What is inflammation? How does diet affect inflammation? Why is the standard American diet pro-inflammatory? How can the Paleo diet help fight inflammation? Get the answers to these questions and more in this comprehensive article.

Understanding Inflammation

Inflammation is a natural response by the body to deal with tissue injury, infection, or other foreign elements. It is a protective mechanism that helps the body heal and fight off threats. However, when inflammation becomes chronic, it can lead to a range of health problems like diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s. [1,2,3,4]

The Role of Diet in Inflammation

Diet plays a crucial role in regulating inflammation. Certain foods can either promote or reduce inflammation in the body. A diet high in inflammatory foods like refined carbohydrates, processed meats, and sugary drinks can increase the levels of inflammatory markers like C-Reactive Protein (CRP). [1,2,6]

Issues with the Standard American Diet

The standard American diet is full of pro-inflammatory foods, including refined carbs, wheat, processed meats, and unhealthy fats. This diet can negatively impact gut health and cause spikes in insulin, both of which contribute to chronic inflammation. [1,2,6,7,8]

How the Paleo Diet Can Help

The Paleo diet avoids all the inflammatory foods found in the standard American diet. By focusing on whole, unprocessed foods like fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and healthy fats, the Paleo diet can help improve markers of inflammation, such as blood pressure, glucose tolerance, and lipid profiles. [2]

Anti-Inflammatory Foods in the Paleo Diet

The Paleo diet is rich in anti-inflammatory foods like fresh produce, which are high in antioxidants and polyphenols that can help repair cells and fight disease. [1,5,9] Maintaining a healthy balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids is also important for reducing inflammation. [10,11]

The Bottom Line

Chronic inflammation can have serious consequences for your health, but the Paleo diet offers a natural, pharmaceutical-free way to combat it. By eliminating pro-inflammatory foods and focusing on nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory foods, the Paleo diet can help you reduce inflammation and improve overall well-being.

Key Takeaways:

• Inflammation is a natural response to injury or infection, but chronic inflammation can lead to health problems.
• The standard American diet is high in pro-inflammatory foods, while the Paleo diet is rich in anti-inflammatory foods.
• The Paleo diet can help improve markers of inflammation, such as blood pressure, glucose tolerance, and lipid profiles.
• Specific anti-inflammatory foods in the Paleo diet include fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and healthy fats.

Frequently Asked Questions:

What is inflammation, and why is it a concern?

Inflammation is a natural response by the body to deal with tissue injury, infection, or other foreign elements. It is a protective mechanism that helps the body heal and fight off threats. However, when inflammation becomes chronic, it can lead to a range of health problems like diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s.

How does diet affect inflammation?

Diet plays a crucial role in regulating inflammation. Certain foods can either promote or reduce inflammation in the body. A diet high in inflammatory foods like refined carbohydrates, processed meats, and sugary drinks can increase the levels of inflammatory markers like C-Reactive Protein (CRP), while a diet rich in anti-inflammatory foods can help reduce inflammation.

Why is the standard American diet considered pro-inflammatory?

The standard American diet is full of pro-inflammatory foods, including refined carbs, wheat, processed meats, and unhealthy fats. This diet can negatively impact gut health and cause spikes in insulin, both of which contribute to chronic inflammation.

How can the Paleo diet help fight inflammation?

The Paleo diet avoids all the inflammatory foods found in the standard American diet and focuses on whole, unprocessed foods like fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and healthy fats. By eliminating pro-inflammatory foods and focusing on anti-inflammatory foods, the Paleo diet can help improve markers of inflammation and reduce the risk of inflammation-related health problems.

How The Paleo Diet Fights Inflammation

How The Paleo Diet Fights Inflammation

January 21, 2022

Fusionstudio/ Shutterstock.com

Reviewed by Dr. Mark J. Smith on January 10, 2022

Inflammation is a popular buzz word in the health and nutrition world, but does it really affect your health?

