FROM THE MIOCENE TO OLESTRA - A HISTORICAL-PERSPECTIVE ON FAT CONSUMPTION

Given the extraordinary dietary and geographic diversity of Pleistocen e hominids, there is no single ''Paleolithic diet'' or average pre-Hol ocene fat intake. Even the Neanderthals initially were scavengers, pos sibly becoming seasonal hunters of large game at a later period. Fat i ntakes of greater than 20 g/day (11% of total caloric intake) develope d after the domestication of mammals and then by selective breeding of genetically fatter animals in suitably temperate climates. By the lat e 1940s, the percent of fat in the diet rose to more than 40% in many Western countries (including France), decreasing somewhat to about 35% by the late 1980s in the United States, following reduced consumption of whole milk, fried meats, and other high-fat foods. Overall, fat re ductions to less than 30% may be facilitated by no-fat or low-fat subs titutes or texturizers or (perhaps more effectively) by increased inta kes of fiber and calcium and greater reliance on fats that are poorly absorbed because of their stearate content.