The Paleo diet is presented as a return to the origins of human nutrition, inspired by the consumption patterns of our hunter-gatherer ancestors. While the idea of "eating like in the Stone Age" is appealing and romantic, the reality is much more complex and varied.
What is the paleo diet?
This approach proposes consuming foods that would have been available before the advent of agriculture, approximately 10,000 years ago. The premise is that the human body would be better adapted to natural, unprocessed foods, such as lean meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. In contrast, it avoids the consumption of grains, legumes, dairy products, and processed foods.
Benefits of the paleo diet
- Nutritional improvement: By prioritizing fresh, natural foods, you increase your intake of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
- Weight control: By eliminating ultra-processed foods and refined sugars, many people experience a reduction in calorie intake and an improvement in body composition.
- Reduction of inflammation: It has been observed that a diet based on whole foods can help reduce inflammatory processes in the body.
- Stability in sugar levels: Avoiding simple and processed carbohydrates helps control blood sugar.
Disadvantages of the paleo diet
- Restriction of food groups: Excluding grains, legumes, and dairy products can lead to nutritional deficiencies.
- Cost and accessibility: Preferring organic foods, quality meats, and fresh produce can lead to higher cost.
- Interpretation and variability: The diet of our ancestors was not uniform. Recent research shows that the ancestral diet included a significant proportion of carbohydrates and varied according to season and environment. This diversity poses the challenge of adapting paleo principles to current realities and individual needs.
Fundamentals and philosophy
Proponents of the paleo diet argue that our genes haven't evolved at the same pace as the emergence of modern foods, which could contribute to health problems such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. However, ethnographic and archaeological studies show that our ancestors' diets were remarkably diverse and environmentally dependent, with a significant intake of carbohydrates from tubers, fruits, and honey.
This perspective highlights the importance of consuming whole, minimally processed foods, but also invites us to reconsider the rigidity of eliminating entire food groups, as the variability in ancestral diets suggests that health can be maintained through different consumption patterns.
The paleo diet invites us to rethink our relationship with food, promoting a lifestyle that minimizes processed foods and prioritizes nutritional quality. However, it's important to recognize that there is no single "ancestral model" and that human evolution has allowed for adaptations to a wide variety of eating patterns.