Here’s why you might experience inflammation, and how your diet can help quell it.

What is Inflammation?

Anything foreign in our bodies can cause inflammation. It is natural and necessary for the body to become inflamed in response to tissue injury and bacteria. [1,2,3,4] In fact, inflammation can be protective to our health when we’re combating infection or healing from injuries. [3]

When inflammation becomes repetitive, or chronic, that’s when inflammation becomes a concern. Chronic inflammation can damage cells, tissues, and organs, and is linked to health problems like diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s. [1,4 5,6]

Research even links chronic inflammation with psychiatric disorders, like schizophrenia and depression. [2]

How Does Diet Affect Inflammation?

Fighting inflammation may be as simple as what we buy at the grocery store. While you won’t find one magic food at your local grocer, it’s important to understand that our diet influences inflammation. [1,4] Being attentive to the way you eat will help to develop and maintain an anti-inflammatory diet. [6]

In addition to being mindful of what you eat, another way to stay aware of inflammation is by measuring blood markers for inflammation. C-Reactive protein (CRP) is a marker for inflammation in your blood. Consuming a diet high in inflammatory foods can increase the levels of CRP because they release inflammatory messengers that increase the risk of chronic inflammation.

Why The Standard American Diet is Pro-Inflammatory

Foods that cause inflammation include refined carbohydrates, wheat and other cereal grains, soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages, margarine, shortening and lard, and processed meats. [1,2,6] These types of food can alter our gut health, as well as cause insulin to spike which is what contributes the inflammation.

The standard American diet is full of these unhealthy foods, and is also often low in fruits and vegetables, which in turn increases the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and other diseases. [6,7,8]

How The Paleo Diet Can Help

When you eat The Paleo Diet®, you automatically avoid all these harmful foods. Things like blood pressure, glucose tolerance, and lipid profiles are all likely to improve when you follow The Paleo Diet. [2]

Plus, you’ll eat lots of healthy anti-inflammatory foods when you’re Paleo. Fruits and vegetables are great at helping your body combat inflammation and are linked to lower levels of CRP. [4, 6]

Specifically, fresh produce like tomatoes, avocados, beets, berries, green leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, and collards are rich in natural antioxidants that help to repair cells, and protective compounds called polyphenols. [1,5] Polyphenols aid in digestion, and help to fight diseases such as diabetes, neurodegenerative disease, and cardiovascular disease.[9]

Maintaining a low omega-6 to omega-3 ratio has an anti-inflammatory effect on the body and can improve cardiovascular health. [10,11] The body cannot make α-linolenic acid (ALA), an omega-3 fatty acid, or linoleic acid (LA), an omega-6 fatty acid, however they are essential to survive. It is important to maintain a healthful balance of these fatty acids, but unfortunately, most Americans consume 14 to 25 times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fatty acids. [11] In order to keep the fatty acid ratio in your favor, consume more foods with a healthy ratio such as olive oil, nuts like walnuts and pecans, and fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, and mackerel. [6,8] According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, regularly consuming these foods has been linked to a lower risk of age-related macular degeneration [9]

The Bottom Line

Inflammation can create all sorts of health problems, ranging from itchy skin and joint discomfort to heart disease and cancer. The best way to prevent or treat inflammation without pharmaceuticals is by consuming a Paleo diet. You’ll naturally get lots of anti-inflammatory fruits, veggies and fish while cutting down on pro-inflammatory foods like grains, dairy, sugar, and highly processed foods. Just one more great reason to go Paleo!

