Debunking the Paleo Diet - fact versus fiction

The Paleo Diet is one of the more recent diet approaches to take hold in the fitness industry... This diet is based on the notion that we should essentially be eating like cave-men and that this will somehow transform us into lean & mean hunter-gatherers that are immune from lifestyle diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. There doesn't appear to be any scientific proof or any long term studies to prove it, but it certainly sounds like a good story... Right?

For me personally, this is just another hard-sell from some diet gurus wanting me (and you) to buy their book. Why not the cabbage soup, liver-cleansing, vegetarian, vegan, south beach, Mediterranean, Dukan, detox, or Jenny Craig diet? Or if you prefer take your pick from this list - the diet game is a multi-billion dollar business with plenty of overweight people looking for a magic solution. You only have to find a million suckers worldwide to buy your book on the internet, and even if you are only making $5 per book... I'll let you do the maths.

The Paleo diet is being marketed hard to young fitness professionals and it's time to take a closer look at the science behind it. The fitness industry has a rich history of diets, supplements and fad equipment claiming to be the "best ever" or "cutting edge". It's important to be very critical of these things - you wouldn't rush out and buy the latest ab-swing promising a rock hard six-pack in three minutes would you? So why swallow the latest diet hype without first questioning it and considering alternatives?

I will link you to some scientific research as well as eating guidelines from a range of reliable sources which will debunk certain aspects of the Paleo diet, especially the "grains are unhealthy" message promoted by Paleo authors. I would also like to take a closer look at a couple of the leading Paleo authors - Mark Sisson and Dr Lauren Cordain. Who are these people and should we be taking their dietary advice?

A history lesson: The Paleolithic era (the stone age) spanned 2.6 million years and ended about 12,000 years ago. There was plenty of human evolution over that period and although some archaeological digs have revealed hard evidence of what Paleo man was eating up to 40,000 years ago, very little is known about the 2.6 million years that came before. Expert anthropologists can not agree on the true contents of the Paleolithic diet... We simply don't know exactly what they ate, or how much they ate. This is the first thing that bothers me about the Paleo Diet - it's cleverly branded and it's a nice story but if anthropologists don't know what Paleo man actually ate how can Mark Sisson & Lauren Cordain write books about it? Neither of these guys are qualified anthropologists by the way and neither of them hold qualifications in nutrition either but that's another story.

What the Paleo diet books don't tell you: Because the leading Paleo authors are not anthropologists and they don't like the facts to get in the way of a good story... They kinda forgot to tell us that Paleolithic man actually ate grains! In fact Paleo man had also developed the tools to grind grain, possibly to produce flour and than bake dough in a hearth (old school oven) - this was the beginning of bread-making and has been dated back about 30,000 years. Paleo man also ate legumes which again are banned in the Paleo diet. Each of these links proves that the modern "Paleo Diet" actually bans foods that were commonly eaten in Paleolithic times... Is anyone else out there feeling confused?

OK so now let's discuss grains... As my previous link shows, Paleo authors are telling us to avoid grains, despite current scientific evidence showing that whole grains play an important role in reducing the risk of diseases such as coronary heart disease (CHD), diabetes, cancer and assist in weight management and gastrointestinal health. I could link you to literally thousands of research based articles on this topic but let's start with this one - published in 2011 it is a review of numerous studies and cites 101 studies that prove the importance of grains in preventing disease. You could also visit a short version of this one showing that grains reduce CHD or this one showing that grains reduce type 2 diabetes. If your clients could eat a food that is proven to prevent numerous diseases, why would you ever tell them to avoid that food? I call it crazy, Mark Sisson calls it the 'Paleo Blueprint'.

Not only has science proven the health benefits of grains, but pretty much every elite athletic organisation also promotes eating grains for improved performance. Organisations like the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and the NCAA are telling athletes to eat more whole grains. Organisations like the diabetes council and the Digestive Health Association are saying the same thing... All these highly reputable organisations are telling us to eat more whole grains - why would we take advice from Lauren Cordain and Mark Sisson when it goes against the best advice from such highly regarded sources? 

In Summary: I'm not a fan of diets overall. I'm a fan of trainers and clients using realistic healthy eating guidelines and making sensible choices about their food every day. You don't need to pay someone else for a nutritional silver bullet - you just need to educate yourself and use a large dose of common sense when it comes to nutrition.
All the information you need to educate yourself and your clients is available free on the web, but you sometimes have to be prepared to go beyond a simple Google search to find it. 
Nutrition is a minefield and I'm sure there are many people out there who disagree with my views, but remember these aren't simply my views - visit the links and do some reading for yourself before you make up your mind.

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