January 13, 2005

Caveman Diet

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And now for something completely different ... This cartoon was inspired by an AP report on the new USDA dietary guidelines: Gov't: Calories, not carbs, make you fat.

Cave men lived a healthy lifestyle: Their calorie intake stayed low because food was hard to find, and they exercised regularly to bring home the bacon. The government wants Americans to follow that approach. Today, however, food is at their fingertips, driving has replaced running and people are fatter than ever.

The USDA guidelines sound healthy enough, and there's no reason to doubt that cavemen, to put it lightly, were physically active and had a limited calorie intake. But to say cavemen "lived a healthy lifestyle" drops a little context, such as that life expectancy was extremely short due to disease, starvation, and "biggie sized" mammals.

UPDATE -- January 18: This cartoon appears in today's (Tuesday's) Investor's Business Daily.

Posted by Forkum at January 13, 2005 10:01 PM
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