How to Start an Autoimmune Protocol Diet

References:

1. Foods that fight inflammation https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/foods-that-fight-inflammation

2. De Punder K. and Pruimboom L. The dietary intake of wheat and other cereal grains and their role in inflammation https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643…;

3. McDonald, E What foods cause or reduce inflammation? UChicago Medicine. https://uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/gastrointestinal-articles/what-foods-cause-or-reduce-inflammation

4. Shivappa N, Hebert J, Rietzschel E, DeBuyzere M, Langlois M, Debruyne E, Marcos A, Huybrechts I, Associations between dietary inflammatory index and inflammatory markers in the Asklepios study. 2015, Associations between dietary inflammatory index and inflammatory markers in the Asklepios Study | British Journal of Nutrition | Cambridge Core

5. Lindeberg S. Paleolithic diets as a model for prevention and treatment of western disease. American Journal of Human Biology 24:110-115 (2012). Lindeberg2012.Paleodiet. (1).pdf

6. Mayo Clinic. Nutrition and healthy eating. https://www.mayoclinic.org/health-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth-how-to-use-food-to-help-your-body-fight-inflammation/art-20457586.

7. Spreadbury I. Comparison with ancestral diets suggest dense acellular carbohydrates promote an inflammatory microbiota, and may be the primary dietary cause of leptin resistance and obesity. Diebetes, Metabolic Syndrome, and Obesity: Targets and Therapy Comparison with ancestral diets suggests dense acellular carbohydrates promote an inflammatory microbiota, and may be the primary dietary cause of leptin resistance and obesity (nih.gov)

8. Patel S, Suleria H. Ethnic and paleolithic diet: where do they stand in inflammation alleviation? A discussion. Journal of Ethnic Foods. Ethnic and paleolithic diet: Where do they stand in inflammation alleviation? A discussion – ScienceDirect

9. ScienceDaily. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2009. Eating Fish, Nuts And Olive Oil May Be Associated With Reduced Risk Of Age-related Blindness — ScienceDaily

10. Dimitratos, S. Inflammation: What is it, and how can my diet and behavior affect it? American Society for Nutrition Inflammation: What Is It, and how can my diet and behavior affect it? (nutrition.org)

11. Mount Sinai Omega-6 fatty acids Information, Omega-6 fatty acids Information | Mount Sinai – New York

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Keep up on the latest news, science, recipes, and lifestyle topics in The Paleo Diet®

Can the Paleo Diet Help Fight Autoimmune Diseases?

Can the Paleo Diet Help Relieve Symptoms of Autoimmune Disease?

Some studies suggest that paleo really does offer benefits, like weight loss and more energy, while others show anecdotal evidence that eliminating inflammatory foods in the standard American diet — such as soda, chips, and cookies — as well as grains, legumes, and most dairy, can help people manage diseases like Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and multiple sclerosis (MS).

Sounds great, right? Not so fast. Turns out, more research is needed before we can know for sure what effect this restrictive diet may have on autoimmune diseases, says Kelly Kennedy, RD, CDE, the staff dietitian at Everyday Health.

“Unfortunately, there just isn’t enough scientific evidence to clearly show that following a paleo diet would be helpful for improving symptoms of an autoimmune condition,” Kennedy says. “For some people, following the diet might help, but for others, it may not.”

More on Following the Paleo Diet

11 Celebrities Who’ve Tried the Paleo Diet for Weight Loss

Kennedy adds that while there may be some short-term health benefits that come from this kind of elimination diet, she recommends that people don’t think of paleo as a long-term solution. In part, that’s because the restrictive diet may lead to more risks than benefits.

“My main goal is to make sure that a diet is realistic and maintainable for the person who wants to follow it,” Kennedy says. “However, with the paleo diet, I actually wouldn’t recommend following it long term, simply because more research needs to be done and because it can contribute to nutrient deficiencies — something that people with autoimmune diseases are already at an increased risk of.”

What About the Autoimmune Paleo Diet (AIP)? Does It Work?

If you’ve researched diets for autoimmune diseases online, you’ve likely come across the autoimmune paleo diet (AIP), which proposes to directly address gut inflammation that leads to autoimmune disease. This diet is sometimes called the autoimmune protocol diet, and depending on where you’re looking, they may be one and the same, or the paleo diet may be a type of an autoimmune protocol diet.

