What Is A Paleolithic Diet?

The Paleolithic Diet, also known as the Caveman Diet, looks back to the type of diet humans were eating 1.5 million to 10,000 years ago before the development of agriculture and farming. It emphasizes simple, whole foods based on the theory that the modern diet full of highly-processed products has contributed to a wide range of diseases that were rare among the people of the Paleolithic era.

History

In 1975, gastroenterologist Walter L. Voegtlin wrote the book "The Stone Age Diet: Based on In-depth Studies of Human Ecology and the Diet of Man," in which the diet of Paleolithic people was first proposed as a diet modern humans should follow. In 1985, S. Boyd Eaton and Melvin Konner of Emory University published a paper on Paleolithic nutrition in the "New England Journal of Medicine," which brought the Paleolithic dietary guidelines into the mainstream. In 2002, "The Paleo Diet," by Loren Cordain, a professor at Colorado State University, became a bestseller.

Significance

Over two thirds of U.S. adults are overweight or obese, according to the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control. The rates of obesity have been steadily increasing among all gender, age, racial/ethnic, educational and smoking groups, rising overall from 13.4 percent to 35.1 percent during the period from 1960 to 2005. Countless studies have linked obesity with conditions such as cardiovascular disease and cancer, as well as an increased mortality rate.

Features

In general, the Paleolithic diet emphasizes a diet high in some animal fats and proteins like pasture-raised and grass-fed bison, eggs, organ meats and fish, and low in starchy carbohydrates and grains. Nuts and fruits are also encouraged, as long as they are low in sugar and high in antioxidants, such as berries and almonds. The diet also bans sugar and dairy consumption, as well as all processed foods in any form.

Benefits

Author Loren Cordain points out that a proper balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which a Paleolithic Diet contains, helps prevent chronic heart conditions, and that starchy carbohydrates cause problems for blood glucose and insulin levels. The result was that "Paleolithic ancestors were lean, fit and free from heart disease and other ailments that plague Western countries." A study by Dr LA Frassetto, et al, published in the February 2009 "European Journal of Clinical Nutrition" concluded that even short-term consumption of a Paleolithic type diet improves blood pressure and glucose tolerance, decreases insulin secretion, increases insulin sensitivity and improves lipid profiles without weight loss in healthy, sedentary humans.

Expert Insight

Writing in July 2009 in the journal "Cardiovascular Diabetology," T. Jönsson et al compared the effects of a Paleolithic diet and the standard diabetes diet recommended for type 2 diabetics. Over a three-month period, the Paleolithic diet improved glycemic control and several cardiovascular risk factors better than the standard diabetes diet in these patients. A study by Staffan Lindeberg et al published in the September 2003 issue of the "Journal of Nutritional & Environmental Medicine" concluded that a Paleolithic diet is optimal in the prevention of age-related degenerative disease. Tommy Jönsson et al published a report in 2006 in "Nutrition & Metabolism" indicating that a Paleolithic diet fed to domestic pigs resulted in higher insulin sensitivity, lower blood pressure and a lower C-reactive protein level, a marker for inflammation in the body, as compared to a cereal-based diet.