Eating Like The Ancestors

The ‘paleo’ diet, a phrase that conjures visions of Instagramming and bone broth-sipping, has amassed significant popular appeal with books on the subject hitting international bestseller lists. But now it has been around for a couple of years, was the hype warranted, or is it merely another foodie fad? Jane Dawson writes

- Jane Dawson

Its name suggests that it was founded before the wheel; but the colloquially-known caveman diet was in fact popularised in 2001 with the publication of Loren Cordain’s The Paleo Diet, which was heavily influenced by Dr Boyd Eaton’s 1985 paper, Paleolithic Nutrition.1 By 2013 it had become the most Googled diet online. During and since then, Cordain’s paleo following has grown to encompass celebrities, athletes and researchers alike.

The premise seems simple. Eat what our Palaeolithic — or Stone Age — ancestors are believed to have eaten: meat, nuts, fresh fruits and vegetables, while eschewing grains, legumes, dairy and all processed or refined foods. Proponents argue that by consuming food groups similar to those eaten by our preagricultural hunter-gatherer ancestors, we can optimise our health, minimise our risk of chronic disease and lose weight. There are degrees of strictness, however, and some paleo fans do include (usually) forbidden foods such as full-fat dairy, white potatoes, dark chocolate and legumes.

Despite its apparent growing popularity, however, in 2015 the paleo diet polled worst on the Best Diets Rankings US News & World Report, as assessed by a panel of health experts against 34 other current diets.2 Criticisms included it being hard to sustain, too high in fat, and avoiding entire food groups that are widely considered healthy. This year it came 36th out of 38 in the same index.