The Caveman (No supplements) vs The 21st Century Man (Takes supplements)
I was going to call the title of this post
‘Why supplements came into existence’
But I had a re-think. But first… the problem.
‘Everyone thinks they need to take every supplement under the sun to achieve the results they desire’
I get questions from people every single day, and some of the crap I hear coming out of their mouths about what supplements they’re about to buy… and why they’re buying them truly is shocking. So I decided to take everyone back. As far back as 100000BC to the era of the Caveman. This way, I can show you how they lived, describe their lifestyle and show you the exactly how and why you may need to take supplements. In other words…
Transform you into a modern day caveman!
The Caveman Era (No supplements)
What did Cavemen eat?
Cavemen lived across the globe and their diet would change with the seasons, so there is no one answer to that question.
Now, 100000 years BC is going way back in time, so information based on the Cavemen from that era would probably be largely inaccurate. However, in more recent times, anthropologists did stumble upon stone aged tribes from time to time. These are tribes that had no contact with the modern world as yet, so they were more or less living like Cavemen. So we can base the following information on the records of those findings.
Since WE are modern day folk, we are very much used to being force fed a HUGE range of foods (Damn manufacturers). So I’m going to take you into the mindset of a Caveman and list the foods that they did NOT eat.
- Potatoes (Weren’t around 12000 years ago)
- Dairy products (They ate eggs, but eggs are not dairy… even though they are labeled dairy)
- Foods that required cooking such as cereal grains, rice, wheat, barley and corn (This eliminates much of your shopping list. They didn’t have any kind of tool to boil food back then)
- Alcohol (Distilled)
- Refined sugar products
- Modern day fruits which are bred for high sugar content
- Large amounts of salt
Now one big difference between the Caveman diet and the 21st Century man diet, is that the Caveman ate a much larger ‘variety’ of foods than the modern man does.
Why is this important?
Because it is the holy grail of what YOU… (the modern man) needs to do and focus on in order to get the results that you desire. Don’t even begin to think about supplements for the moment.
Eating a WIDE ‘variety’ of foods increases the odds of you filling your body full of the nutrients and vitamins that it NEEDS!
Which leads me onto the reason of how and why Cavemen were able to survive whole entire days without supplements.
The Caveman 24hr diet structure
The caveman diet was probably much higher in protein than the 21st Century man diet, seeing as we have access to a lot more carb type of foods today (Bread, sweets, pasta, cereal grains, rice, wheat, barley and corn).
Their diet would consist of
Lean meats – You see, protein is protein. But with most foods that contain protein, you just have to watch the extra that comes with it. Now, in regards to meat, the animals that the Cavemen would kill to eat, would have a higher ratio of protein to fat in their flesh compared to the meat from animals in the 21st Century man’s world.
- Because today’s beasts are corn-fed. Which means there is a lot more fat in their flesh.
- Which means that Cavemen were more likely to stay lean. How could they not…. they had no ‘choice’.
But the body also NEEDS fat!
Yes it does… and they got that because they ate ‘more’ of the animal.
- Bone marrow
All of which contain fat. However, this fat is less saturated than the fat found in today’s beef cuts.
The rest of their diet…
- Fish (Protein)
- Fruits and Berries (Less sugar than today’s fruits)
- Grass seeds
- Nuts (Protein and fat)
- Vegetables (Carrots, parsnips, turnips and rutabagas – High % of dietary fiber)
- Eggs (Protein and fat with almost no carbs)
- Honey (Yes, even Cavemen had cheat meals. They would find honey trees and cheat until they could cheat no more 🙂 … in moderation of course)
Were they lean… I would think so. And how could they not be with this activity…
These guys were running around killing animals, throwing spears, lifting and pulling objects such as stones (functional strength). How could they not be lean with all that activity?
How they ate
You already know what they ate, but would you like to guess how they ate?
