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News that a Paleolithic diet–themed restaurant opened in Berlin reminded me just how wack the paleo diet is.
Followers of the Paleolithic diet—a.k.a. paleo, Stone Age, hunger-gatherer, and caveman diet—eschew dairy, grains, and sugars in favor of lean meat and vegetables; they believe we should all be eating a diet as close as possible to the one we surmised our heavy-browed forebears to have eaten. Or something like that, since the diet is characterized by a wide swath of gray area.
Some paleo dieters eat raw dairy or unrefined sugars like maple syrup; some argue that only raw food is acceptable; others consider beef bourguignon perfectly paleo. And what about the otherwise nostalgic hunter-gatherers who make exceptions for coffee, salt, and Sriracha?
The Paleolithic diet has been simmering around the edges since the mid-'70s, when gastroenterologist Walter L. Voegtlin wrote The Stone Age Diet. Paleo grubbing got a major boost in 2002 with Loren Cordain's The Paleo Diet and his 2005 follow-up, The Paleo Diet for Athletes.
But as anthropologist and university professor Barbara J. King observed last week on NPR's blog, one of the central claims for the paleo diet—that humans are genetically designed to eat this type of food—is utterly false. Ancient humans ate different things depending on where they lived. Those near water ate fish; those who lived in grasslands, by golly, they ate grain. Anyone who lived among lots of wild animals, they killed them and ate those. In short, early humans' genes did not "design" their food habits. Environment did.
"People learned what worked in local context for survival and reproduction, and surely, just as in other primates, cultural traditions began to play a role in who ate what," King writes. "In short, there was no single hunter-gatherer foraging strategy, and genes no more 'designed' our eating behavior than they designed our language or our ways of relating between the genders."
So what is it about a romanticized caveman diet that appeals to postindustrial humans? Says King: "The lure of a good story may play a role. It's a mighty powerful image: our ancestors roaming over the landscape, perfectly in tune with their bodies and the environment. Some of my anthropologist colleagues refer to this pining for a pristine past as a paleo-fantasy." A fantasy fueled by endless plates of meat you don't have to feel guilty about eating.
Image source: Flickr member Nicobobinus under Creative Commons
Good article but I like the all comments the best.........I've been in the dark ages on the Paleo diet but thanks to all of you and your links, I have a much better understanding of it.
Hey, @jon_w, I don't think she was serious about the bronto burgers--that's something Fred Flintstone ate.
Yikes Joyce Slaton! Brontos were extinct long before cavemen even existed! Have you actually done any research into these "paleo diet myths" or are the myths themselves actually imaginary?
"While the earliest comments were by Chow regulars, many of the recent comments are by new people."
What a disappointing shame that must be.
While the earliest comments were by Chow regulars, many of the recent comments are by new people. They were probably drawn here by some post or comment on Nikoley's site. Note how many cite 'freetheanimal'.
This entry is full of ignorance.
I don't follow Paleo because of a fantasy or something like you point there, to me all that is just blablabla! Obviously the food of today's isn't EXACTLY the same as our ancestors, so we are left trying to eat the most healthy foods available today. How do we know it is a healthy food?, because you run your own n=1 experiment. Is about individuals but most Paleo...+READ
This entry is full of ignorance.
I don't follow Paleo because of a fantasy or something like you point there, to me all that is just blablabla! Obviously the food of today's isn't EXACTLY the same as our ancestors, so we are left trying to eat the most healthy foods available today. How do we know it is a healthy food?, because you run your own n=1 experiment. Is about individuals but most Paleo agree in something, we don't eat grains. Why? Because it make me feel optimal, as I am sure most people in this movement do, because they also feel good eating this way.
There is no fantasy in this, specially after you keep a healthy weigth without effort, and don't feel any of the gastrointestinal problems or weird illness or fogginess or laziness that you experimented when you was a grain eater, there is no coming back
No because the owners of the human zoo aka "Agro-Farma Corporate Goverment" gave you a fake "healthy" pyramid/plate of mostly grain foods to ruin your health and sell you medicaments, to ameliorate the symptoms and keep you like zombies, to full-fill their pockets in the way.