In any case, AIP is specifically geared toward reducing inflammation in the body that leads to flares for conditions like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). (2) It focuses mainly on vegetables and meats, and tackles what some people in the holistic health community have dubbed “leaky gut,” which is believed to contribute to the chronic inflammation associated with autoimmune diseases. (It should be noted that the traditional medical community doesn’t recognize leaky gut, and published, peer-reviewed research on it is limited.)

But Kennedy says this diet plan similarly doesn’t have enough research behind it and notes that, just like the traditional paleo diet, it may lead to nutrient deficiencies.

“I would just want to make sure that they’re not eliminating more foods than they need to,” says Kennedy, cautioning against paleo or AIP. “Find what works for you personally, and stick with it.”

How the Paleo Diet May Help Treat 5 Autoimmune Conditions

Still, some research supports the idea of using paleo to treat autoimmune conditions.

Here’s what you should know about paleo and its potential benefits for five well-known autoimmune conditions.

1. IBD

An estimated 3.1 million people have IBD in the United States. (3) One study found that an AIP diet can “improve clinical responses in (IBD).” The researchers monitored 18 adults with IBD who went through a six-week elimination diet followed by a five-week “maintenance phase. ” At the end of the study, an endoscopy was performed on the people participating. While the study found significant improvement in some people’s symptoms after they went on the diet, two of the participants who had ileal strictures — a common complication of Crohn’s disease — before the study began experienced worsening symptoms.

More on Eating for Crohn’s Disease

How Food Can Impact Crohn’s Disease

The study authors cautioned that people need to keep in mind that each individual’s condition is different and that this kind of treatment requires “counseling and close follow-up.”

“Dietary change can be an important adjunct to IBD therapy, not only to achieve remission, but perhaps [to] improve the durability of response and remission,” the authors wrote. (4)

But Kennedy says more research would be needed to confirm this notion. “There is some research to suggest that [paleo] may help with IBD, but more and larger studies are needed before the true effects can be determined,” says Kennedy, adding that those studies would also need to be long term.

2. Skin Conditions Like Psoriasis and Eczema

Some paleo proponents cite the diet’s ability to curb inflammation as playing a big role in improving chronic skin conditions like psoriasis and eczema.

Kennedy notes that, as with IBD, current studies are limited. “Again, more research is needed,” she stresses, reiterating that a standard elimination diet is still the most recommended approach for helping with skin conditions such as eczema or psoriasis. In a 2017 survey of psoriasis patients, nearly 70 percent reported a favorable response to the paleo diet.

3. Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

Some current research suggests that paleo may help with MS. (5) The research — which looked at a small, uncontrolled pool of 13 people — suggests that people who adhered to the paleo diet, along with an exercise program and meditation, showed “significant improvement in fatigue.” But it’s unclear exactly which part of the treatment (exercise, diet, or meditation) actually helped people with their symptoms.

More on Paleo and MS

Healthy Eating Habits for Multiple Sclerosis

For this research, 10 out of 13 participants enrolled in a two-week study, then went on to be observed over a 12-month period. Eventually, eight people completed the study and six of them fully stuck with the paleo diet. The results were promising and suggested the need for more research down the line.

“While there are anecdotal success stories, the benefit remains to be proven in a scientific study,” Kennedy says.

4. Celiac Disease

The paleo diet includes only gluten-free foods, so it’s no surprise the plan is popular among people managing celiac disease, which is marked by gluten intolerance. But the paleo diet isn’t necessarily the best — and certainly isn’t the only — diet option if you’re managing celiac, Kennedy notes.

“For [those] diagnosed with celiac disease, the results are clear: Following a gluten-free diet is necessary to control symptoms. However, any other paleo diet limitations beyond this would not affect the disease symptoms,” Kennedy says.

