paleolithic peoples suffered less famine and malnutrition than the neolithic farming tribes that followed them. this was partly because paleolithic hunter-gatherers accessed to a wider variety natural foods, which allowed them a more nutritious diet and a decreased risk of famine. many of the famines experienced by neolithic (and some modern) farmers were caused or amplified by their dependence on a small number of crops. it is thought that wild foods can have a significantly different nutritional profile than cultivated foods. the greater amount of meat obtained by hunting big game animals in paleolithic diets than neolithic diets may have also allowed paleolithic hunter-gatherers to enjoy a more nutritious diet than neolithic agriculturalists. it has been argued that the shift from hunting and gathering to agriculture resulted in an increasing focus on a limited variety of foods, with meat likely taking a back seat to plants. it is also unlikely that paleolithic hunter-gatherers were affected by modern diseases of affluence such as type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease, because they ate mostly lean meats and plants and frequently engaged in intense physical activity, and because the average lifespan was shorter than the age of common-onset of these conditions.