Paleo fad debunked

This blog used to be titled Paleo Runner (as the url still shows). The main reason for it was that Google Trends showed skyrocketing interest in 'paleo'. With hindsight, the whole idea of recreating an authentic paleo lifestyle by pushing a shopping trolley down the aisles of the supermarket was rather silly to begin with. Sorry!

"Why not long to be aquatic, since life arose in the sea?", biology professor Marlene Zuk jokes in her new book Paleofantasy. "The catch is, if we want to go back to a healthier way of life, what exactly should we emulate?", she asks. Now that's a million dollar (and year) question.

"A growing movement seeks to reproduce the hunter-gatherer lifestyle: running barefoot, pondering polygamy, relying on a diet of meat. But even our ancestors never lived this way. And besides, modern humans have evolved", Zuk sums it up in recent article Paleomythic: How People Really Lived During the Stone Age.

Interestingly, Zuk also points out that "...Paleos are in direct opposition to a growing number of scientists and athletes who believe that running long distances can be healthy, and that humans have evolved doing just that."

The Meat Myth: humans have no known adaptations to meat consumption.

As paleontologist Christina Warinner shows in the TED talk below, humans have no anatomical, physiological or genetic adaptations to meat consumption.

Modern broccoli and other cabbages are developed by humans from wild flowers.

Our ancestors sure did a good job adapting to a wide range of tough conditions. They lived through dramatic climate changes. Whatever they were able to eat, it was probably something quite different from our modern man-made foods. And it was probably a lot more challenging to raise a family than today.



Christina Warinner presents the following three take-away points for us:

• Fresh foods.
• Whole foods.
• Diversity is key.

That's it: paleo diet unhyped. There are no books, recipes, movies, supplements, apparel, coaching, retreats, seminars or anything else to buy.

Point 1: eat fresh foods.

Point 2: eat whole foods.

Point 3: diversity is key.

Still not convinced? Rationalwiki has more about Paleo diet, stating it's indeed a fad diet and concluding: "Eating like a caveman is not likely to be the healthiest option."