The Paleo Diet - A Health Review

Figure 1. The Paleo Diet. Taken from "Keeping up with the paleo diet," by

Zuccaro, A. 2016, millenialmagazine.com

Brief Description of The Paleo Diet

The paleo diet first gained popularity in the early 2000’s, after author Dr. Loren Cordain released the book The Paleo Diet. The main principle of this diet is to eat like a caveman (from the Paleolithic era), it relies on consuming large amounts of meat and fish. This way of eating is hypothesised to help individuals lose weight and reclaim a higher standard of health, as it only allows for whole foods to be consumed (Bijlefeld and Zoumbaras, 2014, p. 164).

The belief that the paleo diet can improve ones health stems from the perception that our modern diet is full of processed and refined foods, those which are full of trans fats and refined sugars. With these foods being linked to an abundance of degenerative diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s, it makes sense to avoid them (Wolff, 2016). But by excluding whole food-groups, has the paleo diet taken this too far?

So What Can I Eat?

The paleo diet allows for dieters to eat anything our ancestors ate, this includes grass fed meats, wild fish, nuts, seeds, fruits, and vegetables. (Wolff, 2016). The foods approved by the diet are relatively healthy, and if eaten on a balanced diet should allow for peak health.

What can’t I eat?

Food’s in which our ancestors did not eat are to be avoided while on the paleo diet. These foods include: grains, dairy products, processed foods, legumes, starches and alcohol. Although removing processed foods and alcohol from your diet can be beneficial, excluding legumes, grains and starches can prove problematic.

Figure 2. Caveman caught with fast food. Taken from "The Paleo Diet Debunked?" by Steve. 2013, nerd fitness.com

Concerns With Paleo

A major concern with fad diets is the ability for them to meet dietary guidelines; the next section will examine this.

Most of the Australian Dietary Guidelines can be met through the paleo diet, such as limiting foods containing saturated fat, added salt and sugar, maintenance of healthy weight, and caring for food through safe preparation and storage. The major concern is when considering Guideline 2; this guideline maintains that a wide variety of foods from all five food groups should be consumed daily, the food groups include grains and dairy products, which are prohibited in the paleo diet (National Health and Medical Research Council, 2013).

Grains contain important nutrients such as dietary fibre, B vitamins, zinc, magnesium and phosphorus, they have also been associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, excess weight and certain cancers, not only this but without grains it will be very difficult to consume an adequate amount of carbohydrates (National Health and Medical Research Council, 2013, Pg. 45).

Dairy is an important source of Vitamin D and Calcium, there is evidence supporting it’s relationship to reduced risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, type 2 diabetes and hypertension (National Health and Medical Research Council, 2013, Pg. 56). Although there are alternatives to dairy, such as legumes, beans and calcium enriched cereal; many of them are also prohibited from the paleo diet due to their origin being from grains.

Recommendations For Paleo Dieters

If you are looking at starting the paleo diet, approach with caution, go to your G.P and get an examination to determine whether this diet is appropriate. Although there are many benefits of cutting out processed and refined foods from your diet, the exclusion of grains and dairy can cause a variety of health problems. It is recommended you educate yourself and supplement the nutrients you are missing from grains and dairy, or to just include them (I’m sure our ancestors would have eaten grains and dairy if they had the chance).