Some Basic Biochemical Principles Relevant to Paleodiet

SOME BASIC BIOCHEMICAL PRINCIPLES RELEVANT TO PALEODIET 

This interpretation is in conflict with some published discussions of the source of bone carbonate, which suggest that bone carbonate gives us a sample of energy somces (Krueger and Sulhvan 1984), by which is meant carbohydrates and fats (e.g., Ambrose and Norr 1993). It should be clear from the previous discussion that very little partitioning of carbon somces can occm. Bicarbonate in the blood is derived from essentially all the carbon atoms in the diet, including proteins, in proportion to their abimdance in the diet all foods are energy sources . Minor deviations from this arise due to (1) Tissue 

Paleodiet studies have focused on the analysis of collagen, due to its ability to survive in ancient bone. Like all proteins, collagen is composed of amino acid (AA) units present in relatively constant proportions characteristic of the specific protein. The isotopic composition of a sample of collagen is the weighted average of the 5 C values of each of the constituent amino acids. 

Essential AAs cannot be synthesized by the body. Therefore their isotopic composition is directly inherited from the ingested foods. Indeed, AAs which are essential to humans are generally also essential to the herbivores from 

Part of the diet consists of fats, which are triglycerol esters of fatty acids (FAs). The FAs from digestion of ingested fats can be metabolized in a variety of pathways. Fragments of the original FAs are preserved in these processes and can be utilized in the biosynthesis of other molecules. It is important to note that, during metabolism, almost all FAs are broken down into two-carbon units. The only exceptions are FAs with odd numbers of carbon atoms these are relatively rare in the diet. It ean be shown further that there is a partial barrier to the incorporation of FA-derived carbon into the amino acids which constitute collagen. 

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