Editorial Sources and Fact-Checking

1. Deleted, November 6, 2022.
2. The Autoimmune Paleo Diet. Mindd Foundation.
3. People With IBD Have More Chronic Diseases. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. April 15, 2022.
4. Konijeti GG, Kim NM, Lewis JD, et al. Efficacy of the Autoimmune Protocol Diet for Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. November 2017.
5. Bisht B, Darling WG, Grossmann RE, et al. A Multimodal Intervention for Patients With Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis: Feasibility and Effect on Fatigue. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. May 7, 2014.
6. Esposito T, Lobaccaro J, Esposito M, et al. Effects of Low-Carbohydrate Diet Therapy in Overweight Subject With Autoimmune Thyroiditis: Possible Synergism With ChREBP. Drug Design, Development and Therapy. September 14, 2016.

Additional Sources

• Abbott RD, Sadowski A, Alt AG. Efficacy of the Autoimmune Protocol Diet as Part of a Multidisciplinary, Supported Lifestyle Intervention for Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. Cureus. April 27, 2019.
• Afifi L, Danesh MJ, Lee KM, et al. Dietary Behaviors in Psoriasis: Patient-Reported Outcomes From a U.S. National Survey. Dermatology and Therapy. June 2017.
• Venter C, Eyerich S, Sarin T, Klatt KC. Nutrition and the Immune System: A Complicated Tango. Nutrients. March 2020.

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Paleo (Neanderthal) diet – diet, foods, ketogenic effect

Paleo or Neanderthal diet – a special style of eating that involves eating food typical of ancient people. In the Paleolithic era, people were engaged in gathering and hunting, respectively, the diet had a lot of meat, fish, nuts, eggs, raw seeds, mushrooms, a little less berries, fruits, vegetables and greens.

How the idea of ​​the paleo diet came about

Back in the 70s, a group of genetic scientists claimed that the development of the human body, including the gastrointestinal tract and metabolic mechanisms, stopped in the Stone Age. In other words, the body managed to adapt only to the eating style of the Neanderthals. But agricultural crops (wheat, rye, barley and even buckwheat), which began to be grown only in 9000 BC, dairy products, potatoes, corn, and of course, the processed foods of our time, have a negative impact on our health and weight.

In the 1980s, gastroenterologists W. Wegtlin and Boyd Eaton drew attention to the paleo diet. But the diet gained its greatest popularity with the release of the book “The Paleo Diet” by Doren Cordain in 2002. He, by the way, owns the trademark “paleo diet”.

In the US and European countries, many Hollywood stars adhere to the Neanderthal diet. Google itself in 2013 recognized the paleo diet as the most popular method of dealing with excess weight.

Neanderthal basic principles of nutrition

The stone man’s diet has many restrictions in the form of a long list of forbidden foods. Meals are offered 3 times a day, since it takes 5-6 hours to digest proteins. Keeping a messy daily routine is also not going to work. It is necessary to sleep for 8-9 hours, going to bed before 10 pm (in some sources even at sunset), physical activity should be every day, a sufficient amount of clean, non-carbonated water is a prerequisite. Everything here, in general, is logical: the ancient people did not have artificial light sources, so they went to bed after dark, and also moved a lot, trying to get food and hide from danger.

If you carefully read the first paragraph of this article, you may have noticed that the list of allowed foods is very similar to the menu of a protein diet. And this is true. The paleo diet is similar to the Dukan and Atkins diets. A lot of protein and less carbohydrates – it is believed that this is how stone people ate. The balance of BJU is as follows: proteins – 40-45%, fats – 20-30%, carbohydrates – no more than 15%. Caloric restrictions are not mentioned in public sources.

Let’s take a closer look at the diet of ancient ancestors.

Allowed and prohibited foods on a paleo diet

What can be eaten:

• lean meat;
• fish;
• up to 2 eggs per day;
• unprocessed seeds and nuts;
• vegetables, herbs;
• fruits and berries;
• mushrooms;
• honey, natural dried fruit in limited quantities;
• vegetable oils.

