The Paleo Diet Revised: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Foods You Were Designed to Eat

The word paleo means prehistoric. The idea of the Paleo Diet is to mimic the diet that evolutionists theorize prehistoric humans ate, based on the assumption that the body is genetically adapted to function best according to the diet that it evolved on over millions of years.According to these theorists, sixty million years ago, the earliest primates subsisted mainly on fruit, leaves, and insects: humans started using tools and fire 2.6 million years ago and moved to a hunter-gatherer diet. These theorists assume that the body is genetically best adapted to a hunter-gatherer diet, to the exclusion of diets that include grains, legumes, and dairy, which they assume only became part of the human diet ten thousand years ago, when agriculture became a primary method of attaining food.Dr. Loren Cordain’s diet recommendations are:1. Eat all the lean meats, fish, and seafood you can.2. Eat all the fruits and nonstarchy vegetables you can.3. Focus on a diet with a net-alkaline load.4. Eat foods high in potassium and low in sodium (no salt).5. Moderate consumption of oils from olive, avocado, and flaxseed.6. Moderate consumption of artificial sweeteners, caffeine, and alcohol.7. Moderate consumption nuts and dried fruits.8. Do not eat grains.9. Do not eat legumes.10. Do not eat starchy vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, or yams.11. Do not eat dairy products.12. Do not eat processed foods.13. Do not eat candy, honey, or sugar.He recommends the following macronutrient division (percentage of calories):Fats 28–47 percentCarbohydrates 22–40 percentProteins 19–35 percentPros:1. By excluding grains, legumes, starchy vegetables, dairy, processed foods, and sugar from their diet, most people will consume fewer calories and thereby lose weight in the short term. Despite the restrictions, the diet includes sufficient macro- and micronutrients for maintaining health.2. Our bodies need far-more potassium than sodium, but the typical US diet is just the opposite: Americans average about 3,300 milligrams of sodium per day, about 75 percent of which comes from processed foods, while only getting about 2,900 milligrams of potassium daily. Sodium and potassium have opposite effects on heart health: High salt intake increases blood pressure, which can lead to heart disease, while high potassium intake can help relax blood vessels and excrete the sodium and decrease blood pressure. Therefore Dr. Cordain’s recommendation concerning salt and potassium is on target.3. Regarding the problem of consuming too much unhealthy saturated fat when including meat in one’s diet, Dr. Cordain raises a good point (pg. 15): “The meat of grain-fed livestock is vastly at odds with that of wild animals. A 100 gram serving of T-bone beefsteak gives you a walloping 9.1 grams of saturated fat whereas a comparable piece of bison roast yields on 0.9 grams of saturated fat.” Actually, we don’t have to go back so far as prehistoric times, to reach the era when most of the meat consumed by humans was free range. Just 150 years ago, that was the norm. However, his emphasis to purchase leaner free-ranging meats is on target.Cons:1. Whole grains, legumes, and many low-fat dairy products are excellent sources of nutrition—dietary fiber, protein, carbs, vitamins, and minerals. Except for individuals who have allergies to these foods, or difficulty digesting them, these foods are beneficial and healthful when not overeaten, contributing to a balanced, healthy diet. Food variety is important, as each food contributes something unique for the body to utilize, and the Paleo Diet unreasonably limits this variety, placing unnecessary stress on the dieter.2. The Paleo Diet doesn’t provide any advice on reducing the number of fat cells or improving leptin sensitivity, which are necessary for long-term fat reduction.Criticism:1. The presumption that total avoidance of grains, legumes, and dairy products will make a person healthy and fit like a prehistoric hunter is incorrect.Avoiding processed foods, sugar, and salt, is not unique to the Paleo diet, neither is the recommendation to get exercise unique. What is unique to his diet is the total avoidance of grains, legumes, and dairy products.Dr. Cordain attempts to convince people