archaeologists on the paleo diet

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chrisdavey
chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
http://hells-ditch.com/2012/08/archaeologists-officially-declare-collective-sigh-over-paleo-diet/


Interesting read.

I'm not anti paleo but I'm anti food avoidance for no reason.
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  • BeachIron
    BeachIron Posts: 6,490 Member
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    I've read this before, and it always leads to absurd counter-arguments that the so-called "scientific" basis for the diet really doesn't matter and that it's healthier than eating cheeseburgers and french fries all day . . .

    I agree though with the last line. Eat what you want, i.e. eat what works for you.

    <<< dedicated omnivore
  • highervibes
    highervibes Posts: 2,219 Member
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    There was a good TED talk about how pretty much NO vegetables we eat today are paleo... they were much tougher and bark like LOL

    That said, I do eat paleoish (dairy, the occasional grain for birthdays etc) and I do believe eating MOSTLY fruits and vegetables as well as meats, organs and healthy fats is way healthier than the pop-tart/ice cream/chocolate every day crowd. That's why I don't PERSONALLY partake in daily junk but I couldn't care less if others do.

    We should spend less time worrying about what others eat and more time evaluating our own food choices. Keep on keeping on as long as it's working for you, and it's sustainable for YOU.
  • eponine1976
    eponine1976 Posts: 143 Member
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    I don't really care if a particular food was or was not eaten by ancient populations, I just care about my health and how I feel. I'm curious about the paleo diet because I have friends who've tried it and found themselves feeling much better and healthier than they had in years. I'm thinking of trying it out for a month or so to see if it will possibly help my health and well being as well. I don't know if will actually work, but as bad as my health currently is I really don't see that I have anything to lose by experimenting with it to see if I notice a difference.
  • galenofedgewood
    galenofedgewood Posts: 146 Member
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    <<< dedicated omnivore

    I'm much more closely alligned with the omnomnomivore, personnaly.
  • _noob_
    _noob_ Posts: 3,306 Member
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    “Look, the diet itself is sound; it’s the philosophy that’s bull****. Eat what you want. Just leave the damn cavemen out of it.”

    THIS
  • JossFit
    JossFit Posts: 588 Member
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    <<< dedicated omnivore

    I'm much more closely alligned with the omnomnomivore, personnaly.

    :laugh:

    WRT the article, I saw it for the first time yesterday and thought it was fairly entertaining. I agree that the bottom line is; eat a diet that works for you and your lifestyle, but don't do it based on the arguments that Paleo purists taut.

    I'll never understand some people's inherent need to put LABELS and such arbitrary restrictions on everything. Why do we need to define the way we eat in some way? I eat friggin' food. End of story.
  • ThriftyChica12
    ThriftyChica12 Posts: 373 Member
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    for me, i think what makes the paleo diet "work" is the emphasis on vegetables and the elimination of processed and refined junk: sugar, refined grains, etc.

    IMHO, and according to my research, a person can best take advantage of that benefit when going VEGAN (which many call the opposite of Paleo), as long as that vegan diet is truly PLANT-BASED (rather than subsisting on junk vegan foods or processed crap). a vegan diet made up of fresh veggies and fruits, beans and raw nuts, nut milks, and the occassional INTACT grain (millet, quinoa, amaranth) is a great way to go.

    me, I am vegan for ethical reasons, but the health benefits I have gotten over time have been great too. if u are considering paleo, but are concerned about taking in all the meat (ethically, or health-wise), go watch Forks Over Knives on netflix, read The China Study...
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    Finally, a decent article on the paleo diet!!
    "Hoyes, a paleoethnobotanist who specializes in reconstructing prehistoric subsistence, stated that only thing unifying the myriad diets that she’s studied has been their diversity. “You simply do not see specific, trans-regional trends in human subsistence in the archaeological record. People can live off everything from whale blubber to seeds and grasses. You want to know what the ideal human diet consists of? Everything. Humans can and will eat everything, and we are remarkably successful not in spite of this fact, but because of it. Our adaptability is the hallmark of the human species. We’re not called omnivores for nothing.”"

    ^^^ THIS so much this!!! (quoted from the article) - humans' ecological niche is adaptability.

    "A seventeen-year-old kid at my gym give me a ten minute lecture on how my Clif Bar was poison because humans can’t metabolize soy. I’ve been studying human evolution for thirty years.”"
    this quote (also from the article) made me LOL
    ”You really want to be paleo? Then don’t buy anything from a store. Gather and kill what you need to eat. Wild grasses and tubers, acorns, gophers, crickets- They all provide a lot of nutrition. You’ll spend a lot of energy gathering the stuff, of course, and you’re going to be hungry, but that’ll help you maintain that lean physique you’re after. And hunting down the neighbor’s cats for dinner because you’ve already eaten your way through the local squirrel population will probably give you all the exercise you’ll ever need.”

    Summing up what many considered to be the main point of the entire conference, she told reporters:

    “Look, the diet itself is sound; it’s the philosophy that’s bull****. Eat what you want. Just leave the damn cavemen out of it.”

