"Scientists confirms Paleo diet is nonsense" anyone else see this article?

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skysiebaby
skysiebaby Posts: 88 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
SciBabe posted a link to the article this morning so thought I would share. Discuss.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/08/15/scientists-confirm-paleo-diet-nonsense
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  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    The part about evolving amylase in our saliva stood out to me as an example of an evolutionary advantage that would have helped early man's brain change.

    Because of yams, we had the brains to develop tools to hunt the animals better in more varied climates! At least that's my take away.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    Every diet out there is nonsense, and yet, you can lose weight on any diet. Personally, I get turned off anytime someone starts saying that we ought to do something because something about our ancestors lifestyle would've caused them to evolve a certain way.
  • NJGamerChick
    NJGamerChick Posts: 467 Member
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    Any diet that restricts food groupings will usually cause weight loss, unless you're replacing it with higher calorie foods.
  • Ironmaiden4life
    Ironmaiden4life Posts: 422 Member
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    Love Science Babe, especially when she puts that silly (restraining my language A LOT) Food Babe in her place.

  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    edited August 2015
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    The headline is a tad misleading, but thanks for posting.

    Is the history/science behind eating a lower carb "paleo" diet wrong? Probably.
    Is the science behind eating a lower carb, quality plant, quality fat, quality protein based diet wrong? I'd bet not.
    Should we as modern humans living in our modern society reduce our consumption of heavily refined carbs (which happens automatically when one eats "paleo")? Probably.
    If eating "paleo" got one of my family members to focus on eating whole foods, rather than all the heavily refined carbs? I'd say why not. They'd learn something about eating real food, and probably end up with a different approach to eating for the long haul (whole food based) after their "paleo" days ended.
  • KittensMaster
    KittensMaster Posts: 748 Member
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    Some parts of paleo make perfect sense

    Others not

    Take what works and leave the rest
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
    The headline is a tad misleading, but thanks for posting.

    Is the history/science behind eating a lower carb "paleo" diet wrong? Probably.
    Is the science behind eating a lower carb, quality plant, quality fat, quality protein based diet wrong? I'd bet not.
    Should we as modern humans living in our modern society reduce our consumption of heavily refined carbs (which happens automatically when one eats "paleo")? Probably.
    If eating "paleo" got one of my family members to focus on eating whole foods, rather than all the heavily refined carbs? I'd say why not. They'd learn something about eating real food, and probably end up with a different approach to eating for the long haul (whole food based) after their "paleo" days ended.

    Only for many "paleo" followers, it really teaches nothing. I have seen "paleo" followers pretty much decide it meant a diet of greasy food with some more grease on top. Because since "paleo" really has no scientific basis and it is just a random fancy name to give to a set of eating rules, it is very easy to make your own not at all healthy version of paleo and then stare in amazement at your dr tell you that despite your "healthy" diet, you really are not doing well at all. The people who just understand the benefits of a whole food diet, do not really need a fancy name for what they are doing.
  • xLoveLikeWinterx
    xLoveLikeWinterx Posts: 408 Member
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    Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
    The headline is a tad misleading, but thanks for posting.

    Is the history/science behind eating a lower carb "paleo" diet wrong? Probably.
    Is the science behind eating a lower carb, quality plant, quality fat, quality protein based diet wrong? I'd bet not.
    Should we as modern humans living in our modern society reduce our consumption of heavily refined carbs (which happens automatically when one eats "paleo")? Probably.
    If eating "paleo" got one of my family members to focus on eating whole foods, rather than all the heavily refined carbs? I'd say why not. They'd learn something about eating real food, and probably end up with a different approach to eating for the long haul (whole food based) after their "paleo" days ended.

    This is how I feel. I eat lower carb, less refined sugar, watch my dairy, all because I have health conditions. I guess I kinda sorta inadvertently follow Paleo/lower carb/whatever the fad is this week. It helps my health problems when I eat that way and I feel a LOT better when I avoid dairy and soy other than trace amounts.

    Someone told me, "Oh you eat Paleo" so I did some looking into it. I don't get the rationale behind the diet and I definitely don't follow it, but in the process of reading up on it I learned a LOT about the rationale behind why my doctor has me cutting these things out.
  • sheermomentum
    sheermomentum Posts: 827 Member
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    I cringe a little every time I come across a diet that claims to represent what people ate tens of thousands of years ago. I've been seeing those claims since the 80's, and they've probably been around alot longer than that.
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    aggelikik wrote: »
    Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
    The headline is a tad misleading, but thanks for posting.