that mimicking the unique qualities of the Paleo Diet (total avoidance of grains, legumes, and dairy products) makes you healthy. In his words (pg. 6): “Descriptions of hunter gatherers by early European explorers and adventurers showed these people to be healthy, fit, strong, and vivacious. These same characteristics can be yours when you follow the dietary and exercise principles I have laid out in the Paleo Diet.”Prehistoric hunters also didn’t use modern laundry detergent and toothbrushes. So should we avoid those too? It’s more practical and realistic to mimic the diets and lifestyles of today’s world-champion athletes—professional football and basketball stars, professional boxers and wrestlers, Olympic track stars, weightlifting champions, and marathon runners. They all eat grains, legumes, and dairy, and they would not have been as successful had they not.2. The relevance and value of an alkaline diet is unsubstantiated.Concerning Dr. Cordain’s recommendation to focus on a diet with a net-alkaline load, I don’t see the relevance to the diet of the theorized prehistoric man. Grains, legumes, meat, fish, and eggs are all acidic, while fruits and vegetables are alkaline. Depending upon the location and the season, hunter-gatherers would sometimes have had more acidic diets and other times more alkaline.Dr. Cordain adheres to a new, popular, unsubstantiated theory that it is in our best interest to eat foods that are more alkaline than acidic, so that we end up with an overall alkaline load in our body. This supposedly protects us from the diseases of modern civilization, whereas eating a diet with a net-acid load will make us vulnerable to everything from cancer to osteoporosis. A meta-analysis of clinical trials concludes that there is no evidence that increasing the diet acid load promotes skeletal bone-mineral loss or osteoporosis.” (T. R. Fenton, A. W. Lyon, M. Eliasziw, S. C. Tough, and D. A. Hanley, “Meta-Analysis of the Effect of the Acid-Ash Hypothesis of Osteoporosis on Calcium Balance,” Journal of Bone and Mineral Research (2009), http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19419322)3. The inclusion of wine in the Paleo Diet is hypocritical.Dr. Cordain writes (pg. 112): “Numerous scientific studies suggest that moderate alcohol consumption significantly reduces the risk of dying from heart disease and other illnesses. Wine in particular, when consumed in moderation has been shown to have many beneficial health effects.”Dr. Cordain admits that alcohol consumption didn’t precede agriculture and was not part of the diet of prehistoric humans. As such, the benefits of wine defy the theory that humankind genetically adapted to function best according to the diet that it evolved on over millions of years.Why single out wine to be included in the diet more than other beneficial agricultural items such as legumes?4. Why rule out sweet potatoes?Sweet potatoes are a great source of vitamin A, which studies show helps reduce the number of fat cells! (S. M. Jeyakumar, A. Vajreswari, B. Sesikeran, and N. V. Giridharan, “Vitamin A Supplementation Induces Adipose Tissue Loss through Apoptosis in Lean but Not in Obese Rats of the WNIN/OB Strain,” Journal of Molecular Endocrinology (October 1, 2005), http://jme.endocrinology-journals.org/content/35/2/391.full) They have a healthy amount of numerous vitamins and minerals (including potassium, which Dr. Cordain recommends increasing). While they are high in carbs, there are times when it is advantageous to increase carbs. They are also sweet and satisfying and have a low GI. I recommend them in moderation during a weight maintenance phase, so long as one’s total carbs remain at target level.5. The evolutionary assumptions of Dr. Cordain’s theories are disputed.Dr. Cordain’s writes (pg. 21): “The principles I have laid out in the Paleo Diet—all based on decades of scientific research and proved over millions of years by our ancestors—will make your metabolism soar, your appetite shrink, and extra pounds begin to melt away as you include more and more lean protein in your meals.”Many scholars, doctors, professors, and scientists have written books disputing the theory of evolution with a variety of arguments and proofs. See Maimonides and Metabolism for a quick summary of Darwin’s own realization of the weakness of the theory.

