Did hominids lose their tolerance of fruit sugars?

[PaleoPhil]

An interesting speculation by the Paleo Nutrition doctor:

"...why don’t the monkeys get CAD, despite our successful efforts to give them the metabolic syndrome that correlates so closely with CAD risk in humans?

My shoot-from-the-hip speculation is that Homo Sapiens, during two million years of evolution since H.Habilis, lost what little tolerance for excess fructose we started with at the same time we acquired our metabolic preference for exploiting the fat stores of other mammals and became more tolerant of saturated fat than fructose.

Sugar is just more poisonous to humans, and that is why you have to try so hard to give CAD to monkeys, even if you are stimulating inflammation with gobs of linoleic acid. CAD may depend on not tolerating fructose. That would explain a lot and we should keep that in mind when reading animal studies.

So among the Neolithic agents, excess industrial oils are probably bad for most mammals, but sugar may be peculiarly bad for humans. Step one of PaNu stays step one."

Source:
Calorie Restricted Monkeys Part II
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 at 4:10PM
http://www.paleonu.com/

[invisible]

we aren't more evolved monkeys, we may share a common ancestor but have evolved on different paths so the diets of monkeys isn't too important imo.

Regarding the monkeys suffering diabetes and cancer but not CAD, i'm going to just speculate that they did show some signs of CAD they just either didn't die from a heart attack or the researchers just couldn't tell.

[PaleoPhil]

we aren't more evolved monkeys, we may share a common ancestor but have evolved on different paths so the diets of monkeys isn't too important imo.

Yes, I think the PaNu doctor would agree with you. Australopithecines, Homo erectus and all other hominids are believed to have consumed more meat and less fruit and leaves than chimps, and their consumption of meat is believed to have increased to very high levels and maintained at those levels until at least around 30,000 years ago, when there is some evidence that cooking or increased plant foods started a decline in brain size, but even as recently as 7,000 years ago at least some people were still eating a very carnivorous diet, if the Lady of Trent is any indication.