With the influence of diet cultures, some experts talk about getting back to the roots – following the ancient diet pattern that dates back to early man or the hunter-gatherers. Is it really worth going back to the original ancestral eating habits? But, what exactly did the hunter-gatherers eat?
What is Paleo Diet?
Diet (Foods) that is consumed by stone-age or early man in the Paleolithic era, almost around 2.5 million years ago, is referred to as the ‘Paleolithic Diet’ or ‘Paleo’. The evolution of humans stopped thousands of years ago, and with the inflation of food industrialization, and the practicing of modern farming techniques, it is considered that humans are not equipped for the consumption of modern or western foods. It is claimed that consuming them leads to various diseases.
What foods constitute a Paleo Diet?
The majority of the foods consumed in a paleo diet are meat, seafood, plants, and insects. Since there is no cultivation of foods, milk products, oils, pulses, and cereals are not present in the paleo diet. Meat comes from hunting small animals and with the invention of tools like stone, and fire, to cut and cook the meat. Seafood is available in the coastal regions. Leaves, fruits, and roots of the plants (tubers) are consumed. Few edible insects and their products such as honey from the bees comb are mostly consumed as part of the diet. A typical paleo diet consists of 35% fats, 35% carbohydrates, and the rest of 30% intake from protein.
Paleo Diet doesn’t focus on quantities and calories, and it has three levels based on adherence (Tahreem, A. et al., 2022)
Does Paleo help with lifestyle disorders?
Recently, there are studies that show that a paleo diet can help with various disorders such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, and also in glucose homeostasis. Since there are plant-based foods, there is more intake of fiber (~45-100 grams per day) there is a positive effect on the regulation of high lipid levels and blood pressure. A meta-analysis study on the effect of the paleo diet compared to a control diet on fasting glucose levels didn’t show any significant effect (Jamka, M. et al., 2020). In another study where the effects of dietary patterns, intermittent fasting, the Mediterranean diet, and the paleo diet were observed in overweight people for weight loss, systolic blood pressure, and blood glucose levels. Compared to the paleo, only the Mediterranean diet and IF showed greater weight loss, improved blood sugar levels, and reduction in systolic blood pressure after 12 months. Also, in the paleo diet due to the lack of food groups – pulses and legumes, certain minerals such as potassium are not adequately met (Jospe, M. R. et al., 2020). Most of the studies showed non-sustenance with a paleo diet to see long-term positive effects on health parameters.
Take away
It is always the best choice to rely on a dietary pattern that is more sustainable and includes all food groups to provide adequate nutrients to the body.
References
- Challa HJ, Bandlamudi M, Uppaluri KR. Paleolithic Diet. [Updated 2022 Jul 4]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482457/
- Jamka, M. et al. (2020) ‘The effect of the paleolithic diet vs. Healthy diets on glucose and insulin homeostasis: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials’, Journal of Clinical Medicine, 9(2). doi: 10.3390/jcm9020296.
- Jospe, M. R. et al. (2020) ‘Intermittent fasting, Paleolithic, or Mediterranean diets in the real world: Exploratory secondary analyses of a weight-loss trial that included choice of diet and exercise’, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 111(3), pp. 503–514. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqz330.
- Tahreem, A. et al. (2022) ‘Fad Diets: Facts and Fiction’, Frontiers in nutrition, 9. doi: 10.3389/FNUT.2022.960922.