Study shows a ‘primal’ diet can bring rapid weight loss and health benefits
Posted on 9 May 2008
On Monday I started a blog about the artificial sweetener aspartame with a reference to my preference for a diet rich in natural, unprocessed foods. Such a diet might be described in various ways including a
Published May 9, 2008 . Filed under: Healthy Eating, Low-Carbohydrate/Carbohydrate Restriction, Weight Loss
Hi there
I too am a fan of the paleo diet, but having looked at this study I was a bit annoyed that it didn’t look well designed – e.g. perhaps the improvements were due to a reduction in calories consumed irrespective of the composition of the diet?
May 9, 2008 @ 11:32 am
I see your point Chris – but I actually liked the fact that the ‘primal’ foods used as the basis for the diet were allowed to be eaten freely, and the fact that this seems to have led to a natural reduction in the calorific value of the food eaten. I think this study demonstrates what I usually find in practice: when individuals concentrate on the quality of their diets, they need to consider the quantity they eat far less.
May 9, 2008 @ 11:37 am
Aren’t legumes supposed to be healthy? I don’t know what I’d do without my weekly lentil/chick pea/pinto bean fix!
May 9, 2008 @ 1:06 pm
Hi,
I have been following the paleo diet for a few years now.
I was interested to see that potatoes had been included in this study, is this a grey area? as some nutritional writers include potatoes in the paleo diet and some are firmly against it.
I am very interested to know where potatoes come in terms of a healthy carb? Are they healthier than Brown rice or Lentils, beans etc.
Thanks
May 9, 2008 @ 2:17 pm
I am a bit surprised that people were supposed to eat l e a n meat – this does not correspond to what is now of paleo-nutrition at all. People depended on eating fat for survival – lean meat was only eaten when nothing else was available.
May 9, 2008 @ 2:27 pm
I’ve been following a paleo-type diet for 2 years now. The only real differences between my eating habits and those in the study: I eat no potatoes; I don’t concentrate on lean meat, but rather on pastured, organic meat of any type, no matter how fatty it might be; I do sneak in the occasional piece of hard cheese (every girl’s gotta have a vice). The study was silent on wine – but I also try to have a small glass or red most days of the week.
My experience mirrors the results of the study. My hunger was considerably reduced, almost immediately. Willpower was no longer an issue, because now I am simply not hungry between meals. As a diabetic, this eating plan gives me great blood sugar control, and it ended my prescription high-blood pressure meds, lowered my triglycerides substantially and raised my HDL. My doctor has been astounded (although, unfortunately, not that interested in how the change happened, just that it did).
The upside of this approach to eating is that it is psychologically easy to maintain, and 2 years after my 70 pound weight loss, I haven’t gained a pound back – and I’m not denying my hunger in order to maintain the weight loss. I
May 9, 2008 @ 3:52 pm
My husband Rob is 6ft tall, weighs 138 lbs, and has been eating the paleo for several years. Before the change in diet he was 205 lbs and his blood pressure was 160 over 105. At the most recent reading it showed 135 over 76. Like Vivian he eats the odd piece of cheese, usually unpasteurised Camembert and a nightly glass of red wine or three. Perhaps I should add that he walks the dogs for at least an hour a day, usually covering 4 miles or so.
May 9, 2008 @ 4:47 pm
This is pretty much how I eat, too. No potatoes, though — my blood glucose doesn’t react well to them. And I will indulge in a little cheese every once in a while. I was ovo-lacto vegetarian for 20+ years, and my current physician (who encourages the paleo way of eating for ALL her patients) believes the high carb/low fat way I ate for all those years contributed to my hypothyroidism (a lot of soy!) and may have played at factor in developing diabetes. I also gained weight — something that hadn’t been an issue before adopting the high carb/low fat way of eating.
I had no trouble loosing the weight I needed to lose once I switched to a paleo-centered way of eating. The diabetes “beast” is under control, with my a1c ranging between 5.0% and 5.2%. Lipid profile is very good, with the exception of HDL which is still low and has my physician and me stumped.
So, I’m a big fan of paleo eating and find I don’t even miss the pasta, bread, etc. that I used to make the centerpiece of my meals.
May 9, 2008 @ 5:01 pm
I too agree with the Paleo diet but , while trying not to be unpleasant, be careful not to think of wine as a sort of health food. One person said ‘I try to….drink wine’. Alcohol is a poison which has to be detoxified in the liver. THe antioxidants come from the grapes so just eat black grapes.
How would be get wine in the stone age?
May 9, 2008 @ 5:11 pm
I take yoru point John.