For the ignorant writer of this post if you don't get my point I will try to gave you a summary in words you can understand "Is about your individual health, it isn't about paleo reenactment".
Anyway in the end Paleo isn't for everybody is only for educated people that can think for themself, for the blind mindless hordes of sheeps "there is no hope".
Arrivederci!
Jorge from Venezuela-COLLAPSE
What we evolved to eat is, anything. The human body developed the capability to eat anything, so as we spread out we could find some way to survive wherever we went. Being omnivores improved the species' chance of long-term survival.
What our distant ancestors ate was, everything they could wrestle down their throats. If the "paleo diet" people believe our ancestors eschewed sugars, they are...+READ
What we evolved to eat is, anything. The human body developed the capability to eat anything, so as we spread out we could find some way to survive wherever we went. Being omnivores improved the species' chance of long-term survival.
What our distant ancestors ate was, everything they could wrestle down their throats. If the "paleo diet" people believe our ancestors eschewed sugars, they are out of their minds. Primitive hunter-gatherers would have jumped with manic glee on anything sweet.
But you are right about the "paleo" diet being based on fantasy. There is always an urge to return to childhood, when everything seemed simple. This diet is just another manifestation of the desire to pretend there was an age when things were simple and easy to deal with; a form of escapism.-COLLAPSE
Wear of teeth is not the same as cavities. In grain-fed societies most people loose their teeth due to a parodontose and decay. Read the book of Weston Price "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration".
Now, here's what I find really interesting about the comments. The idea that 'grain must be processed to be useful and how did they do that?' is hysterical. The mortar and pestle were around a long, long time ago; before that were our teeth--and a whole lot of spitting of hulls. 'No cavities or dental problems'? Hah. Age is most often determined by the godawful wear patterns present on the teeth...+READ
Now, here's what I find really interesting about the comments. The idea that 'grain must be processed to be useful and how did they do that?' is hysterical. The mortar and pestle were around a long, long time ago; before that were our teeth--and a whole lot of spitting of hulls. 'No cavities or dental problems'? Hah. Age is most often determined by the godawful wear patterns present on the teeth of our ancestors--the teeth left by the time they were very old (like 40 or so), that is.
We're omnivores, and we ate what was available and didn't run fast enough. To some degree, we still do. But..change doesn't stop. The environments we grow up in, the way we learn to live from our parents, mean that even in the last 2000 or so years, we've undergone huge changes in diet, and the Industrial Revolution sped things up from there and now we're a bunch of people who have adapted to constant food availability in excess of our needs.
Here's a hint: Sharing isn't one of mankind's stellar points. If it's there, and we like it, we'll eat it to destruction. Even with our bodies telling us that doing so is killing us, we have the technology to work around it so we can continue.
Grow your own food and learn to kill your own food animals. You'll learn all sorts of stuff about what it actually takes to grow/gather food; what it costs to kill an animal you personally raised. Believe me, you eat a lot less when you have to actually work for your food...and you eat smarter.-COLLAPSE
Please go to Richard Nikoley's site www.freetheanimal.com and watch his interviews with people that have had their life's changed by the paleo diet and movement. Watch mine. I don't know where I would be without paleo. Paleo isn't a "diet", it's a mindset or a movement for want of a better term.
More than anything, just do some real research and open your mind before spouting out brain farts....+READ
Please go to Richard Nikoley's site www.freetheanimal.com and watch his interviews with people that have had their life's changed by the paleo diet and movement. Watch mine. I don't know where I would be without paleo. Paleo isn't a "diet", it's a mindset or a movement for want of a better term.