Each dish must be cooked to a minimum. Meat and fish can be boiled, baked, grilled without a lot of oil. Eggs are a good source of protein. They can be boiled, fried, but omelettes with milk or cream are prohibited.

Fruits and berries are best eaten in season and locally grown.

There is controversy surrounding brown rice. On the one hand, this product, which could have been available to humans in the Paleolithic era. But on the other hand, was it actively eaten if the mass cultivation of the culture began many years after the Neanderthals? This is, of course, a matter of individual choice.

Prohibited products:

• bread, pasta, rich pastries;
• sugar and sweets;
• dairy and fermented milk products;
• cereals, cereals;
• starchy vegetables;
• refined oils;
• alcohol.

According to paleo diet theorists, our gut is not ready for gluten, sugar and milk proteins. Also, do not use sugar substitutes.

Paleo diet for 7 days

Day 1

Breakfast: 2 hard-boiled or soft-boiled eggs, green salad with peppers, tomatoes and a cup of berries.

Lunch: a piece of boiled or grilled chicken, baked vegetables and natural dried apricots for dessert.

Dinner: sautéed mushrooms in olive oil with spinach, courgettes and bell peppers.

Day 2

Breakfast: scrambled eggs with spinach.

Lunch: beef steak, a couple of tomatoes, a portion of seasonal berries or fruits.

Dinner: One or two lean river fish, any vegetables of your choice, and olive oil dressing.

Day 3

Breakfast: protein omelette with chia seeds.

Lunch: stewed mushrooms with vegetables in vegetable oil, a handful of berries or fruit for dessert.

Dinner: salad and dry pan fried chicken breast.

Day 4

Breakfast: a salad of fruits, nuts and seeds of your choice, a teaspoon of honey for dressing.

Lunch: fish with cabbage, carrot and onion salad.

Dinner: salad with seaweed and egg.

Day 5

Breakfast: poached egg with vegetables, nuts and dried fruits for dessert.

Lunch: lean pork steak, mixed greens with lemon juice and any vegetable oil).

Dinner: lobio with vegetable oil.

Day 6

Breakfast: two eggs in an avocado (no cheese).

Lunch: baked or boiled fish with seasonal vegetables (Brussel sprouts, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, etc.)

Dinner: a piece of meat on the bone with herbs.

Day 7

Breakfast: mix of seeds, nuts and berries with a spoonful of honey.

Lunch: Assorted mushrooms in a pan with vegetables.

Dinner: tamagoyaki omelet (we use vegetable oil for frying).

Paleo or keto diet – which is better?

Paleo and keto diets are often compared online. The main similarity is the lion’s share of protein products on the menu. Also, experts say that during both one and the other diet, ketosis begins – the process of splitting the body’s own fat reserves due to carbohydrate starvation of cells. Both in keto and paleo, fast carbohydrates, flour, cereals, and sweets are excluded.

The difference is that on a keto diet it is allowed to consume animal fats (butter or bacon for example), dairy and sour-milk products. Fans of ketogenic nutrition do not disdain overseas fruits and vegetables.

To sum up, the keto diet looks more gentle and varied.

Pros and Cons of the Neanderthal Diet

The benefits of the Paleo diet are clear. If you are overweight, it will start to go away due to the rejection of sweets, starchy foods and, in general, lowering the level of carbohydrates in the diet. Also, a ban on invigorating food supplements will help to establish circadian cycles (you will start to get tired more quickly during the day and go to bed earlier).

Instead of side dishes of pasta or instant porridge, you will have vegetables, which for some will have a positive effect on digestion. Many write that paleo dishes give a long saturation. After a couple of weeks, you will most likely wean yourself from sweets and begin to feel the taste of food in a much more multifaceted way.