    Is the history/science behind eating a lower carb "paleo" diet wrong? Probably.
    Is the science behind eating a lower carb, quality plant, quality fat, quality protein based diet wrong? I'd bet not.
    Should we as modern humans living in our modern society reduce our consumption of heavily refined carbs (which happens automatically when one eats "paleo")? Probably.
    If eating "paleo" got one of my family members to focus on eating whole foods, rather than all the heavily refined carbs? I'd say why not. They'd learn something about eating real food, and probably end up with a different approach to eating for the long haul (whole food based) after their "paleo" days ended.

    Only for many "paleo" followers, it really teaches nothing. I have seen "paleo" followers pretty much decide it meant a diet of greasy food with some more grease on top. Because since "paleo" really has no scientific basis and it is just a random fancy name to give to a set of eating rules, it is very easy to make your own not at all healthy version of paleo and then stare in amazement at your dr tell you that despite your "healthy" diet, you really are not doing well at all. The people who just understand the benefits of a whole food diet, do not really need a fancy name for what they are doing.

    The same thing could be said for MFP. There are people here who use the calorie counting portion without regard to micronutrients, and just eat whatever they want as long as it fits in their calories, including a diet of greasy food with more grease on top. There are people who, unfortunately, use MFP so they can starve themselves as part of an eating disorder.

    The people who understand the benefits of a whole food diet, or who understand nutrition, are going to do well no matter what eating style they choose. The tool is not inherently flawed if someone chooses to misuse it, and the people who misuse it would probably misuse other methods in order to fit with what they really want to do as well.
  • snowflakesav
    snowflakesav Posts: 647 Member
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    I think it would be interesting to see more evidence uncovered around the diets of The ancients. I don't think this thing we call Paleo is even close. I thought Paleo made sense as a diet too... Then I purchased a cookbook and Hated the results. To me it seems an unsatisfying and joyless way of eating. I really love to cook and prepare food. Having all the variety and seasonal foods as well as dairy makes me happy.

    I tried making that cashew " cheese " in the Paleo cookbook. Gross. Just gross.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
    The headline is a tad misleading, but thanks for posting.

    Is the history/science behind eating a lower carb "paleo" diet wrong? Probably.
    Is the science behind eating a lower carb, quality plant, quality fat, quality protein based diet wrong? I'd bet not.
    Should we as modern humans living in our modern society reduce our consumption of heavily refined carbs (which happens automatically when one eats "paleo")? Probably.
    If eating "paleo" got one of my family members to focus on eating whole foods, rather than all the heavily refined carbs? I'd say why not. They'd learn something about eating real food, and probably end up with a different approach to eating for the long haul (whole food based) after their "paleo" days ended.

    The diet is horribly named. Overall, it's not a bad diet although I'd say for a majority of people without health issues a little overly restrictive (legumes and nightshades don't affect a lot of people, and can be a good source of a wide variety of micronutrients).
  • Domicinator
    Domicinator Posts: 261 Member
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    I have noticed some very interesting things since starting to lose lots of weight using "calorie counting" in MFP (other than the fact that it has gotten me MAJOR results--47 lbs lost so far!!). And I know what I'm about to say is going to get some backlash, but I don't really care that much.

    1) The people I know that are on fad diets (low carb, paleo, wheat belly, etc), for the most part, are still overweight, haven't made much progress at all if they've made any to begin with, and are mostly just miserable because they're depriving themselves of foods that are perfectly fine. Somebody on the news told them that gluten, carbs, fat, and sugar are all horrible for you, and they believe it. Many of them even think they're "allergic" to these foods. In my 38 years on this planet, I have never seen so many people "allergic" to so many foods. I find it 100% ridiculous. We are turning into a society of hypochondriacs who are absolutely insufferable at restaurants. What's more, these fad diets and made up ailments do NOTHING to help people lose weight because they still pig out and don't even do any kind of exercise to counteract it.

    2) The people I know who have had success getting down to a healthy weight did it through calorie counting and exercising, and the people I know who have maintained the weight loss have done it by continuing to log their food and exercise.

    3) The people I know who are already at a healthy weight and always have been, such as all the runners in my family, ALSO tend to count calories, log, and weigh and measure their foods when cooking at home. They also tend to not eat out nearly as much as most people I know.

    The reason I have observed these things is that when people see that I've lost a lot of weight, they want to talk about it with me. I have learned a lot about the health of my friends and family that I didn't know before. The people that are already fit and healthy work at it JUST AS HARD as I am. They just made it seem effortless before becuase I was not someone they would have ever talked to about fitness.
  • Pinnacle_IAO
    Pinnacle_IAO Posts: 608 Member
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    skysiebaby wrote: »
    SciBabe posted a link to the article this morning so thought I would share. Discuss.

    http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/08/15/scientists-confirm-paleo-diet-nonsense
    Oh yea? :o
    TELL THIS TO MY PERSONAL TRAINER!
    okc2w8vd95xs.jpg


  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    My problem with paleo is the shady people who came up with it, promising that their diet would cure cancer and schizophrenia. They're just the lowest of the low, trying to take advantage of the desperate.

