Bewusst
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It has been scientifically established that there‘s a difference in mandible shape between agriculturalists - people who eat diets based on grains and starch - and hunter-gatherers* - whose diets were/are based around (organ) meat, tubers, fruits, nuts and seeds.
The latter have longer but narrower mandibles and the starch-eaters have shorter but broader, wider mandibles.
[*„Hunter-gatherer“ is a vague term; its meaning greatly varies, depending on era, climate and environment. To keep this simple, I‘ll only be referring to the populations who heavily rely/-ied on meat and not so much on digestible starch.
Many traditional Asian diets consist mostly of starches (such as rice) and vegetables, with only little animal protein.
One example for this is the traditional Okinawan diet, lots of sweet potatoes, vegetables and only very rarely meat.
People eating such traditional diets, mostly plant-based, unprocessed and low in animal fat and protein are much healthier, have a much lesser occurrence of civilization diseases, obesity, autoimmune disorders and cancer than the ones who eat a SAD or SED.
These diseases began skyrocketing once fast food and Western eating habits were adopted.
Western eating habits and food industrialization = less unprocessed carbohydrates, fiber, electrolytes and much more (animal) protein and fat. On top of that, loads of sodium (not bad by itself) without sufficient amounts of potassium (now bad).
The processing and flavoring of „food products“ greatly increases calorie density and is meant to make you consume many more „empty“ calories than you need. The results are obesity and systemic inflammation.
On top of all that, we now primarily consume muscle meat, which has an unbalanced amino acid profile because it‘s lacking in collagen and therefore, glycine and proline. Collagen is found in the parts of meat we nowadays tend to shun away from, such as the joints, tendons and bones. Our ancestors have eaten almost the whole animal, including most organs, tendons and even the blood.
We usually also don‘t consume organ meats anymore. Muscle meat is rich in protein (unbalanced) but it doesn’t contain considerable amounts of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, K2), like decent-quality organ meat does. Even organ meat of conventionally-fed animals isn‘t nearly as rich in fat-solubles as pastured, organic (and therefore, expensive as fuck) meat, due to grain-feeding instead of grass-feeding.
In general, our modern diets are high in calories, protein from muscle meats, additives and unhealthy fats and critically low in micronutrients, trace minerals, fiber, volume per calorie, secondary plant products and water. So low that fortifying food products with vitamins and minerals has become a necessity for many countries, to avoid clinical deficiencies.
The RDA is still a joke and not a guideline to follow if optimal health and development is your goal. It‘s just there to prevent you from dying of nutrient deficiencies.
After trying to provide you with some very basic info, I‘ll get back to the point of the thread, dietary differences and their effect on jaw shape.
[Btw: This is just my PERSONAL THEORY! Don‘t quote me on it. I might be horribly wrong. If you know better, correct me.]
Hunter-gatherers‘ diets are higher in animal protein from whole meat (including tendons and organs).
Ripping apart flesh, especially tendons, requires much more incisor and canine activity, pulling forces (cutlery and other tools left aside) and less molar chewing than grains. The forces created make the jaw adapt towards a more dolichocephalic (forward-grown) but narrower shape.
The high intake of fat-soluble vitamins and the lower intake of phytic acid (anti-nutrient) are also responsible for the better development of dental arches, paranasal sinuses and much lower incidence of dental crowding and tooth decay.
However, a diet very high in animal protein (acid-forming) and low in base-forming foods (fruits, vegetables) contributes to a bad total acid/base balance which inhibits osteoblasts and can lead to bone loss. If the bicarbonate buffer system of the blood becomes overtaxed, bone has to release some of its minerals to neutralize the acid to keep the blood pH stable and prevent you from dying of metabolic acidosis (think osteoporosis).
The agriculturalists, on the other hand, don‘t need to bite as much because grain isn‘t tender, such as tough meats. Therefore, there‘s much less incisor and canine activity than in meat-eaters.
The increased molar chewing (especially breads) places more (longer) stress on the posterior mandible which results in a larger intergonial width and thus, the wider jaws seen in agriculturalists, to this day.
On top of that, traditional diets of many cultures, if based on whole grains, fruits and vegetables, create a more favorable acid/base balance and thus allow for better bone retention and repair.
Many cultures know of sprouting or fermenting grains to improve nutrient absorption and to make them easier to digest. These practices reduce phytic acid and other anti-nutrients.
The lower consumption of organ meats can be compensated through fermented foods for B12 and fat-solubles such as vitamin K2, another staple in many traditional diets (e.g. kimchi, Natto, Kombucha, Sauerkraut) and moderate, occasional consumption of pastured eggs and fish for vitamins A and D (if your body is functioning well, sunlight and beta carotene will serve as good enough precursors).
Good amino acid profile can be ensured through reasonable combining of foods (e.g. rice and beans, nuts).
The reason, I believe, why many Asians (for reference) who still eat their traditional diets tend to have an „agriculturalist face“, is because their diet is just that; based primarily on starch and vegetables.
Broad faces, wide jaws, big projecting zygomatic bones, flat noses and - most importantly - the all too familiar pan face aka flat maxilla.
tl;dr:
Agriculturalists = wider, shorter mandibles = less biting and pulling during mastication, more molar chewing, better acid/base balance, lower fat-soluble vitamin intake;
hunter-gatherers = narrower, longer mandibles, more developed dental arches = more biting and pulling during mastication, less molar chewing, less optimal acid/base balance, higher intake of fat-soluble vitamins.
