What the Paleo Diet Gets Right

LOS GATOS, Calif. - Oct. 16, 2015 - PRLog -- Critics of the popular and widely-discussed Paleo Diet, nicknamed “the caveman diet” which emphasizes unprocessed, quality animal proteins and fats, fresh vegetables, sounded off triumphant following the publication of a scientific study in the University of Chicago Press September 2015 issue of the Quarterly Review of Biology. The study - which concluded that Paleolithic humans consumed cooked starch-rich plant foods and that these carbohydrates were essential to brain evolution along with meat consumption - was cited in major news publications like The Guardian as proof that Paleo “gets it wrong.” Some headlines went as far as saying the study “debunked” the diet. But Paleo experts argue that the fact that our early ancestors might have consumed starchy tubers actually supports the basis for Paleo.

Holistic health expert and co-founder of The Paleo Secret, Dr. Brenda Walding, DPT, FDN weighs in on the media’s interpretation of the study as denouncing Paleo Diet principles by noting that the Paleo Diet in fact, does not exclude carbohydrates from its list of recommended foods. Carbohydrates are consumed in the form of vegetables, fruits and starchy tubers.

“Whether not our ancestral cultures consumed carbohydrates in the form of potatoes or not does not deem the Paleo approach “debunked” or insignificant. Quite the contrary. The tenets of the Paleo approach incorporate eating nutrient-dense foods in their most natural form: meat, fish, eggs, veggies, fruits, starchy tubers, quality fats and nuts and seeds,” Walding explains - adding that when considering whether to incorporate unprocessed carbohydrates, such as potatoes, into a Paleo diet, she does not recommend a one-size-fits-all regimen as is commonly assumed.

“This all comes back to who you are; your individual circumstances, level of activity and health. Those dealing with obesity and diabetes may want to limit their consumption of potatoes due to the effect it can have on blood sugar levels, and those with autoimmunity may want to exclude them all together due to their glykoalkaloid content and potential to promote inflammation,” states Walding.

Other Paleo nutrition experts like Jaime Scott have made similar retorts that support Walding’s assessment. Scott explains on his Re-evolutionary blog that the stereotypes perpetuated by modern media is that Paleo is ‘meat-forward’ and ‘carbohydrate adverse’, when actually the opposite is true. He maintains “that [the Paleo Diet] is a good heuristic for eating foods – plants and animals – in their most minimally processed forms.”

Walding is quick to point out that the study’s press statement actually acknowledges the role of meat in the evolution of the human brain while addressing that the implementation of cooked starchy plant foods into human diets played a factor in development as well.