More than anything, just do some real research and open your mind before spouting out brain farts. You owe that to your readers at least but more do to yourself.-COLLAPSE
I just re-read the article. What an odd title! What an odd citation " A fantasy fueled by endless plates of meat you don't have to feel guilty about eating." Why anyone whose religion (Buddhism, vegetarianism) doesn't interfere could feel guilty about eating meat? During all my life such thought never cross my mind. It is not a part of how normal folks think. Most people don't feel their decision...+READ
I just re-read the article. What an odd title! What an odd citation " A fantasy fueled by endless plates of meat you don't have to feel guilty about eating." Why anyone whose religion (Buddhism, vegetarianism) doesn't interfere could feel guilty about eating meat? During all my life such thought never cross my mind. It is not a part of how normal folks think. Most people don't feel their decision to choose their source of food based on ideology. It is based on health, taste. culture.-COLLAPSE
As far as I know, it is easy for paleo-anthropologists to distinguish bones of hunter-gatherers from the bones of early farmers - hunters are taller, with better dental arches and almost always no cavities, no arthritis or heart decease. The ancient man was found in Alps from 5000 years ago. His belly was full of wheat(and meat), mouth full of cavities, atherosclerosis, arthritis at early 40...+READ
As far as I know, it is easy for paleo-anthropologists to distinguish bones of hunter-gatherers from the bones of early farmers - hunters are taller, with better dental arches and almost always no cavities, no arthritis or heart decease. The ancient man was found in Alps from 5000 years ago. His belly was full of wheat(and meat), mouth full of cavities, atherosclerosis, arthritis at early 40 despite the amount of hiking he was doing. I try to eat as close to pre-neolithic people as possible. It means no grains and no sugar, a lot of organ meats, fatty grassfed meats are preferred, eggs, veggies, fruits and nuts are very limited. I also consume heavy cream, butter, cheese, tea and coffee because I believe it doesn't harm my health, unlike grains. I follow such diet for 4 years, there is nothing romantic about it, my health greatly improved, weight is lost. Food taste great, I am never hungry and don't have to snack - eat 2 times a day. I am delighted to see my son choose to follow me. Amount of people like me is growing. There is no universal paleo diet, and people who eat paleo have different health goals to achieve, hence the difference in details. The similarity - avoidance of grains,soy, sugars, industrially raised meats, modern oils like canola, soy bean oil, corn oil. I try to stay away from the products of agriculture.
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Further to Phelan Kell's comment, here's a doctor for a local CBS affiliate who did just that. Full blood panel before & after, while eating enough to not lose any weight. In the second stage, she ate to satiation and dropped 30-40 pounds.
http://freetheanimal.com/2011/10/the-paleo-diet-on-the-local-cbs-news-doctors-getting-on-board.html
"I just said, in so many words, that endorsing the paleo diet as the pinnacle of healthy human eating is dumb. Maybe I should have been more explicit but my point was that there is no such thing as the optimal diet for all humans, different people need different things- that is how evolution works- different organisms from the same species have different nutritional requirements and different...+READ
"I just said, in so many words, that endorsing the paleo diet as the pinnacle of healthy human eating is dumb. Maybe I should have been more explicit but my point was that there is no such thing as the optimal diet for all humans, different people need different things- that is how evolution works- different organisms from the same species have different nutritional requirements and different optimal nutritional inputs, this is what prevents an entire species from dying out when the environment changes, which it does on occasion."
It's funny, but for those who aren't actually substantially ignorant about what the Paleo _framework_ is, you criticize it for its explicit virtue. It is actually the Standard American Diet that's monolithic and becoming moreso all the time.
Plus, you evolution as pertains to humans isn't quite right. What you say applies primarily to other animal species that inhabit niche environments with little variation in sources of nutrition. Humans are generalist omnivores, and Paleo man in most instances ate a far wider variation of foods than the average person doers today.
Most paleoish folks today eat a far wider variety of foods that they every have in their lives, including offal in many forms, marrow, even insects.
Of course, M McChugalug's mind is well made up on this topic, but for anyone else looking for more info, Kurt Harris, MD, has a pretty good summary of Paleo qua framework.
http://www.archevore.com/get-started
Also, here's lots of videos of lectures from the recent Ancestral Health Symposium on the campus of UCLA. I was one of the presenters.
http://vimeo.com/ancestralhealthsymposium/videos-COLLAPSE
The Paleo Diet is the best diet for just about anyone ever. Instead of bashing it with no knowledge of what it actually is, try it for a month and report back on how you look and feel. Better yet, get blood work done before and after. I have yet to hear of anyone ending up with worse blood work after a month of Paleo.
