The Paleolithic Diet
Hunter-Gatherer Nutrition

The Paleolithic Lifestyle is a nutrition plan that resembles what a Paleolithic (Stone Age) man (caveman) would have eaten. This is a way of eating that dates back two million years, before man cooked his food. This is what the hunter/gatherers brought in for supper. A great many food items such as grains, potatoes, and beans are not generally edible unless cooked. Some of these foods actually contain toxins in raw form that breaks down as the food is cooked.

For example, potatoes contain a poison called solanine (in the nightshade family). The poison is mostly in the green parts of the potatoes (leaves, shoots, etc), but it can be in other parts of the potato as well, especially if exposed to sunlight. Most commercial potatoes are screened and have an extremely low amount of poison in them. It should also be noted that only certain types of cooking, such as deep frying, really breakdown the poison completely.

The diet generally says that you can eat nuts, vegetables, fruits, and any kind of meat. They do not allow consumption of any sort of grains (cereal, bread, pasta, etc), potatoes, beans, legumes (peanuts included), or sugar. Most frown on any sort of dairy products, though some proponents of the diet offer exemption on certain dairy in limited quantities. These are essentially the same foods the hunter-gatherers ate.

Under the diet principles the fruits and vegetables should be eaten raw and in unprocessed form. Nuts should be raw (not roasted) and unsalted. The meat must be cooked for modern safety reasons.

I think in general many of our problems, obesity included, stem from the mass ingestion of processed grains. Excessive sodium in processed foods is also a major factor in our blood pressure problems. I definitely believe that sugar is the major culprit in our health problems, even more so than most natural fats (that excludes trans fat). On the other hand I recognize that grains are what have allowed our society to exist and thrive in this world despite extremely difficult conditions (plague, drought, etc).

Overall I think the intentions of this diet are right one. Unfortunately it’s not something I believe will really work for the long term.

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Here are the major problems I have with the Paleo diet.

• It’s far too strict for the vast majority of people to maintain for more than a couple of months. That makes it much more like a diet than a lifestyle because it restricts a large percentage of foods you probably eat normally right now.
• The original creator of the diet in the 1970s suggested that our digestive system (that of a nearly pure carnivore) has barely changed since Paleolithic times, but this is totally unproven. The fact is we have evolved over thousands of years by necessity to tolerate a diet filled with grains and cooked foods.
• The diet emphasizes eating meat like a Neanderthal, but it backtracks to say you must cook your meat for safety. There’s a big difference eating raw meat (don’t even think about it!) and eating cooked meat. The Paleolithic man just ripped the liver out of their kill and ate it on the spot. You don’t see that every day. Clearly with the conditions in which animals are raised and slaughtered you must cook all of your meat thoroughly in this day and age.
• It neglects to mention what kind of meat you should eat. The Stone Age man ate free range animals. In our day animals are fed processed grains unfit for our consumption. As it turns out those animals develop dangerous types of fat that is out of balance when compared to free range animals. Plus, their fat is loaded with antibiotics and hormones used to plump up the animals.

  I agree that in general animal fat was not dangerous to eat for a Paleolithic man. However, meat is not at all what it used to be. Modern animal fat is completely out of omega-6 to omega-3 balance because the cows, pigs, and chickens don’t eat a Paleolithic diet. If you want to follow this diet you need to get 100% free range, grass fed animals. In this case Certified Organic doesn’t cut it.

• The diet does emphasize a low-sodium, low chemical, low sugar approach which is commendable, but it essentially allows a person to eat anything that qualifies as meat. Many meats are processed just as much as grains. In the processing they are loaded with salt and in some cases sugar also (ham and bacon are excellent examples). You do need to be more selective with your meat choices.

So in general my opinion is that the paleodiet is just another fad diet that isn’t unlikely to work, and even less likely to keep you happy and satisfied for a long period of time. I think the general approach is commendable, but it must be taken in a more moderate tone, while being more aware of the facts of processed foods.

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The key rule that I recommend is much simpler and more moderate:

Eat your foods in the most natural form possible.

This rule pushes you to eat unprocessed foods, uncooked vegetables when possible, without restricting you from eating other foods when nothing else is available. If the rules are so strict they must be broken when traveling or at other times of convenience, the diet plan isn’t going to work for the long term.

For the whole diet and exercise program I recommend, check out my 21 day, step-by-step guide toward a healthier lifestyle: Three Weeks to Thrive.