My story for 2013. I'll be 67 years old in a few weeks. Complete Blood Count (CBC) March 8. Diagnosed with the metabolic disorder Type 2 Diabetes April 17. No way would I take Onglyza. Google it to see possible side-effects. Didn't like the too-timid ADA diet recommendations. Scoured online for an eating plan. Found the Paleo Diet and the premise immediately made sense: 10,000 years of agriculture (grains and legumes plus dairy) is barely 4 tenths of 1% of the 2½ million years that humans were Paleolithic hunter-gatherers. It hardly seems like enough time to genetically evolve to properly metabolize the foods we all take for granted. OK, space-agers can't REALLY go true Paleo, but there's plenty of modern foodstuffs that qualify. I started my Paleo eating plan while waiting for the book to arrive (to be even better informed). Walked briskly 45 minutes daily. Did 3 45-minute freeweight workouts per week. Ate as per strict level 3 Paleo. By May 28 my blood pressure had gone from Stage 1 hypertension to normal. My morning fasting blood glucose went from 188 mg/dL (8.17 A1C) down to 84 mg/dL (normal - 4.55 A1C). My weight dropped from 244 to 216 lbs. Also note that after stabilizing these numbers for 3 months and reaching my goal weight (180-190 lbs), I may relax into one of the less restrictive levels of the Paleo eating plan. A few indulgences and treats will do little harm thanks to the overwhelming success of the basic eating plan. For me it's not going to be a temporary thing, so I don't even call it a "diet." It's the way I'll live from now on. Thank you, Loren Cordain.UPDATE 30 November 2013 -- Since 17 April 2013 (when I started this eating/exercise regimen), I have lost a total of 52 lbs. My morning fasting blood glucose readings dropped well down into an acceptable range. I feel better than ever, but I should point out that I did the diametric OPPOSITE of the approach recommended in Cordain's books. Instead of starting out with the Relaxed 85:15 Paleo Diet and working my way to the stricter levels, I started out with a 100% STRICT version and gradually eased into the more forgiving versions. This is EXACTLY how it went for me...2013 March 8: 244 lbs + high blood pressure. Doctor says walk. Complete Blood Count. So I reduce portions (but not really dieting) and began walking 1.7 miles daily.2013 April 17: 239 lbs. Blood pressure slightly elevated. CBC indicates diagnosis of Type II diabetes. CBC Fasting Glucose: 231 mg/dL. Offered Onglyza for appetite control and weight loss. Declined drugs. Went online to research. Settled on Paleo Diet and made a firm decision to change my eating habits for life. Developed a plan and executed it exactly as planned.PHASE 1: 100% STRICT Paleo + daily cardio + freeweights 2x-3x weekly.2012 May 28: 216 lbs. Blood pressure high end normal. Daily testing morning fasting glucose readings reduced from 213 mg/dL to under 113 in three weeks. Then down to a range between 81 and 110. Doctor and staff amazed at me losing 23 lbs in 6 weeks. Walked same 1.7 miles daily, freeweights twice weekly, and ate 100% STRICT Paleo. Doctor dismissed me for 6 months. Since I can now afford to lose weight more gradually until I reach my goal of 185 lbs...PHASE 2: 95% 95:5 Paleo (3 non-Paleo portions [1 meal total] per week) + daily cardio walk but no freeweights (too HOT) June/JulyPHASE 3: 90% 90:10 Paleo (6 non-Paleo portions [2 meals total] per week) + daily cardio walk but no freeweights (too HOT) August/SeptemberPHASE 4: 85% 85:15 RELAXED Paleo (9 non-Paleo portions [3 meals total] per week) + daily cardio walk + back to freeweights 2x-3x weekly October/November2013 November 26: 192 lbs. Blood pressure slightly elevated but still in normal range. Doctor didn't even mention it. If he had, I would have replied, "I DON'T have high blood pressure... I drink COFFEE!" Ha! Doctor totally amazed. Why? Because most people can't bring themselves to give up corn dogs? Lost another 24 lbs since May 28 for a total of 52 lbs lost in 37 weeks. Blood test this week. Results due in about 7-10 days. I expect my A1C to be well under 7, maybe even under 6. My morning fasting glucose readings now average about 90 mg/dL. I expect to attain my goal of 185 lbs sometime in the next few months. Buying new wardrobe a piece at a time.UPDATE 2014 August 25: Still walking and part-time freeweights as described above. Since my last update 9 months ago (and having achieved my primary goals of reducing my blood sugar {I don't even bother to prick my fingers any longer] and my weight [don't even own a scale] down to manageable levels), I relaxed my Paleo eating plan somewhat, but still within the recommended 85:15 RELAXED Paleo level described in the book (9 non-Paleo portions [3 meals total] per week) + daily cardio walk, etc. That was about 4 months ago and in fact it's a wee tad TOO relaxed (as I have actually gained back 4 lbs). Since I have a goal of keeping my weight in a narrow range around 185 pounds, I will get stricter again beginning in September. After all, losing a few pounds in a healthy way with the Paleo eating plan is in no way an imposition since I have now been maintaining my new lifestyle health program for over 16 months. Best changes I've ever implemented in my adult life. Incidentally, I used to buy pants with a 44-inch waist. Now I buy 36-inch or 38-inch depending on the brand name. To any who are motivated to purchase Dr. Cordain's "The Paleo Diet" because of my review here, know that I am just up ahead on the path. Stay motivated when it gets a bit challenging and I feel sure you'll catch up.

