The paleolithic diet, more commonly known as the paleo diet, has been talked about for a few years. Very popular in the United States, it has since conquered many followers in Europe. According to them, the ideal nutrition, both in terms of health and weight, is that which comes closest to the diet of hominids living in the Paleolithic period.
The human metabolism, despite the thousands of years that have passed since the era of Homo Sapiens, would in fact have changed very little. Thus, it would have difficulty metabolizing most foods from agriculture and livestock. Result: the contemporary food, made among others of cereals, legumes, dairy products and fatty meats, would be at the origin of many diseases: cancer, obesity , diabetes, cholesterol leading to cardiovascular diseases.
To stay healthy, maintain a healthy weight and guard against the diseases of our time, we should therefore eat in the manner of our ancestors, hunters-fishermen-gatherers.
THE PRINCIPLES OF THE DIET
Principles
The first foundation of the paleo diet is to base your diet on raw, natural and unprocessed products.
Proteins
At the base of the paleo diet pyramid is animal protein . They should preferably come from animals raised in freedom or from organic farming, or even be the fruit of fishing or hunting. Thus, eggs , lean meats, game, fish and shellfish from fishing and seafood should be an important part of the diet. Emphasis is also placed on the way the cattle were fed: it is better to favor meat from an animal fed on grass rather than cereal products, their flesh being richer in omega-3 than in omega-6.
Lipids
Proponents of the paleo diet recommend prioritizing sources of mono- and polyunsaturated fats, and placing more emphasis on omega-3s than omega-6s. It is therefore advisable to consume:
- Fatty fish from fishing – and not from farming, so prefer sardines or herring rather than salmon or trout.
- Organic vegetable oils, unprocessed and if possible of non-cereal vegetable origin – coconut, flax, olive, avocado …
- Oilseeds, in moderation – walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios…
Fruits and vegetables
The Paleo diet encourages daily and abundant consumption of fruits and vegetables , especially if they are low in carbohydrates. To be preferred: green vegetables (leafy vegetables such as spinach or cabbage, but also asparagus or zucchini), vegetables rich in water (tomato, cucumber, melon), fruits rich in vitamins (predominance of berries ). The consumption of tubers should be moderate (due to their high carbohydrate content), but is not prohibited for all that, since they are roots. Moreover, it is advisable to favor cassava, sweet potato, kohlrabi, for their richness in micronutrients. It is also advisable to respect seasonality and to prefer organic fruits and vegetables, having undergone the least possible interventionist treatments.
Carbohydrates
The paleo diet is a “ low carb ” diet, like the Atkins or ketogenic diets . Thus, all cereals (wheat, corn, rye, barley), pseudo-cereals (amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat) and legumes (peas, but also soybeans and peanuts) must be banned from the food bowl. The underlying belief: carbohydrates cause an inflammatory state and a systematic rise in blood sugar levels, which are harmful to health. Sugars from dairy products (lactose, galactose) are also to be banned. Thus, the Paleolithic diet prohibits the consumption of butter, milk, cream, cheese or yogurt.
Other permitted and prohibited foods
Certain foods, such as seasonings (salt, spices , aromatic herbs) or dark chocolate, are permitted sparingly. Processed products, refined sugar and sweetened products, alcohol, coffee, tea, refined oils and/or oils derived from cereals are prohibited.
ADVANTAGES
- Reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (1)
- Weight loss, decrease in waist circumference and better controlled BMI (2)
- Decreased level of liver fat and adipose tissue density (3)
- Improved gut health and reduced chromic inflammation of the gut (functional bowel disease, Crohn’s disease) (4)
- Possible effects on certain inflammatory skin diseases, such as acne (5)
- Positive incentive to eat minimally processed foods and prepare meals
DISADVANTAGES
The starting assumptions of the paleo diet are scientifically erroneous:
- The life expectancy of Paleolithic men rarely reached 30 years.
- It seems difficult to draw up a stable and reliable comparison of the diseases of the Paleolithic era and contemporary ailments.
- It is impossible to know if the supposed “good health” of prehistoric men was due to their diet.
- Paleolithic food resources have nothing to do with current food resources, which have all without exception undergone modifications (agriculture).
- According to the location of the populations, there was only one uniform and universal diet in the Paleolithic era.
- The human species, like any other living species, is adaptive. Human metabolism has therefore changed over the centuries.
That being said, there are other negative points to note:
- Lack of studies on the benefits of the paleo diet in the long term.
- Increased risk of calcium deficiency (which may lead to osteoporosis, bone fractures, tooth fragility, etc.), group B vitamins, vitamin D .
- Possibility of developing cardiovascular diseases (6) or cancers of the digestive tract (7) , following significant consumption of red meat.
- Fatigue, loss of physical and mental energy ( carbohydrate deficiency ).
- Diet not recommended for children, adolescents, pregnant and breastfeeding women…
- Restrictive and frustrating regime, with repercussions on social life.
- Weight regain after stopping the diet.
ORIGINS
The first reference to the Paleo diet was made in 1975. Walter L. Voegtlin, an American gastroenterologist, discusses in a book called The Stone Age Diet the need to eat almost exclusively proteins and lipids , and a minimum of carbohydrates. He bases his research on the premise that human beings are primarily carnivores.
But the founding father of the Paleolithic diet is Stanley Boyd Eaton who, ten years after Voegtlin, published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, in which he defended “the diet of our distant ancestors” as a nutritional reference. The postulate would be the following: the food that humans must adopt is the one that best corresponds to their genome. However, for centuries, man ate what nature offered him – the fruit of gathering, fishing and hunting. We should therefore, to stay healthy, eat what our ancestors ate, respecting our biology and our genes.
Finally, in 2002, Loren Cordain, a professor in the Department of Health and Exercise Sciences at Colorado State University, revived the paleo diet with the publication of his book The Paleo Diet. He then became the founder of the paleo movement, based on the same thesis: to conform as much as possible to the diet prevailing before the appearance of agriculture and therefore excluding dairy products, cereals, legumes, fats, salt . and sugar .
Note that the paleo diet is often compared to the Seignalet diet, named after its creator Doctor Jean Seignalet, researcher in immunology. This diet, also called “ancestral” or “hypotoxic”, created in 1985, is based on a qualitative approach to dietetics. Thus, organic foods should be favored and dairy products, wheat, foods cooked at high temperature, sugar and refined products should be avoided.
Halftone opinion on the effectiveness of the paleo diet. The results of scientific studies on the short-term benefits are homogeneous: the paleo diet has positive repercussions on health, in terms of weight loss/control and reduced risk of metabolic diseases. She is also diet positive in the sense that she encourages her followers to eat unprocessed foods and cook their own meals. These two levers are essential for weight loss.
However, the paleo diet is based on false claims. In addition, it leads to deficiencies which, in the long term, can have negative effects on health. Furthermore, exclusive and/or restrictive diets are contrary to human nature, which is not exclusively carnivorous, but omnivorous. Finally, it would seem that when the diet is stopped, weight regain is inevitable, leading to a metabolic slowdown ( yoyo effect ).
For these reasons, we invite you to discuss with a health professional, before any undertaking of a Paleo-type diet.