Tropes

Livescience_2013 07527.txt

#What Is the Paleo Diet? The Paleo Diet also known as the Stone age Caveman or Ancient Diet is a modern attempt to replicate the diet of humans of the Paleolithic age. These ancient hunter-gatherers lived before the advent of agriculture and subsisted on lean proteins (like fish venison and poultry) eggs fruits vegetables nuts and roots. The diet was popularized by S. Boyd Eaton M d. a professor of anthropology at Emory University who believed that such a diet is what the human body both then and now was built to Eat in his 1988 book The Paleolithic Prescription Eaton and his co-authors argued that humans are suited ill to modern diets because the large part of a human's genetic makeup was established thousands of years ago in pre-agricultural societies. Eaton and other advocates of the Paleo diet believe that many modern diseases are a result of today's eating habits. And considering some of the foods that modern humans eat this theory makes some sense. Notably absent on the Paleo plate are many of the ingredients found in unhealthy foods such as refined sugar salt and processed oils. Paleo dieters also avoid grains and dairy products. In the short term Paleo-style diets have been found to provide health benefits including lower blood sugar levels in those with hypertension and type 2 diabetes. Researchers have linked also these diets to weight loss and lower concentrations of triglycerides in the body. However some experts including twenty-two dieticians who participated in a 2013 U s. News and World Report survey of 29 popular diets find the Paleo diet wanting. Critics argue that studies indicating the benefits of such a diet are shortsighted and that other diets such as the DASH diet and the Omniheart diet may be healthier alternatives for those looking to lose weight and improve overall health. Marlene Zuk a professor of ecology and evolution at the University of Minnesota and author of the book Paleofantasy: What Evolution Really Tells Us About Sex Diet and How We Live also find fault with the belief that humans can reconstruct ancient diets. Zuk also argues that humans have not stopped evolving since the Paleolithic age and that their diets needn't stop evolving either. Follow Elizabeth Palermo on Twitter@techepalermo Facebook or Google+.+Follow Livescience@livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+o

< Back - Next >