I was infused with enthusiasm towards this author until they seemed to take a dive into the pharmaceutical industries edicts and going off-piste with wrong assumptions about cholesterol. The author refers to eskimos who have in some northern areas the highest cholesterol levels in the world but fails to mention the low mortality rate and the same goes for certain parts of Japan, India, Italy, France and Africa or even certain tribes of ancestral North American Indians ...failing to link higher cholesterol with a low mortality rate. It would appear that the book needs some considerable updates in this quarter and redressing the average sugar intake of our western diets and the toxins we ingest through crop chemicals, GM products and animals injected with steroids, antibiotics and vaccines. There are very few places on this planet that we can eat natural products anymore. This is not an international reading book so I personally do not recommend it but fully support the views of the author on his original publications.

So this sent me down the rabbit hole of poor health. You just can't get enough energy for good health if you follow the principles outlined in this book. Sure you'll lose weight like crazy, but starving isn't good. Far better to follow principles which increase your metabolic rate.It says you can eat lean meat and low carb vegetables, and walnuts/peacans. That's about it. It doesn't mind olive oil so enjoy.You'll either fall into a coma or lose weight, then your health.It says omega 3 polyunsaturates are good, and omega 6 are bad, well I think both are bad.It says saturated fat is bad - well I say it is good.It says carbs are bad (especially grains!) - well I think they are good.I think it even says fruit is bad, because like where would you get that from year round DUUUH?It is just a stupid expensive crash diet that ruins your health.If you get some benefits from it, then you probably have gut issues which were controlled by avoiding so many irritating foods, but you'll suffer long term from a lack of energy on this diet.

I read this and started following the advice in the book. Three weeks in and the fat has just melted away. I never feel hungry because it allows you to eat as much as you want. All other diets I've tried need real will power in order to stick at them, the paleo diet in contrast is easy and more importantly sustainable. I'm converted. I never want to eat processed carbohydrates again, they've ruined my life up until now. This is without a doubt the best advice I've read in years, a real life changer.

A wonderful book for those of us whose digestive system doesn't let us get protein from plants or milk products. The author explains how high carb diets are not for everybody and what alternatives exist. He tells what meat to buy, how much to consume and what we need to acompany it with to stay healthy.

I am still reading this book and find it extremely interesting. I just wish I`d heard about the Paleo Diet decades ago. When I lookaround and see so many obese people I wish I could go to them and recommend the Paleo way of life, it`s easy to follow and justtakes a bit of will-power to come off the rubbish food we`ve all been conditioned to eat. we are loaded with sweet foods, burgers,foods that have preservatives in and it`s slowly killing us. Very good book Dr. Loren Cordain. it is the perfect book for students ofnutrition Thankyou. Patricia Hunt-Vincent.