By the way – notice how the establishment do not like this study:
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2008/05May/Pages/Cavemanfaddiet.aspx
May 9, 2008 @ 5:28 pm
Surely for a Paleo diet, how the meat animal is raised needs to be considered. For example battery farmed chicken – fast growing, fat due to lack of movement and feed on grain. Surely that can’t be considered Paleo ?
May 9, 2008 @ 5:32 pm
Chris – thanks for the link.
I love this: describing a diet similar to the one we
May 9, 2008 @ 5:48 pm
I am not sure that a paleo diet would include flaxseed and rapeseed oil, even as dressing! or that fatty meat would be excluded for 6 days out of 7.
Sounds like the study authors are part of the “Sat Fat is bad” brigade!
Still, at least a step in the right direction
May 9, 2008 @ 7:19 pm
Is this is a diet you have to follow 100%? Because although convincing, it also looks pretty hard to follow. Do paleo people ever go to restos?
But most urgently, can you answer my question on pulses? In previous posts you have extolled their virtues, and yet they’re forbidden in this diet.
Thanks!
May 9, 2008 @ 9:18 pm
Daisy
The reason that pulses are forbidden on the paleo diet is not necessarily on health grounds, but on the basis that they’re not ‘paleo’ foods.
May 10, 2008 @ 6:32 am
I think it is a mistake to be a slave to any particular diet, although acknowledging that wheat and dairy have been introduced into the human food chain only comparatively recently I find no difficulty in recognizing that they are not necessary and may even be deleterious to the maintenance of optimum health. If Hilda eschews the drinking of wine then I fully accept her right to point out it’s dangers although for myself I prefer to gain some comfort from knowing that a French lady who lived to the great age of 122years actually imbibed upon a daily basis whilst also enjoying a cigarette or two!
May 10, 2008 @ 3:18 pm
What about eggs? And what about cold-compressed olive oil, and, actually, other oils such as sesame and avocado?
Thanks for terrifically interesting stuff on health!!!
May 12, 2008 @ 1:54 pm
At least you point out the limitations of this particular study, i,e the small numbers. It always amazes me when these types of limitations are omitted from reports /news releases for most studies.
There is another point I’d be keen to find out more about when it comes to diet issues, and that is the way that we eat our food. With many modern ‘meals’ people tend to scoff them down. I’ve recently seen a comment in a book that if we chew our food properly, and equally, concentrate with our minds / thoughts on what we are eating, the flavour and texture of the food, and enjoying it (as opposed to thinking about work, whats on tv etc etc) then that is also very beneficial to us. I’m guessing that it’s how our ancestors probably ate – concentrating on the task at hand and the process of eating. Would you know of any studies / evidence that would support this? Would it be something to promote alongside the contents of suggested diets?
May 13, 2008 @ 10:43 pm
I tend to serve a somewhat paleo-inspired diet to my family, though we do include dairy fairly frequently. Most of the time, I do source our meat and dairy from pastured sources, not grainfed or from feedlots. Most of our dairy consumption is raw and whole, though (even the fluid milk) and much of it is fermented /cultured (cheese, yogurt, etc.) and some of it is home-prepared (fresh cheeses, cultured dairy). So while I don’t stick hard and fast to all paleo details, but it is extremely helpful to use a “paleo lens” to decide which foods to consume regularly, which forms are more like those found in nature, and which to limit or eliminate.
I also find the “fad” label ironic when applied to paleo diets. Regarding wine, since many fermentation is a process that occurs in nature even without human intervention, and no doubt paleo humans chanced upon and perhaps sought out naturally fermented foods, I think it is reasonable to include some wine if one wishes. I doubt one “needs” to include it, though. I am finding that maintaining my weight is much easier without a glass of wine with dinner, though. I now tend to limit wine to once or twice a week, or even less frequently (my husband doesn’t drink alcohol very frequently because he often does some work-related writing in the evening). Additionally a glass of wine at home with dinner induces too much sleepiness too early in the evening for me now, unless there is enough of a social atmosphere.
May 15, 2008 @ 6:17 pm
The paleo diet seems spot on to me, John, and I’m doing my best to follow it. However, next year I plan to cycle Land’s End to John O’Groats. How can I ensure that my muscles will have sufficient glycogen stores to ride 100 plus miles per day without eating loads of cereal-based carbs?
May 16, 2008 @ 3:27 pm
Malcolm,
surely on a paleo type diet, you’ll be burning fat as your basis for fuel for energy??
Stephen Phinney (I think) has worked with cycling and low-carb diets in the US, try googling his name.
May 18, 2008 @ 10:09 am
Thanks for that, Neil. I’ll google him.
May 23, 2008 @ 1:53 pm
Have there been any studies into the usefulness of a paleo/primal diet for controlling the symptoms of IBS? and secondly
Where do the proponents of such a diet stand on the consumption of alcohol?
February 4, 2009 @ 2:34 pm