    I'm not against trendy diets (for others) and am very pro-healthy where food is concerned. I just don't like those paleo people,
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited August 2015
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    Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
    The headline is a tad misleading, but thanks for posting.

    Is the history/science behind eating a lower carb "paleo" diet wrong? Probably.
    Is the science behind eating a lower carb, quality plant, quality fat, quality protein based diet wrong? I'd bet not.

    There's no evidence that carb level matters much at all. (Nor is paleo necessarily a low carb diet, to its credit.)
    If eating "paleo" got one of my family members to focus on eating whole foods, rather than all the heavily refined carbs? I'd say why not. They'd learn something about eating real food, and probably end up with a different approach to eating for the long haul (whole food based) after their "paleo" days ended.

    Sure, but I never understand why one must cut out whole foods like legumes or non-highly-processed foods like many whole grains or dairy to simply do something much more commonsensical -- eat a healthy, whole-foods based diet? Why not skip the false rationale and go right to focusing on the helpful stuff?

    I do like the focus on sourcing meat and eating the whole animal, but seems to me a lot of newly paleo sorts ignore that and focus instead on the no grains (they usually aren't really eating lots of legumes anyway), and take advantage of the convenience products that are currently being made for the paleo market, as well as the "paleo treats" that replicate high cal low nutrient items but with alternative ingredients like almond flour. Kind of misses the point.
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
    The headline is a tad misleading, but thanks for posting.

    Is the history/science behind eating a lower carb "paleo" diet wrong? Probably.
    Is the science behind eating a lower carb, quality plant, quality fat, quality protein based diet wrong? I'd bet not.

    There's no evidence that carb level matters much at all. (Nor is paleo necessarily a low carb diet, to its credit.)
    If eating "paleo" got one of my family members to focus on eating whole foods, rather than all the heavily refined carbs? I'd say why not. They'd learn something about eating real food, and probably end up with a different approach to eating for the long haul (whole food based) after their "paleo" days ended.

    Sure, but I never understand why one must cut out whole foods like legumes or non-highly-processed foods like many whole grains or dairy to simply do something much more commonsensical -- eat a healthy, whole-foods based diet? Why not skip the false rationale and go right to focusing on the helpful stuff?

    I do like the focus on sourcing meat and eating the whole animal, but seems to me a lot of newly paleo sorts ignore that and focus instead on the no grains (they usually aren't really eating lots of legumes anyway), and take advantage of the convenience products that are currently being made for the paleo market, as well as the "paleo treats" that replicate high cal low nutrient items but with alternative ingredients like almond flour. Kind of misses the point.

    Paleo was designed as a diet for people with food allergies or food-related inflammations. Legumes are FODMAPs, as are wheat, rye, barley, and milk. So the rationale behind eliminating those things actually does have scientific-backing for the people for whom the diet was designed. The people jumping on the trend, not so much, but that doesn't make the diet itself wrong any more than a gluten-free diet for those with Coeliac's or gluten intolerance is wrong because people jumped on that trend.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    aggelikik wrote: »
    Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
    The headline is a tad misleading, but thanks for posting.

    Is the history/science behind eating a lower carb "paleo" diet wrong? Probably.
    Is the science behind eating a lower carb, quality plant, quality fat, quality protein based diet wrong? I'd bet not.
    Should we as modern humans living in our modern society reduce our consumption of heavily refined carbs (which happens automatically when one eats "paleo")? Probably.
    If eating "paleo" got one of my family members to focus on eating whole foods, rather than all the heavily refined carbs? I'd say why not. They'd learn something about eating real food, and probably end up with a different approach to eating for the long haul (whole food based) after their "paleo" days ended.

    Only for many "paleo" followers, it really teaches nothing. I have seen "paleo" followers pretty much decide it meant a diet of greasy food with some more grease on top. Because since "paleo" really has no scientific basis and it is just a random fancy name to give to a set of eating rules, it is very easy to make your own not at all healthy version of paleo and then stare in amazement at your dr tell you that despite your "healthy" diet, you really are not doing well at all. The people who just understand the benefits of a whole food diet, do not really need a fancy name for what they are doing.

    Sure. For many people (including those doing IIFYM) they learn nothing. For many people, eating IIFYM is just another name for eating crap within a calorie allotment.
    For some, they learn something. But you're right, I didn't say SOME.
    I should have.
  • christineja
    christineja Posts: 22 Member
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    Paleo is just Nourishing Traditions without the raw dairy. Nourishing Traditions is just Atkins with an "eat like the native peoples" spin, SoBeach is a more glamorous Atkins with more fish. There's nothing new here, whole foods/clean eating/blah blah they're all essentially just a low carb high fat diet.

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