The Paleo Diet

The Paleo Diet, which gained popularity in the 1970s, advocates
eating only foods that early humans probably ate tens of thousands
of years ago, before agriculture was widely practiced. The foodstuffs
in question include things like roots, seeds, fruits, fish, game, and
other scavenged or clubbed-to-death fare.

The Basis

There are two main tenets of the Paleo diet (also known as the Paleolithicdiet, Primal diet, and Ancestral diet).

The Basis

First,

People have developed preferences for certain kinds of food. Paleo proponents argue that the modern Western diet and way of life are at odds with the human genome.

Prior to roughly 10,000 years ago, the majority of what humans ate was either hunted (meat and fish) or gathered (vegetables, fruits, nuts, etc). (fruit, vegetables, roots, tubers, nuts, seeds, eggs, honey).
Then the vast majority of people started farming.

We ended the Paleolithic and began the Neolithic. Without the ability to plant and farm, we would not have had the stable food supply necessary for modern civilization to flourish.

The Basis

Second,

Eating like our ancient ancestors did is the key to maintaining good health, vigor, and fitness and warding off the modern-day chronic diseases that plague so many of us.

The hunter-gatherers of the Paleolithic era were strong and healthy. They lived about as long as we do now, if they didn't die young from accidents or contagious diseases.

Paleolithic farmers became sicker, shorter, and frailer than their huntergatherer predecessors after they adopted agriculture in the Neolithic period.

Hunter-gatherers in the modern era enjoy good health, but this declines when they adopt a more Western diet.

Issue 1

Issue 1: Hunter-gatherers were not perfect health models.

To begin with, they were home to a variety of parasites. They were also vulnerable to a variety of infectious diseases.
Furthermore, a study published in The Lancet examined 137 mummies from societies around the world, including Egypt, Peru, the American Southwest, and the Aleutian Islands, to look for signs of artery hardening (a condition known as atherosclerosis).

They discovered probable or definite atherosclerosis in 47 of 137 mummies from all four geographic regions, regardless of whether the people were farmers, hunter-gatherers, peasants, or members of the societal elite.

What is the deciding factor? It was due to age rather than diet. Mummies who died after the age of 40 had a higher rate of artery hardening than mummies who died at a younger age.

Issue 2

There wasn’t just one Paleo diet—there were many different ones.

Our forefathers lived in a variety of environments and ate a variety of diets. And some of them did eat foods that are typically avoided on the Paleo diet like beans, cereal and grains.

According to research, ancient humans may have started eating grains and cereals before the Paleolithic era even began—up to three or four million years ago. And, according to several research reviews, our Paleolithic ancestors not only ate legumes, but they were an important part of their diet. In other words, the notion that Paleolithic humans never consumed grains, cereals, or beans appears to be exaggerated. Modern fruits and vegetables are not the same as those consumed by our forefathers.

Early fruits and vegetables were frequently bitter, much smaller, more difficult to harvest, and occasionally toxic. We've bred plants with the most desirable and enticing characteristics over time—the largest fruits, prettiest colors, sweetest flesh, fewest natural toxins, and highest yields. We've also diversified plant types, producing hundreds of cultivars of potatoes and tomatoes from a few ancestral varieties.

Farmers, for example, selectively bred Brassica oleracea, also known as wild mustard, over many years to produce plants with larger leaves, thicker stalks, or larger buds.

This resulted in the many different Brassica vegetables:

Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, and kohlrabi.

These vegetables appear to be very different, but they all come from the same plant species.

Bonus Issue

Most modern animal foods are not the same

Beef (even grass-fed beef) is not the same as bison or deer meat. Because wild game moves around more than domesticated animals, it is
leaner and has less fat in its meat. 7

This does not imply that modern produce or meat is inherently inferior or superior. It's just not like anything else available during the Paleolithic period.

The Pros of Paleo Diet

  • The Paleo diet emphasizes whole foods

    The top six sources of calories are grain-based desserts (cake, cookies), yeast breads, sweetened beverages, pizza, and alcoholic beverages.
    These are not ancestral foods, nor are they foods that promote good health when consumed in large quantities. Therefore, proponents of the Paleo diet are absolutely correct when they assert that our modern Western diet is unhealthy.

  • Diets based on the Paleolithic era have proven to be highlyeffective in treating chronic diseases.

    Several studies have shown that adhering to a Paleo diet can have positive effects on cardiovascular health and metabolic markers like blood pressure, glucose
    tolerance, inflammation, thyroid function, and blood lipids.

  • Paleo will probably leave you feeling content

    Paleo encourages eating vegetables and meat, which are two food groups that make you feel less hungry and fuller after a meal. Most vegetables have fewer calories than most other foods. Meat has a lot of protein, which helps to release hormones that control hunger.

Cons of Paleo Diet

  • Paleo can be hard to stick to

    Short-term, strict diets like Paleo can simplify your life by eliminating options.
    Just stick to what the diet recommends and you should see results. Eat only the
    foods that are allowed on your diet.

    But in the long run? It's more challenging because not everyone you know has
    adopted a Paleo diet.

    This is why many people find it difficult to strictly adhere to a list of "good" and "bad" or "allowed" and "not allowed" foods. It's less effective in the long run because it reduces our consistency.

  • Dietary restrictions increase the likelihood of deficiency

    When you eliminate foods or food groups, you must work harder to replace what you lose. Getting the nutrients you require requires more effort. Paleo requires you to work harder to get enough of these nutrients:


    - Calcium
    - Riboflavin and Thiamin
    - Carbohydrate
    - Fiber

While many people have found success with the Paleo diet, it is not a "one size fits all" plan.

Internet is rife with "eat this / don't eat that" Paleo lists, but not even Paleoexperts are in agreement.Focus on whole, minimally-processed foods while maintaining a balanced fatintake.

Do not strive for perfection.

Doing a few good things fairly well (such as eating more vegetables or protein) is preferable to attempting to do many things perfectly (and then giving up because it's impossible)
And by introducing small changes gradually over time, you increase the likelihood of long-term success.

About the Author

HABITUAL PRACTICE believe that a healthy diet is the key to a happy and full life. Our goal is to make healthy food easy and fun for everyone to eat.
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