Well, another academic year is underway. With every class I teach, I hear about new crazy diet tactics, and I love having discussions with my students about the flaws of all these new fads. One way of eating that I keep getting more and more questions about is the Paleo diet. It's been around for a while, but I haven't really made the time to really research it. Instinctively, I think it's just another trend that will come and go, but I think it's time to give it some more thought.
So my random question of the day is:
What is the Paleo diet and what are its pros and cons?
It's pretty common knowledge that the Paleo diet is short for "Paleolithic" giving homage to our caveman ancestors, and it is a "hunter-gatherer" diet where you only eat what could have been hunted and gathered AKA no processed foods. Here a list from the official Paleo website of food that should not be eaten:
- Grains
- Legumes (peas and peanuts)
- Dairy
- Refined sugar
- Potatoes
- Processed foods
- Salt
- Refined processed oils
When we cut out dairy (and dairy replacers) we are drastically reducing our opportunities for vitamin D and calcium. No other foods compare to dairy in terms of these two nutrients. I refer back to my blog on raw food diets on the research related to poor intake of calcium and vitamin D. As for grains (I'm talking whole grains, not processed/refined), they supply b-vitamins, iron, and fiber. When you don't eat enough of one food group, you're often eating too much of another. For instance, getting too much meat can give you too much fat and protein, putting you at risk for heart and kidney disease. Getting too little fiber can put you at higher risk for diabetes, heat disease, and colon disease (Mayo Clinic). It's all about the balance, and removing these food groups (in my opinion) throws your nutrient intake off-balance.
According to paleodiet.com, and I quote "The Paleo Diet, the world’s healthiest diet, is based upon the fundamental concept that the optimal diet is the one to which we are genetically adapted. The therapeutic effect of The Paleo Diet is supported by both randomized controlled human trials and real-life success stories". Now that sure does sound convincing; however, I never trust testimonials, and all of the research they quote in their "research" section does not actually examine this diet. It just has links about how dairy is bad for you and how unprocessed foods are good for you. I really hate this website. It could trick just about anybody into eating this way because of how convincing the website is set up - supposed research, fancy educated people with pictures on the front page, testimonials and blogs - very professional.
I can't trust it, though, because they are giving me a biased view. I need an outsider's opinion. After some research on the handy dandy internet, I found two really interesting articles. The first is an article written for The New Yorker. The author gives a kind of cynical view of the whole ordeal, but I like it. She delves into the history of how the diet came about and gives some insight on how impractical following this lifestyle can be. The other article gives a pretty good explanation of what "hunter and gatherers" really are and compares modern-day humans to those that were alive during the Paleolithic era. If you have any interest in following the Paleo lifestyle, I highly recommend that you read these two articles. Actually, I implore that you read these articles. I only wish I had more time to summarize in larger terms what these they have to say.
The fact of the matter is that we are never going to eat like our Cave Man ancestors.The plants and animals that were around then are not the same plants and animals available to us today. Maybe there's a reason why the early Paleolithic man often didn't live past his 30's. They ate what they could based off of what was available. They feasted in the summer and fall and went through famines in the winter. I actually read somewhere that it is speculated that we evolved to eat meat because not many plants grow in the winter. I always thought that was an interesting notion. Anyways, these humans were extremely active, and had very high risks for nutrient deficiencies.
Modern marvels bring new advances in food. Have you ever watched Mad Men? Only 50 years ago, getting an orange was a real treat because it came alllll the way from Florida. Now I'm not saying that all of our progress with food is healthy. In fact it's quite the contrary. Most of the food produced today is not even food in my book. Yes, junk food it is edible, but when there is nothing to gain nutritionally, it can hardly be called food. We should be embracing the opportunities that modern agriculture can give us instead of using it to process the crap out of everything to make it into the vague shape of something that is digestible.
That's one thing the Paleo diet and I can agree on. We need more real food and less junk. I love the thought of going back to our roots and cutting back on food that doesn't fall into a food group. I do not, however, condone eliminating anything from our diet, especially entire food groups. Any time we cut food groups, we are cutting nutrients, and any time we tell ourselves we can't have a treat, it's the only thing we think about. I suggest instead using the simple tool of moderation. Enjoy the advances in processed food without over-indulging.
Random side note: Potatoes? Really?! Regardless of the fact that I love to eat them, potatoes prepared in a healthy way with the skin eaten are a good/great source of 10 vitamins and minerals and fiber, and they have a decent amount of protein for a vegetable (Food-A-Pedia). Taking away my beloved potatoes is just the proverbial icing on the cake to make me not like this diet plan. Oh, and you can't have cake, in case you were wondering.