@McChugalug I understand your point about the elasticity optimal diet and that is well taken. However, what I will clarify about my own point is that it is that grains in particular seem to be uniquely destructive to human health. Same for sugar. While grain based foods are certainly tasty, and even possibly addictive, I think that people would avoid many diseases if grains in particular were...+READ
@McChugalug I understand your point about the elasticity optimal diet and that is well taken. However, what I will clarify about my own point is that it is that grains in particular seem to be uniquely destructive to human health. Same for sugar. While grain based foods are certainly tasty, and even possibly addictive, I think that people would avoid many diseases if grains in particular were avoided.
On agrarian lifespans, I meant that hunter gatherers thousands of years ago lived longer than their agrarian contemporaries, not longer than modern humans.-COLLAPSE
Who gives a crap if our paleolithic ancestors ate brontosaurus or grapenuts? Avoiding sugar, grains, legumes & their derivative oils makes people healthier. The biggest "Paleo Diet Myth" is that we are doing this in the spirit of re-enactment; this is a framework for making good decisions about food.
nc827 yes, you called it, I am wracked with dietary turmoil, thanks for letting me know! I have to admit I've never had any idea how farms work, don't you just plant an egg and grow chicken plants? What is there to check out? Oh wait *google google google* ahhh, yes... I get you.
So speaking of monoculture, what is it that cattle, pigs, and chickens eat? Where does that come from? What kind of...+READ
nc827 yes, you called it, I am wracked with dietary turmoil, thanks for letting me know! I have to admit I've never had any idea how farms work, don't you just plant an egg and grow chicken plants? What is there to check out? Oh wait *google google google* ahhh, yes... I get you.
So speaking of monoculture, what is it that cattle, pigs, and chickens eat? Where does that come from? What kind of gasses do meat animals emit? what gasses do plants emit? Have you ever driven from San Francisco to Los Angeles? Did you look to your left?
I don't know how you jumped from what I said to "don't eat meat" or "yay! petro-based mono culture" or "rice and beans is the healthiest" or "hakuna matata". I just said, in so many words, that endorsing the paleo diet as the pinnacle of healthy human eating is dumb. Maybe I should have been more explicit but my point was that there is no such thing as the optimal diet for all humans, different people need different things- that is how evolution works- different organisms from the same species have different nutritional requirements and different optimal nutritional inputs, this is what prevents an entire species from dying out when the environment changes, which it does on occasion.
If a certain diet works for you (or PattyP) great! Go for it and enjoy but surely you can see the parallels in any diet that is "the best" or "the most natural" whether it's a vegan diet, a paleo diet, or a spaceship diet (algae and cockroaches). Proponents all say the same thing: "I've never felt so good!" and detractors do too "Bullshit! you do not feel good", whatever works.
We can argue all day about whether conventional animal husbandry or conventional fruit and vegetable farming destroys the earth more, or how long the average human lived 20000 years ago(longer than 75ish years? really? proof?), or how we got them big ol' brains (meat huh?) but ultimately what works best for you personally is up to you to figure out- and when you do figure that out rock it, but it doesn't mean it's THE BEST DIET FOR EVERYONE EVAR BECAUSE "EVOLUTION!"
Hakuna Matata!-COLLAPSE
@Aramek...as to your comment that no one is claiming Paleo isn't healthy, ok. But perhaps they also aren't considering why those who adopt the Paleo blueprint are reporting such amazing, healthy results. Could it be that it is because we ARE genetically programmed to eat like our ancestors? Americaand those other countries who adopt the standard American wheat heavy, low fat way of eating are...+READ
@Aramek...as to your comment that no one is claiming Paleo isn't healthy, ok. But perhaps they also aren't considering why those who adopt the Paleo blueprint are reporting such amazing, healthy results. Could it be that it is because we ARE genetically programmed to eat like our ancestors? Americaand those other countries who adopt the standard American wheat heavy, low fat way of eating are exploding with high rates of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, other chronic illnesses. Could it be because we are NOT genetically programmed to eat grains, vegetable oils, sugar? The Primal/Paleo blueprint is just that....guidelines, not canon law.-COLLAPSE
Seriously? You are simply regurgitating Barbara's ignorance. Read: Another Simple Question: The Paleo Diet is Not The Way to a Healthy Future For Whom? by Richard Nikoley on Free the animal.