    ^^^^^ so much this!!!! (also from the article) :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • IronPlayground
    IronPlayground Posts: 1,594 Member
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    “Nearly every food item you currently eat today has been modified from its ancestral form, typically in a drastic way, ” he began. “The notion that we have not yet adapted to eat wheat, yet we have had sufficient time to adapt to kale or lentils is ridiculous. In fact, for most practitioners of the Paleo Diet, who are typically westerners, the majority of the food they consume has been available to their gene pool for less than five centuries. Tomatoes, peppers, squash, potatoes, avocados, pecans, cashews, and blueberries are all New World crops, and have only been on the dinner table of African and Eurasian populations for probably 10 generations of their evolutionary history. Europeans have been eating grain for the last 10,000 years; we’ve been eating sweet potatoes for less than 500. Yet the human body has seemingly adapted perfectly well to yams, let alone pineapple and sunflower seeds.”

    ^Exactly this!!! Most pro-paleo people have no clue what they are talking about.
  • pluckabee
    pluckabee Posts: 346 Member
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    That was an excellent article.

    I'm going to bust it out next time I get into a paleo debate because I always thought the science behind it was flimsy at best.

    While I think people that do go 'paleo' do tend to lose weight and be healthier, the underlying 'science' behind it just seems like utter tosh and rather then a) tell me it is scientifically sound even though it makes no sense, or b) say it doesn't matter WHY as long as it works, i'd love to see more research to find out what exactly is working and then people can base a diet around that instead of sounding like morons when they talk to anyone that has respect for scientific integrity.

    I suspect that all it is is calorie restriction but also the ADDITION of more nutritious foods and not the elimination of other foods.

    Also forks over knives was a terrible documentary and had no science that I could see.

    All they did was rattle off statistics without even attempting to analyse them beyond applying their own hypothesis.

    Tell me, at any point in forks over knives did they compare the overall life expectancy of the 2 regions along with the rates of deaths from degenerative diseases that usually occur in an ageing population? No? Then their statistics are utterly useless.
  • ilmb87
    ilmb87 Posts: 216 Member
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    I'm much more closely alligned with the omnomnomivore, personnaly.
    This. :laugh:
  • JossFit
    JossFit Posts: 588 Member
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    for me, i think what makes the paleo diet "work" is the emphasis on vegetables and the elimination of processed and refined junk: sugar, refined grains, etc.

    IMHO, and according to my research, a person can best take advantage of that benefit when going VEGAN (which many call the opposite of Paleo), as long as that vegan diet is truly PLANT-BASED (rather than subsisting on junk vegan foods or processed crap). a vegan diet made up of fresh veggies and fruits, beans and raw nuts, nut milks, and the occassional INTACT grain (millet, quinoa, amaranth) is a great way to go.

    me, I am vegan for ethical reasons, but the health benefits I have gotten over time have been great too. if u are considering paleo, but are concerned about taking in all the meat (ethically, or health-wise), go watch Forks Over Knives on netflix, read The China Study...

    I love how people read debunked studies and watched biased documentaries and call it their "research".

    Just eat what you want and be happy with that. I say, "To each their own". You shouldn't feel like you need to justify or explain your way of eating... just eat what you want, right? :ohwell:
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,078 Member
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    Surely it's just common sense to cut out junk food. Forget going to extremes and trying eat what cavemen ate! One of the healthiest people I ever knew was my Grandmother in Jamaica - who lived to almost 104.

    She lead a simple life which consisted of home cooked foods. Lots of fresh vegetables mainly greens with some starches, a little fresh fruit, lots of meat and fish. She also drank mostly herbal teas with some fresh juices. All her food was seasoned with herbs and spices and garlic, onion etc.

    I don't think she ever ate anything out of a packet or artificial. That must tell us something.

    For most of us it's not easy to eat like that but she certainly never cut out dairy or grains as she ate cornmeal porridge, bread etc. She was never fat and she was very juscular.
  • tgh1914
    tgh1914 Posts: 1,036 Member
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    Loved reading it before. Forgot to bookmark it so I could share w my pro-paleo friends. Thanks Chris!
  • The_Enginerd
    The_Enginerd Posts: 3,982 Member
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    :heart: This. Saw some similar articles a couple months back. Love seeing the stupidity of the rationale for cutting out certain foods while including others.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Tagging to read later
  • AndyLL180
    AndyLL180 Posts: 57 Member
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    ks for you and your lifestyle, but don't do it based on the arguments that Paleo purists taut.

    I'll never understand some people's inherent need to put LABELS and such arbitrary restrictions on everything. Why do we need to define the way we eat in some way? I eat friggin' food. End of story.

    Money.

    Telling people to eat less junk, less processed food and to cut down on carbs and sugar does not make anyone money.

    Coming out with a new diet with 'scientific proof' makes a lot of people a lot of money.
  • janebshaw
    janebshaw Posts: 168
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    Even if someone figured out what cavemen ate, SO WHAT???? Our ancestors have been eating lots of food Paleo doesn't allow for thousands of years!
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
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    oh i see some paleo's showed up. summation.

    tumblr_mgddbe9dae1rsqd1yo1_400.giftumblr_mjq9zlLsqp1qadkcgo1_1363394579_cover.jpg

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