They ate mini meals throughout the day and conserved their MAX energy for times when it needed to be used. That is how they survived whole entire days (no supplements) and that is also the foundation of ‘how to increase your metabolism‘! So where did it all go wrong for the 21st Century man? What could have killed this simple yet effective plan on how to stay lean?
Keep on reading… we’ll find out soon enough!
Lean muscle mass with bulk is the ultimate body that most of us are striving for!
And carbs are needed!
Although there are ways to structure carbs into our diets,
(As mentioned here – The 4 Crucial Steps To Shred ‘Core’ Fat And Build Lean Muscle)
Carbs are still the enemy. But like I mentioned earlier…
The big difference between the Caveman diet then vs. The 21st Century man diet now, is that we have easy access to foods that have a high glycemic index (Ready to digest carbs).
We need carbs, but they hurt our lean muscle mass building efforts.
We have to cut carbs but have to make up the calories lost from doing so.
Shaun, stop talking crap!
Ok, I’ll rephrase
The RIGHT carbs
The RIGHT proteins
The RIGHT fats
So, we know how the Cavemen were doing it then. So what we are going to do is go back in time, but using a modern day mindset. It’s all about moving forward and turning the 21st Century men and women into into modern day lean machines like our Cavemen ancestors.
The 21st Century Man Era (Supplements)
Now, we know how the Cavemen were surviving without the use of supplements back then. But how can we transform the 21st Century man/ woman into modern day lean machines?
Well, first things first… out with the old, in with the new. Well, not entirely. Remember, life is simple, but as time has gone on, the human race has decided to make it more complicated (Who knows why). Any how, we keep the old mentality of the Caveman mindset and adapt it to our current lifestyle.
The 21st Century Mans Dilemma…
The Man is ‘Busy’
It’s no secret that life in the 21st century is demanding as ever. But in reality, it’s still SSDD. That is, same sh*t different day. Struggles have existed since the creation of man… what’s new. If the Cavemen were able to deal with struggles, so can we. In fact, we are better equipped. So instead of using supplements as an excuse not to eat REAL food, use them for what they are… to supplement the body of nutrients that it lacks. Remember the ‘variety’ rule of spoke of earlier?
If you eat a wide variety of foods, you’ll probably get all the nutrients you’ll ever need’ – Caveman diet mindset! (Scroll back up if you missed it)
Like I said earlier, protein is protein (almost). You need to be eating lean meats and not that corn-fed stuff. That is filled with fat. You also need to understand that protein is made up of (approx) 20 different amino acids which have to be consumed via the food we eat. The best way to ensure that your body gets those required protein fills is by following the ‘varitey’ rule. But again, this is the 21st century, so if you are going to supplement then all you need is the RIGHT protein supplements
Eat your veggies (The low glycemic kind)
Eat your egg whites
Yay – Low fat meats such as chicken and fish
Nay – Fat’s that contain salts like bacon and salted nuts
There are new claims being made every single day about the foods we eat. The good, the bad etc. Who knows what facts are right or wrong? With that being the case, just make sure you eat all of the ‘good’ foods, but in moderation and not the same thing everyday.
The 21st Century Man Needs Structure
Just follow the caveman structure, regardless of what your current goal or body type is
They ate mini meals throughout the day and conserved their MAX energy for times when it needed to be used. That is how they survived whole entire days (no supplements) and that is also the foundation of ‘how to increase your metabolism’! So where did it all go wrong for the 21st Century man? What could have killed this simple yet effective plan on how to stay lean?
There are new products and services being created all of the time, just like Belinda Benn’s Get Lean program and the upcoming official Stay-Fit Bug Fitness Program (No concrete name yet… Just know I’m working on the first phase), that will help fix your mindset to think like a modern caveman and more!
It’s not about going backwards. History happens, we learn, move on and ‘adapt’. Now it’s time for you to take your muscle and lifestyle to the next level, the best way I know how. We don’t call it innovative ways to build muscle for nothing!
See you in the comments.
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