One of the obvious disadvantages is a small set of products that can quickly get bored. In addition, the products are not cheap, except for eggs and seasonal vegetables. When switching to a protein diet, losing weight often feels a breakdown, energy and a deterioration in mood. Many cannot exclude flour or dairy products, which contain many vitamins, micro- and macroelements necessary for human life.

Before you decide on a Neanderthal diet, be sure to consult with your doctor and get his consent. Also, during paleo, visit a doctor to monitor the condition of the body. Adhering to one or another restrictive eating style should be a balanced decision between you and a specialist.

© TM “YAENSVIT”2021-09-10T11:29:12+03:002023-01-17T08:56:12+02:00Paleo or Neanderthal diet is a special style of eating that involves eating food typical of ancient people. In the Paleolithic era, people were engaged in gathering and hunting, respectively, in the diet there was a lot of meat, fish, nuts, eggs, raw seeds, mushrooms, a little less berries, fruits, vegetables and greens.

Paleo diet: what is it and is it effective

Ancient people ate a lot of meat, but did not know cereals and dairy products. Some researchers consider such a diet to be optimal for humans. Paleo diet copies it

1. What is
2. Protocol
3. Menu
4. Benefits and harms
5. Expert opinions

What is the Paleo Diet

The Paleo diet is a type of diet that mimics the human diet of the Paleolithic era (about 2. 6 million years ago). Then people did not yet know how to cultivate the land and did not master animal husbandry. They ate what they managed to get on the hunt or in the process of gathering. Some scientists suggest [1] that this style of nutrition is genetically optimal for the body. Data from medical and archaeological studies show that people of the Stone Age did not have many of the diseases inherent in modern man – type 2 diabetes, obesity, atherosclerosis, hypertension.

The idea of ​​a paleo diet was first voiced by US gastroenterologist Walter Lyle Voegtlin in his book The Stone Age Diet: Based on In-Depth Research on Human Ecology and the Human Diet. After Voegtlin’s death, his idea was picked up by other specialists – gastroenterologists and nutritionists. For example, in 2002, a book by physician Lauren Cordain, The Paleo Diet, was published in the United States, which describes similar principles. The terms “caveman diet” and “stone age diet” have also been used to refer to this type of diet. The Paleo diet is one of the most popular diets today. On Facebook (since March 21, 2022, the social network has been banned in Russia by a court decision as extremist) there are several groups ranging from 50 to more than 100 thousand people in which fans of the “Stone Age diet” discuss nutrition principles and share their experience.

Paleo Diet Protocol

1. Refusing modern foods.
2. Traditional food.
3. Complete rejection of dairy products.
4. Refusal of flour.
5. Gentle cooking methods.
6. Refusal of salt, sugar food additives.
7. Absence of quantitative and temporal restrictions in the use of food.

What foods can

• Protein foods

  Lean meats (beef, lamb, lean pork, rabbit, horse meat, game), poultry, fish, shellfish, seafood, eggs, offal.

• Vegetables and mushrooms

  All vegetables are allowed, except for legumes – tomatoes, cucumbers, any greens, asparagus, spinach, broccoli, peppers, cabbage. In limited quantities – potatoes and sweet potatoes. There are no restrictions on mushrooms.

• Fruits and berries

  You can do anything, but limit the consumption of very sweet.

• Nuts and vegetable oils

  All nuts are allowed except peanuts. It belongs to legumes. Oils are allowed, only unrefined, cold pressed.

• Honey and dried fruits

  Healthy, “natural sweets” are acceptable in small amounts when following a paleo diet. They can diversify their diet.

Which products are not allowed

• Processed meat

  Sausages, wieners, sausage, ham, deli meats. None of this existed in the ancient world.

• Cereal products

  All types of bread, crispbread, cereals, rolls, confectionery, ready-made breakfasts.

• Legumes

  Beans, peas, corn, chickpeas, lentils, peanuts.