I asked the question on my blog, "And why are YOU Paleo." 172 comments & counting. Reasons are all over the map and as varied as individuals themselves -- from weight loss to looks to libido to getting off meds to energy levels to sleep and on and on.
http://freetheanimal.com/2011/10/and-why-are-you-paleo.html
Again, nobody here seems to be claiming the diet isn't a healthy one. And it certainly seems to have good results (though pretty much ever good diet will as well) the article just seems to take issue that the *reason* to do it is because our Paleo-ancestors did. For as much as we harp on all the junk we admittedly consume, we're, overall, living longer, healthier lives. If this diet works for...+READ
Again, nobody here seems to be claiming the diet isn't a healthy one. And it certainly seems to have good results (though pretty much ever good diet will as well) the article just seems to take issue that the *reason* to do it is because our Paleo-ancestors did. For as much as we harp on all the junk we admittedly consume, we're, overall, living longer, healthier lives. If this diet works for you, by all means, go for it! But do it because it is a lifestyle you like, or because you are trying to eat healthier foods, not because you think the paleos had it good, because their lives were nasty, brutish, unhealthy and short.-COLLAPSE
"..they believe we should all be eating a diet as close as possible.." On the contrary I hope all of you who will not stop eating yourself into being diseased continue to do so. I just ask that you die quicker so you stop being such a drag on our national healthcare costs.
How does normal blood glucose levels and a twenty lb weight loss grab you? All within six weeks of going Paleo. Off all meds including statin, hypertension, diabetes meds. Oh, and the $2,000/mo med for rheumatoid arthritis is gone too, as are symptoms. That's good enough for me. Think about it...good health on Paleo vs fat, bloated, diabetic, arthritic not on Paleo. More wheat for you!
And @McChugalug, I can see you're in a lot of turmoil, but you should really check out the realities of farming. Animal husbandry is not what is driving the world toward collapse, I would actually say that the attempt to grow plants without dead animals and animal manure etc in the mix is what is causing collapse. Monocultures are far more insidious for the health of the earth than any animal...+READ
And @McChugalug, I can see you're in a lot of turmoil, but you should really check out the realities of farming. Animal husbandry is not what is driving the world toward collapse, I would actually say that the attempt to grow plants without dead animals and animal manure etc in the mix is what is causing collapse. Monocultures are far more insidious for the health of the earth than any animal farm. When fertilizer is synthesized from petroleum to avoid animals but darn, that's just dead dinos! doh! We keep getting back to the Lion King song, let's sing it together... The circle of life... Also, humans would never have been able to grow these big brains made out of cholesterol without eating meat, so embrace life and death, they go together.
Though I do have to check you on the idea that agriculture in and of itself tripled human life span. Agrarians are documented to have had shorter life spans and more disease than their hunter gatherer forebears. So if you are willing to sacrifice your health to protect farmed animals, have at it. But I will not agree with the idea that eating beans and rice makes you healthier than 'bronto burgers'.-COLLAPSE
Mary, do you really believe any food source can support 7 billion? By conventional wisdom, most, I believe are referring to the FDA's food pyramid/my plate.
The books aren't editorials, they have a lot of references....
Yeah, you lose me on the grains piece. Humans first had the technology to process grains enough to eat them no earlier than 10,000 years ago. (why don't you try eating raw wheat and report your bathroom adventures back to us) At the 10k year mark, the major evolution of humans was 99% done, so that is where the grain avoidance comes from.
Wait, so y'all are really claiming that a diet heavy in meat is bucking conventional wisdom and the government? Animal husbandry is the apex of free market capitalism? Way to stick it to those vegan commies at the USDA!!!
I honestly don't understand BeerWeezil's point, are "yupsters" paleo eaters or those calling BS on "paleo" or is "paleo" a common working class term in reference to diet? Is...+READ
Wait, so y'all are really claiming that a diet heavy in meat is bucking conventional wisdom and the government? Animal husbandry is the apex of free market capitalism? Way to stick it to those vegan commies at the USDA!!!
