Modern hunter gatherers are a lot more modern than one might imagine. Usually wearing T-shirts and sometimes, as in this case smoking cigarettes. Their diet is different in many ways than hunter gatherers of the past, along with many other parts of their lifestyle.
It’s probably a good demonstration of the “Paleo fantasy“- if these groups that are still playing by some of the hunter gatherer groups are getting very different results on these important markers, then we are likely to as well when we try to incorporate parts of the hunter gather diet or lifestyle into our very different lives.
Mostly fresh food- eating things they day they were picked or killed as the default. But generally in an environment of abundance with generational wisdom about what is nutrient dense. The group in the study may be eating lots of honey because they are more marginalized today by territorial pressure and others hunting and hunting restrictions, etc.
"The unexpected discovery of high caries incidences for men in the bush is likely explained by heavy reliance on honey, and perhaps differential access to tobacco and marijuana. "
I'd also expect a high fruit diet in certain tropical regions where fruit is available more constantly also shows similar effects.
I think we can maybe all move on from this awful quote.
But, no I'm specifically referring to cultures like the Efé where men gather honey full time during a season, Yao honey-hunters who work with birds to find honey, or other forest cultures where honey is gathered from especially tall trees as a show of masculinity and bravery.