(Random pics of rather indigenous-looking faces)
I didn‘t even mean to write an essay. If you read it all until here, here‘s your cookie:
The latter have longer but narrower mandibles and the starch-eaters have shorter but broader, wider mandibles.
[*„Hunter-gatherer“ is a vague term; its meaning greatly varies, depending on era, climate and environment. To keep this simple, I‘ll only be referring to the populations who heavily rely/-ied on meat and not so much on digestible starch.
Many traditional Asian diets consist mostly of starches (such as rice) and vegetables, with only little animal protein.
One example for this is the traditional Okinawan diet, lots of sweet potatoes, vegetables and only very rarely meat.
People eating such traditional diets, mostly plant-based, unprocessed and low in animal fat and protein are much healthier, have a much lesser occurrence of civilization diseases, obesity, autoimmune disorders and cancer than the ones who eat a SAD or SED.
These diseases began skyrocketing once fast food and Western eating habits were adopted.
Western eating habits and food industrialization = less unprocessed carbohydrates, fiber, electrolytes and much more (animal) protein and fat. On top of that, loads of sodium (not bad by itself) without sufficient amounts of potassium (now bad).
The processing and flavoring of „food products“ greatly increases calorie density and is meant to make you consume many more „empty“ calories than you need. The results are obesity and systemic inflammation.
On top of all that, we now primarily consume muscle meat, which has an unbalanced amino acid profile because it‘s lacking in collagen and therefore, glycine and proline. Collagen is found in the parts of meat we nowadays tend to shun away from, such as the joints, tendons and bones. Our ancestors have eaten almost the whole animal, including most organs, tendons and even the blood.
We usually also don‘t consume organ meats anymore. Muscle meat is rich in protein (unbalanced) but it doesn’t contain considerable amounts of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, K2), like decent-quality organ meat does. Even organ meat of conventionally-fed animals isn‘t nearly as rich in fat-solubles as pastured, organic (and therefore, expensive as fuck) meat, due to grain-feeding instead of grass-feeding.
In general, our modern diets are high in calories, protein from muscle meats, additives and unhealthy fats and critically low in micronutrients, trace minerals, fiber, volume per calorie, secondary plant products and water. So low that fortifying food products with vitamins and minerals has become a necessity for many countries, to avoid clinical deficiencies.
The RDA is still a joke and not a guideline to follow if optimal health and development is your goal. It‘s just there to prevent you from dying of nutrient deficiencies.
After trying to provide you with some very basic info, I‘ll get back to the point of the thread, dietary differences and their effect on jaw shape.
[Btw: This is just my PERSONAL THEORY! Don‘t quote me on it. I might be horribly wrong. If you know better, correct me.]
Hunter-gatherers‘ diets are higher in animal protein from whole meat (including tendons and organs).
Ripping apart flesh, especially tendons, requires much more incisor and canine activity, pulling forces (cutlery and other tools left aside) and less molar chewing than grains. The forces created make the jaw adapt towards a more dolichocephalic (forward-grown) but narrower shape.
The high intake of fat-soluble vitamins and the lower intake of phytic acid (anti-nutrient) are also responsible for the better development of dental arches, paranasal sinuses and much lower incidence of dental crowding and tooth decay.
However, a diet very high in animal protein (acid-forming) and low in base-forming foods (fruits, vegetables) contributes to a bad total acid/base balance which inhibits osteoblasts and can lead to bone loss. If the bicarbonate buffer system of the blood becomes overtaxed, bone has to release some of its minerals to neutralize the acid to keep the blood pH stable and prevent you from dying of metabolic acidosis (think osteoporosis).
The agriculturalists, on the other hand, don‘t need to bite as much because grain isn‘t tender, such as tough meats. Therefore, there‘s much less incisor and canine activity than in meat-eaters.
The increased molar chewing (especially breads) places more (longer) stress on the posterior mandible which results in a larger intergonial width and thus, the wider jaws seen in agriculturalists, to this day.
On top of that, traditional diets of many cultures, if based on whole grains, fruits and vegetables, create a more favorable acid/base balance and thus allow for better bone retention and repair.
Many cultures know of sprouting or fermenting grains to improve nutrient absorption and to make them easier to digest. These practices reduce phytic acid and other anti-nutrients.
The lower consumption of organ meats can be compensated through fermented foods for B12 and fat-solubles such as vitamin K2, another staple in many traditional diets (e.g. kimchi, Natto, Kombucha, Sauerkraut) and moderate, occasional consumption of pastured eggs and fish for vitamins A and D (if your body is functioning well, sunlight and beta carotene will serve as good enough precursors).
Good amino acid profile can be ensured through reasonable combining of foods (e.g. rice and beans, nuts).
The reason, I believe, why many Asians (for reference) who still eat their traditional diets tend to have an „agriculturalist face“, is because their diet is just that; based primarily on starch and vegetables.
Broad faces, wide jaws, big projecting zygomatic bones, flat noses and - most importantly - the all too familiar pan face aka flat maxilla.
tl;dr:
Agriculturalists = wider, shorter mandibles = less biting and pulling during mastication, more molar chewing, better acid/base balance, lower fat-soluble vitamin intake;
hunter-gatherers = narrower, longer mandibles, more developed dental arches = more biting and pulling during mastication, less molar chewing, less optimal acid/base balance, higher intake of fat-soluble vitamins.
(Random pics of rather indigenous-looking faces)
I didn‘t even mean to write an essay. If you read it all until here, here‘s your cookie:
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