I honestly don't understand BeerWeezil's point, are "yupsters" paleo eaters or those calling BS on "paleo" or is "paleo" a common working class term in reference to diet? Is "conventional wisdom" referring to the conventions of biology, genetics, and paleontology or to the conventions of what everybody knows about what the cavemen ate? Is it "disparaging technology" to question the assertions of three books that lack any semblance of scientific credulity or is it "disparaging technology" to turn your back on twelve to twenty millenia of developments in eating that correspond to a tripling of the human life span? Speaking of technology, if you are paleo, do you really think you're going to bring those cows on the spaceships when we fuck up the planet so badly (partly through animal husbandry) that we have to leave? Do you really believe that seven billion people can eat a paleo diet or do you want to go all social darwin on this shit? If so how are your hunting skills? How is "free market" capitalism going for you these days, if the answer is "good" how do you feel about firing all government employed police and military personnel and really "freeing" that market? Is "romanticizing a past that, frankly, sucked" romanticizing a past lacking electricity and choc full of cholera or romanticizing a past where wood-fired neapolitan pizza was prevalent and considered "tasty"? Are people ' "surrendering all of their logic and critical reasoning skills to anyone that flashes the smallest bit of governmental, scientific, or academic "credentials." ' surrendering those skills to two guys who wrote a book or two about how they thought people should eat or are they surrendering them to a collection of peer-reviewed evidence about how genes work and how humans lived prior to writing compiled and by thousands of people who devoted their lives to studying these topics?
Honestly, I'm not trying to one up strangers on the internet, these are real questions.-COLLAPSE
Also using cliche catch titles like this one also themes the article in obvious biased criticism. Seriously, Bronto burgers? Foolish mistepresentation used to rile a laugh from naysayers.
Why should I feel guilty about eating meat???? I'd also like to see the evidence that a caveman had the know-how to process grains enough to make them a useful source of nutritious calories.
I think the subject of genes and evolution and regionality is being over simplified. The plains regions surely had grains growing wild, but were they growing in enough density that allowed enough to gather, then process into an edible form? Dunno. Did paleolithic man have the knowledge and ability to do so? I dont see it as they would be munching on grass, essentially, instead of expending that...+READ
I think the subject of genes and evolution and regionality is being over simplified. The plains regions surely had grains growing wild, but were they growing in enough density that allowed enough to gather, then process into an edible form? Dunno. Did paleolithic man have the knowledge and ability to do so? I dont see it as they would be munching on grass, essentially, instead of expending that time looking for more rewarding foods of the landscape; which is more the point. Did Paleolithic man stay in those areas moreso than in regions dominated by availible game and fish; and/or edible vegitation? People need to think about wether or not our ancestors could sustain life on foods that were not nutritonally dense, like many grains; aside from the fact they likely could not cook them to edibility. They didnt know the words ' nutritionally dense' but they knew what kept them healthy and alive.
There are many other points, but Ill leave that to other commentors. But remember, "everybody knows" logic puts you in an ignorant stance when trying to argue for conventional wisdom.
But what do I know? Im just a normal dude. :-)-COLLAPSE
Barbara King is simply ignorant. The idea that...
"Paleo is equator to arctic/antarctic circle, and sea level to 16,000 feet, and everything in-between."
...is as old as the notion of the diet itself, and that quote above is me, and I've been saying it for at least three years or more.
...+READ
Barbara King is simply ignorant. The idea that...
"Paleo is equator to arctic/antarctic circle, and sea level to 16,000 feet, and everything in-between."
...is as old as the notion of the diet itself, and that quote above is me, and I've been saying it for at least three years or more.
http://freetheanimal.com/2011/10/another-simple-question-the-paleo-diet-is-not-the-way-to-a-healthy-future-for-whom.html-COLLAPSE
I don't see the romanticism in the paleo diet at all. I agree with BeerWeezil...it's quite a bit about bucking conventional wisdom and the government's "My Plate" stance. The government classes soymilk as dairy! Meh, I'll wait for the other pro-paleo people to chime in.