• Dairy products

  Modern man is the only mammal on earth that continues to consume milk into adulthood. Ancient people didn’t do that. Therefore, supporters of the paleo diet recommend eliminating all dairy and sour-milk products from the diet.

• Alcohol and sugar
• Salt, spices

  Foods containing monosodium glutamate (MSG), nitrates, potassium bromate, saccharin, artificial colors, artificial sweeteners, and GMOs are prohibited. Permissible spices consisting of natural dried herbs.

Ancient people did not have frying pans and stoves. They cooked food on fire. Therefore, according to the principles of the paleo diet, the best ways to cook in modern conditions are – boiled, baked, steamed and grilled. Counting calories or not eating after 6:00 pm – these principles are not necessary to follow with a paleo diet. Stone Age eating suggests that a person should eat when hungry.

Benefits and harms of the paleo diet

Studies have shown that the paleo diet can significantly reduce anthropometric parameters, including body weight, waist circumference, BMI and fat mass [2]. Scientists also come to the conclusion that the Paleolithic diet is more comfortable for humans than its other counterparts. A person loses weight without a constant feeling of hunger. This is achieved due to the high protein content. The diet is considered especially effective for postmenopausal women with obesity. They have a higher rate of weight loss than other groups [3].

A number of studies have proven the positive effect of the paleo diet for patients with type 2 diabetes [4]. They have a decrease in glycated hemoglobin (a biochemical blood indicator that reflects the average blood sugar over a long period), blood pressure, and body weight. And an increase in HDL (high density lipoproteins), which are lowered in diabetics.

Other scientific works refute this thesis. The National Library of Medicine study, “The Effects of the Paleolithic Diet on Glucose and Insulin Homeostasis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials,” states that the Paleolithic diet negatively affects the composition of the gut microbiota. And it, in turn, is associated with impaired glycemic control of the host and the development of type 2 diabetes. That is, this type of diet is harmful for diabetics in the long term [5].

At the same time, a decrease in fasting glucose and glycated hemoglobin during dieting still occurs. When a patient follows any low carbohydrate diet indicated for diabetes mellitus, similar results are observed, but without the side effects in the form of a deterioration in the composition of the microflora. Scientists come to the conclusion that for patients with diabetes, it is still better to follow the standard diet recommended for this disease.

There are also currently no clinically validated data on the effectiveness of the Paleo diet as a treatment for autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis [6]. In principle, there are no studies proving that these patients have special nutritional needs. Scientists are inclined to believe that the diet is possibly effective as a preventive measure.

There are also no data on the positive effect of the Paleolithic diet in the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases [7]. Including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. On the contrary, a sufficient amount of dietary fiber (of which there is little if you follow the Stone Age diet) improves the condition of such patients. Also, the paleo diet increases vitamin D deficiency, thereby increasing the risk of hospitalization.

Paleo diet causes serious complaints among many researchers [8]. Experts pay attention to the fact that the range of this diet creates conditions for the formation of scarce conditions. Thus, the exclusion from the diet of grains, legumes, dairy products inevitably leads to insufficient intake of B vitamins and calcium, which increases the risk of developing osteoporosis, since dietary calcium intake is reduced by 50%. In defense of this diet, some researchers have suggested that low calcium intake is offset by lower calcium excretion from the body.

Expert opinions

The list of allowed and recommended foods already hints that this is a diet for the elite. Few people can afford to eat, for example, seafood. Even ordinary residents of such a rich maritime country as Japan cannot afford this, notes Aleksey Kalinchev, an endocrinologist and nutritionist.

Alexey Kalinchev:

“The Paleo diet has a clear bias towards protein. And protein is an extremely toxic substance for the body. Its excess is dangerous for the formation of kidney stones. An extreme type of high-protein diet, the Dukan diet, is known for its frequent complications.

The Paleo diet is not applicable to everyday life, it can be “played” for a short period of time. For a short period, the body will allow you to eat like this. You can make a completely tasty and interesting menu for 1-2 weeks.