What is paleo diet?
Paleo diet: What is it and why is it so popular?
A paleo diet is a dietary plan based on foods similar to what might have been eaten during the Paleolithic era, which dates from approximately 2.5 million to 10,000 years ago.
A paleo diet typically includes lean meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds — foods that in the past could be obtained by hunting and gathering. A paleo diet limits foods that became common when farming emerged about 10,000 years ago. These foods include dairy products, legumes and grains.
Other names for a paleo diet include Paleolithic diet, Stone Age diet, hunter-gatherer diet and caveman diet.
Purpose
The aim of a paleo diet is to return to a way of eating that's more like what early humans ate. The diet's reasoning is that the human body is genetically mismatched to the modern diet that emerged with farming practices — an idea known as the discordance hypothesis.
Why you might follow a paleo diet
You might choose to follow a paleo diet because you:
- Want to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight
- Want help planning meals
What to Eat
Although the paleo diet isn’t proven to work, if you want to give this eating plan a try, you’ll need to prioritize fueling up on lots of natural foods and natural fats, including these options:
- Lean cuts of beef, pork, and poultry, preferably grass-fed, organic, or free-range selections
- Game animals, such as quail, venison, and bison
- Eggs, but no more than six a week, and preferably free-range
- Fish, including shellfish
- Fruit, such as strawberries, cantaloupe, mango, and figs
- Nonstarchy vegetables, such as asparagus, onions, peppers, and pumpkin
- Nuts and seeds, including almonds, cashews, walnuts, and pumpkin seeds
- Olive oil, flaxseed oil, and walnut oil, in moderation.
What to Avoid
Similarly, any foods that were not easily available to Paleolithic humans are off-limits in this diet, Holley explains. That means processed foods — many of which contain added butter, margarine, and sugar — should not be a part of the paleo diet. The same goes for dairy, which may not have been accessible to Paleolithic humans, and legumes, which many proponents of the diet believe are not easily digestible by the body.
Keep in mind that some versions of the paleo diet are less strict than others and allow some dairy products or legumes, like peanuts, Holley says.
Foods to avoid:
- All dairy products, including milk, cheese, yogurt, and butter
- Cereal grains, such as wheat, rye, rice, and barley
- Legumes, like beans, peanuts, and peas
- Starchy vegetables, such as potatoes (and some even say sweet potatoes)
- Sweets, including all forms of candy as well as honey and sugar
- Artificial sweeteners
- Sugary soft drinks and fruit juices
- Processed and cured meats, such as bacon, deli meats, and hot dogs
- Highly processed foods.
What Does Research Say About the Paleo Diet?
- So what does the science say about the paleo diet? Some research suggests that the health claims hold water. A review analyzed four randomized controlled trials with 159 participants, and researchers found that the paleo diet led to more short-term improvements in some risk factors for chronic disease (including waist circumference and fasting blood sugar) compared with diets used as controls.
- Another article, published in the journal Australian Family Physician in January 2016, reviewed clinical trials that explored the effect of paleo on health markers including weight, inflammation, and insulin health. Some of the studies found similar evidence that the paleo diet may be linked to weight loss, lower blood pressure, and improved blood lipid levels — but the article concluded that because of the small sample sizes, short duration, and the similar frameworks of most existing studies on this diet, further research is needed to prove whether it lives up to the bold health claims made by some of its proponents.
- In fact, many scientists have expressed concern that we do not yet have enough evidence to make any strong claims about the paleo diet’s health benefits, especially its long-term effects. In an article in response to the first review, authors Tanis R. Fenton and Carol J. Fenton, from the University of Calgary Cumming School of Medicine in Alberta, wrote a letter to the editor in which they expressed their disappointment with the review.
Among their arguments: Some of the results were not statistically significant, nor did they show “any important clinical effects.” They concluded that they did not believe that the results of the review showed any evidence in favor of the paleo diet, and they called for more care in reaching health recommendations for the general public.
Full day menuHere's a look at what you might eat during a typical day following a paleo diet:
- Breakfast. Broiled salmon and cantaloupe.
- Lunch. Broiled lean pork loin and salad (romaine, carrot, cucumber, tomatoes, walnuts and lemon juice dressing).
- Dinner. Lean beef sirloin tip roast, steamed broccoli, salad (mixed greens, tomatoes, avocado, onions, almonds and lemon juice dressing), and strawberries for dessert.
- Snacks. An orange, carrot sticks or celery sticks.
The diet also emphasizes drinking water and being physically active every day.
Results
A number of randomized clinical trials have compared the paleo diet to other eating plans, such as the Mediterranean Diet or the Diabetes Diet. Overall, these trials suggest that a paleo diet may provide some benefits when compared with diets of fruits, vegetables, lean meats, whole grains, legumes and low-fat dairy products. These benefits may include:
- More weight loss
- Improved glucose tolerance
- Better blood pressure control
- Lower triglycerides
- Better appetite management
However, longer trials with large groups of people randomly assigned to different diets are needed to understand the long-term, overall health benefits and possible risks of a paleo diet.