in Russia are noted for their robustness and tall stature.
Mr.Skeptical puts on a scowl. “Well, one example of a few skeletons doesn’t say much.”
“I’d add that during the last ice age, many humans went for long periods without access to fruits and vegetables, yet they survived.
“And another fossil record shows many humans used to be taller. Fossils from early Homo sapiens in Africa, from the Jebel Irhoud site in Morocco, suggest that these populations had relatively tall and robust individuals.”
Mr. Skeptical folds his arms. “I don’t see a smoking gun.”
“There never will be a smoking gun showing many humans used to be taller unless we had a Time Machine and went back in time.”
Subconscious Fat at 10,000 feet
The closest thing we can have to a time machine is written accounts of what long-dead individuals wrote. Ponce de León's firsthand accounts of his encounters with Native Americans in Florida have not survived, but we can look at secondary sources that summarize his observations. Such as historian Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas, who wrote about Ponce de León's expeditions based on available records and accounts. Herrera described the Native Americans encountered by Ponce de León as "tall and well-built, with the men having a reddish-brown complexion."
Mr. Skeptical gets up and points at me. “But it wasn’t exactly what Ponce de Leon wrote. These descriptions are filtered through Herrera’s interpretations and biases.”
“True. But another one is Hernan Cortes: The Spanish conquistador who led the expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire in Mexico described the Aztec people as being “of good size,” He noted that they were generally taller than the average Spaniard of his time.”
Mr. Skeptical adds, “But don’t people from Spain exaggerate.”
Subconscious Fat at Eye-Level
“Now you’re stereotyping. However, John Smith, The English explorer and colonist, played a significant role in the founding of Jamestown, Virginia. He described the Powhatan people he encountered as being “tall and well-proportioned.”
“But all these men had a reason to make the Native Americans appear tall. It made the Europeans look tougher when they fought them because they were fighting larger men.”
I shake my head, realizing that no matter what evidence there is, Mr. Skeptical won’t change his view.
Practical Suggestions and Conclusions
Yet I must admit we all have bias, including me. For me, thinking that eating a mainly carnivore diet helps one in many ways is my bias. However, I admit I sometimes come across vegetarians who appear to be relatively healthy.
“Good, finally you admit it,” comments Mr. Skeptical.
“I admit that for certain periods and certain individuals, being vegetarian can be healthy. But I still think it’ll come back and bite them in the ass with health problems sooner or later. Below is a 35 second short video of an example of this.”
“Well, one example doesn’t mean anything. We can agree to disagree.”
“I think you, Mr. Skeptical, simply believe what’s popular. You’ve been brainwashed to believe what’s a good diet based on large food corporations’ marketing abilities and influence with authority figures. This all has you subconsciously addicted to the foods that these large corporations sell.”
Mr. Skeptical gets up, obviously pissed off. “I’ve had enough of this silly debate.” He walks out.
It’s not a silly debate. What you believe about eating matters because your beliefs will drive what type of food you consume. And what you eat will have a massive impact on your health.
It’s not something to delegate. It requires time and energy to find what’s best for you. Don’t believe anybody without doing your own research.
Take full responsibility for your health.
Be aware.
PS Links in Facebook and Instagram. Full disclosure: Chat GPT was used to research and enhance this post.
PSS As I mentioned above, if you’re a man over 41 who wants to lose fat/gain muscle without doing cardio, counting calories, or going to the gym, and all naturally, email me back.
Go down the rabbit hole of the giants that were living amongst us. Not too far long ago - talking about less than 200 years ago but erased in history.