It may actually be all of the people that are getting healthy, losing weight, curing or seeing measurable relief of chronic diseases, and experiencing overall positive benefits of eating in such a way.
Nah, can't be it.
A fondness for the "noble savage;" really? I find all of these yupsters nay-saying anyone who dares question their beloved "conventional wisdom" more than hypocritical,...+READ
It may actually be all of the people that are getting healthy, losing weight, curing or seeing measurable relief of chronic diseases, and experiencing overall positive benefits of eating in such a way.
Nah, can't be it.
A fondness for the "noble savage;" really? I find all of these yupsters nay-saying anyone who dares question their beloved "conventional wisdom" more than hypocritical, seeing as they will not blink an eye at disparaging technology, civilization, and (true, freed market, non-crony) capitalism while romanticizing a past that, frankly, sucked while simultaneously surrendering all of their logic and critical reasoning skills to anyone that flashes the smallest bit of governmental, scientific, or academic "credentials."-COLLAPSE
Sorry Houndgirl but that rebuttal is hardly convincing, it's essentially a really long "f-you commies!". Look, if you want to eat steak for breakfast go for it, enjoy yourself. The wackness of the paleo diet is twofold: one is the obvious ridiculousness of the claim that humans (all humans? even humans from parts of the world that had never seen bovini prior to the 15th century?) "evolved" to eat...+READ
Sorry Houndgirl but that rebuttal is hardly convincing, it's essentially a really long "f-you commies!". Look, if you want to eat steak for breakfast go for it, enjoy yourself. The wackness of the paleo diet is twofold: one is the obvious ridiculousness of the claim that humans (all humans? even humans from parts of the world that had never seen bovini prior to the 15th century?) "evolved" to eat the flesh of modern cattle- a cooked piece of beef is no more "paleo" than a bowl of grapenuts; two, the idea that humans evolved to eat anything in particular is completely backwards genetically speaking, the magic of DNA is that DNA exists in a flux state in regards to environmrnt- successful organisms (including humans) adapt to evolving environments while unsuccessful organisms cling to static dietary habituation.-COLLAPSE
They don't seem to be saying that the diet itself isn't healthy, rather, the methods for determining the diet were noting but false romantisism. The "Noble Savage in harmony in nature" as mentioned is what they seem to be taking issue with. By all means, if you can get healthy by eating simple foods, more power to you. But pretending it is this holistic approach to reuniting with "Nature's...+READ
They don't seem to be saying that the diet itself isn't healthy, rather, the methods for determining the diet were noting but false romantisism. The "Noble Savage in harmony in nature" as mentioned is what they seem to be taking issue with. By all means, if you can get healthy by eating simple foods, more power to you. But pretending it is this holistic approach to reuniting with "Nature's purpose" is annoying and silly.-COLLAPSE
Sorry, the paleo diet is not wack. It works for a lot of people and there is much evolutionary science behind it. Be sure you read the comments after the article. There's a great rebuttal to the NPR article over here:
http://freetheanimal.com/
Be aware the blogger has a penchant for four-letter words.
We can't eat what our ancestors did. It's extinct.
I think it's a version of the 'noble savage' myth - primitive man, living in spiritual and physical harmony with his environment, untainted by modern civilization.
One of the problems with the modern diet is that we *do* eat the way our ancient ancestors did, and our genes are programmed for. Eating a lot when food is plentiful to build up fat to save yourself from starvation in the winter or...+READ
I think it's a version of the 'noble savage' myth - primitive man, living in spiritual and physical harmony with his environment, untainted by modern civilization.
One of the problems with the modern diet is that we *do* eat the way our ancient ancestors did, and our genes are programmed for. Eating a lot when food is plentiful to build up fat to save yourself from starvation in the winter or times of famine, gravitating towards high caloric density food whenever it's available, because that's the biggest nutritional bang for your buck, and going with whatever is the least amount of effort for the calories.
These are all great strategies when your main fear is starving to death if you can hunter-gather enough food. But it's a lousy strategy when food is over abundant, and the food that takes the least effort is the worst for you.-COLLAPSE