The Natural Human Diet? The Optimal Human Diet?: The known and the unknown, the possible and the probable - an analysis of the evidence

The two related but different questions, what is the natural human diet, and what is the optimal human diet, are addressed by examining the evidence available from the important complementary areas of science: archaeology, the study of ancient remains; primatology, the study of apes and monkeys etc; biochemistry including genetic variation, and what it suggests about human evolution; Food, food group, and food group combinations and their nutrient levels related to accepted human needs; anthropology, the study of human groups, in particular gatherer-hunters and hunter-gatherers; paleoanthropology, the study of prehistorical human groups; epidemiology, the study of health at the population level; examples of human athletic performance; dental health; and blood sugar and fat levels.