I’ve tried to envision what Wilma put on the plate for Fred and Barnie in the Flintstones, but I can’t remember. Did the Flintstones and Rubbles ever eat donuts?
I read the book “The Paleo Diet” several years ago, but I’ve been hearing more about it again lately. So, I thought I would take another look at the evolution our diet, share my thoughts on this way of eating, and give my own eating habits a once over as well.
The Main Idea:
The major premise (as I remember it) is that our genes have been the same for a very long time but the foods that make up our diet have changed significantly, and that this has contributed to our declining health as a society. It actually makes pretty decent sense. Paleolithic people ate (I assume-I wasn’t there) mostly lean meats, vegetables, fruit and nuts and spent their days doing physical activity.
We ate that way for about 2 million years and evolved so it would logically follow that they were likely in pretty good shape (unless they were breakfast for a wild animal). It’s just been in the last 100 or so years, since the advent of the industrial revolution (factory farming, canning, pesticides, processed flour, fast food, genetically modified foods, hormones in meats) that we have dramatically altered our diet. And, the human body can evolve and adapt to changes but I doubt we have adapted in such short time. So, we get fat, tired, stressed. And we have a higher propensity towards heart disease, type-two diabetes, and high cholesterol, etc.
What this way of eating entails:
So what can you eat on this caveman diet?
· The basis of the diet would be to stick with meats from animals fed their appropriate diet (cows fed grass, for example), wild-caught fish and vegetables and fruits (preferably organic).
· Foods to consider adding if you tolerate them well: Eggs from well-raised chickens, raw dairy from well-raised cows and/or goats, organic brown rice and rains. Things like fresh ground organic coffee are also included in this category.
· Foods to use sparingly: Starchy foods like yams and sweet potatoes best left to post-workout and concentrated Paleo foods like coconut milk, dried fruits, raw nuts and seeds, nut and seed milks and raw honey.
· Foods to avoid: Processed foods, processed grain products, soy products, beans and legumes, roasted nuts, sugar and high-fructose corn syrup products. Alcohol is also in this category.
Before you get too excited:
Now let’s get some perspective on this, I like to try (try being the operative word) to look at something from different angles before going wild on anything. First, when people only lived to be 20 years old there wasn’t a lot of time to develop these diseases, so Fred and Barnie had that going for them. Next, there wasn’t just one Paleolithic diet (as my husband so aptly pointed out). If you lived in the Africa as a Paleolithic person you ate a different diet than someone who lived in Antarctica. You went with what was local, fresh, and what would keep you fueled for survival.
Also, they have some set parameters in the diet (which aren’t bad but they aren’t historically accurate either). For example, the diet says no sugar and I’m sure it was hard to grab a Snickers bars when you started acting like a hungry diva, you may have been able to harvest honey. But they have to have some of the rules in there so that people will lose weight on the diet, and recommend their diet. And let’s be honest we could all probably stand to cut sugar out of our diets for a while (at least long enough to help us stop craving it).
Some of the criticisms of this diet are:
1. Cutting out dairy may be detrimental to obtaining calcium. (It's probably not a great idea to cut out a whole food group unless you have an allergy or intolerance--but that being said, their is calcium in leafy greens as well as dairy and their are plenty of lactose intolerant people who have nutritionally sound diets).
2. You shouldn't make meat the basis of your diet. (I think you would only make meat the basis of your diet if you chose to do so, if you are truly eating like Paleolithic man you would have the majority of your diet coming from plant based sources and have a meat as a secondary source of calories).
What Do Cavemen and Yuppies have in common?
This way of eating also encompasses some of the other popular diets as of late. Cavemen were already on to the local foods movement and eating raw foods before 'localvores' and 'raw foodists' were cool. There weren't planes, trains, and trucks to ship foods all over the place so they ate what was fresh, local, seasonal and consequently got more vitamins, nutrients, and fiber than most of us today. They were also cutting their 'carbon footprint' because their food wasn't shipped all over the place. They also would have been exercising (walking, running, etc--probably while carrying heavy weight) out of necessity.
My Conclusion:
I'm not a doctor, nor do I claim to be dispensing medical advice but we all know that the foods we eat and the amounts of foods we eat can positively or negatively affect our health. Honestly, of the 'diet' books I've read the ideas behind this one make pretty good sense. Obviously, no one can stay on a diet forever. People need to change the way they eat and the amount of exercise they do if they want to stay on track with their health and weight--but this might be a good starting point for some folks. It could also be a good way to re-set your eating habits, if you have been falling off the rails lately...a sort of real food cleanse to get your body and mind reset.
One of my favorite quotes on the subject of health and nutrition is by Michael Pollen, author of "The Omnivores Dilemma" and "In Defense of Food". Pollen's take on nutrition is one of the most clear and concise statement's I've read on the topic:
"Eat food, not too much, mostly plants"-Pollen
More Information:
Good Synopsis: http://www.myfivefingers.com/paleo-diet-1/
The Paleo Diet Website: http://thepaleodiet.com/
Another Paleo Article:
What do you think about the Paleo Diet?
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